| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.98 |
| Liaison | Peter Barker |
| Submission Date | March 14, 2016 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
St. John's University, New York
OP-22: Waste Minimization
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.51 / 5.00 |
Thomas
Goldsmith Director of Environment and Energy Conservation Facilities Services |
Waste generated::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 920 Tons | 54 Tons |
| Materials composted | 71 Tons | 0.50 Tons |
| Materials reused, donated or re-sold | 45 Tons | 1 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 480 Tons | 2,383 Tons |
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of residential students | 3,302 | 3,392 |
| Number of residential employees | 4 | 3 |
| Number of in-patient hospital beds | 0 | 0 |
| Full-time equivalent enrollment | 16,295 | 18,783 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 1,981 | 2,300 |
| Full-time equivalent of distance education students | 392 | 133 |
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Year | Sept. 1, 2014 | Oct. 1, 2015 |
| Baseline Year | Jan. 1, 2010 | Aug. 1, 2010 |
A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
Due to available information, a baseline of 2010 will be used.
A brief description of any (non-food) waste audits employed by the institution:
Sustainability Coordinators check the recycling program's progress by doing physical checks of waste areas to ensure proper procedures are being adhered to.
A brief description of any institutional procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
The university strives to purchase sustainable and environmentally friendly products for all aspects of campus and serves to complement the University’s Diversity Initiative, which seeks to identify and address personal, institutional and social injustice.
There are 30 water bottle fill up stations located in various resident and professional buildings on campus. These stations help to reduce the amount of plastic water bottle waste significantly. To date these water bottle stations have saved over 500,000+ plastic water bottles from being used. Both pre and post consumer food waste is picked up from the dining halls on campus, resulting in 10's of tons of waste reduction.
A brief description of any surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
One time per year, students discard furniture on move-out where it is re-used or donated to charity.
A brief description of the institution's efforts to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
All courses, course schedules, and directories are available for all faculty and students online at the university's website. Also each teacher posts his/her syllabus online for viewing. Some school articles, events information, and news are posted on the University website to reduce the amount of paper used on campus. The University also employs several phone apps to replace paper publications, one such example is our Career Fair App which eliminates the need yo distribute maps to all the students.
A brief description of any limits on paper and ink consumption employed by the institution:
Printing in the library and all computer labs costs 10 cents (black and white) or 40 cents (color). $40 in printing per semester is included in tuition for full-time students. Students who wish to print more than the designated amount must add money to their account.
A brief description of any programs employed by the institution to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
The Earth Club, in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability, hosts a twice-yearly 'Swap Meet' where residents are encouraged to 'Freecycle' their unwanted belongings. Bins are set up in each building for collection over the course of 2 weeks and there is a 2-3 day period where students are invited to browse through the items, taking anything they want and can make use of. Leftover items are distributed to charities with whom St. John's already has partnerships.
A brief description of any other (non-food) waste minimization strategies employed by the institution:
Sustainable practices such as using reusable water bottles and recycling is encouraged on campus to lessen waste created.
A brief description of any food waste audits employed by the institution:
Food waste is continually monitored across the campus for pre-consumer waste. post consumer food waste is currently being monitored in the primary dining facility, "Montgoris Dining Hall"
A brief description of any programs and/or practices to track and reduce pre-consumer food waste in the form of kitchen food waste, prep waste and spoilage:
The University recently purchased a food pulper to use in campus compsting. Kitchen food will be composted and the hope is that the University will divert 0% food waste in garbage in the near future.
A brief description of programs and/or practices to track and reduce post-consumer food waste:
The current initiative for 2016 kicked off during Recyclemania 2016 with post consumer food waste collection in the primary dining hall, "Montgoris Dining Hall". Student workers as sustainability coordinators are campaigning daily to have students scrape their plat of food waste for composting on-site.
A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable and/or third party certified compostable to-go containers for to-go food and beverage items (in conjunction with a composting program):
A brief description of the institution's provision of reusable service ware for “dine in” meals and reusable and/or third party certified compostable service ware for to-go meals (in conjunction with a composting program):
The primary dining hall, Montgoris Dining Hall uses recycle composed materials for napkin and coffee cups are paper, both recovered as post consumer waste for on-site composting.
A brief description of any discounts offered to customers who use reusable containers (e.g. mugs) instead of disposable or compostable containers in to-go food service operations:
If you bring a reusable mug you can get a discount on your beverage.
A brief description of other dining services waste minimization programs and initiatives:
University Dining provides compostable cutlery and napkins to reduce campus waste.
The website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
St. John's University donates clothing, food, furniture, and other goods through multiple departments. Donated material total is an estimate including the work done in the Sustainability Department and does not include the small collections done throughout the academic year.
St. John's University donates clothing, food, furniture, and other goods through multiple departments. Donated material total is an estimate including the work done in the Sustainability Department and does not include the small collections done throughout the academic year.
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.