Page 675 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

the buildings’ inefficiencies and identifying opportunities
Recycling and for improvement. The information from this audit was then
composting
Lighting efficiency included in the college’s Sustainability Management Plan.
upgrades It is most useful in an audit to target items that can lead
Water efficiency directly to specific recommendations. For instance, an audit
upgrades should quantify the performance of individual appliances so that
Reduced decision makers can identify particular ones to replace. Once
paper demand changes are implemented, the institution can monitor progress
IT system by comparing future measurements to the audit’s baseline data.
energy savings
Adequate
bike racks Recycling and waste reduction are common
Sustainable campus efforts
purchasing
Pesticide Campus sustainability efforts frequently involve waste reduc-
reduction tion, recycling, or composting. According to the most recent
Habitat comprehensive survey of campus sustainability efforts (see Fig-
restoration ure 24.2), most schools recycle or compost at least some waste,
LEED-certified and the average recycling rate reported was 29%. Waste man-
buildings agement initiatives are relatively easy to conduct because they
Renewable offer many opportunities for small-scale improvements and
energy use because people generally enjoy recycling and reducing waste.
Discounted The best-known collegiate waste management event
mass transit
Emissions is RecycleMania, a 10-week competition among schools to
reduction plans see which can recycle the most. This annual competition was
Alternative-fuel started by students, and grew to involve 523 schools by its
vehicles 13th year in 2013. University of Missouri–Kansas City won
Renewable energy the overall award that year, recycling 86% of its waste. Stu-
generation dents at California State University–San Marcos won the
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 title for per capita recycling, with 24 kg (53 lb) of material
Percentage of schools undertaking efforts recycled per student. Other top-performing schools in 2013
included Baldwin-Wallace College, Baylor College of Medi-
Figure 24.2 Campus sustainability efforts are diverse. Shown cine, Franklin and Marshall College, Johnson and Wales
are the frequency of different pursuits at schools across North University–Denver, Kendall College of Art and Design, Rutgers
America that responded to a recent comprehensive survey. University, and Valencia College.
Source: McIntosh, M., et al., 2008. Campus environment 2008: A national report “Trash audits” or “landfill on the lawn” events involve
card on sustainability in higher education. National Wildlife Federation Campus
Ecology; survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. tipping dumpsters onto a campus open space and sorting out
recyclable items (Figure 24.4). When students at Ashland
University in Ohio audited their waste, they found that 70%
Their suite of actions prevented the emission of nearly 5500 was recyclable, and they used this data to press their admin-
million tons of CO , as much as is emitted by 1100 cars in a istration to support recycling programs. Louisiana State
2
year. At De Anza College, students helped conduct a com-
prehensive audit of various buildings on campus, describing
Figure 24.4 In “landfill on the lawn” events, students sort
through rubbish and separate out recyclables. Events like this
one at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro demonstrate
to passersby just how many recyclable items are needlessly
thrown away.

Figure 24.3 A valuable tool for auditing energy use on cam-
pus is a Kill-a-Watt meter. This device measures the electrical
674 current drawn by appliances and fixtures.

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