WasteCap Nebraska presented its 2014 Sustainable Business Awards winners last week, and LiveGreen, UNMC and Nebraska Medicine were given the Green Team of the Year Award.
LiveGreen was recognized for its success in expanding recycling on campus dramatically by advocating for more recycling bins, as well as other sustainability efforts. WasteCap Nebraska noted that UNMC and Nebraska Medicine facilities used energy savings dollars to purchase 675 new recycling containers in November 2013, and that recycling increased 41 percent in the first four months the bins were placed around campus.
“LiveGreen has accomplished a lot in the past year,” said Melanie Stewart, UNMC sustainability manager.
Projects that were part of the award recognition include Earth Week activities, the Re-Use It contest, battery recycling, writing utensil recycling, the Little Free Library, UNMC’s Tree Campus USA certification and informative LiveGreen Scene presentations held throughout the year.
“All of our actions have led to an increased awareness of sustainability, more items being diverted away from the landfill, a reduced use of natural resources, and a cleaner local environment,” Stewart said.
Stewart noted that the combining of UNMC’s and Nebraska Medicine’s “green teams” had been a huge success and commended the LiveGreen committee and volunteers.
“The simple actions that everyone on campus has taken, such as recycling and curtailing energy use, has made the biggest impact, of course,” Stewart said.
Awesome! Thanks for all your hard work on campus!