Roger, thanks for your feedback. We've made great strides when it comes to recycling and other efforts, but we know there is always room to improve. That's one reason President Mote just signed on with nearly 300 colleges and universities to create a "climate neutral" campus here in College Park. Read the details at http://www.umd.edu/umnews/acupcc.html.

I was pleased to read about the fine things being done on campus in the "How Green is My Campus" article. However, it should be noted that the university took a big step backwards in the area of paper recycling two or three years ago when they replaced the separate containers for different types of paper with"mixed paper" containers.

White or office paper is not only probably the biggest component of the university paper recycling it is the highest quality and thus the most valuable. It can be reused for the widest variety of purposes, including the paper that allows the Terp the right to use the recycling logo. As a result it sells for the highest price, the Library of Congress was getting $245 a ton for it last April. But when it is tossed in with newspapers, junk mail, and other types of paper in mixed paper containers, its use and value drops to the lowest quality component of the mixture. The Library of Congress got only $56 a ton for mixed paper in April.

Ironically in many parts of the university, such as the library, for example, nearly all the recycled paper is white paper, already sorted out. No matter, as mixed paper, it is still only worth $56 a ton and can be used for little except corrugated cardboard. Thus when the University sells a ton of mixed paper, it is almost like they swing by the Busar's office first so that $189 in cash ($245-$56) can be tossed in on top. Hopefully as the University continues to work to become green, they will reverse that past decision to move to mixed paper.