The Mississippi Recycling Coalition (MRC), a professional group that promotes recycling in Mississippi, and the Mississippi Beverage Association, a trade association of the non-alcoholic refreshment beverage companies in Mississippi, are pleased to announce their scholarship program for qualified college students.
Who Is Eligible?
For the 2018-2019 academic year, the MRC and Mississippi Beverage Association are offering up to ten $1,000 scholarships to undergraduate students (freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors) who are currently enrolled in Mississippi public and private colleges and universities, residing in Mississippi, and majoring in areas related to the environmental sciences. This includes college students majoring in agricultural sciences, biochemistry, biology, biological or environmental engineering, environmental education and technology, forestry, microbiology, wildlife management, and other fields related to environmental science. Seniors graduating in fall/winter 2018 are not eligible.
Students who are active in promoting recycling, composting, and related sustainable practices are encouraged to apply regardless of major, as these activities are given additional weight when ranking applications.
Applications and transcripts must be received by Friday, November 2, 2018. A review of the applications will occur shortly thereafter, and successful applications will be notified by December 15, 2018. Scholarship awards will be mailed by January 2019 to the address provided on the application.
How to Apply?
Interested applicants must complete the online scholarship form and submit a college transcript (high school transcript for enrolled freshmen) to msrecyclingcoalition@gmail.com. Transcripts are not required to be an official copy. Applications without transcripts will be considered incomplete and not eligible for a scholarship.
Questions
For more information, contact MRC’s Scholarship Committee Chair, Dr. Mary Love Tagert at mltagert@abe.msstate.edu or (662) 325-4617.
The City of Hattiesburg is the recipient of the 2017 “Local Government Recycler of the Year” Award for the state. Under a new administration, Hattiesburg has made great strides in increasing participation in the City’s recycling program. The City conducts various outreach activities and programs in area schools and as part of community events throughout the year to promote recycling and educate residents on its many benefits. In addition, the City’s Recycling Division under the Public Works Department has put several plans in place to increase recycling rates in the City including working with community and neighborhood organizations, conducting marketing of the program through various methods.
The University of Mississippi is the recipient of the 2017 “Educational Institution Recycler of the Year” Award for the state. The University of Mississippi conducts several programs and projects which encourage students, faculty, staff and visitors to reduce waste, reuse and recycle. The University has a campus-wide recycling program collecting mixed paper, cardboard, plastics #1 and #2, aluminum and steel. Recycling stations are provided in all buildings on campus and large roll-off bins are available in various locations around campus for the collection of larger amounts of materials making recycling easier and more convenient. In addition, the University collects recyclables during football season as part of their Green Grove Gameday Recycling Program with the help of student volunteers who hand out recycling bags and sort collected materials at the Oxford Recycling Center after the game. Also, the University operates an on-campus composting facility as part of the UM Composting Program. Since the program’s establishment in 2013 more than 45 tons of pre-consumer food waste collected from various campus dining locations around campus has been diverted from the landfill. The UM Composting Program is also working to complete the loop by partnering with the UM Food Bank and UM Garden Club. Expired food from the food bank is composted, the finished compost is used in the UM Garden, and produce grown in the garden is sent to the Food Bank.
PACCAR Engine Company is the recipient of the 2017 “Business and Industry Recycler of the Year” Award for the state. PACCAR Engine Company in Columbus, MS has been a zero waste facility since starting production in 2010, and in 2016 was admitted to MDEQ’s EnHance Program at the Steward Level. As part of their application for EnHance, the company developed a project to reduce the amount of wood waste produced by using plastic returnable containers instead of wooden crates to transport their products. This change enabled PACCAR to reduce the amount of wood waste from over 1200 tons in 2015 to less than 700 tons in 2017, a 43% reduction. In addition, PACCAR has installed new equipment which allows for the reworking of engines in a manner that could not be done in the past. This practice has resulted in less engines being scrapped reducing the amount of scrap metal waste produced. In 2017, PACCAR reused or recycled nearly 5800 tons of materials including wood waste, plastics, scrap metal and cardboard.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is the recipient of the 2017 “State Agency Recycler of the Year” Award for the state. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has been recycling within the agency’s facilities since the early nineties, but has recently increased efforts to improve MDEQ’s recycling program to make recycling easier and more convenient for their employees and to help ensure the collection of both a higher quantity and quality of materials for recycling. These efforts include working more closely with the agency’s recycler, Allen’s Recycling, to streamline collection and reduce contamination; increasing the Recycling and Waste Reduction Branch staff; developing a new employee recycling guide; adding new bin and promotional signage at various locations within agency facilities; consolidating and increasing bins where necessary to maximize convenience; and meeting with the different divisions within the agency to present information on the recycling program and answer questions. In addition, the MDEQ continues to lead and assist other state agencies and institutions with recycling as well as promote and encourage recycling throughout the state.
Keep Ridgeland Beautiful is the recipient of the 2017 “Non-Profit Organization Recycler of the Year” Award. Keep Ridgeland Beautiful (KRB) is a local affiliate of the Keep America Beautiful (KAB) organization. As part of their mission, KRB works with the City, area schools and other community organizations to educate residents on the importance of recycling through various outreach and education activities and community events. These efforts include partnering with Ridgeland High School on their recycling program, adding recycling bins in area parks using grant funds, installing a bottle filler in Friendship Park using MDEQ grant funds, and participating in Ridgeland’s Kids Fest and Trunk or Treat events to engage attendees on the importance of recycling. Recently, KRB, with the help of a $5000 grant from PepsiCo created a recycling mascot for the City called the Ridgeland Recycle Ranger. Recycle Ranger, a recycling super hero of sorts, has been a positive addition to the KRB team helping to convey the message of recycling in his travels around the City and to special events including the National Keep America Beautiful meeting in Dallas. Recycle Ranger has also been featured in KRB’s 12 month PSA Billboard campaign in Ridgeland and in Ridgeland Life’s 2017 Winter Magazine. For their commitment to promote and grow recycling in their community, Keep Ridgeland Beautiful receives the 2017 Non-Profit Organization Recycler of the Year Award for the State of Mississippi.
City of Winona is the recipient of the 2017 “New Program Recycler of the Year” Award. The City of Winona started the recycling program in 2016 with one drop off location consisting of one 16 cubic yard roll-off bin purchased through MDEQ grant funding. This brightly colored bin displaying recyclables as cartoon like characters with happy faces not only serves to hold materials, but also to help promote the program. The local garden club and other community organizations also help the City promote the new program to residents by conducting presentations at the Public Library and area schools. The promotion of the City’s recycling program has been so successful that the roll-off was needing to be emptied two to three times a week or more. To keep up with the residents’ enthusiasm, the City purchased an additional bin, also brightly decorated, to place at the drop off site. Even with this new bin, the City is transporting a full bin of aluminum and steel cans, cardboard, mixed paper, #1 and #2 plastics to Greenwood/Leflore Recycling once a week. In addition to collecting a large quantity of materials, the City has been able to successfully educate residents on which items do not belong in the bin resulting in the collection of high quality, clean recyclables with very few instances of contamination. The City has plans to continue expanding the recycling program to best serve their residents.
