Final numbers from Earth Week 2012 are in and it proved to be a successful collaboration between UNMC LiveGreen and The Nebraska Medical Center’s Energy Advocate Team.
Some highlights include:
- A ceremonial planting of a new Autumn Blaze Maple tree, donated by SunCo Grounds Management, marked the beginning of the festivities on campus. Oma-Gro donated compost packets and Earl May provided seed packets. The rest of the events were primarily focused on recycling and waste reduction.
- Approximately 4,000 pounds of paper were collected for shredding/recycling by Shredding Solutions.
- Roughly 3,600 pounds of electronics were collected/recycled by Metech.
- The total weight of 7,600 pounds of paper/electronics is equivalent to the weight of three average-size male giraffes.
- Recycling 7,600 pounds of paper/electronics prevents approximately 11 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the emissions associated with consuming 1,230 gallons of gas.
- Approximately 20 volunteers collected about 15 small bags of trash in the UNMC LINK campus clean-up event. (Thanks to our amazing grounds crew for keeping our campus so clean — there really wasn’t much trash).
- More than 300 reusable bags donated by Fareway, No Frills Supermarkets, Hy-Vee, Trader Joe’s, ALDI, and Target, along with 700 compostable plates donated by Greenbelly Restaurant, were distributed at Culture Fest.
- Roughly 170 different departments/work areas have requested TerraCycle writing instrument recycling boxes. If you still need to order one, e-mail livegreen@unmc.edu.
- There are now more than 3,500 employees from both UNMC and TNMC who have taken the pledge.