A Student's Guide to Sustainable Living at Stanford

8/14/2019 A Student's Guide to Sustainable Living at Stanford

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Welcome to Sustainable Stan ord!

Setting an example is not the main means o infuencing others; it is the only means.

Albert Einstein

Welcome to Stan orda campus that cares deeply aboutresponsible and environmentally sustainable resource use. We believe sustainability means meeting the needs or today in aresponsible ashion that does not compromise the ability to meetthe needs o our uture.

Stan ord researchers are uncovering policy and technologicalsolutions to climate change, greener buildings, and renewable ener-gy. Stan ord sta members lead by example and use environmentalsustainability as a criterion or all aspects o university operations.

Certi ed as a green business in 2004, in 2008-2009 Stan ord wasthe only school in Cali ornia to receive the highest ranking orleadership in sustainability out o 300 colleges and universitiessurveyed in North America. As we continue to seek innovative andlasting solutions to reduce our environmental ootprint, we invite

you, the most important stakeholder, to be an active part o that journey.

Tis guide has been created by your ellow students with help romcampus sta to provide you with some easy tips on an eco- riendlyli estyle on campus. Te actions your riends share as they welcome you to campus greatly complement the e orts underway by admin-istration and sta . In this guide you will see examples o speci caccomplishments in campus sustainability, and things you can dodeepen their impacts. Not every aspect is included in this booklet,and with your help we will enrich the content every year.

With your enthusiasm, support, and creativity, we look orward togetting even closer to achieving a shared vision-a truly sustainableStan ord University; your learning environment or the next ourmomentous years.

Stan ord O ce o Sustainability

O ce hours: every Monday 3:30- 5:30 PM340 Bonair Siding,Stan ord, CA 94305

Visit us athttp://sustainable.stan ord.edu


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a Te Reason Your Choices Matter

When you become a part o the Stan ord community, you are joining an academic institution dedicated to being a model or environmentalstewardship.

Knowing where your energy and water come rom is the rst step inunderstanding your environmental impact and ways to reduce it.Read on to learn where Stan ord gets its resources.

Water Stan ords drinking water comes

rom the San Francisco PublicUtilities Commission, which drawsits water primarily rom the HetchHetchy Reservoir near Yosemite.

Stan ords irrigation and grounds water comes rom our local SanFrancisquito Creek Watershed, primarily rom the Stan ord-ownedSearsville Dam, located at JasperRidge.

Electricity Most o Stan ords electricity is produced on campus at the Cardinal

Cogeneration power plant, which creates electricity rom natural gasand chilled water or cooling. Te waste heat rom electricity genera-tion is used to heat campus buildings.

Te local utility, Paci c Gas and Electric (PG&E), buys back excessenergy rom the Cogen plant.

Reasons to Go Green1. Its Easy, and It Adds Up

Your daily decisions a ect the environment in small ways that addup to large impacts. In the same way, small changes that we eachchoose to make on a daily basis can make a big di erence.

2. Its Good For YouActions that are healthy or the environment are o en healthy or you too! Consider all the extra exercise you get by biking or walk-ing instead o driving.

3. It Saves You Money Using less costs you less. For example, buying a fuorescent lightbulb instead o an incandescent one can save you more than$30 over the li e o the bulb.

4. It Saves Our PlanetAs the worlds population continues to grow, each o us needs to bemore conscious o our use in order to provide or uture generations.Our environmental choices are especially important as residents o

Cali ornia, a state that will ace impacts o climate change, and is atrendsetter to the world.

5. Your Campus Needs YouYour campus encourages you to work with the various sustainability programs to continue to keep this campus an environmentallysustainable one.

What can you do? Read on!

Why Go Green?

Quick Tips:How much is a pound of CO2? Imagine CO2 trappedin a balloon. A pound of CO2 would make a balloon thatwas 8 ft 3. With 44 lbs CO2 emitted by each of us daily, imagineeveryone on campus walking

around with a 350ft3

balloonbobbing above our heads!


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Working Hard or Hardly Working?

a Eco-Friendly Homework and Computing ips

Lets ace it: Stan ord students work. A lot. But it turns out that thereare quite a ew ways to make your work environment more eco- riendly and perhaps increase your productivity at the same time!

Studying ake advantage o Stan ords beauti-

ul sunny weather by studying undernatural daylight. Study outside, or i you pre er to not get sunburned, studyin your room with the lights o and the window shades wide open.

Save all the scratch paper you can get your hands onyoull need a lot o it when it comes time to do practice problems or exams.

Printing Despite having only 5% o the worlds population, the U.S. uses 30%

o the worlds paper. Do your part to drive that number down. When

possible, submit papers and assignments electronically. I you do needto print something, always print double-sided or on the back o scratch paper.

ry to print in economy mode; this savesink and is usually just as legible as the more waste ul ink settings.

Preview your documents to eliminate excess white space and dangling sentences. Makesure youre not printing any more pages thannecessary.

I you bring your own printer to school, besure to re ll your ink cartridges or a ew

dollars at a local store such as Walgreens, rather than buying new ones. I you do need to get rid o an old ink cartridge, recycle it! See the

recycling section or in ormation on how.

Smart Strips: Good For You and the Planet Buy a Smart Strip. Your room will likely not have enough outlets

or all o your electronics. A smart power strip

increases the number o outlets, providessurge protection, and eliminates electric-ity wasted rom phantom loads (as long as you remember to turn the strip o when you are not using it). Smart Strips are aspeci c type o power strip thatcan sense when your computer goes tosleep or is turned o , and will automati-cally turn o power to your computing peripherals (such as your printer andscanner) to protect you rom phantomloads. Smart Strips are also great or V and audio equipment. Tey are available

at the student-run Green Store or online at popular retail websites. o learn more visithttp://sustainable.stan ord.edu/sustainable_I .

Computing Put your computer to sleep! Set your power

settings to turn your monitor o a er veminutes o inactivity, and put your computerto sleep a er 10, reducing your computersenergy usage by about 95%. Better yet, shut

your computer o when you dont need itinstead o leaving it on 24/7.

Stanford Fact:

Installing Stanfords Big Fixpower management tool on

24,000 campus computers willsave an estimated $400,000 peryear, as well as reduce campus

carbon emissions by 28,000tons of CO2/year.

Quick Tips:If your printer doesntautomatically printdoublesided, dontdespair! Print only theoddnumbered pages,then put them back inthe paper tray upsidedown and print theevennumbered pageson the other side.

Quick Tips:What is a phantom orvampire load? Manyelectronics use smallamounts of energy evenwhen they are turned o .Across the U.S., 6% of ourannual energy costs comefrom these phantomenergy loads. To counterthis, unplug your electronics when you arent usingthem, or plug them intoa Smart Strip so they areturned o automatically.

Student studying outdoors


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Stan ord makes recycling efortless. Producing new products is energy, water, andresource intensive. Recycling

replaces virgin material productionand signi cantly reduces energyconsumption and greenhouse gasemissions. Case in point: recycling just one aluminum can saves enoughenergy to run a V or three hours!Every student room comes equipped with a blue recycling binuse it.

Where to Recycle What: Recycle all paper, plastic bags, bubble wrap,

and air pillows together inside the paperrecycling bins.

Recycle all glass bottles, aluminum cans,aluminum oil, tin cans, plastics bottles#1-7, Plastic #1 PE E & #2 HDPE, milk/

juice cartons and boxes, and soymilk con-tainers inside the bottle and can recycling bins.

Recycle all corrugated cardboard inthe green dumpsters.

Recycle batteries in the batteryrecycling bin, usually ound in yourhalls computer cluster.

Recycle printer cartridges, toner, cell phones, CDs, and consumer electronicdevices in electronic waste bins, oundin the housing ront desks o largerresidences or in di erent academicbuildings around campus.

Recycle larger electronic items such ascomputers and televisions by bringing them to 339 Bonair Siding, CampusRecycling Center.

Other items recycled on campus atPeninsula Sanitary Service, Inc.s (PSSI)drop-o center: construction anddemolition debris, pallets and scrap wood, and scrap metal.

Dont orget to reuse old items be oreeven sending them to the recycling center.

Print rough dra s on theback o scratch paper

or see i others in your house want toread a magazine be ore you recycle it. For largeritems you no longer need but others may want,

post them on networking sites like reecycle.org or Craigslist be ore sending them to the recycling

center or land ll. Recycle clothing and textbooks athttp://techtain.com

O LEARN MORE : Visithttp://recycling.stan ord.edu.

Zero In On Waste

a Te Many Ways to Recycle on Campus

Stanford Fact:

In 2008, Stanfords

waste diversion rate

was 64%.Bottle and can recycling bin

Cardboard recycling dumpster

Electronics recycling bin

Student awareness project


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Eating Green(and enjoying your ood more!)

Tink about what you ate yesterday. Where did it come rom? Whomade it? What chemicals were used in its production?In an ideal world, you would know the answer to all those questions, but chances are you cananswer one at most. How ood is

produced and distributed impacts your health, the health and liveli-hoods o armers, arm workers,animals, and our natural resources.

Stan ord is aspiring to be a leaderin changing our countrys oodsystem to one that is healthy, com-munity-based, environmentallysound, humane, and air.

Whats Happening in Dining?Stan ord Dining aims to be a leader in sus-

tainable ood. Certi ed as a Green Businessin 2004, Stan ord Dining has implementeddi erent programs to encourage ood sustain-ability.

Stan ord Dinings Sustainability Initiatives 40% of Stanford Dinings produce is

organic or locally grown; some is evengrown on campus at the CommunityFarm and at more than 10 student-run veg-etable-and-herb gardens around campus.

a Sustainable Dining on Campus and Beyond Stan ord Dining purchases grass- edbee , organic milk, sustainably-caughtsea ood, local and organic produce,and more!

Te campus Community Farm andcommunity herb-and-vegetable gar-dens provide organic produce to dining halls.

Dining puts on an annual Eat Local week and monthly Eat Localdinners eaturing seasonal ood. O en during these dinners,local armers come into the dining halls to meet with students.

Almost all dining halls now have compost bins or ood scraps.In 2008, Stan ord composted 1,300 tons o ood.

10,000 gallons o waste oil rom the dining halls are converted tobiodiesel each year.

In 2008, Dining began a LoveFood, Hate Waste campaign tourge students to waste less ood

and compost what is le over ontheir plates.

Le over usable food from thedining halls is donated to home-less shelters through the studentgroup SPOON, instead o going to waste.

Stan ords Dining in the Daylight program leaves the lights in dining halls o during the day to save energ y and allow students to dine undernatural daylight.Student gardener, Lauren

PonisioNorwood, with herharvest

Ricker Dinings organic garden provides herbsand vegetables for the dining hall

Student gardener, Mattias Lanas,at an Eat Local dinner


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Actions You Can ake on CampusIn the Dining Halls Go trayless! Forgoing dining hall trays

will not only save on water used to cleanthem, but will also help keep you romgrabbing too much ood. (Make sure to

compost any le overs you do have). Minimize your dishes. ry not to grab

a di erent plate or every ood item youtake.

Vote with your fork! Choose sustainableood options, including local, organic,grass- ed, antibiotic/hormone- ree, cage-ree, air trade, and vegetarian/vegan.

Make your voice heard! Ask questionsand give eedback to your che andmanager about the ood they o er.

Grow Your Own Food

Tere are many dining hall and housegardens on campus; become a student gardener or start your own! ake the hands-on Local Sustainable Agriculture class at the

Community Farm and learn sustainableagriculture techniques while growing organic produce.

Learn to cook. Live in a co-op or your ownapartment, ask to help out in the kitchen wherever you live, or participate in theCardinal Cooko sponsored by Stan ordDining.

Beyond the Dining Halls: Making Sustainable FoodChoices in the Real WorldPurchase Greener Foods Buy locally grown oods, directly i possible. ry to visit your local

armers market or sign up or a Community Supported Agriculture(CSA), in which you receive a weekly box o seasonal produce.

Buy organic. Organically grown oods are ree o nasty herbicides and pesticides that are ound on conventionally grown produce.

Tink about eating. Meat production is very energy and waterintensive. I you pre er, eliminate meat rom a single meal each week.

Eat Well While Eating Out Reduce, reuse, and save money by bringing your own water bottle,

mug, plastic ware, utensils, and bag when youre going out.Some ca s provide discounts or bringing your own mug.

Only order what you can eat or bring your le overs home with you to eat later.

Ask about restaurants practices, andsupport businesses that share your ideals.Consider:

Seasonal, organic purchasing Relationships with armers

Humane meat and dairy Sustainable sea ood Fair trade products (i.e. co ee, tea,

bananas, chocolate) Waste reduction e orts Labor standards or employees

O LEARN MORE: Visit http://eatgreen.stan ord.edu or contactthe sustainable oods coordinator atsustainable ood@stan ord.edu orthe arm educator, Sarah Wiederkehr atswied@stan ord.edu.

StanfordFact:

In 2008, 74% of Stanford

Dinings seafood was in the

Best or Good Category of the

Seafood Watch Card and, in2009, our goal is 100%.

Quick Tips:Stanford has a producestand at Tresidderevery Friday from 113during Spring, Summer,and Fall quarters. Dropby to purchase fresh,organic, seasonal, andlocally grown produce!

Quick Tips:You can make adi erence! Due to theinitiative of Stanfordstudents, most oncampuseateries switched fromstyrofoam to compostableplates and utensils.

Students at Stanfords

Community Farm.


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Getting Around the Green Way

Te Stan ord campus and the Bay Area are home to many transportationoptions. ake advantage o them! Read on or tips about how to getaround, while minimizing your costs and your carbon ootprint.

Getting Around: On Campus Walking: Stan ord promotes sa ety or pedestrians by designating Pedestrian Zones across most o central campus, where vehicle accessis restricted.

Biking: Biking is one o the astest and most common methods o getting around campus.

Stan ord is ranked as agold-level Bicycle FriendlyCommunity by the Leagueo American Bicyclists.

Te Campus Bike Shopsells locks, accessories, tools,tune-ups, and rentals. Visithttp://www.campusbike-shop.com.

Parking & ransportationServices (P& S) hosts a bike in ormation booth in White Plazaalmost every Friday rom 11 am2 pm. Drop by to register your bikeand to get answers to your biking questions. P& S also providesbicycle sa ety workshops.

Regional bike maps are available through P& S. Visithttp://transportation.stan ord.edu/bike to learn more.

Bikes can also be taken on Marguerite shuttles, buses, and onCaltrain.

Stan ords Marguerite shuttle: TeMarguerite isFREE or students and the public, and is equipped with bicycle racks.

Te Marguerite provides weekdayservice to locations throughout campus, with connections to regional transit.

Tere is also evening and weekendservice to the ollowing o -campusdestinations rom September to June:Stan ord Shopping Center, Palo Alto ransitCenter (Caltrain), and the San AntonioShopping Center ( arget, Sa eway, Sears,etc).

Getting Around: Bay Area andBeyond!Getting o campus is easier than you think. Fordetailed in o on getting to popular destinations near campus on publictransport, check out Triving at Stan ord Without A Car, available at

http://transportation.stan ord.edu/thriving . Here are some public transportation systems that you might want to takeadvantage o :

Caltrain runs between Gilroy andSan Francisco. Te Palo AltoCaltrain station is near the edge o campus. Visit www.caltrain.org ormore in ormation.

V A buses run throughout SantaClara County and south o campus toSan Jose and Santa Cruz. Visit www. vta.org or more in ormation.

a Reducing Your ransportation Impact While Padding Your Wallet

StanfordFact:

Stanford o ers morethan 12,000 racks for

bikes and 11.7 miles of bike lanes.

Outreach for BIke to Work Day

Marguerite shuttle bus

Caltrain


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Sam rans buses run throughout San Mateocounty and north o campus up to the SanFrancisco airport. Visit www.samtrans.com or more in ormation.

BAR runs rom the Millbrae station(connecting with Caltrain) north through-out San Francisco and up through Berkeleyand Oakland and to the East Bay. Visit www.bart.gov or more in ormation.

For more details about each o these transportation systems, as well as in ormation on other types o public tran-

sit, including the Altamont Commuter Express(ACE), Dumbarton Express, Line U Stan ordExpress ( ree with Stan ord ID), San FranciscoMuni buses, Alameda - Contra Costa Countyransit, and Capitol Corridor/Amtrak, visithttp://transportation.stan ord.edu/transit.

Driving: You Dont Have to Own a Car!Zipcar is an on-demand car sharing program available 24/7 with 16 cars atseven di erent campus locations. Visitzipcar.stan ord.edu to learn more.

Reserve online and pay as little as $8 an hour to drive a car(gas + insurance included).

Stanford faculty, sta , and students(age 18 and older) receive $35driving credit with a $35 Zipcarmembership.

Zimride is a new carpooling program that can help you share a ride withStan ord a liates.

Find a ride to the grocery store, airport,and beyond, or o er to drive others nexttime you are headed out!

It is also available as a Facebook

application.Enterprise Rent a Car Enterprises campus location o ers

discounted rates or Stan ord a liatesand $10 weeknight rentals or Stan ordresidents.

It is available to students age 18 andolder.

Stan ord Commute Club I you live o campus and do not own a car, you can join the Com-

mute Club and receive hundreds o dollars a year in Clean Air Cash orCarpool Credit.

Members also receive ree hourly car rental vouchers, ree membergi s, and enrollment in Stan ords Emergency Ride Home Program.

Visithttp://transportation.stan ord.edu/commuteclub.

Commute Planning Assistance Parking & Transportation

Services provides alternativetransportation planning as-sistance or Stan ord a liates.For assistance, send an email tocommuteclub@stan ord.edu.

Stanford Fact:Nearly 1/3 of

Stanfords 1,021 eet

vehicles are

electric!

Stanford Fact:Stanfords employee

drivealone rate has beenreduced from 72 percent in2002 to 51 percent in 2008,

and transit ridershiphas increased from

8 to 26 percent.

Quick Tips:Visithttp://transit.511.orgto have your Bay Areatrip planned for you.Just enter your starting

and ending locations,and the program willdo the rest.

Students utilizing one of Stanfords 16 Zipcars

Students on bikes near the Quad


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Shopping With anEnvironmental Conscience

a Paper or Plastic? (Hint: Te answer is reusable)

Every product you buy comes with a carbon ootprintan amount o carbon emissions associated with its production and distribution. Inaddition, many products have impacts on other aspects o the environ-ment, such as natural resources like water and trees.Here are some tips

or reducing the environmental impact o your purchases.BEFORE You Buy, Ask Yoursel : Do I really need it? (Reuse plastic containers to pack your lunch.) Can I upgrade an existing product? (Re urbish your PC, re ll ink

cartridges.) Does it serve multiple

purposes? (All-in-one printer, copier, scannercombo.)

Can I nd it used?(Craigslist.org; SUpost.com; Tri stores: Palo

Alto Goodwill, Savers,and Salvation Army.)

When You Do Buy Something, Buy Green: ry to buy recycled, used, or durable goods. When purchasing ood or household goods, try to buy in bulk. Tis

reduces waste ul packaging and is usually more cost-e ective. Look or eco- riendly cleaning products and detergents, including

Seventh Generation, Clorox Greenworks, and Method products. When purchasing appliances like microwaves or mini- ridges, look or

items that are Energy Star rated.

Buy rechargeable batteries toreduce the amount going to theland- ll.

For lighting, buy CFLs, which provide the same amount o light as incandescent bulbs orabout 90% less energy.

For clothing, look or organi-cally grown bers and water-based inks.

Read the Label! Many products claim to be eco- riendly or sustainable without any

veri cation and o en without much o an actual positive environmen-tal impact.

Look or accredited logos rom third-party agencies, rather than gen-eral claims like natural.

Here are some reliable logos to look or while shopping:

USDA organic oodsare ree o pesticidesand ertilizers. Organi-cally raised animals areed organic eed thatis hormone- ree. Tislabel is also used oncosmetics.

Fair trade products likeco ee, chocolate, andruits ensure that thearmers and growerso the ood receive areasonable paymentor their goods.

Energy Star appliancesmeet energy e ciencyguidelines set bythe EPA and U.S.Department o Energy.Energy Star also ratesbuildings.

Quick Tips:Next time you throw a party, userecyclable green cups instead of wasteful red plastic cups. Buygreen cups at the ASSU GreenStoretheyll even be deliveredto your residence! Visithttp://greenstore.stanford.edu.


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Learn More and Stay Connected

a Additional Resources or Sustainability on Campus

Stan ord provides many opportunities to urther explore an interest inthe environment. For more in ormation on Sustainable Stan ord, as wellas contact in ormation or people involved in sustainability across thecampus, visit Sustainable Stan ord:http://sustainable.stan ord.edu.

Academic Resources:Stan ords Environmental Portal: Visit to learn about environmentallyocused majors, environmental centers and institutes, environmentalaculty and research, and environmental events on campus.http://environment.stan ord.edu

Environmental Courses at Stan ord: Visit to nd a comprehensivelist o environmental courses o ered at Stan ord.http://pangea.stan ord.edu/ESYS/courses

Student Groups: Visit the environmental student website or a detailed list o groups and

resources: http://sustainable.stan ord.edu/student_groups

Sustainability requires individual eforts.Get in on the action today!

http://sustainable.stan ord.edu

Sustainability Pledge

Sign the pledge below and post it in your room to remind you o yourenvironmental commitment! For a more interactive online sustainability pledge, visithttp://greenpledge.stan ord.edu/.

I pledge tothink about

opportunities to incorporatesustainable practicesinto myeveryday li e and act

whenever possible to reducemy environmental impact.

Signed, ______________________________

$


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Acknowledgements

We extend our sincere thanks to the ollowing organizations or theirsupport in the creation o this booklet:

Associated Students o Stan ord University

Environmental Health and Sa ety

Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc.(recycling and waste management on campus)

Residential & Dining Enterprises

Students or a Sustainable Stan ord

Sustainability and Energy Management(home to the O ce o Sustainability)

Undergraduate Advising and Research

University Communications

Photos: Fahmida Ahmed; Heather Benz,; Pages: 2, 22, and 23Linda Cicero, Stan ord News Service; Elsa Baez; Erin Gaines; John Mulrow; Miles KeepPhotography; Lisa Kwiatkowski

Tis booklet was prepared or you by Heather Benz, class o 2010; John Mulrow, class o 2009; and Fahmida Ahmed, O ce o Sustainability.Production and printing consulting, Pat Brito, Design & Print Services


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Printed on 100% recycled paper using soy based ink and chemical ree processing

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A Student's Guide to Sustainable Living at Stanford