Florida State Earns TaxWatch Award for its Zero-Waste, Recycling Efforts

Employees at Florida State University (FSU) have earned a TaxWatch Government Productivity Award for introducing a program that helps its office achieve zero waste.

FSU’s group is one of ten groups in Florida to receive the award. The TaxWatch award goes to state agencies, employees, and other workgroups that identify ways to improve services and efficiencies and save Florida taxpayers millions of dollars each year.

The group of six that make up the “Sustainable Green Team” have earned recognition for their work in the Sliger Building where FSU’s Data Center Services and Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response Center are.

“This began with us looking to recycle plastic, six-pack can rings about three years ago,” Mitch Gans, team leader of the Research Computing Center said. “We got excited and started telling our friends, our family and our colleagues across campus. Then we started looking for other problems we might be able to solve.”

The group’s effort has now grown to include Styrofoam, toothbrushes, cardboard, plastics, and linoleum.

“People started bringing their waste to us to the point that not only did we become zero waste, but we dispose of more than we produce,” Gans said. “Nothing is going to the dumpster.”   

Read the full article here.