Sustainability Leader

Walmart the largest private employer in the U.S. announced it would squeeze 20 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain, the retailer rolled out Supplier Energy Efficiency Program (SEEP) with the goal of helping its suppliers save electricity and money, in turn bringing down the price of products.

The premise behind SEEP is simple -- share with its suppliers the expertise it has accumulated through making its own fleet of clubs and super stores more efficient. The program gives suppliers access to a slew of proven energy efficient technologies in the areas of lighting, HVAC, building envelope and building controls -- at the same prices Walmart pays. The results are very good!

In addition, Walmart also is promoting its Sustainability Product Index, a guide for rating the sustainability of products. The project will be rolled out in three phases, starting with a survey of all of Walmart's suppliers around the globe. The survey consists of 15 questions in four categories: energy and climate, material efficiency, natural resources and people and community. Suppliers were asked to complete the questionnaire by October 1, 2009. The Supplier Sustainability Assesment can be found here.

Visit the Walmart Sustainability web site to learn more.

Reusing 2 Liter Bottles

Click here to see a fun video of things to create with an empty 2 liter bottle.
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Shifting from Saying to Doing at Tufts University

“The goal is to transform the norm from being environmentally unfriendly to being more sustainable. People usually act out of convenience and do not realize their choices are made through what is already the default. In our society, the default is not environmentally friendly. It takes a small group of people to work to change the default to greener policies.”

Dallase Scott, a graduate student in the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program at Tufts University

Tufts’ latest environmental campaign. Shifting from Saying to Doing, is trying to change campus culture in regard to paper waste. While members of the class last semester focused on the issue of trays in the dining halls, this semester, students have turned their attention to paper usage at Tufts.

Rather than merely discussing environmental policy, students study behavioral approaches to change and their own individual impact on the environment with the goal of empowering their peers to adopt greener practices. Students keep weekly blogs to reflect on the personal challenges they face in the paper-reduction campaign, as well as to practice effective activism and communication. To learn more click here.
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Sustainability: Different Shades of Green in Higher Education

More than 100 higher education leaders from around the country will gather at Wake Forest March 22-23 for “Taking It to the Next Level: Strategies for Adaptation across the Sustainability Curriculum” to discuss and debate the ways sustainability can be better integrated into academics. More than a dozen other national leaders in sustainability in higher education will speak at the conference. Here is the complete program: http://sustainability.wfu.edu/conference/agenda/.

The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Register at http://sustainability.wfu.edu/conference/registration/
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Johns Hopkins University to Halve CO2 Gas Emissions in 15 years

According to a press release from last week, Johns Hopkins University says it plans to cut the school's carbon dioxide emissions in half over the next 15 years. University officials announced one of the more ambitious sustainability initiatives in higher education, with a goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by more than half by 2025. The plan also calls for creation of an Environment, Sustainability and Health Institute. Officials state they will invest more than $73 million in conservation and efficiency measures.

In addition the university recently added a new undergraduate major and minor in global environmental change and sustainability as well as a new master's degree in energy policy and climate.
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Green Plastics Breakthrough by IBM and Stanford

Think of IBM, and it's most likely that computer hardware or software will come to mind well before the development of new, greener materials. However, IBM has staked out an impressive track record in matters of environmental responsibility and sustainability over the past several years. IBM's latest contribution arrives through a partnership with Stanford University researchers with whom the company has made progress in the development of sustainable, biodegradable plastics.

As described in an article on IBM's Building a Smarter Planet Blog, the collaborative research effort is leading to findings and developments with beneficial implications for improved recycling, pollution reduction, and medicine.

Environmentally sustainable plastics, smarter recycling methods, new ways to deliver medicine – these are all areas that could benefit from recent discoveries in green polymer chemistry by some of our scientists at IBM Research and Stanford University. The discoveries will be published in a paper in the American Chemical Society Journal, Macromolecules, on March 10th. You can find an abstract of the paper now at acs.org.

IBM, Stanford Unveil Green Chemistry Breakthrough You Tube Video
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Go Green And Stay In The Black

From Forbes magazine, 20 tips for going green and saving money. As an example Vanderbilt University has installed 1,500 low-flow toilets and faucets and water-free urinals since 2008. The school is already saving $250,000 a year in water costs and keeping 37 million gallons out of treatment plants--enough to cover four football fields with 30 feet of water. To read the full article and view the slide show click here.

30 Minutes on a Treadmill, Forever in a Landfill

Great 30 second commerical from Brita Filters! Click to watch.

Click here to visit FilterForGood.com
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How Much Can Be Achieved Thru Simple Measures Like Behavior Change?

There's a lot to be said for improving the efficiency of our existing building stock. But upgrading old buildings can be an expensive business, and once you tackle the low hanging fruit, there is inevitably a law of diminishing returns. So just how far we should go in retrofitting old buildings, and how much can be achieved by simple measures like behavior change—a new flagship project aims to find out.  Read the full story on bioregional.co.uk.

Americans Have Room to Improve Their Conservation Behaviors

According to the results of a national survey released recently by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities, there is a significant gap between Americans' conservation attitudes and their actual behaviors.

Large majorities of Americans say that it is very or somewhat important to turn off unneeded lights (93%), lower the thermostat in winter (82%), and use public transportation or carpool (72%), among other conservation behaviors. Yet the study found a number of large gaps between these positive attitudes and actual behavior. For example:

• 88 percent of Americans say it is important to recycle at home, but only 51 percent "often" or "always" do;
• 81 percent say it is important to use re-usable shopping bags, but only 33 percent "often" or "always" do;
• 76 percent say it is important to buy locally grown food, but only 26 percent "often" or "always" do;
• 76 percent say it is important to walk or bike instead of driving, but only 15 percent "often" or "always" do;
• 72 percent of Americans say it is important to use public transportation or carpool, but only 10 percent say they "often" or "always" do;

The results come from a nationally representative survey of 1,001 American adults, age 18 and older. The sample was weighted to correspond with U.S. Census Bureau parameters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percent, with 95 percent confidence. The survey was designed by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities and conducted from December 24, 2009 to January 3, 2010 by Knowledge Networks, using an online research panel of American adults. The report can be seen here.

Sustainable Campus Committee Mission Statement

"The mission of the Sustainability Committee is to provide a comprehensive strategy for improving our resource management through measures such as recycling, waste stream management, energy conservation, green purchasing, and raising campus awareness on environmental stewardship. "

Over the last few years we have made steady progress towards achieving a sustainable lifestyle at Peace College. We have migrated away from traditional cleaning products and now use green cleaning products from Rochester Midland Corporation. RMC was the first company in the world to receive Green Seal Certification (GS-37) of industrial and institutional cleaning products. Switching to green cleaners can significantly improve indoor air quality; reduce cleaning-related health problems and absenteeism and increases performance of students and staff alike. Green chemicals are safer for the housekeeping staff, everyone that works or visits our campus and the environment. In addition we have made important reductions in water and energy usage. Our reduce, reuse and recycle efforts have reduced our waste stream by nearly 1/3 pound per person and increased our recycling by 41% since 2008.

The Green Team continues to affect behavioral change throughout campus. The food and trash audits and office inspections with pass/fail certificates help to encourage each of us to reduce, reuse and recycle. Click here to view a partial list of our accomplishments.