Recycling audits to help offices reduce waste

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CMU offices searching for ways to be more environmentally friendly have a new resource for advice starting this week.

The Recycling Office is offering free voluntary waste audits to offices on campus. The audits determine how much waste is being produced by offices and then develop a plan to reduce that amount.

“We develop a plan designed specifically for that office. It’s like, ‘If you did these three things, you’d recycle this many pounds,’” said Davison senior Tonya Sabo, employee of the recycling office.

Student employees of the office will perform free audits.

Auditors return to evaluate its effectiveness after a plan has been developed, Sabo said.

“We return in one week and evaluate how the plan is working and make any necessary changes. Then, we come back in three weeks for another evaluation,” she said.

The idea for the audits was found on the Environmental Protection Agency Web site, Sabo said. The Isabella County Materials Recovery Facility, a recycling center in Mount Pleasant, provided the recycling office with EPA guidebooks to perform the new service.

“It’s a great way to encourage recycling more on campus,” she said.

Sabo said the office has not set specific goals with the new program.

“We haven’t done any audits yet, so we don’t know how much work it involves. We do want to make this a continual program for CMU, though,” she said.

The first audit will take place this week in a political science office.