By Ben Campbell ‘16

On August 4^th, 2014, The Princeton Review rated Colgate University as the most beautiful campus in America, but that’s probably not a huge surprise to anyone who spends time here. As an intern in the Office of Sustainability and as part of our campus-wide pursuit to achieve carbon neutrality by 2019, I decided to take a closer look at the practices that make our campus so beautiful.

Taylor Lake at Colgate University

First, I looked into the methods employed to keeping the grounds on campus pristine. Facilities maintains over 500 acres of built environment and over 1,000 acres forested land. This requires 18 full time employees and several part time employees using fossil fuel-powered vehicles, such as lawn mowers and trucks, to cut grass, remove refuse, and maintain the general appearance of the campus. These vehicles used to maintain the ground use both gasoline and diesel, non-renewable sources of energy that emit greenhouse gases. According to Colgate’s 2013 Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Facilities emitted approximately 141 metric tons equivalent of CO₂ (MTeCO₂[1]) from diesel fuel and approximately 46 MTeCO₂ from gasoline fuel for activities related to grounds maintenance (i.e. mowing the Seven Oaks Golf Course and grounds of the main campus). Recently, Facilities has implemented a “reduced mowing” regime for over  30 acres of land on the old golf course, Seven Oaks, and the old ski hill. This reduction in mowing (from weekly mowing to now only a couple of times a season) has resulted in an annual savings approximately $2,000 in fuel and labor, and has reduced our carbon emissions by approximately 10 tons, which is the equivalent of not burning 1,125 gallons of gasoline.

During the winters, Facilities is tasked with keeping the many roads and paths on campus snow- and ice-free. Typical ice and snow management involves plowing and laying sodium chloride, a chemical that lowers the freezing point of ice. When sodium chloride (or table salt) runs off streets and walkways into the local ecosystem, it is hazardous to vegetation, water, and many lifeforms.  In order to avoid these environmental impacts, Colgate’s snow and ice management team uses magnesium chloride.  According to the U.S. EPA, magnesium chloride is a more environmentally friendly de-icing alternative.

As well as emissions from mowing, Colgate has emissions associated with fertilizer usage. However, Colgate only uses organic fertilizers instead of synthetically produced, inorganic fertilizers. In addition, the university uses foliar fertilizer, which is used for spot treatment (as opposed to blanket spraying). Foliar fertilizers reduce the treatment area as well as overall water consumption. Colgate’s ground crew also leaves grass clippings on the ground so they can decompose and return their nutrients back into the soil. Fertilizer application has gone down from 56,828 lbs. in 2009 to 17,630 lbs. in 2013.  Although Colgate’s grounds maintenance employs sustainable grounds keeping methods, they still have an impact upon Colgate’s net emissions via the nitrous oxide released.

So how can Colgate further reduce the approximately 170 MTeCO₂ of emissions that go towards making our campus more sustainable without compromising the beautiful results? The Sustainable Sites Initiative, which has attempted to create guidelines for sustainable landscapes, has some of the answers to ensuring institutions such as Colgate can be more sustainable:

1. Plant selection. By choosing plants that require little pesticides, fertilizer or water can go a long way towards creating a sustainable landscape by reducing the amount of attention the grounds need.

2. Controlling water run off. Most students know that when it rains at Colgate the hill turns into a series of flowing rivers, sometimes even taking over entire pathways. By improving drainage or implementing rainwater, capture can reduce erosion, as well as the potential of soil contamination from pesticide and fertilizer run off.

3. Increase sustainable uses of Colgate’s land. Colgate’s forested lands were recently certified under the American Tree Farm System for long-term sustainable management.   Colgate’s forested lands sequester over 1,500 tons of carbon each year as the trees grow and forests mature.  By increasing the campus arboretum, as suggested in the Campus Master Plan, we can further reduce emissions from mowed lawn while increasing the amount of sequestered carbon from new trees.

4. Switch fuel sources to renewable or low-carbon alternatives. By switching our mowers from diesel or gasoline to electric, hybrids, or biodiesel, we could mitigate what is a huge emission source for Colgate (approximately 141 MTeCO₂) and reduce noise pollution dramatically.

5. Educate yourself. From multi-million dollar fundraisers to several day sit-ins, the Colgate community has proven that it is capable of spectacular things. So educate yourself on sustainable practices and support keeping our campus beautiful, as well as sustainable!

Sources:

http://www.sustainablesites.org/

http://www.facilitiesnet.com/groundsmanagement/article/Planting-the-Green-Seed–8935#

http://www.colgate.edu/offices-and-services/facilities-(b-g)/departments

http://www.colgate.edu/docs/default-source/d_distinctly-colgate_sustainability_climate-action-planning/2013-greenhouse-gas-report.pdf?sfvrsn=0

[1] Metric Tons equivalent of CO₂ (MTeCO₂) is used to denote other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide or methane, as their environmental impact in terms of CO₂ so environmental impact is easily comparable.

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LET’S ALL COMPLETE 4 IN 4!
Before you leave for holiday break, complete four small actions in under four minutes to help us save energy and achieve our Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goal.

Before you leave for holiday break, don’t forget to:

1. Unplug. Unplug cell phone chargers, radios, speakers, clocks, printers/copiers, coffee makers!, tea kettles, microwaves and other kitchen appliances.  Many electronic devices continue to drain energy even if they are turned off. This is known as Phantom Load.   According to the U.S. EPA, Phantom Load is responsible for up to 40% of our electricity use!  In fact, a quarter of the energy used by your TV each year is consumed when the TV is off!
2. Turn off.  What you cannot unplug, turn off!  Turn off computers, monitors, lights, and all electronic devices.
3. Shut tight.  Close all windows and shut the blinds.
4. Turn down (the heat).  If you have a controllable office thermostat, lower it to 62 deg F. Please do not set thermostats to a temperature below 58 deg F and check to be sure thermostats remain in “Heat” (NOT “OFF”) position.

Be an energy Grinch this holiday season, do your part to help reduce energy and resource use on campus.

Be an energy Grinch this holiday season. Shut down and unplug!

Happy holidays from Colgate’s Office of Sustainability!

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Earlier this year, Colgate’s 1,059 acres of forested land received certification from the American Tree Farm System.  This designation confirms Colgate’s long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship and responsible forest management.  Certification was a part of Colgate’s larger effort to manage our forests for carbon sequestration.  In 2014, we determined that our forests store 165,491 tons of carbon and sequester an additional 1,578 tons each year.

Click here to read the article by Kellyann Hayes ’16 published in December 2014.

Colgate manages 1,059 acres of forested lands that sequester over 1,500 tons of carbon each year.

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Congratulations to Colgate’s Document Services for completing an extensive Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)® chain-of-custody sustainability audit. FSC® is an international organization that promotes responsible management of our world’s forests. The audit was led by the Printers Green Resource LLC InGreen Group, who is FSC is certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Rainforest Alliance is an accredited certifying body that can provide FSC certification and is widely regarded as the “Gold Standard” of forest certification programs.  FSC’s chain-of-custody certification verifies Document Service’s high-level commitment to environmental stewardship and responsible business practices.

In the words of Kip Manwarren, Interim Director of Document Services, “I am excited that Colgate University Document & Mail Services is supporting both responsible forestry and the sustainability efforts of Colgate University through FSC chain-of-custody certification. Offering FSC certified printed documents reflects positively on Document Services and the way we do business. We take our part in conserving the forests of the world very seriously and are committed to doing our share to preserve the world’s natural resources. We are proud of our environmental record and will continue to pursue additional venues to lessen our impact on the environment.”

Located on the lower level of O’Connor Campus Center (Coop), Document Services provides copying and offset printing services as well as type and graphic design for students, faculty, staff, and administration. Products offered include; booklets, flyers, brochures, announcements, stationery, business cards, distributions, tickets, invitations, course packets, post cards and more. Document Services also provides assistance with copyright clearance and produces course packets which are available through the Colgate Bookstore. As an FSC certified printer, Document Services can add the FSC mark to any qualifying job to show that the piece was produced on responsibly sourced paper. If desired, the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal can also be added to the FSC trade marks.  Both logos identify Document Service’s and Colgate University’s commitment to environmental stewardship and are valued by people everywhere who receive your documents!

Colgate Document Services receives Forest Stewardship Council and Rainforest Alliance Certification.

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