BCC Green Team

About the Team

Berkshire Community College's (BCC) Green Team coordinates efforts to reduce the College's carbon footprint, maintain sustainable practices, seek funding to carry out initiatives, and coordinate these efforts with other colleges and institutions. Green Team members include faculty, staff, students, alumni, and some members of the community. The Green Team meets monthly, and all are welcome to join!

BCC strives to reduce waste and create an environmentally conscious campus. This involves long-term planning of campus activities, practices and policies which reduce the amount of waste materials going into the landfill. One of the ways we measure our progress is by participating in the annual CR2ZW/RecycleMania contest.

Green Team Logo

Join the Green Team email list!

Contact Us

Debora Ellsworth, Co-Chair

Tammy Anderson, Co-Chair

dellsworth@berkshirecc.edu

Help Reduce Our Carbon Footprint

  • Recycling and Composting Guidelines

    All branded plastic containers (such as soda and water bottles), metal cans, and other items on which you find a recycling symbol should be deposited in the plastic recycling receptacles provided by the College. A full guide for recycling and composting is below.

    If you are bringing supplies, please consider bringing items that can be recycled or composted. For example, please bring compostable paper plates instead of Styrofoam.

    Items with small wrappers (gum, individually wrapped small candies) are strongly discouraged as it can be difficult to recycle/compost the small wrappers in the outdoor weather.

    Plastic and Glass

    • Plastic containers with the #1 – 7 symbols (you may leave caps on bottles)
    • Plastic grocery bags with the #2 and #4 symbols — includes milk jugs, water bottles, plastic yogurt cups, microwave food trays. 
    • You may recycle clear, brown, green and blue glass bottles and jars.

    Paper

    • You may recycle computer paper (all colors), fax paper, carbonless forms, shredded paper, envelopes (windows are OK), post-it notes, newspapers and magazines, flatboard (such as cereal boxes), paper bags. Staples, paper clips and rubber bands are OK!

    Compost

    • All food
    • Food-soiled uncoated paper (paper cups and plates, paper towels, napkins, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, wax paper/cartons, pizza boxes)
    • Low-grade paper (tissue paper, tissues, straw wrappers, paper sugar packets)

    Do not recycle:

    • Plastic utensils from Burke's Café
    • Coffee and soup container lids
    • Bottles that contained hazardous materials
    • Styrofoam cups and plates
    • Plastic garbage bags, food storage bags, or plastic film
    • Paper towels, tissues, napkins, or paper cups should be composted

Annual Events

Campus Green-up

Each spring, the BCC community heads outdoors and brings our campus back to life after another long winter in the Berkshires! Our facilities team leads the charge and provides rakes, shovels, gloves and encouragement.

Resources

Green Up Your Work Space

Adopt a plant for your work space, all you need is a clean jar to get started. Check out more details on the project and how to participate!

Awards

At the 2018 annual Green Team FORUM, the Green Team was honored to receive the Alan Silverstein and Laura Dubester Award for Community Environmental Leadership through the Center for EcoTechnolog (CET). According to the CET website, this annual award is presented " to a local citizen who is working in his or her community to benefit the local environment — with a focus on reducing the harmful impacts humans can have on the environment — and the positive steps people can take at home, work and in their communities that help protect the environment, improve public health and build community."