President Bush has declared Saturday, Nov. 15 as "America Recycles Day." The goal is to educate Americans about the need to recycle, and to purchase more products made from recycled materials. NIH is using this as an opportunity to inform and educate employees of the existing recycling program and how to participate in it.

During the week of Nov. 17, large banners will be displayed at key locations on campus and educational materials will be provided in various buildings to promote recycling awareness. The recycling program is covered in detail on the web site http://www.nih.gov/od/ors/ds/wasteguide/. Employees should review the information on the site to ensure that they are recycling all materials that are part of the current recycling program.

"The NIH can only achieve the goal of recycling 50 percent of the solid waste stream with your help," said Donald Wilson of the Office of Research Facilities. "We are currently recycling approximately 3,000 tons per year, which is a little less than 30 percent." Employees with questions about recycling may call the Division of Environmental Protection at 496-7990.

"This is an excellent time to clean out old office files and recycle the papers and file folders," added Wilson. "The NIH recycling program provides recycling hampers on request to assist with the clean-outs. This is also a good opportunity to promote increased green procurements at the NIH. There are many opportunities to purchase consumer items that are manufactured using recycled materials, such as plastic or paper."

The NIH recycling program recently expanded to include the recycling of fax, printer, laser-jet, copier toner and ink-jet cartridges of any make or brand. Collection containers have been placed in all buildings on the main campus. These containers are similar to those already in use for aluminum cans, commingled, mixed paper, pipette tip racks and white office paper.

"What makes this program even more exciting is that for each cartridge recycled, a $1 donation will be distributed among the four NIH charitable foundations (NIH Children's Inn, Camp Fantastic, the Foundation for the NIH, and Friends of the Clinical Center)," Wilson explained. "Please take the time to locate these new collection containers on your floor and pass the word along to your co-workers. By recycling your cartridges, you are directly contributing to the beneficial reuse of a commercial product. Manufacturers refill these cartridges and sell them as recycled cartridges under a variety of brand names. This recycling and reuse keeps our environment cleaner and contributes to worthy charities."