On Earth Day, UNLV's Rebel Recycling Program will unveil a project designed to promote reusing and recycling office and student supplies.

The grand opening ceremony for the project, known as the Reusable Office Supply Exchange (R.O.S.E.), is set for 11:30 a.m. April 22 at the Rebel Recycling Center, located on the UNLV campus near Paradise Elementary School.

R.O.S.E. was developed through a partnership with the UNLV Recycling Program and the hotel management department. Students from hotel professor Tom Jones' HMD 395 course in facilities management are overseeing the project.

"This begins a new phase of the UNLV Rebel Recycling Program and expands its ability to offer recycling solutions and opportunities on campus," said Tara Pike, UNLV solid waste and recycling manager. "The presence of the R.O.S.E. project will offer students, faculty, and groups serving underprivileged people access to recycled office and school supplies at a minimal cost. The program will also offer an outlet for donating used office supplies."

"We hope the students will learn about and value recycling so that when they become business leaders, hotel-casino managers, or facility managers, they will incorporate recycling into their activities," she said.

The UNLV Rebel Recycling Program has been in existence since July 1995. The program has been collecting and processing UNLV's recyclables since March 1997. Since that time, the campus recycling program has focused primarily on faculty and staff recycling.

Pike said the R.O.S.E. project is the first opportunity for students to recycle or purchase previously used office and student supplies. Currently, UNLV recycles more than 10 tons of paper and 20 tons of cardboard per month. In addition, the program recycles aluminum, scrap metal, plastic, electronics, alkaline batteries, toner cartridges, ink jet cartridges and cell phones.

"I feel the R.O.S.E. project will be beneficial to UNLV in many ways," said Jennifer Metzyer, an HMD 395 R.O.S.E project team member. "It encourages students, faculty, and staff to be more conscientious of recycling and reusing school and office supplies. Through this project, we are continuing to emphasize the importance of recycling to preserve the world's natural resources."

"With the state's educational budget being stretched to its limits, these reusable office supplies are a great way for campus departments to save money," said Jaime Anderson, an HMD 395 R.O.S.E project team member. "Instead of paying $6 for a three-ring binder, a faculty member can get it for a quarter."