sustainability – Residence Life

Making Sustainability an Aggie Tradition.

Explore how Residence Life supports sustainability and helps educate our vibrant student community—building a lasting Aggie tradition of sustainable living.

Aggie Green Fund

Projects and Programs

Construction Projects

Texas A&M strives to renovate and expand its buildings and infrastructure, which means LOTS of construction! Residence Life creates strategies to ensure we minimize wasted material from construction projects, saving resources in the process.

Donate, Don’t Dump

Moving Out?

Drop-off your unwanted dorm items at donations bins conveniently located on campus between April 27 – May 9

Donate gently used household items instead of throwing them away. Donation bins are available at the Southside 24‑Hour Desk (The Commons), Northside Area 24‑Hour Desk (Hullabaloo), and the White Creek Activity Center Office.

Accepted items include small furniture and household goods in good condition. Textile donations are accepted at green textile recycling bins, and food donations can be placed at 12th Can pocket pantries across campus.

Preparing to move out of the residence halls and discovered you acquired more stuff than you remembered? Instead of throwing away goods and contributing to the landfill, donate your material to our Donate, Don’t Dump program! Residence Life partners with Goodwill and a host of nonprofit partners during move-out to give students that opportunity. Accepted items include electronics, small appliances, clothing, towels, rugs, shoes and other household items. Unopened, unexpired and nonperishable food items can be donated to Residence Life’s Grocery Give & Grab program.

Fill It Forward

Fill It Forward is a Canadian-based company that makes reusable water bottles and coffee cups. In addition, they also make stickers that can be placed onto a reusable water bottle you already own. Each of their products has a barcode that is tied to their Fill It Forward phone application, free for both iPhone and Android. Every time the bottle is refilled, the user scans the barcode in the app. Based on the size of the bottle, it will calculate a variety of positive environmental metrics. These include the pounds of carbon dioxide emissions prevented from being released into the atmosphere, ounces of microplastics saved from the oceans, and pounds of waste diverted from landfills, among others.

Not only does Fill It Forward track your positive environmental footprint, but it also promotes social sustainability. For every scan, Fill It Forward donates funds to various clean water and sanitation projects across the globe in partnership with various charities. The app denotes how many scans it will take to fund each project and indicates how many scans the user has contributed to that specific project. Projects range from rainwater cisterns and handwashing stations to funds for freshwater protection laws and educator positions in rural communities.

You can request a Residence Life Fill It Forward sticker by going to tx. ag/FillItForward. More information on Fill It Forward can be found on their website at https://www.fillitforward.com/. An informational video that is presented to Texas A&M community members can be found on the Aggie Eco-Rep’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/9EIa1JXIg4o.

Grocery Give & Grab

Since the Spring of 2019, the Grocery Give & Grab (G3) program has allowed residents to donate any food items that are unopened, unexpired, and nonperishable as they leave for winter break or the Summer. In addition, other residents experiencing food insecurity are encouraged to take any items they need from the shelves at any time. Residence Life staff check the bins daily and remove items not meeting the donation criteria. In addition, beginning Fall 2022, G3 locations were added to the 12th Can’s list of Pocket Pantries across campus to provide convenient access to food for students in need.

G3 Pocket Pantry Locations:

Hullabaloo 24-Hr Desk
Commons near Community Learning Center entrance
White Creek Activity Center
Gardens Apartments Community Center
Residence Life Central Office (3rd Floor, Student Services Building)

Examples of Donatable Goods:

Canned fruit
Soups
Cereal
Peanut butter
Rice/pasta/crackers
Granola bars

Recyling

The Department of Residence Life at Texas A&M University works tirelessly to ensure students in the residence halls can recycle. With over 100 recycling bins in the residence halls, all students have the opportunity to recycle and protect the environment. Funding for the bins come from various projects like the Aggie Green Fund and the Keep America Beautiful campaign, to name a few. In 2013, Residence Life received funding from the Aggie Green Fund to install three-stream recycling bins in the residence halls. These bins enable students to conveniently recycle plastic, aluminum and paper. For a map of recycling bins close to you, please Texas A&M On-Campus Recycling Locations.

Utilities

Because of its direct impact on carbon emissions emitted from generating energy for our residence halls, we work closely with the award-winning Utilities and Energy Services on a regular basis to address any concerns about inefficiencies. By addressing these issues early, we increase the effectiveness of the residence halls’ systems and maintain a high living standard for students living in the residence halls.

Water Bottle Filling Stations

Residence Life knows that staying hydrated is key to student health and success. Since 2015, the department has installed water bottle filling stations throughout the residence halls, thanks to grants from the Aggie Green Fund and scheduled departmental upgrades to halls. These stations provide clean, fresh, chilled water to our students and reduce the amount of waste generated by encouraging residents to use refillable water bottles.

Sustainability Awards

The goal of the TAMU sustainability awards is to reward Aggies with a sense of achievement for their efforts in facilitating sustainable education and habits in TAMU’s residence halls.

RESIDENCE LIFE SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS

Available Resources

Resources

Textile Recycling Bin Locations

Residence Life is now offering 24/7 Textile Recycling on campus! Donate used clothes, accessories, linens, and more right here on campus!

We have different locations with nine bins in total for your convenience:

Gardens: On patio space at community Learning Center
Northside: One in the area between Hughes and Haas Residence Halls, tucked against a short wall
Between Hullabaloo and Walton Residence Halls, near bike racks
between Neeley and Hobby Residence Halls, up against Neeley Hall
Southside : One between Underwood and Appelt Residence Halls, up against Appelt and close to the Haney Drill Field
Behind Hart Hall by the dumpster enclosure
One in the area between Aston and Dunn Residence Halls, close to Spence Hall, next to an existing recycle bin
Whitecreek : Facing parking lot on sidewalk

Green Dorm Certification

Howdy and Welcome to the Department of Residence Life’s Green Dorm Certification!

Please help us make sustainability an Aggie tradition by getting your room Green Dorm Certified. The certification process is simple. The survey below will cover demographic questions, items in your room, and behaviors you engage in while living on-campus that are sustainable. The Sustainability Coordinator will reach out to you later to give you your badge to put on your door.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email [email protected].

Request Certification

Learn About Green Dorm Certification

Trex Plastics Challenge

What is Trex?

Trex is a company headquartered in Winchester, VA. They produce composite decking and outdoor furniture made from 95% recycled wood and plastic film. You can learn more by going to the Trex Eco-Friendly Decking website.

What is the challenge?

The challenge presented by Trex is to collect at least 500 pounds of plastic film within six months. Plastic collected is then sent to a local retailer, where it is then sent to a distribution center from which Trex purchases the plastic. If the 500-pound minimum is met, Trex provides a free bench to the institution.

What plastic can be collected?

Below is a list of all the types of plastic that can be recycled as part of the challenge. Please ensure all plastic is clean, dry and free of food residue.

Bread and cereal bags
Grocery bags
Dry cleaning bags
Newspaper sleeves
Ice bags
Ziplock and other re-sealable bags
Produce bags
Bubble wrap
Packaging air pillows
Food storage bags
Salt bags
Product wrap

Where are the drop-off locations?

Location maps can be accessed by clicking on the location links below, by viewing a map of all 5 locations, or by going to the Texas A&M Interactive Campus Map and searching for the location(s).

We have different locations with nine bins in total for your convenience:

Gardens: On patio space at community Learning Center
Northside: One in the area between Hughes and Haas Residence Halls, tucked against a short wall
Between Hullabaloo and Walton Residence Halls, near bike racks
between Neeley and Hobby Residence Halls, up against Neeley Hall
Southside : One between Underwood and Appelt Residence Halls, up against Appelt and close to the Haney Drill Field
Behind Hart Hall by the dumpster enclosure
One in the area between Aston and Dunn Residence Halls, close to Spence Hall, next to an existing recycle bin
Whitecreek : Facing parking lot on sidewalk

Gardens Community Center – Can be accessed by taking Bus Route 04 – Gig ‘Em
Hullabaloo Hall 24-Hour Desk – Can be accessed by taking Bus Route 01 – Bonfire or Bus Route 02 – Replant
Commons 24-Hour Desk – Can be accessed by taking Bus Route 01 – Bonfire
White Creek Activity Center – Can be accessed by taking Bus Route 03 – Yell Practice

Outside of Residence Life bin locations:

1. Inside the Uniform Distribution Center, behind the front counter.

2. Gainer Dorm 5, first floor by the laundry room.

3. Back side of Sbisa dining hall.

4. The 2nd floor of the Anthropology building

U-Challenge (Utilities Challenge)

The U-Challenge will provide students the unique opportunity to gain access to the data about the residence halls here at Texas A&M University. Students will use this information, and draw upon the expertise of the staff from Utilities and Energy Services and Residence Life, to learn about the current proficiency of the buildings and propose ways to increase the buildings’ efficiency to a panel of staff, faculty, and administration. All majors and classifications are encouraged to participate. For more information, download the Utilities Challenge Outline. To apply, complete the U-Challenge Application online.

U-Challenge Informational Session

The next Utilities Challenge Informational Session for our 9th Annual Utilities Challenge will be Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., in Hullabaloo 105. Applications will open Thursday, Nov. 14, at 9 a.m.

Annual U-Challenge

8th Annual U-Challenge (2024-2025)

Undergraduate Level

Team Davis-gary Likith Kancharlapalli, Suhana Khondker, Vidhya Patel
Team Haas Manya Tiwari, Marie Zinman, Adrian Flores, Kuhu Jaiswal
Team Moses Lucky Obor, Benjamin Hensley, Arnav Gowda, Marcelle Kabunga , Kaleb Mindieta
Team Schuhmacher Avery Casanova, Kyeongseo Choi