Receive monthly updates on local recycling developments, new programs, and upcoming events. Learn more about resource conservation, through waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.

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Send an e-mail message to listproc@lists.colorado.edu.
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Don’t want to join our listserv? Then view our Online Recycling Bulletin Archives!

CU Recycling prides itself on being a student-run operation. Students learn the business of recycling through hands-on collection of materials, operational work at our campus recycling facility, special events recycling, and outreach and marketing to students and other campus members.

We ask every student who works with recycling to begin working at our campus recycling facility. There, student Recycling Assistants sort through the materials that have been taken to the facility from recycling bins throughout campus. Students ensure that items are of high enough quality to be sold, and pick out anything that has been put in recycling bins that cannot be recycled. After becoming familiar with CU Recycling operations and campus recycling procedures, students may be given the opportunity to coordinate operational programs , work on outreach projects, such as helping maintain signs at recycling stations, promoting recycling in residence halls and with staff and faculty, writing press releases and making posters, or work on special research projects.

Most of our staff is hired at the beginning of each Fall semester, in late August. A few other openings become available throughout the school year and each summer. CU Recycling hires students who can work between 8 - 20 hours during the week, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Weekly schedules are established for each semester, and students generally work before, between, or after classes. We attempt to fill most of our staff with students with work-study awards through financial aid.

Interested? Fill out our online employment application!

Need a few hours of volunteer time under your belt? Feel like lending us a hand?

Recycling Education Project:

Be the eyes and ears of recycling in an academic building or residence hall. Improve recycling and waste reduction efforts in campus buildings. Work involves surveying locations in campus buildings, making recommendations for improvements, and educating building users. Call 492-8307 or email cure@colorado.edu for more info.

Green Teams:

The Green Teams are students who share environmental information with students who live on the hill or in the Goss/ Grove area. Mainly, the Green Teams help give curbside recycling information to residents of off-campus households. These education efforts will be especially important this fall when the city of Boulderâs curbside program undergoes major changes. We need your help to distribute information on what, when, where and how to properly recycle.

The Green Teams meet Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 4:00pm in the Environmental Center (University Memorial Center, Room 331) during the fall and spring semesters. Plan to spend 2 hours spreading the word on Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays. Training and materials are provided. For more info, call 303-492-8307 or email cure@colorado.edu.

"The Green Teams really help students to make a difference for the earth by taking simple steps in their own homes. Last year, we visited nearly 300 student households. Every person really appreciates getting information and having another student to answer their questions. We have a lot of fun, so if you like talking to people and helping them live ’greener’ lives, then come check out the Green Teams!"
- Zoe Borrell, Green Teams Coordinator

Fill out our online volunteer application!!!

CU Recycling facilitates a wide variety of academic projects which directly benefit our program and your resume. Students can apply their skills to real world problems. We have many ideas for student research projects or independent study. These span academia, from the Business School to Engineering to Environmental Studies. Contact us for internship opportunities, class presentation or paper topics, and research needs that will help the program and your coursework.

Recognizing the need for more interdepartmental coordination in order to achieve the recycling program’s potential, the Chancellor created the Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB) in October 1990. The principal responsibilities of SWAB are to prioritize and coordinate campus solid waste management activities. SWAB is comprised of faculty, staff, students and administrators and has met regularly since its inception.

Although C.U. is making great strides towards converting its waste from a liability to an asset, there is still plenty of room for improvement. The University community is encouraged to get to know SWAB and participate in its many programs.