Solar cells on MSU's new Surplus Store and Recycling Center. Tours of the center will be given as part of MSU's participation in National Campus Sustainability Week.

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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University will mark National Campus Sustainability Week beginning Oct. 19 with a series of events, including tours of its new recycling center and campus sustainability scavenger hunts.

Sponsored by the MSU Office of Campus Sustainability, the week is designed to show how individuals can make a difference when it comes to saving energy and recycling.

On Tuesday of that week, tours of MSU's newly opened Surplus Store and Recycling Center will be offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The center is on MSU's campus off Service Road, just east of the T.B. Simon Power Plant. To reserve a space for the tour, e-mail begreen@msu.edu.

For additional information on the center, please visit http://news.msu.edu/story/6812/.

During the week, there will be a campus sustainability scavenger hunt that will end at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Prizes will include a year-long bike lease courtesy of the MSU Bike Center (www.bikes.msu.edu). The first clue will be announced Oct. 19 on www.sustainability.msu.edu.

On Oct. 22, there will be a Sustainability Student Meet and Greet, a time when various students groups will discuss how they work to decrease the university's environmental footprint. The event is from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Shaw Hall patio room.

And on Oct. 23, the university community will be asked to "dim down" between noon and 1 p.m. Faculty, staff and students will be asked to turn off all non-essential electronics for that time to better understand how one person can help conserve energy every day.

Last March, as part of national Earth Hour, MSU held a one-hour dim down that resulted in a 1.5 megawatt decrease in campus energy usage - an approximately 3 percent reduction in campus energy usage.

In addition, the university will soon launch its Green Certification Program, which is designed to recognize, assist and promote the university community to take steps toward reducing its environmental footprint.

University departments and on-campus students can earn certification by completing a simple online self assessment which will be available on the Office of Campus Sustainability Web site at http://www.sustainability.msu.edu/.

For additional information on Campus Sustainability Week, visit http://www.sustainability.msu.edu/. For information on MSU's efforts to reduce energy use and waste, visit www.bespartangreen.msu.edu/.

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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.