Sustainability at Mines

Bee Campus USA is an initiative of the Xerces Society, aimed at promoting pollinator conservation on college campuses. SDSMT is proud to be designated as a Bee Campus USA, reflecting our commitment to creating a sustainable environment for pollinators.

To maintain our Bee Campus USA designation, Mines engages in various activities:

• Habitat Creation and Enhancement: We have established pollinator-friendly gardens featuring native flowering plants that provide essential nectar and pollen sources.
• Education and Outreach: We host workshops and seminars on pollinator health, and provide educational signage around campus to raise awareness.
• Service-Learning Projects: Students participate in projects such as planting pollinator gardens and researching pollinator behavior and health.
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM): We implement sustainable pest management techniques that minimize harm to pollinators.

Environmental Impact

Our Bee Campus USA designation has significantly enhanced biodiversity on campus through the creation of habitats for pollinators and other wildlife. This diversity contributes to improved ecosystem health and resilience, supporting the presence of various pollinator species that play crucial roles in maintaining our environmental balance.

Educational Opportunities

Being a Bee Campus USA offers numerous hands-on learning experiences for students in biology, environmental science, and related fields. These opportunities include participating in pollinator garden projects, attending workshops on pollinator conservation, and conducting research on pollinator behavior and health. Additionally, our efforts have increased awareness and knowledge about pollinator conservation among the entire campus community and beyond.

Community Engagement

Our Bee Campus USA initiatives have strengthened community ties through collaborative projects and events focused on pollinator health. These activities provide meaningful opportunities for students to engage in environmental stewardship, fostering a sense of responsibility and connection to the natural world. Through these efforts, we aim to inspire a broader community commitment to sustainable practices and pollinator protection.

Get Involved:

Join Our Efforts

We invite students, faculty, and staff to actively participate in our pollinator conservation efforts. You can volunteer in our pollinator gardens, helping to plant and maintain habitats that support pollinator health. Additionally, you can attend our workshops and seminars to learn more about pollinators and how to support them.

Contribute Ideas

We are always looking for new projects and initiatives to further our Bee Campus USA goals. If you have ideas or suggestions, we welcome your input. By sharing your thoughts, you can play a direct role in shaping our sustainability journey and making a positive impact on our campus environment.

Support Our Mission

Supporting our mission can take many forms, from volunteering your time to providing financial or in-kind contributions. Donations and sponsorships are crucial for expanding our pollinator-friendly initiatives and educational programs. Your support helps us create more habitats, offer more workshops, and engage more people in our conservation efforts. Learn how you can contribute and make a difference in our mission to protect pollinators.

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Recycling bins are conveniently located throughout campus to make it easy for everyone to recycle. Here’s how to use them effectively:

Can Be Recycled:

• Plastic bottles and containers
• General rule: hard plastics can be recycled
• Aluminum cans
• Glass bottles

Cannot Be Recycled:

• Food waste
• Plastic bags (can be recycled at Walmart or Target)
• Styrofoam
• Electronics (most can be recycled at Best Buy)
• Hazardous materials
• Paper

Recycling bins are located in all academic buildings, dormitories, and common areas

Paper recycling bins are designated for paper products only. Here are the guidelines for paper recycling:

Can be Recycled:

• Office Paper
• Newspapers
• Notebooks
• Envelopes

Cannot be Recycled:

• Glossy paper
• Paper towels
• Tissues
• Food-contaminated paper

Paper bins are located throughout all academic buildings, dormitories, and common areas.

Candy Wrapper Recycling

Our candy wrapper recycling initiative allows you to recycle various types of candy wrappers, helping to reduce waste and promote sustainability on campus.

What Can Be Recycled:

• Candy wrappers made from plastic and foil
• Snack wrappers such as chip bags and granola bar wrappers

NO BIG BAGS THAT HOLD CANDY

The recycling box for the candy wrappers is located in the hallway along the wall on the way to the Rocker Shop. Additionally, many offices have containers for candy wrappers. If you have an office or see an office with candy offered but no candy wrapper recycling next to it, please contact ecs@mines.sdsmt.edu with the office number and email.

Hard-to-Recycle Plastics

We accept a range of hard-to-recycle plastics to ensure these items are properly processed and do not end up in landfills. These plastics are BRAND SPECIFIC at the moment.

What Can I Recycle? 

The Hard-to-recycle plastics bin can be found in the Surbeck Center, in the hallway to the Rocker Shop.

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Center for Green Solid-State Electric Power Generation and Storage (CEPS)

CEPS vision and mission is to become a center of excellence in developing eco-friendly, safe, and economically feasible all-solid-state energy storage technology for portable and medical applications, automotive industry, centralized and decentralized electric grids, military applications, and energy security. Learn More

Areas of Research:

• PFAS and Emerging Contaminants
• Tribal STEM Infrastructure and Construction
• Carbon CRUSH
• Agriculture and Water Resources

If you are interested and want to learn more or become a student researcher, Contact:
Lisa.kunza@sdsmt.edu
(605)-394-2449

 

Composite and Nanocomposite Advanced Manufacturing (CNAM) - Biomaterials Center

The overall goals of the CNAM-Bio Center are to synthesize low cost biodegradable biopolymers from renewable sources (such as agricultural waste biomass and methane) using polymer-producing microbes and extremophilic bioprocessing; and to develop commercially viable processes to transform these materials into valuable biopolymer and biocomposite products. Learn More 

In addition to the Center of Sustainable Solutions, Mines supports research in various other sustainability-related areas across campus.

 

Our faculty conduct research on a wide range of sustainable content.

• Chemical and Biological Engineering
• Chemistry, Biology and Health Sciences
• Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Geology and Geological Engineering
• Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Mining Engineering and Management
• Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
• Physics 

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Res Halls

Residence Life is dedicated to reducing its environmental footprint through efficient building planning and management. Palmerton and Connolly Halls were recently certified LEED Gold. Xeriscape projects around Palmerton, Connolly, and Peterson Halls requires no irrigation and all plantings are native to South Dakota. New energy efficient boilers, including a new digitally managed boiler in Palmerton and Connolly, reduce energy consumption in the residence halls.

New washers and dryers in the residence halls and covered bicycle shelters are just a few recent changes to encourage reduced-impact lifestyles.

 

Dining Services

Our reusable-to-go container program in the Hardrocker Café allows our guests to take their meal on the go to meet the needs of their busy schedules. This not only is a great service for our guests, it reduces the amount of disposable product usage. 

We minimize our waste by reducing, reusing, and recycling and we minimize our footprint through our waste reduction efforts. Across our operations, we have established practices from initial purchase to final waste disposal that decrease the overall cost of waste both environmentally and financially. We utilize a system called Lean Path to track our kitchen waste and then all food is separated and saved for local farmers to pick up to feed their various animals. 

We recycle items from the kitchen including cardboard, cans, plastic and fryer oil. 

We procure environmentally minded products for our disposables in catering and retail as much as feasible. 

We focus on plant forward menu items throughout our operations. 

We have introduced the utilization of iPads for electronic production packets which reduces our printing by 2 cases of paper per month.

 

Renewable Energy Generation

Overlooking campus stands a 20kW Redriven Wind Turbine, funded by Black Hills Energy, which has served as a valuable research project. Solar panels are located near the Foundry on the east side of campus, as well as near the wind turbine, providing hands-on design experience for many students. In the coming years, we plan to install an 84.5 kW DC rooftop solar array at the Vanderboom Laboratory for Entrepreneurial Research.

 

Office of Procurement Management

South Dakota Mines purchases from contracts setup by the Office of Procurement Management (OPM) in Pierre, SD. OPM has awarded a number of contracts that have “green/recycled/eco-friendly” items which our campus is able to purchase through SDezBuy (purchase order system). Examples of these contracts: Staples (Janitorial & Cleaning), Grainger and Fastenal (Maintenance, Repair, Operating Supplies), and Heartland and Cole (recycled paper), all offer “green” items. The Staples contract has over 1,600 items that are considered Eco-Conscious/Recycled. Also, all of these contracts have programs to decrease materials and eliminate waste when shipping their items.

 

Recent Environmental Efforts:

LED Retrofits LED retrofits are being completed continually in main areas and on all the larger renovation projects to reduce energy use.

FloorScore Flooring All residence halls have had new flooring that meets FloorScore standards for indoor air quality.

Double Sided Printing The Sustainability Committee implemented double-sided printing as the default option in Surbeck Center to reduce paper waste

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