Heading Out

Tomorrow morning a group of 14 students along with myself and Cori and Tildsley from the Peace College Wellness Center, will head to New Orleans for an Alternative Spring Break Trip. While in New Orleans we'll stay at Camp Hope and volunteer with a local food bank and Habitat for Humanity. Many of the girls going are also a part of the Green Team. We will try and keep you updated on all the exciting things we are doing while gone.

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Survey Results Are In!

Click on the image to enlarge.

Should we at a minimum reduce the number of phone books sent to us every year?

1.2 Tons of paper really is a lot to discard annually for such little use.

RecycleMania First Month Results!

Thanks to everyone for such an improvement in our recycling program. Over the first month we have had a reduction in the amount of material we discard (combined trash & recycling), a reduction in trash and an increase in our recycling. It is up to the staff and faculty to keep this trend going while our Green Team is away.

Maintenance and Grounds has accumulated quite a large amount of scrap metal that will be taken to TT&E for recycling. When we add the weight of this material to our total we will have Meredith College eating our dust. Call me with any questions. I cannot reveal everything on this blog. Spies from Meredith are frequent readers of this blog.

Reduce, Reuse & Recycle!

Phone Books

The Green Team was alarmed on Tuesday to see the number of phone books that are delivered to our campus every year.

They are looking for your input on the usage of phone books and yellow pages. Please click on the link below to take a very brief survey.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OROpau2ISq_2bpO3uOa5cXwA_3d_3d

Do You Know What Goes In Our Landfills?

Have you ever considered what actually is in our public landfills? The attached pie chart provides a list of items and percentages of waste according to the EPA.

I had no idea that packaging, food waste and yard trimmings represent over half of the items we dispose of every day.

Nondurable goods may be defined either as goods that are used up when used once, or that have a lifespan of less than 3 years.

Examples of nondurable goods include cosmetics, cleaning products, fuel, office supplies, paper and paper products, personal products, rubber, plastics, textiles, clothing and footwear.

Durable goods a product which does not quickly wear out or more specifically, it yields services or utility over time rather than being completely used up when used once.

Examples of consumer durable goods are appliances, home furnishings, toys and games, cars, and DVD players.

Green Team Will Take You Off Catalog Lists

This week the Green Team will be collecting catalogues that you receive and would like to be unsubscribed from. We have realized that there are a number of catalogues being sent that no one wants and we would like to fix the root of the problem rather than just recycling them. Boxes will be located around campus and in the mailroom until Friday. To participate, simply place your catalogues in one of the marked boxes and the Green Team will call and unsubscribe you from them before recycling. Please contact Immie Miles or Jessica Baxter with questions.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Standard Mail accounted for about 5.8 million tons, or 2.4 percent, of municipal solid waste (otherwise known as trash or garbage) in 2005. Of this amount, 64 percent was placed in a landfill or incinerated, and 36 percent was recycled.

Municipal Solid Waste in the United States, 2007 Facts and Figures
http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw07-rpt.pdf

Alumnae Board Meeting

Thanks so much to the Alumnae Board for the opportunity to share the many accomplishments of the Green Team! I received a very warm welcome. The Board is appreciative of the efforts we are making to reduce, reuse and recycle at Peace College.

WRAL Article Featuring President Bingham

“Our campus community has rallied to finding new ways to innovate and save, with students leading a Green Team to conserve energy and be better stewards of renewable and nonrenewable resources.”

Laura Bingham, President Peace College

From February 17th interview with WRAL
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4545778/

Thanks President Bingham! We are fortunate to have a very active, enthusiastic group of vigilant students who recognize the environmental and economic benefits of reducing, reusing and recycling.

Community Stewardship

I understand the addiction to nicotine. Both my parents died of nicotine related illness. My father died at age 47 and my mother at 73. What I do not understand is why the people addicted to nicotine discard their butts on the ground. About 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide each year—making them the most-littered item. The myth that cigarette filters are biodegradable is just that, a myth. Although the filters do eventually decompose (2 to 5 years), they release harmful chemicals that enter the earth’s land and water during the decaying process. There is nothing earth-friendly about the breakdown.

Now that Peace College is a tobacco free campus, our neighbors are complaining of the unsightly trash that is being left behind by those leaving campus for a quick smoke. Trash left behind that includes items such as cigarette butts, Styrofoam food trays, aluminum cans and water bottles. As a highly visible, well respected institution shouldn’t we set the standard for community stewardship?

Trash Audit

In today’s mini audit we found many Styrofoam containers. The good news effective March 9th Styrofoam containers will not be available on campus. This will reduce our trash fairly significantly as the campus community starts using plastic reusable food trays.


While our recycling has improved, we still have a ways to go. In just a very few minutes students were able to fill 5 recycle bags from discarded trash. Thanks to all that helped to set up and participated!

Click on link below to see partial video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-237658203666318202

Helpful Hints Postcard to be Delivered.

Dean of Students Candice Johnston will be delivering index cards to everyone within the Peace College campus community. The front of the card lists simple steps for daily energy savings. The back side lists material that can be recycled in our single stream program.


Simple Steps for Daily Energy Savings

· Close blinds at end of the day
· Unplug as many items as possible when leaving for the day
· Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms
· Set thermostat to low 60’s in winter & mid 70’s in summer
· Turn your monitor off when not in use
· Turn network printer & copier off each night
· Computers off each night (except as needed by IT)
· Talk it up! Remind co-workers and students the need to reduce wasteful use of our natural resources.

Acceptable Materials for Recycling

It is not necessary to separate items, place items in single container

· Food & beverage cans
· Glass food & beverage containers
· Aluminum foil & trays
· Plastic bottles
· Plastic beverage rings
· Gable top cartons
· Newspaper & all inserts
· Magazines & catalogs
· White paper, including junk mail
· Corrugated cardboard pieces no larger than 3' x 3' in size
· Paperboard, chipboard & paper tubes

Recycling on the Rise!

Several factors have played significant roles in helping Peace College to increase recycling by nearly 50% over the last 3 weeks. First and foremost have been the enthusiastic efforts of the Peace College Green Team. The Green March Campaign led by Immie Miles has been a very effective way to educate the campus community on our recycling program. Secondly we owe special thanks to Lauren Gerber for helping Peace College to win a recycling grant from the National Recycling Coalition and The Coca-Cola Company. Due to the grant Peace College received 60 recycling bins that have been placed throughout our campus. Click on the link below for additional information,

http://alumnae.peace.edu/alumnae_affairs/press_releases/2008/12/05/nrc_coca_cola_bin_grant_awarded/

Peace College to go Styrofoam Free!

Due to the efforts of Jessica Baxter and Melanie Bissinger, Peace College will be Styrofoam free when students return from Spring Break, March 9th. The Green Team has offered to purchase 300 reusable trays that will passed out to students who take their meals to go.

Trash Audit February 19th from 11:30am to 1:00pm

Peace College held a "trash audit" on Sept. 24, 2008 to demonstrate how much recyclable material typically goes into the trash. Click on the link below to view a time-lapse movie of the event.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZxWsLehsmw

Join the Peace College Green Team in another trash audit in front of Belk Dining Hall scheduled for Thursday, February 19th from 11:30am to 1:00pm.

Have someting to offer the Peace College Green Team?

Want to join in the discussion? Simply create a Google account by clicking on the link below and you are ready to participate.

https://www.google.com/accounts

Our Charge

To identify and recommend to the President’s Cabinet specific actions and strategic plans the College community can pursue to move Peace College towards greater environmental sustainability in its operations, research, teaching and service/outreach functions. To report to the campus community on the state of the College's sustainability efforts and on future plans.