Campus Operations Sustainability Work Group

Transcription

1 Campus Operations Sustainability Work Group University of Oregon Campus Operations, Growing Sustainability Volume 19 Spring 2014 Message From F.S. Sustainability Work Group Feedback, Please The Sustainability Work Group needs your help. Keep us informed of your great work, ideas, and feedback as you read these newsletters. Please send ideas for stories and Superstar nominations. comments to: In This Issue EPA Waste Characterization Report 2. Sustainability Facts 3. Sustainability at the New EMU 4. Tips to Reduce Plastic Waste 5. RecycleMania Civil War Results 6. Zero Waste Campus Toolkit 7. Vermont passes GMO labeling law 8. Earth Day 2014 Recap 9. Sustainability Superstar: Gordon Bettles 10. Business Commute Challenge 11. Deskside Composting Update 12. Drought Predicitions 13. Reuse in your Spring garden News Headline EPA releases the 2012 Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) report. The EPA compiles a report on the US s municpal solid waste generation from each year. These reports generally take over a year to compile and release. Report highlights: United States recycling and composting rate at 34.5% MSW generation rate was at 4.3 pounds per person per day. 87 million tons of MSW was recycled and composted saving enough energy to power 10 million houses in the US for one year. Check it out: pubs/2012_msw_fs.pdf

2 Sustainability Facts One wind turbine can produce enough electricity to power up to 300 homes If it could be properly harnessed, there s enough sunlight that falls on the earth in just one hour to meet the world energy demands for a whole year! amazing-facts-about-renewable-energy/ Oregon actually receives as much solar energy as the national average go_solar/default.aspx In 2011, 80 percent of Oregon s net electricity generation was from conventional hydroelectric power plants and other renewable energy resources. Sustainability at the new EMU The EMU renovation project is underway! The design team repsonsible for planning the renovation considered the sustainability and energy costs of the building in its planning. As a result, the new EMU plan incorporates a wide array of sustainability-minded features, including: Passive daylighting and natural ventilation A system for recovering waste heat for reuse from areas such as The Craft Center or kitchens. Energy systems compatible with photovoltaic systems to be installed in the future. LEED Gold certification or better in the new student wing. Reuse of pre-existing materials from demolished portions of old EMU. Use of the precautionary principle when selecting materials for new buildings. Rainwater harvesting (alternate) for use in irrigation and flushing toilettes will reduce water consumption. Tips to Reduce Plastic Waste As plastic pollution continues to grow in our landfills and oceans, serious health risks are posed when plastics photodegrade and are ingested by marine life and humans. Try these tips to reduce the amount of plastics in your life: -Stop using plastic straws. Instead use reusable glass and stainless steel ones or not at all. -Buy boxes instead of bottles. Items like laundry detergent may come in boxes instead of bottles and are more easily recycled. -Purchase food, like cereal, pasta, and rice from bulk bins and fill a reusable bag or container. You save money and unnecessary packaging. -Avoid buying frozen foods because their packaging is mostly plastic. Even those that appear to be cardboard are coated in a thin layer of plastic. Plus you ll be eating fewer processed foods! -Use a reusable produce bag. A single plastic bag can take 1,000 years to degrade. Purchase or make your own reusable produce bag and save our oceans! The previous facts were found at the Green Education Foundation website, at:

3 RecycleMania Civil War Results Once again the UO received stiff competition from OSU in our own RecycleMania Civil War. However, as was the case with last year, the Ducks dug deep and were able to recycle and compost pounds per person on average compared to OSU s pounds per person. The RecycleMania competition lasted 8 weeks during Winter term and tested each schools ability to handle their waste appropriately. RecycleMania is a annual challenge that the University of Oregon participates in with hundreds of other schools across the nation. The goal of ReycleMania is to motivate students, faculty and staff to increase efforts in reducing waste generated on campus. This was the second year in a row that the Ducks have won and we look to encourage more friendly competition in the years to come. Since all students, faculty, and staff are counted in the Civil War competition, we would also like to thank you for helping us bring home the trophy. Go Ducks! Zero Waste Campus Toolkit The UO Campus Zero Waste Program has recently released the Zero Waste Campus Toolkit. This is a resource for colleges and universities to draw from to transform their campus into a zero waste campus. The toolkit includes samples for a zero waste campus commitment, a zero waste campus policy and implementation procedures, as well as a multitude of other resources. This toolkit focuses on campuses but it can be a great resource for other organizations to use as well as it outlines the principles of zero waste business practices and has useful links for starting a zero waste program anywhere. The Zero Waste Toolkit is the result of collaboration over the past two years between the UO Campus Zero Waste Program, the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC) and Good Company. To view the Zero Waste Campus Toolkit visit: ZERO WASTE Campus Toolkit What Goes Around Comes Around

4 Earth Day 2014 For Earth Day 2014, the UO Campus Zero Waste Program represented in full force and provided lots of educational and fun activities. Some of the activities pictured on the right from top to bottom include: Student Recycler Alex F. waiting to give a quiz to test the general public on their knowledge of climate change; a sorority member signing a Go Green pledge for Fraternity-Sorority Life; an interactive art piece where people wrote down what Earth Day meant to them; and our ever popular Take a Picture With a Tree Activity, where students can get a picture of themselves standing next to a real live tree! Other student and community groups came to spread the word about sustainable intiatives going on around Lane County. There was a bicycle-powered smoothie machine serving up fresh fruit smoothies, local fruit samples from The Kiva, bicycle powered music from KWVA, local honey samplings, representatives from Sprout!, a year round farmers market and start-up kitchen based out of Springfield, and more! The rain was heavy at times, but couldn t dampen spirits as we celebrated Earth Day!

5 Sustainability Superstar Gordon Bettles Congratulations and thank you for promoting sustainabilty in the campus community! Gordon Bettles is the building manager of the Many Nations Longhouse. The Many Nations Longhouse was officially opened in 2005 replacing the former longhouse that was a former army barracks. The purpose of the longhouse is to provide a safe space for the UO Native American community to practice and share their culture. Since its opening, Bettles has had a goal of reducing waste created at the Longhouse. Bettles says that Native American culture and lifestyle doesn t lend itself to waste, which is reflected in the culture of the building s operation. Both Bettles and the NASU (Native American Student Union) have encouraged building users to have zero waste events and to use reusables over disposables since the building s opening. The Longhouse has been Bettles in the Many Nations Longhouse composting since the service became available from the Zero Waste Program. His sustainability efforts don t stop at zero waste. Recently all of the old inefficient appliances and electronics in the Longhouse were replaced with new energy efficient ones. Bettles chooses to use Alder as fuel for cooking fires because it burns hotter than other wood, it produces less smoke and makes more coals for cooking. The landscaping of the longhouse is all native, low maintenance, drought resilient plants and includes a living roof. Many Nations Longhouse exterior

6 Join the So who s going to be on your team? It s time for the Business Commute Challenge again! Will UO Facilities Services come back to defend its first place title for the 300+ team size category? Get ready, the BCC runs May 10-16th! The Business Commute Challenge (BCC) is an annual week-long, friendly competition amongst local area Eugene-Springfield businesses to see who can save the most non-drive alone trips in one week! (based on a formula) It s where employers and workplace teams join forces to turn the daily commute into a transportation adventure. Walk. Bike. Bus. Pool. Click. Last year, more than 2,100 local employees formed 172 teams, representing 107 businesses, took the Challenge. In just one week, the BCC participants reduced single -person car travel by 69,051 miles, reducing 70,700 pounds of carbon dioxide, and saving approximately $11,566* at today s gas prices! That s money that stays in their pocket and in our community. And that means a healthier planet. How cool is that? -Business Commute Challenge Website Vermont Passes GMO food labeling law The Vermont state legislature has passed a bill requiring all food (excluding meat and dairy) to be labeled if it contains genetically modified ingredients. Genetically modified organisms, commonly known as GMO s, are any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques Although Vermont is the only state to pass such legislation in a meaningful way, 29 others state legislatures have proposed similar bills and many countries in Europe have implemented such labeling. GMO foods have both environmentalists and health experts worried because very little research has been conducted as to whether or not GMO foods may or may not have a negative impact on our environment and on human health. Foods would be labeled produced with genetic engineering or variations on that. Read more here:

7 Deskside Composting Update Did you know that the UO Zero Waste Program offers a Deskside Composting Program? Initiated on January 11, 2013, the Program has grown to serve 69 people in 22 buildings on campus. The Program is operating on an opt-in basis where UO staff and faculty decide to add this feature to their personal workspace. Even with this relatively small membership, the Program still collects betweeen pounds of compostables a week. The most generated in a single week was 232 pounds. Since its inception, the Program has collected over 3 tons (6052 pounds) of compostables! That means that all that potential waste has been diverted from landfills, prevented harmful methane gas from being generated by landfilling, and is now being used to create nutrient rich soil. So thanks to the brave office pioneers who have elected to lead the way to a more sustainable future by helping to implement the Program around campus! If you are interested in having a compost bin at your desk, or would like to learn more about the program, please contact: Phil Chesbro Compost Coordinator-Zero Waste Program pchesbro@uoregon.edu Oregon is in a drought! Please conserve water!

8 Reuse plastic cups as planters to start seeds. Reuse Ideas for Your Spring Garden Reuse old plastic containters filled with beer as a slug trap. The slugs go in but they don t come out. dsc_0079.jpg Reuse cardboard to prevent weeds from growing in a path. Eventually it will biodegrade!