Botanical Gardens

The UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens, located on campus, consist of the McMillan Greenhouse, the 7-acre Van Landingham Glen, and the 3-acre Susie Harwood Garden.  The mission of the gardens is to promote the knowledge and appreciation of plants for educational, environmental, and aesthetic purposes. The gardens were begun in 1966 by the late biology professor emeritus, Herbert Hechenbleikner, to serve as a living classroom and have evolved into a multifaceted campus and public resource.  Collections include orchids, carnivorous plants, succulents, native plants, tropicals, and hardy outdoor trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and ferns.  The outdoor gardens are open seven days a week, and the greenhouse is open Monday through Saturday, 10-3, and Sundays from 1-4.  Students and the public are invited to visit, free of charge.  More information can be found online at gardens.uncc.edu.

Environmental Health and Safety

It is the mission of the Environmental Health and Safety Office to support the University by working with all University community members to provide a safe and healthy working, teaching, learning and living environment.  This is accomplished by providing high-quality, responsive customer-focused environmental health and safety services to the campus community.  It is our responsibility to develop environmental health and safety programs, maintain appropriate accident documentation, conduct safety inspections of all facilities and operations, audit safety programs, maintain all regulatory required reports, and generally work to reduce the risks of illness or injury.

All members of the University community share the responsibility to provide and maintain a safe and healthful campus environment and to reduce or eliminate known hazards.  Each individual is expected to exercise appropriate care in the conduct of his or her activities to preserve the safety and health of self and others.  For more information, please visit safety.uncc.edu.

Recycling

Recycling services are coordinated by the Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling within Facilities Management.  The University’s recycling program, initiated by students in 1990, currently recycles 40% of the solid waste generated on campus, including approximately 40 different materials.  Residence halls are equipped with recycling containers in trash rooms or lobbies, and a small recycling bin in each room.  Aluminum cans, steel cans, glass bottles and jars, plastics (except #6), computer paper, newspapers, magazines, and cardboard can be recycled at the residence halls.  In addition to the above materials, Styrofoam peanuts, toner cartridges, transparencies, and hard- and soft-back books can be recycled in the academic and administrative areas.

Note: After students fill the recycling bin provided in their rooms, they should bring the recyclables to the recycling container located in the building’s common area.

The recycling program can provide educational sessions for students, faculty, and staff upon request.  The program coordinates and sponsors the annual UNC Charlotte Earth Day Environmental Festival, the biannual Campus Clean-Ups, and the Take-It-or-Leave-It Tour.  For more information, contact the Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling at 704-687-0607. 

For more information about UNC Charlotte’s waste reduction and recycling activities, view the website at facilities.uncc.edu/recycling.