Home > Sustainability > FAQ's
Sustainability on Campus Frequently Asked Questions
What classes can I take on sustainability at Meredith College?
View the listing of 2009-2010 classes that incorporate sustainability.
Is my car a low emissions vehicle (LEV)?
Use this Green Vehicle Guide from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to learn more about the emissions and fuel economy of your vehicle.
What is Facilities Services doing about campus sustainability?
In Facilities Services, we look at each project or maintenance issue from the perspective of what is the most sustainable solution and its effect the "triple bottom line." That is economical—impact of cost, environmental-impact on the planet, and social-impact on the community. This process allows us to make the right decisions for the right reasons. This has become much more of a focus in the last few years and is becoming just the way we do business. -Tom Sherry, Former Director of Operations, Facilities Services.
- Irrigation is primarily run from recycled rainwater (the lake) and only a portion of the campus is irrigated. The large turf areas in the front of campus are irrigated. The beds that are irrigated all use high efficiency drip irrigation, which has minimal evaporation, as the major portion of the system. The athletic fields and SMB internal courtyard are the only irrigated areas that use city water.
- Installing dual flush toilets and touch-less urinals and faucets in all new and renovated rest rooms.
- The vast majority of all planting we do on campus is drought resistant (also known as xeriscaping). We choose native plants when feasible and use mulch and other planning techniques to lessen the need for irrigation.
- We have installed “Bon Aqua,” a boiler plant water treatment system that utilizes strong permanent magnets instead of chemicals to eliminate scale and minerals in the plant water. In addition to not having to handle, store, and dispose of harsh chemicals, they don’t leak into the soil through any underground leaks, and it has also reduced the water consumption for the plant by thousands of gallons per day due to fewer blow down (a maintenance flush) cycles.
- We have transitioned to a salt-chlorine generator system in the pool. Instead of having to handle, store, and use caustic chlorine, we add salt periodically. The salt in the water is constantly chemically converted into a mild chlorine for pool water sanitization. The chlorine then turns back into salt and the sustainable cycle continues. The only time we need to add salt is if the water is removed or splashed out.
- We are continuing to transition to “Green Seal Certified” cleaning chemicals and green cleaning procedures in the house keeping department.
- We operate an integrated pest management program which results in a minimal use of any pesticides. We don’t do broadcast applications, as many other places do. We spot treat as necessary which greatly reduces the exposure and use of pesticides. We do, however, have an exterminator come to campus every week to spray in the residence halls and other buildings by request.
- We have hazardous waste (not much on campus) stored in EPA approved areas and have it removed and properly disposed of by a licensed environmental service every 6 months.
- All florescent bulbs that are replaced on campus are replaced with low impact bulbs which have much less mercury than their predecessor.
- We have acquired a “Bulb Eater” which is a disposal system for fluorescent lamps. This system crushes and stores the bulbs, and the associated mercury in a HEPA filtered container, which we then have picked up and disposed of, as hazardous waste. Although we use low mercury bulbs, which currently can be dumped in the normal trash in small quantities, this system keeps all of the toxic mercury out of the landfills and away from people.
Waste Reduction Highlights
- Any scrap metal we gather is periodically taken to a salvage yard for recycling. We also coordinate with any contractors on campus to have them recycle as much of their waste as possible.
- We are recycling as much as possible of any material removed on renovations and new construction. During the recent Marketing renovation, we recycled all the metal, including the aluminum ceiling grid, light fixtures and wiring, and the carpet. We recycled all the carpet removed from the Heilman renovation.
- We have partnered with local tree trimming companies to have them give us their trimming “chips” which we use as mulch on various areas of the campus. In addition to the money we save on mulch, the companies don’t have to pay for disposal and it doesn't get dumped in a land fill.
- We use composted materials such as leaves and wood chips that we receive from outside sources. We also grind our own leaves in the fall to use as mulch around the trees. The dining hall composts food waste which is removed by Brook Contracting.
- We are moving away from any gas powered golf carts to all electric as we replace each. We currently have 6 gas of 37 total on campus.
