Waste and Water
UWSP has an extensive and
award-winning recycling program along with impressive
composting efforts. Chutes in each residence hall,
a new compost tea harvesting machine
and Vermi-composting are a few
neat waste-related initiatives. UWSP is keen on water
conservation too. Being the largest college of natural
resources in the nation, the campus works hard to preserve
and protect its water. Here are some of the things that UWSP
has done in regards to waste
and
water.
*
Recycling
and Composting Program – Being chosen as a
launch site for
Wisconsin Act 292, the University of Wisconsin – Stevens
Point recycling and composting program began in 1989 and now
complies with
Wisconsin Act 335 as well. The program was initiated
with very little guidance and a very small budget. The
campus created and began its recycling program from scratch
and continues to work with its own unique system to this
day. The UWSP recycling program includes recycling chutes in
each residence hall, recycling bins located around campus,
and recycling of items such as batteries, grease and oil,
and appliances. UWSP has its own recycling and reuse center
and all of the work and pick up is done by hand by UWSP
Grounds Crew. This award-winning program extends to all
aspects of campus life, including the recycling of
batteries, ink cartridges, and light bulbs at residence hall
front desks. Composting is also a part of the UWSP Grounds
Crew’s normal routine. Food and yard waste is composted and
used for fertilizer in flower beds and on practice fields.
The UWSP compost pile is located next to the recycling and
reuse center and takes about 3 years to mature. For
information on UWSP's recycling policy,
click here. To learn how to recycle in the residence
halls,
click here.
For information on constructing a vermicompost bin,
click here.
*Text
Rental and Book Buy-Back– UWSP Text Rental,
located in the University Store in the DUC, not only saves
students between $200 - $400 in books each semester, it
saves the waste created by all those books. Other campuses
that do not offer text rental programs force students to
purchase text books, and when they are done using them, many
students simply throw them out. By reusing books, UWSP is
saving natural resources and keeping the earth cleaner in
the process. UWSP Text Rental even goes one step further; at
the end of each semester, Text Rental offers to buy back
certain books from students that might have been only
available for purchase. Talk about saving trees!
*
Online Book Exchange – SGA has created an
online book exchange through Microsoft Outlook. Any student
can access the book exchange by searching through their
public folders in their email account. The book exchange is
located under “Stu Life, Orgs, and Athletic,” “PF – Student
Government Association,” and “Book Swap.” Look for the
subject of the book that you would like to buy or sell and
post a note or make an offer.
*Surplus
Sales Store – The UWSP Surplus Sales store,
located at 601 Division Street, is a great place to donate
unwanted items for reuse. The store sells reusable items,
much like a thrift shop, and recycles and/or disposes of
other large items that are no longer usable. Surplus Sales
also does pick-ups and deliveries on campus.
*Goodwill Bin Program
– At the end of each semester, UWSP provides a Goodwill bin
for the lobby of each residence hall. As students move out
and throw away old and outdated items, they can contribute
items to the local Goodwill for reuse.
*Residence
Hall Association Loft Rental – Another
efficient means of recycling and reuse is the annual loft
rental program. Run by the Residence Hall Association (RHA),
it is a valuable service provided to students. Much of the
waste on campuses at the end of the academic year is metal
and lumber from homemade lofts. A large amount of this waste
is avoided at UWSP with the rental program. All proceeds go
to RHA-run student initiatives.
*Paper
Science NY Times Recycling Program – Beginning
in 2005, Paper Science Professor Karen Biasca created the NY
Times Recycling program as a project for her Paper Science
486 class. The program utilizes campus resources and
machinery, as well as outside professional expertise, to
recycle wasted NY Times on campus into paper that is used in
local Stevens Point classrooms for art stock.
*Recycled Products and
Buying in Bulk – Residential Living also
does its part to incorporate sustainability in the residence
halls. Many items in the room, including carpet and ceiling
tiles and furniture, are reused or made from recycled
materials. The residence hall cleaning supplies and art
materials are also bought in bulk and stored in reusable
bottles and containers. This reduces the waste created by
continual disposal of the products.
*Food Service Initiatives
– Debot, the DUC Food Court, and other food purchase
locations on campus go to great lengths to recycle, compost,
and reduce waste. Food scrap bins for compost is a
University Dining Services initiative, UWSP’s food service
provider. Recycling is huge and many foods are bought in
bulk and refilled. Cans are crushed by hand and 4-5 bins per
day of recycled materials leave Debot alone. Certain venues
that need to provide disposable dishware use Greenware
compostable materials, such as cups made from corn
substances. Employees continually keep watch over their
inventory and are careful to use what they have before they
order more. SGA and University Dining Services have also
implemented programs to teach students to take less food and
create less waste.
*
Old
Main Rain Gardens– Due to SGA, GEM, and UWSP
Sustainability Committee initiatives, the lawns of Old Main,
the oldest building on the UWSP campus, now house two rain
gardens. The rain gardens, planted in 2005, collect run-off
rain water from the Old Main roof and filter it so that
cleaner water reaches the water table. They also absorb
water, which means that less water reaches the storm water
system and less energy is required to treat the water.
*LRC
Green Roof – The plants growing on the roof of
the Learning Resources Center function very similarly to the
Old Main rain gardens. They absorb rainwater so that there
is less runoff and fewer toxic materials enter the
groundwater. These plants are specific breeds, particularly
sedums, which absorb pollutants and gaseous substances into
their roots. The plants also trap nitrous oxides and
volatile organic compounds, cleaning the air around them.
*Low Flow Aerators
– Showers, sinks, and toilets in a wide range of buildings
throughout the UWSP campus have been fitted with low flow
aerators. Low flow aerators are easy to install and can
reduce water consumption by up to 50%, as well as save 50%
on the energy costs of heating the water.
