Housing Sustainability Initiatives at The Evergreen State College

presented byM’Liss DeWald, Resident Director of First-Year Housing

Britt Q. Hoover, Resident Director of Apartment Housing

PICTURE HERE

1. Introduction to Residential & Dining Services

2. Our Sustainable Check-In

3. The Greener Living Program

4. The Free Store

5. The Sustainability House

6. Check-Out Processes

7. Questions & Comments

Agenda

Question #1: Evergreen’s official mascot is …

A. The Douglas Fir B. The Geoduck C. Jerry Garcia

Question #2: Evergreen’s motto Omni Extares translates into English as …

A. “We, The Stewards of the Earth”

B. “To preserve and to surpass”

C. “Let It All Hang Out”

A. Completely carbon-neutral C. On the moon!

B. Renamed The Jerry Garcia Institute of Higher

Learning

Question #3: By 2020, Evergreen plans to be …

Sustainability isn't just a bandwagon we're hopping onto. It's woven into the

very fabric of our identity, and history, as an institution.

- President Les Purce, The Evergreen State College

“

”

Working together to be a...

• Purposeful community where students, staff, and faculty share a passion for learning and collaborate to enhance student growth.

• Just community where the individual is honored, our interdependence is acknowledged, diversity is pursued, freedom of expression is protected and civility is affirmed.

• Sustainable community that values, cultivates and maintains its human, natural and physical resources.

Introduction to Residential & Dining Services

Our Sustainable Move-in ProcessPurpose and Rationale:

Methods:

• Pre-arrival e-mail to residents • Arrival to campus• Tutorials • Sustainability welcome kits• RA Training and expectations

Budget for Sustainability Check-in Packets 2009

Item Amount Each Total

Recycling Bags 1000 $2.69 $2,693.00

Compost Buckets 1000 $2.01 $1,410.00

Water Bottles 1000 $3.24 $3,240.00

Sustainability Packets 1000 $0.94 $937.73

Magnets 1000 $0.41 $407.89

Grand Totals $9.29 $8,688.62

The Greener Living Program

• “The vision of the Greener Living Program is to instill an ethic of sustainability throughout the Evergreen State College campus community”

• Training and support for students through workshops, outreach and materials

• Staff: RAD Sustainability Intern (.30 FTE) with support from Facilities and Residence Life staff

Ban The Bottle • Landfill waste reduction and recycling education

campaign

• Raise awareness about negative impacts of plastic bottles on social, environmental and economical health

• Work towards eliminating and/or reducing the purchasing of plastic bottled water on campus

• Other initiatives: Water testing, educational resources, water taste tests, waste audits

The Edible Forest Gardens are perennial polycultures of useful plants, cultivated in a multi-layered, forest-type environment

modeled after natural ecosystems. These gardens require little maintenance and are high-yielding with a variety of products, such

as food plants, medicinals, fertilizer, and more.

Other Greener Living Educational Campaigns

• Waste audits• Recyclemania • Signage on every dumpster and recycling area • Compost and Recycling Education (Trash Talkers)• Knock & Talks• Future projects: Building metering and bike loan program

27% Trash

53% Recycling

20% Compost

First Year Housing Dumpsters

44% Trash

28% Compost

28% Recycling

Apartment Housing Dumpsters

Housing Waste Audits revealed…

1. First-year housing students need more education and support in recycling

2. Dumpsters placed next to recycling dumpsters had significantly less non-trash items

• Institutional support• Space

Students donate what they no longer want and other students find new treasures

• Set regulations• Coordinators

The Free Store

• Find volunteers and set hours• Laundry• Organize store • Budget• Benefits

The Free Store

The Sustainability House • Living-Learning community of 30 - 60 residents

• Residents “committed to living an environmentally conscious, socially just, and sustainable lifestyle”

• Raised bed gardens, educational events and workshops, collaborate with other campus resources, potlucks, community action events

Residents must write essay when they apply for housing and commit to 5 hours of service to the community each month

Service includes maintaining raised beds, volunteering at Free Store, planning and attending workshops, etc.

Staff:• Resident Director of Apartment Housing• Resident Assistant• Sustainability Community Educator (volunteer, 2-3

hrs/wk)• RAD Sustainability Intern

Administrative Information

• ACPA Sustainability Learning Outcomes

• Each month has a learning theme, such as Food Justice, Waste Reduction, Public Transportation

• Bulletin boards, programming, website materials, workshops and/or lectures

• Examples: Weekly potluck, canning workshop, making green cleaning products, CCBLA Community Action Day, collective carbon footprint, Farmers Market

• Future goals: Career exploration with green businesses, careers in sustainability, etc

Sustainability House Learning Curriculum

Necessary Materials & Resources

1. Departmental support

2. A flexible curriculum

3. Funding – RA budget, RHA, hall governments

4. Facilities support and expertise

5. Partnerships – Organic Farm, CCBLA

Sustainability Planning with Resident Assistants

• E-mail information sent Week 3 of Spring Term• Every room/suite meets with RA during Week 5 – 7• Following is discussed:

• Who is taking what? • What are we donating?• Where are we donating to? • Who is responsible for what items? • When are individuals moving out? • Any items need to be recycled a specific way (e.g.

batteries)?

PODS

Collect

Donate

Distribute

No waste!

Consume

• Logistics • Budget break down • Benefits of doing the PODS• Alternates to sustainable move-outs

# Items @Unit Prices Unit Line Total Notes

3 PODs @ $486.36 each $1,459.08 1 month/16' containers

3Vinyl banners @ $100.00 each $300.00 $2/foot for 5'x10'

6POD workers @ $9.00 hour $3,024.00 7 days/8 hours

1Delivery Truck @ $39.95 day $100.00 2 days/20 miles @ $.69/ea

20Office Supplies @ $2.00 each $40.00 Tape, scissors, etc.

10Gallons of gas @ $3.50 gal $35.00 Diesel

7 Meals @ $6.00person $294.00

Total: $5,399.58

POD Budget 2009

Questions & Comments?E-mail us at hooverb@evergreen.edu and

dewaldm@evergreen.edu

Thank you for attending!