Sustainability at Herrick Library

What you can do

Printing

Toner cartridges and printing paper represent a major supply cost for the library. You can help us to reduce this cost by printing wisely.

Public printers in Herrick automatically print on both sides of a sheet of paper. If you need one-sided printing, you can override the settings.

• Suggestions for printing wisely:


• Save electronic documents rather than printing them. When you're in the library, you can send documents to yourself by email, save them to your space on the U: drive, or save them to a flash drive.


• Before printing, read the abstract or skim the article to be sure that you really need a printed copy for your research.


• Use "print preview" to print only the information that you need. Web pages, especially, should be previewed before printing.


• When printing PowerPoint slides, use the "handout" format to print three or six slides per page rather than printing one slide per page.


• Use the library photocopiers to scan documents and email them to yourself. This service is free.


• When searching databases, email articles to yourself rather than printing them. After reviewing the articles, print only the ones that you really need.

If you need help with any of these tips, please ask us. We would be glad to help.

Recycling

Herrick library has receptacles for paper, metal, glass, and plastic recycling. Please follow these guidelines on what can be recycled.

"Free" table

A "Free" table on the ground floor (near the ITS help desk) is available for the exchange of unwanted but still usable items. Feel free to leave items here or to take items from the table.

What we're doing

Office recycling

Library staff recycles paper in their offices and use the public receptacles to recycle plastic, glass, and metal.

Electronics recycling

Herrick recycles office electronics through the University's annual electronics recycling program. Public computers in the library are returned to the vendor for recycling at the end of their lease period.

Toner and printer cartridge recycling

Herrick recycles printer and copier toner cartridges through the manufacturers’ recycling programs.

Library material recycling

Books, newspapers, and journals that are removed from the collection are made available for resale or recycled.

Paper reduction and reuse

Whenever possible, we send notices by email rather than by mail. For example, overdue notices are sent by email, and interlibrary loan articles and notices are sent electronically.

Paper that has been printed on one side is used by library staff in their office printer and reused in the library by patrons for taking notes.

Energy use

Herrick offices have sensors that automatically turn lights off when offices aren’t being used. Heating and cooling systems are powered down during academic breaks.

Working with GreenAlfred

Library staff frequently partner with students in GreenAlfred to raise awareness about sustainability issues and to educate our patrons.