Sustainabilty is vital to preserve our environment for future generations

Here at Wheelock College, we strive to maintain a sustainable campus. We have two LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings: the Campus Center and Riverway House. Through innovative design features such as light-absorbing windows, these buildings reduce the College's energy costs while conserving natural resources and helping the environment.

Recycling is also an important part of our sustainability efforts. Over the past two years, Wheelock's recycling efforts just from paper and magazines have generated 50 tons of recycling and saved approximately 1,250 trees. While this is commendable, we feel we can do much more and have launched a campaign to increase both the volume and variety of items recycled on campus. Wheelock's average annual carbon footprint produced from waste is 200 tons, which is equivalent to using 3,544 gallons of gasoline—or four times the amount of our recycling. If we boost our recycling by just 10 percent, we can reduce our carbon footprint from waste by 2.8 tons.

See Wheelock's monthly recycling-to-waste ratio for 2009-2011.

What Items Can I Recycle?

You can probably recycle a lot more items than you think. Wheelock's vendor, Waste Management, provides single-stream recycling, which means that there is no time-consuming sorting of different types of items. You simply put everything—including magazines, catalogs, empty soda cans, glass bottles, plastic containers, and more—into one receptacle. The materials go into one truck and are separated at a sorting center.

Most items require minimum preparation for recycling: simply rinse drink and food containers and fold cardboard so it fits neatly into the collection bin. Items that have been contaminated with food (such as greasy pizza boxes) generally cannot be recycled.

Click here for complete Single Stream Recycling Guidelines (PDF), including a list of recyclables and excluded items.

Where Can I Recycle?

As part of our campaign to increase recycling across campus, Wheelock is installing large, centrally located recycling bins on every floor of each of our buildings, plus new signs giving users some simple recycling guidelines. The small recycling bins already located in offices can also be used for single stream recycling.

Click here for maps showing locations of the new centralized bins in buildings throughout the Wheelock campus.

What Happens to My Recyclables?

Wheelock's recycling is picked up by Waste Management, brought to a center in Avon and is processed through a system of conveyor belts that separate the various grades of material. The cardboard is baled and shipped to Asia (usually ending up back in the U.S. as a new box). Paper is shipped to paper manufacturers and remade into items like toilet paper, legal pad backings, and cereal boxes. Plastic is broken down into resins and is made into toys, plastic lumber for benches and decks, and tennis balls.

Help us make the world a better place by reducing Wheelock's impact on the environment!