The Alcoa Foundation, in partnership with national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful (KAB) and the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC), provided 60 recycling bins to Kent State as part of its national bin grant program to colleges and universities throughout the country during the 2012 RecycleMania collegiate recycling competition. The bin grant prog...

Puzzles intrigue Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Penny Bernstein, Ph.D. Whether they are presented in a colorful box, in the natural world or as part of her work, her first inclination is to look carefully for patterns that lead to a solution. A field biologist at Kent State University at Stark, Bernstein was asked to play a key role in what has evolved into an innovative consortium dedicated to saving Stark County’s watersheds. But, before the Herbert W. Hoover Initiative in Environmental Media could move forward to achieve its purposes, someone needed to put the pieces in the righ...

Kent State University’s Fire Prevention Office has expanded its efforts to go green with the installation of an electric charging station for its new battery-powered Chevrolet Volt. The charging station was installed outside Harbourt Hall. Charmaine Iwanski, architect in the Office of the University Architect, says the charging station is currently available only for University Facilities Management vehicles. Future charging stations are likely; however, funding, availability, usage policies and locations have yet to be determined. “I think the new charging station will encourage more electric...

Children in Kent State University’s Child Development Center are sending a strong message about the environment through posters and signage that they designed to draw attention to the dangers of littering and benefits of recycling. The children in rooms 4 and 8 at the center, ages 3-5 years, often spend time outdoors as part of their weekly learning experiences. They expressed concern about the amount of litter they had observed during their outdoor trips, especially in the meadows along the Portage Hike and Bike Trail, which is located behind their school. With guidance from their teachers, t...

Kent State University is in the process of installing 1,716 solar panels on the Kent State Field House located on the Kent Campus. The panels will cover almost one acre of roof area or nearly 0.5 megawatt of panel capacity. This installation is believed to be the largest roofmounted system among Ohio’s public universities. The project, scheduled for completion in early July, is the first renewable energy project for Kent State. The solar panels will generate about 500,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, which is about one-third of the annual power used by both the university’s Field Ho...

Kent State University is in the process of installing 1,716 solar panels on the Kent State Field House located on the Kent Campus. The panels will cover almost one acre of roof area or nearly 0.5 megawatt of panel capacity. This installation is believed to be the largest roof mounted system among Ohio’s public universities. The project, scheduled to be completed in early July, is the first renewable energy project for Kent State. The solar panels will generate about 500,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, which is about one-third of the annual power used by both the university’s Field ...

The results from this year’s RecycleMania tournament are in, and Kent State University won bragging rights against the University of Akron in the friendly environmental competition. RecycleMania is a benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. Kent State is ranked 233 out of 362 in the Per Capita Classic, and recycled 7.60 pounds per person, while the University of Akron recycled 6.94 pounds per person. “This is our third year participating in RecycleMania,” said Melanie Knowles, manager of sustainability at...

Posted April 30, 2012 | Alexandria Rhodes Better World Books and Kent State University are making strides in staying green by recycling unwanted books and donating them to those in need. Better World Books, a nonprofit organization, accepts books that people or companies no longer have use for and donates books and funds to a variety of literary programs such as Books for Africa, which is supported by Kent State. Kent State University Libraries donates books, mostly those gifted to the university and those with multiple copies, which are in turn sold on Better World Books’ website. Kent State ...

The results from this year’s RecycleMania tournament are in. Kent State University saw improvement over last year and won bragging rights against the University of Akron in the process. Kent State is ranked 233 out of 362 in the Per Capita Classic, and recycled 7.6 pounds per person, while the University of Akron recycled 6.94 pounds. “This is Kent State’s third year participating in RecycleMania,” says Melanie Knowles, manager of sustainability at Kent State. “Each year, there is more enthusiasm and participation.” Engleman Hall won the hall vs. hall competition, bringing in nearly 23 pounds ...

To celebrate Earth Day, Kent State University at Trumbull students presented their service projects, events or activities planned to a panel of judges. Nearly 14 groups presented on various topics ranging from identifying bike routes, to helping students get to campus, to showcasing how easy it can be for families to make their own rain barrel. An anonymous donor provided monetary prizes for the winners of the competition—$200 for first place, $125 for second place and $75 for third place. Winners will be announced in May. Student participants contributed more than 1,000 acts of green. Last ye...