The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current, December 01, 2016, Page 7, Image 7

December 2016
FEATURES
Dear EarthTalk: What are some
ways I can get my college to be more
green?
– Bill Ott, Troy, New York
In re c e n t ye a r s, c olleg es a n d
universities have recognized the
cap a ci t y f o r th e i r in de p en de n t
communities to lead the nation as
examples of sustainable and carbon-
neutral institutions. Colleges in the
U.S. and around the world have
introduced conservation measures to
reduce waste, installed solar panels
to reduce reliance on fossil fuels,
and promoted shared vehicles to
reduce carbon emissions, among other
initiatives.
Many colleges have followed the
lead of Stanford University’s “Green
Campus” program by replacing
disposable plastic utensils with
organic alternatives.
Cutlery made from potato starch
and sugarcane allows students to
simply put all waste in compost bins,
including the utensils themselves.
This compost is reintroduced in turn
as fertilizer for use on university
gardens.
Reusable mug programs accomplish
similar goals. At Portland Community
College in Oregon, bringing your own
mug gets you a five-cent discount
per drink, while other colleges with
meal plans offer similar incentive
programs.
A n d e ff o r t s t o re d u c e w a s t e
aren’t limited to the dining hall.
The University of Illinois Urbana-
Champaign and Purdue University
have partnered with Kimberly-Clark
Professional’s RightCycle program to
recycle non-hazardous lab waste.
Since joining the program in 2013,
the colleges have redirected six tons
of plastic waste from landfills for use
as shelving, flowerpots and furniture.
Meanwhile, 48 different colleges—
from Harvard to the University
of California at Santa Cruz—have
signed on with the Post-Landfill
Action Network (PLAN), which helps
universities reduce waste through
plastic-free initiatives, waste audits
and move-in/move-out collections
and subsequent sales.
Universities can also employ
renewable energies to offset power
demands from fossil fuels. Campus
solar installations have risen
dramatically in the past decade.
Large, tall structures—the style
of many academic buildings—are
ideal locations for photovoltaic
panels, especially as peak electrical
production correlates with peak
demand during daytime hours.
And photovoltaic installations are
not limited to sunny states. Colby
College completed a 1.9 megawatt
project in 2015 that is currently the
largest system in Maine.
Other forms of renewable energy
have also seen tremendous success
on college campuses. A University
of New Hampshire project provides
over 80 percent of its energy using
landfill gas.
And Ball State University in Muncie,
Ind., has replaced its outdated coal
boilers with 3,750 geothermal wells
that utilize the Earth’s interior
temperature to regulate heat in
campus buildings.
Colleges have also taken steps to
green up transportation. Vermont’s
Middlebury College introduced its
The Southwest Portland Post • 7
Middlebury College students who complete a free class on bicycle repair are rewarded
with a free discarded bike. (Photo by Robert Keren)
Yellow Bikes Cooperative in 2001 to
offer public bicycles to students for
just $6 per year.
And students there who complete
a free class on bicycle repair are
rewarded with a free discarded bike.
Many colleges also now partner
with Zipcar to offer student rates,
reducing the need for personal
vehicles on campus. And dozens of
colleges nationwide have replaced
campus car and bus fleets with
electric vehicles.
These are just a few examples of
how higher education is walking
the talk on the environment. If your
school isn’t already moving in the
same direction, there’s no time like
the present to team up with students,
faculty and administrators to initiate
earth-friendly policies and encourage
greener behaviors.
Contacts: Sustainable Stanford,
www.sustainable.stanford.edu; Post-
Landfill Action Network, www.
postlandfill.org; RightCycle, www.
kcprofessional.com/brands/kimtech/
rightcycle.
EarthTalk® is produced by Roddy
Scheer & Doug Moss and is a registered
trademark of the nonprofit Earth
Action Network. To donate, visit
www.earthtalk.org. Send questions
to: question@earthtalk.org.
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