Central Sustainability

Central Sustainability is a platform dedicated to making the CMU community more sustainable through projects, policy, and programming, and it acts as the office of sustainability on campus. Central Sustainability focuses on education, collaboration, and institutional growth to better our campus.

Since its launch in May 2020, Central Sustainability has been successful in carrying out a number of sustainability projects and initiatives.

Notable accomplishments include:

• The passage of a university Sustainable Purchasing Policy.
• Establishment of an on-campus farmer’s market.
• Re-establishment of the campus garden.
• Establishment of the on-campus Ethnobotanical Garden.
• Establishment of a university sustainability website.
• Submission of the STARS reports, which earned a prestigious “Gold” rating.
• Stakeholder engagement efforts.

Sustainability benefits

Sustainability is important because it leads to a longer-lasting, kinder and more efficient world for generations to come. Socially, sustainable practices can help strengthen community bonds, improve quality of life and provide hope for a better future. Environmentally, sustainable practices can help protect natural resources, mitigate and adapt to climate change and promote biodiversity. Economic benefits include conserving fuel and cutting fuel costs, reducing the health impacts of air and water pollution, and reducing traffic congestion.

CMU waste management and sustainability information

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Recycling on campus

Residence hall dwellers may either take the recycling from their rooms to the kitchenette receptacles on their floor or straight to the Maroon recycling tank outside near the dumpster. Green Teams may also collect recycling from your residence hall.

Students living in on-campus apartments should have an individual recycling bin that the residents may keep inside to collect their recycling, and on Fridays, they should place the bin outside at their doorstep. Special recycling drives planned by Central Sustainability are open to all CMU students, and all students can bring recyclables to the Isabella County Material Recovery Facility at 4208 E. River Road Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858.

CMU’s recycling goes to the Isabella County Material Recovery Facility, and the ICMRF sells the collected plastics to Clean Tech Inc. in Dundee, Michigan, and fibers to BKI Recycling in Northbrook, Illinois, and Metro Recycling.