Bobcat Blend is a composting project that allows students to separate their waste into designated stations that are marked as organic, bottles & cans, and trash. The organic waste from the university cafeterias along with cardboard, food packaging paper products, and invasive river plant species gathered from the San Marcos River are mixed together and composted at the Texas State composting facility.The program educates students on compost production and strives to make them more aware of their own use and production of waste products. The final output from the waste is nutrient rich soil amendment that is placed on the campus landscape.

Collections bins, signs, a screen, and exterior holding bay will be installed at the Jones Dining Complex and The Den. The expansion helps Bobcat Blend towards its goals of composting at all campus dining establishments and further proves that Texas State is aiming to be on the forefront of environmentalism and sustainability.

The Rainwater collection project began in 2009 as means to irrigate plants that are used for teaching, research, and landscaping. The system helps the university save money on water usage costs, and promote and reflect efficient use of a valuable renewable resource to students, the community and other universities. Environmentally, collecting rainwater reduces flow to storm water drains, reduces non-point source pollution, and reduces the amount of water that needs to go to water treatment plants. Plants irrigated with rainwater are overall healthier than plants receiving tap water, which translates in to less money spent on replacing plants used for teaching each semester. In August 2011a new, 10,000 gallon rainwater collection tank was purchased to support the Department of Agriculture's Food for Thought garden. Installation of the new tank is underway.

Food for Thought Garden and Rainwater Collection Tank

The goal of this project is to encourage students to utilize reusable water bottles and reduce the amount of plastic container waste generated in our residence halls and campus. The project calls for 20 ELKAY Bottle Filling Stations at the following residence halls: Arnold, Berretta, Bexar, Blanco, Bobcat Village, Brogdon, Burleson, Butler, College Inn, Elliot, Hornsby, Jackson, Lantana, Retama, San Jacinto, San Marcos, San Saba, Smith, Sterry and Tower. The date of completion is expected to be January 31, 2012.

This project consists of installing water hydration stations on the first floor of four different buildings, where they would be accessible by a great number of students. The approved cost for this project is $22,000. The stations would be installed in this order until the money is used up: Campus Recreation (2), Alkek Library (1), Supple Science (1), and Derrick (1).

This project will provide students with magnets that list easy and applicable suggestions about how to reduce their water and energy consumption. The total cost approved for this project is $2,130. These funds will provide for 4,000 magnets, 2,000 for water conservation and 2,000 for energy consumption.