Sustainability
Balancing social, environmental, and economic issues today to preserve the earth's resources for tomorrow.
Sustainability is one of HCC's values. Academically and operationally, the college is committed to limiting our collective impact on the earth and taking a leadership position in promoting sustainability practices in our community and beyond.
Green Committee
The Green Committee is made up of students, staff, and faculty, and leads HCC's environmental planning efforts, coordinates their implementation, and tracks their progress. In 2007, college leadership formalized HCC's sustainability resolve by signing the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, agreeing to: enact a comprehensive plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2050; identify tangible actions to reduce greenhouse gases; and to compile progress reports and make them publicly available by providing them to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
To learn about our Green Committee or request to receive our monthly sustainability newsletter, please contact editor Belinda Green or committee co-chair Bob Marietta.
Recycling
Please do your part to place bottles, cans, clean paper, and cardboard into the blue bins. Learn more about recycling at HCC.
Composting
HCC uses compostable, plant-based plastic products when serving food. This includes plates, cups, utensils, and paper goods and these items are marked with a "BPI Compostable" logo. When composted properly, these items break down into water, CO2, and non-toxic organic molecules. HCC collects compostable materials in green bins for transport to local composting operations. These green bins can be found on the second level of the Burrill Galleria and in the Cafe on the Quad.
- Compostable plastics: utensils, straws, cold cups, and clam shell containers
- Compostable paper products: plates, hot cups, paper straws, paper towels, napkins, and tissues
- Compostable food and food waste: fruits, vegetables, dairy products, bakery products, nuts, and meat
- Items that are not compostable: glass, plastic bottles, and metal cans. These items can be recycled!
Other Initiatives and Information
- Students can participate in sustainability projects by joining the Student Environmental Club, as well as signing up for Service Learning Projects through your class instructors.
- Howard County and community sustainability information can be found on the Live Green Howard website, as well as information on local government and nonprofit organizations.
- Plants and wildlife on campus: HCC is a certified National Wildlife Federation wildlife habitat https://www.nwf.org/certifiedwildlifehabitat and HCC is certified as a Bay Wise Landscape https://extension.umd.edu/baywise/program-certification.