Sustainability

  1. Housing>
  2. Sustainability>
  3. Awareness and Education

Awareness and Education

Residence Halls

GreenHouse Residential Learning Community

  • The GreenHouse residential learning community opened
    in fall 2010 in  Cole Hall. A recent article on the UW-Madison website describes the philosophy and goals behind it.
    It was created to help set students on paths to finding sustainable solutions to social and environmental challenges. Residents join with faculty and staff to explore food and agrifood systems, conservation and biodiversity, environmental justice, green business, building, and design.
  • GreenHouse community blog.
  • A pilot program to compost consumer food waste within the residence halls was begun in spring 2010 in Cole Hall. The program is being continued in 2010-2011, coinciding with the first year of the GreenHouse residential learning community there. Composting bins have been installed in Chadbourne Hall, with Smith Hall to follow in the spring semester.
    The 2009-2010 program was a student initiative with the entire hall eventually participating. The student leader produced an educational slide show on composting which was shown during a series of floor meetings. Residents voluntarily complied with procedures to dispose of appropriate compostable waste brought into the hall. University Housing dining services and facilities staff devised a handling system for the compost, with a destination of the West Madison Agricultural Research Station.

    We Conserve of UW-Madison Facilities, Planning & Management has purchased a chipper/mulcher machine to take on more compost volume as post-consumer composting is implemented in more residence halls and other campus buildings.

Recyclemania

Residents focused on the little things, like turning off lights and electronic devices not being used. In the end, all of the efforts made a big difference. Results:
 

Kronshage 34%      Barnard 28%      Ogg 12%
Slichter 33% Friedrick  27% Sellery 9%
Adams 32% Cole 18% Tripp 8%
Elizabeth Waters  32% Sullivan 18% Bradley 7%
Witte 28% Smith 13% Chadbourne  5%

 

Residence halls facilities staff took readings each week, which were compared to a three year average for each building. Other circustances pertaining to individual halls, such as infrastructure load (which varies considerably depending on the age of the hall), were factored into the averages.
 

Dining and Culinary Services

University Apartments

Many international students and families with English as a second language live in University Apartments.

Summer Conference Programs

  • Pre-college counselor orientations include environmental awareness.
  • The Summer Collegiate Experience served as a pilot in the summer of 2010 for promoting reduce/reuse/recycle messages among youth groups during summer conferences.
    Messages written on mirrors, such as "Switch it off!" or "Save electricity—turn off the AC when you leave," will be written by housekeeping staff each week. Small posters will also be put on bathroom doors and mirrors. The SCE is an eight week bridge program for students preparing to attend UW-Madison full-time in the fall.

    Baseline electricity from last summer for Slichter Hall, where the group is staying, will be taken before their stay begins, each week, and afterwards. The readings will be complicated because Slichter Hall houses administrative staff, so the office portion will have to be subtracted, and calculations made for capacity and degree days. At this time, water use specific to Slichter Hall cannot be tracked, nor was a system for weighing recycling for before and after pursued for this year. It is expected that the greatest electrical impact will come from reducing use of AC units.