The UT Libraries Green Team

It might be useful to describe a little of the history of the evolution of the Green Team in PCL, the main library. For years UT has recycled paper and cardboard, but only more recently, due to a student initiative, the Campus Environmental Center, has recycling of plastic and aluminum begun. In PCL, the cleaning staff empties the paper and trash bins, while twenty-four library staff volunteers empty our plastic and aluminum bins on a rotational basis.

The PCL Green Team began indoor recycling of plastic and aluminum in the summer of 2009, placing bins in a few staff areas for plastic containers numbers 1 and 2 and for aluminum cans. The bins were a success and we quickly added bins to other staff areas, and then began placing them in public areas throughout the building. By the end of the summer we had twenty-eight sets of bins on six floors. Each bin set has four containers, ones for plastic, aluminum, paper/cardboard and trash.