Thanks to community-wide efforts, the University got much greener in 2010.
The University averaged 122 tons of recycled material per month in 2010, a nearly 400-percent increase from 2005’s monthly average of 26 tons.
Recycled material doesn’t just include paper, aluminum cans and plastics placed in one of almost 4,000 recycling bins around campus. Composted organics, cooking oil and construction waste are among newer recycling programs the Office of Sustainability has started, said Denise Scribner, campus sustainability manager.
“We have a lot of different programs going on all over campus,” Scribner said.
One of the newest initiatives requires all contractors to recycle construction material, Scribner said. Concrete is recycled at an off-campus facility and is used as base material in new projects like road construction, said Andres Harris, recycling and solid waste manager in the Office of Facility Services.
In 2010, 367.78 tons of concrete were recycled, according to University statistics. In 2010, 177.54 tons of scrap metal were recycled, an increase of more than 570 percent from 2009. The University gets paid for all recycled concrete and metal, Harris said.
Contractors also donate other materials back to the University. Trimmings, which are used as mulch in landscaping across campus, are given to the University after contractors clear-cut for construction, Harris said.
Another major part of recycling on campus is providing appropriate receptacles. The program is funded partly from proceeds of selling scrap metal and concrete, Student Government appropriations and other grants, Harris said.
The University placed an additional 899 bins across campus in 2010, according to the Office of Sustainability. The goal is to put one in every office and classroom across campus, Scribner said.
“It’s important that recyclables are put into the recycling bins since trash isn’t sorted, so we’re always open to suggestions for bin placement,” Harris said.
Harris encouraged students to write on the LSU Recycles Facebook page to suggest new locations for bins.
In addition to recycling bins, 99 green recycling dumpsters are available across campus for University and personal use, Harris said. The University encourages members of the campus community who don’t have access to residential recycling programs to use the dumpsters to recycle cardboard, paper, plastic and aluminum.
Traditional recyclables aren’t the only kind on which the University is focused, however.
Cooking oil, for example, is recycled from the dining halls across campus and is processed by the W.A. Callegari Environmental Center, a part of the LSU AgCenter, into biodiesel fuel, Harris said. Currently, some lawnmowers on campus are powered by biodiesel fuel, but the Callegari Center recently received a grant to purchase another processor, Harris said.
“Soon, the entire landscaping fleet will be powered by the biodiesel processed here at the University,” Harris said.
University Landscaping also contributes to the recycling efforts. All tree trimmings and grass clippings are chipped into mulch or composted, Harris said.
Composting efforts at the University are increasing at the behest of LSU AgCenter faculty, who recently made a proposal to the Board of Regents, Scribner said. Compost at the University is a part of the proposal, Harris said.
Game day on campus is a long tradition, and in 2003 the University added recycling to the regular gameday activities.
Recycling takes place in the stadium, suites and on the ground on game days, Harris said. In 2003, 3.1 tons of recyclable material were collected during the regular season, and in 2010 that number jumped to 433.98 tons, with almost 20 percent of all gameday waste being recycled, according to the Office of Sustainability.
The highest recycling game on record — the 2009 Florida game, at 117.95 tons — was also the first time recycling occurred in the stadium.
More than 2,000 green bins are provided to tailgaters on game day, Harris said.
“It’s such a big event, it’s important we provide enough bins for recycling,” Harris said.
The University also competes in national recycling competitions.
The EPA Game Day Challenge is a national competition among colleges and universities to promote recycling during football games. The University submitted statistics from the 2010 Tennessee game and took first place in the per capita recycling competition in the Southeastern Conference, recycling 0.344 pounds per person, according to the EPA.
Recyclemania is another competition in which the University participates. For 10 weeks, 800 colleges and universities across the nation submit recycling and trash weights. The University placed second in the SEC last year, behind the University of Kentucky, with 10.86 pounds recycled per person, according to the Office of Sustainability. The competition starts again Jan. 31.
Since the initial push for major recycling programs on campus through a 2003 student petition, students have played a huge part in the University’s recycling initiatives.
The Environmental Conservation Organization at LSU in particular helps educate students on recycling. Members of ECO helped show students at the 2010 Fall Fest what is and isn’t recyclable, said Jenny Byrd, natural resource ecology and management junior and president of ECO at LSU.
“ECO plays a big part, but we can’t take all the credit,” Byrd said. “LSU is making steps in the right direction, and we’re happy about that.”
 
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Contact Logan Leger at [email protected]