About this Blog

Submitted by Niles Barnes on July 17, 2007 - 8:40pm
This blog provides a space for AASHE staff and campus sustainability community members to report on their work, on conferences they attend and on ideas they have for moving campus sustainability forward. Naturally, the opinions and ideas expressed in the posts on this blog belong only to the author of each post. Official AASHE positions can be found on the AASHE website. Please join the conversation by commenting on the posts!

Comments

Clean Air Cool Planet Calculator

Submitted by Brent Wood on March 5, 2009 - 3:59pm.
The calclator has way more categories in the various columns than we will be using. Is it OK, or would it effect our calculations, if I delete the columns not needed and shorten up the overall lenght of the Input page?

Green Cleaning

Submitted by Jack Deem on May 22, 2009 - 12:03pm.
Why don't more college and university campuses insist on Green Cleaning? In this day and age, many advances have been made in the development of effective cleaning methods and chemicals, as well as, the supporting equipment, tools and supplies. For all practical purposes, these developments are cost-neutral related to more traditional cleaning methods. The benefits to the campuses are many. First of all, the reduction of hazardous chemicals and associated VOC's result in a healthier environment. Usually, the number of chemicals is drastically reduced, reducing inventories and therefore the cost associated with maintaining the inventories. Modern equipment, including HEPA or near-HEPA vacuums and other equipment with dust collection capabilities, greatly reduce the dust in the air. Micro-Fiber rags help reduce the use of paper towels and, therefore, the waste stream. Green cleaning can have a significant effect on meeting LEED Certfication requirements. With the ease at which Green Cleaning implemented, and the amount of information that is readily available n the subject from such websites as www.askingroup.com and www.greencleaning.com, why don't more college and university campuses insist on Green Cleaning?

Sustainability Representatives

Submitted by Leanne Denby on May 26, 2009 - 2:32am.
One of the initiatives I am currently investigating is the idea of having dedicated Sustainability Representatives within Departments. Ideally this Representative would be a catalyst for action and the go to person between my team and the department. They would be responsbile for reporting up and down the chain within their departments to ensure that all staff were aware of what was happening, and also gather comments, suggestions, feedback to report back to my team. This role would be on top of existing work loads and would therefore need to be formally recognised in some way. I have been thinking of a similar recognition to those staff who assume the role of First Aid Officer or OH&S Officer. I would be really keen to hear from others who may have already done something like this, or from anyone who has an idea on how to make it work. Oh, and just to let you know I'm from Macquarie University in Australia, so we do have some differences in the way we operate. Thanks to anyone who has ideas!