Sustainability

Want to live a greener life and help LU reach our sustainability goals? Here are some ideas you can put into action to make a difference! 

How to Reduce Waste: 

• Don’t throw away plastic bags; bring them to the Warch Campus Center, Seeley G. Mudd library, or a grocery store to be recycled.  
• Use reusable water bottles, mugs, and shopping bags whenever possible 
• Make sure recyclables end up in the recycling bin. Recyclables that are put in the trash end up in the landfill. 

How to Eat Sustainably: 

• Sign the pledge to participate in LU Meatless Mondays 
• Buy produce with marks or bruises that is still edible. Grocery stores often throw this produce out. 
• Compost your food scraps- you can bring them to SLUG or create your own pile! 

How to Conserve Energy & Water: 

• Turn off and unplug appliances when not being used (hair dryers, coffee makers, phone chargers, etc.) 
• Make sure lamps are using LED light bulbs. LED light bulbs use less energy and last up to 10 times longer than compact fluorescents 
• Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your hands.  

Eat meatless once a week for the betterment of yourself, the planet, and its inhabitants. An increasing number of Lawrentians are opting in for this culinary adventure. Join in by signing the pledge!

From January 31st to March 12th, every time you bring a reusable clamshell or reusable bag for dining at Andrews Commons, you will get a slip to enter yourself into a drawing for $20 in dining credit! Winners will be selected WEEKLY until the end of winter term. Reduce your waste! Reuse items when possible! Recycle properly, rinse it and use the right bin!

By eating a vegan diet just once a week, you can save 1,100 gallons of water, 30 sq. ft of forested land, & 20 lbs CO2 equivalent! Sign the pledge to eat vegan on Mondays and help us promote healthy lifestyles, reduce LU’s carbon footprint, and safeguard animals. Students, faculty, and staff are all encouraged to participate!

Reusable clamshells are back on campus! Request a reusable clamshell when picking up food at Andrews Commons and help the environment in the process. All Lawrentians are strongly encouraged to utilize reusable clamshells, reusable bags, and reusable utensils when dining. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a major increase in waste going to landfills. We can work together as a community to counteract that trend! If you would like more information about these reusable resources, contact Lawrence’s Sustainability Fellow (grace.c.subat@lawrence.edu).

As you may have heard, Lawrence has achieved a silver ranking from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). You can see the full report here. This ranking is a reflection of engagement in sustainability efforts across all campus departments. The Sustainability Steering Committee strives to further improve Lawrence’s performance in the next 5 years as detailed in the sustainability strategic plan for operations.  

Shortly after the committee was created in 2017, one identified area of weakness was our waste minimization and diversion efforts. We’ve been working towards improvement in the past few years by establishing centralized collection areas using durable, clearly marked containers in each campus building. Last fall recycling bins were added to all student rooms. This year we replaced a dozen dumpsters with two large compactors to handle waste for parts of the campus east of Lawe street. These containers are emptied every few weeks rather than every day, saving wear and tear on campus roads, fuel, and money. A student group, the Lawrence University Environmental Organization, has taken the lead in establishing compost collecting in the major residence halls and many other campus spaces. SLUG and the Food Recovery Network help divert tons of kitchen waste and unserved food from the landfill as well. That said, we still have work to do.

This year we’ve embarked on a campaign to reduce printing of posters, flyers, brochures, and similar items on campus. Each administrative department has been asked to reduce their printing through the print shop by 5%. This effort has most noticeably been led by the conservatory, which has moved to digital programs for most performances. We can build on this success by taking up the challenge of reducing our office printing. Across campus we consume more than 2.5 million pages of copy paper a year. Most of this printing takes place in the academic realm. We therefore ask each instructor to think of ways to reduce printing in their courses by 5%. To help with this goal, Moodle guru Arno Damerow has prepared a short video on how to use Moodle to collect, grade, and return students’ work (it will open as a download in your internet browser).  Our colleagues at the library have indicated that we are posting more readings online rather than on reserve, which has resulted in more student printing. We realize that some readings do need to be printed, so we suggest indicating on the syllabus or verbally which readings should be printed for use in class and which readings can be read online. Since the students now have a free-print quota of 1000 double-sided copies a year, efforts on the instructor side to reduce printing will help students stay within their limit and avoid incurring extra expense.

Once again we’d like to reiterate our thanks to the entire campus community in helping with our sustainability efforts. Stay tuned for updates on the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day celebration.