Waste Green Tips

"There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed." - Gandhi

Add a reminder to "Think before you print" to your email signature.

When you place "Please consider the environmental impacts of paper production and use before printing this email" in your email signature you'll influence the recipients of your emails to reduce paper consumption, and will help make it the norm to consider the environment before consuming.

Use your own mug. 

ACU has over 6,300 students and employees. If each person were to buy one coffee a day, every day, ACU would send over 2 million coffee cups to the landfill every year. Now imagine if those people had two coffees a day!

Reduce paper use when possible by printing only what you need. 

ACU is one of the largest paper buyers in the City of Abilene. In 2007, we used nearly 9 million sheets of paper for on-campus printing and photocopying—that's nearly twice the height of the Tower of Light. Think twice before photocopying entire documents or printing them out. Instead—when it is possible—jot a note, save documents electronically, edit on screen, print only what you need, and distribute materials electronically. 1 ream (500 sheets) uses 6% of a tree (and those add up quickly!) At least 38.9% of the U.S. waste stream is paper. On average, one person uses two pine trees worth of paper products every year.

Recycle plastic, paper, printer cartridges and batteries. 

If your department or residence hall doesn’t have a recycling system, consult the ACU Recycling link on how to join the effort. The EPA estimates that 75 percent of what Americans throw in the trash could actually be recycled. The aluminum can is 100 percent recyclable and can be used to make new beverage cans indefinitely. Recycling bins are available on campus and paper recycling bags are free for offices.

Adapted with permission from the Harvard Green Campus Initiative
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