Candler is proud to be a part of a Green movement that has been taking place across campus here at Emory for a number of years. As you may have heard, our new Theology and Ethics Building was designed and built with sustainability in mind; in fact, we’ve applied for LEED Silver certification, and our application is now in review. The LEED certification is the standard for Green building in the United States. All new buildings that Emory ever builds will be LEED certified. In fact, Emory has the most Green building space of any university in the country! Emory was even named 2008 Distinguished Conservationist of the Year by the Georgia Conservancy.

Candler and Emory have been up to several new Green initiatives lately. Last December, the University was closed for two days over the winter break. With mandatory building shut-downs, Emory saved over $19,000 in electrical costs! In just two days! Candler is in the midst of investigating how to install a system that will shut down the air handlers in the building overnight, which will have no noticeable effect on the school during the day and will cut between 10-15% off of our power bill and consumption!

Another campaign Emory is working on is the White Paper Recycling Campaign. Emory Recycles currently handles mixed and white paper, plastics #1-6, corrugated cardboard, phone books, magazines, glass, aluminum, scrap metal, and Styrofoam. In terms of re-selling recycled goods, far and away the most money comes from white paper. With the downturn in the economy, prices for raw recycled goods have plummeted. For instance, mixed paper has gone from $90-95/ton to $0-5/ton. White paper, however, has retained much of its value. But white paper must be separated from colored paper in order to be sold at the higher price ($170-180/ton). So Emory Recycles is launching an informational campaign to educate students, faculty, and staff about separating mixed and white paper. Plus the Theology is getting 50 new recycling bins for mixed and white paper.

Finally, food services around Emory are switching from paper, plastic, and Styrofoam packaging, plates, and cutlery to sustainable and compostable products! I know! At Cox Hall, Emory’s main food court, there are NO Styrofoam containers any more. The containers are all made of recycled sugar cane and straws and clear “plastic” lids are made from corn. No petro-chemicals, plus you can compost all of it! My entire lunch (above) came from renewable sources and then went into my home compost bin (below). How fantastic! Go Emory!

Labels: composting, Green campus, LEED building, Office of Sustainability Initiatives, recycling, white paper

posted by Candler Admissions at 3:09 PM
0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home