Waste Not. Want Not.

Everyone is learning to reduce waste, reuse when we can, and dispose of things properly. Certainly, community curbside recycling has brought this message literally to our doorsteps. Now, our private colleges and universities are taking the next big steps toward creating an attitude and an economy that thrives on being kind to the environment.

Making brown gold.

At Ithaca College, no food scraps are going to waste these days. Because of the school's new composting facility, 100 percent of the college’s pre- and post-consumer food waste is being responsibly processed into “brown gold.”

As every farmer knows, composting is a proven technique that promotes waste management while yielding a nutrient-rich material for the soil. Ithaca’s composting program, which is already a model for other institutions, saves money and makes ecological sense.

To learn more, visit www.ithaca.edu/icq/2000v3/toc.htm.

Rethinking manufacturing.

At the Rochester Institute of Technology, the Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery (NCR3) is sparking a small revolution in manufacturing. Open since 1991, the center works with New York State businesses to pinpont opportunities to “remanufacture” products. Remanufacturing, the process of recovering the component parts of discarded products, restores the parts to like-new condition and returns them to service. This reduces energy and labor costs and prevents the needless disposal of millions of product parts.

Partially as a result of the center’s efforts, remanufacturing has taken hold in New York State. In the past two years, NCR3 has assisted 78 companies. It fine-tuned practices for a turbocharger remanufacturer and an office furniture remanufacturer; enabled a company in the construction industry to introduce remanufacturing into its design process; conducted a study of end-of-useful-life appliances in the state; and established a Toner Cartridge Evaluation Laboratory.

Remanufacturing is making an impact on the economy as well as the environment. The actions of NCR3 have helped to create 90 new jobs, retain 195 jobs, and increase revenues for partner companies by $25 million.

To find out more, visit the center’s web site at www.reman.rit.edu.

Practicing proper waste management.

Waste management may not be a glamorous topic but it is a critical one. Since 1987, the Cornell Waste Management Institute (CWMI) has been working with Cornell Cooperative Extension to promote research on waste management and communicating the results to the public.

CWMI is engaged in a range of projects: “Composting as a Component of Sustainable Agriculture” is useful for farmers. The “Community 3R’s Center for Waste Prevention” is a partnership with the New York City Housing Authority that encourages waste prevention, reduction, and management. “What’s the Risk?” is interactive software to help families understand the risks of chemicals in their homes and communities. And the “Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) for New York State Cities Roundtable” provides technical assistance to cities that want to implement a PAYT system. PAYT systems have been successfully instituted in municipalities to reduce waste through residential and institutional quantity-based user fees.

For more information visit the CWMI web site at www.cfe.cornell.edu/wmi.

Good horse sense.

Experienced gardeners know the best soil is soil enriched with organic material. St. Lawrence University is helping things grow in its upstate community by making horse manure from its equestrian center available to all local residents.

Recycling: A means to an end.

Clarkson University's hands-on science project has seventh and eighth graders picking through the trash. They’re learning how food decomposes, they’re growing microorganisms, and they’re analyzing the chemical content of things we throw away. Another project has younger students figuring out what to do about leftover food in the cafeteria.

This program uses recycling to teach schoolchildren about science and technology. As one middle school teacher points out, “The students are engaged. It doesn’t get any better than this.”