The Environmental Collaborative Office is taking campus recycling and the green effort to new heights at Mississippi State University.
MSU signed a $50,000 annual contract last summer with Blubox LLC to start a campuswide recycling program.  All recycling can now be placed in the same container without the hassle of sorting.  This includes paper, cardboard, aluminum, glass, metal and plastic products.
All office waste containers have transitioned into marked recycling containers, and a common area will hold a place for all other garbage.  Most departments on campus have already begun implementing the new plan to become more eco-friendly.
Jeremiah Dumas, sustainability coordinator of the project, said the goal is to make collecting as much recyclable material as possible, which is a step toward making MSU completely carbon neutral.
“We found that over 90 percent of waste coming out of the offices was recyclable,” Dumas said. 
It is easier to make one trip to the central location to throw away trash from lunch and have the bins in the offices for water bottles and other recyclable products used throughout the day, he said.
MSU was previously named the least eco-friendly campus in the SEC, Dumas said.
Forbes.comcommends MSU for the grade improvement on the College Sustainability Report Card from 2006 to today from a D- to a B, because “it has reduced its energy usage per square foot by 28 percent in the last four years, at a savings of about $5 million.”
Hayden Crume, president of Mississippi Industrial Waste Disposal, said the recycling program has high start-up costs but holds much promise for the future.
“It takes time to grow into a recycling program, but I am confident that the results will be apparent in the long run,” Crume said.
MSU pays $23.50 per ton to the Golden Triangle Regional Landfill in West Point for trash alone.  Everything put in the blue containers is product not going to the landfill, because it is going to Blubox recycling, instead. By reducing the amount thrown away on campus, MSU saves money, he said.
As part of the campus-wide project, Aramark at MSU Dining is making its own new eco-friendly adjustments. 
In an e-mail, Amy Stevenson, food and nutrition analyst for Aramark, said the green meal plan that began last fall includes a reusable to-go container, a sustainable mug and 32-oz. travel cup, an organic T-shirt and an eco-friendly tote bag. Students can fill up their cups at any of the dining locations with a fountain drink station for a discounted price of 99 cents.
“MSU Dining believes it is important to look at sustainability on different levels,” Stevenson said.
For years, dining services has been recycling cardboard items, but the goal for 2011 is to recycle tin cans and plastic containers, she said.
Some of the other green Aramark initiatives include trayless dining to reduce water waste, natural or organic snacks in convenience stores and recycle bins behind the food service line. MSU Dining decided Wednesday to join the RecycleMania benchmark division this year to promote recycling on campus. The RecycleMania tournament is a contest among different universities to collect the most recyclables.
“The nationwide recycling competition has been slow to spread to the south, but we hope the bulldogs will become involved with the program,” Stevenson said.
Jeremiah Dumas said students and faculty can help in this campus recycling effort by utilizing the bins properly, turning off lights when leaving rooms, using less running water and walking or riding bikes to school.