| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 66.19 |
| Liaison | Kimberly Reeves |
| Submission Date | Nov. 22, 2024 |
Agnes Scott College
OP-4: Ecologically Managed Grounds
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.37 / 5.00 |
Kimberly
Reeves Executive Director Center for Sustainability |
4.1 Organic landscaping/grounds services
Online location of the institution’s IPM protocol:
Copy of the institution’s IPM protocol:
Do the institution’s landscaping/grounds services publish, on at least an annual basis, an inventory of the synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides used on campus grounds?:
Online location of the institution’s chemical inventory:
Copy of the institution’s most recent chemical inventory:
Do the institution’s landscaping/grounds services manage one or more sites or pilot projects without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the institution’s organic landscaping/grounds policies and practices:
Agnes Scott’s landscape services manage several sites without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides. The Center for Sustainability, the Arboretum Advisory Committee, volunteers, and others work with Facilities and All Outdoors, our contracted landscaping company, to manage organic areas. Management of these spaces include supported faculty and staff work, the campus arborist, student employees, and volunteers from the campus community. This establishes a best practice of involving the campus community in organic space management by providing interactive learning opportunities for people to gain skills that they can take to their own gardens and backyards.
The Demonstration Garden, originally planted in 2009, is an organic garden space focused on getting the campus community more involved with gardening projects, providing organically grown foods, and teaching the campus community about growing cycles and native plants. In the winter of 2022, the Demonstration Garden had to be moved due to a Georgia Power project in the area. The Demonstration Garden is now in its new location, only a couple of yards away from its original spot, and has been replanted with many varieties of native plants. This garden is an organic space managed by the Center for Sustainability with volunteer help from the campus community.
The Soil Regeneration Project is an interdisciplinary collaboration among students, faculty, staff, and local community members to apply hands-on learning to climate action. The site is located across from the Demonstration Garden in an area that faces heavy flooding and erosion. The goal of the project is to build soil health to mitigate erosion while engaging the community in the importance of soil health, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity. The area is managed by volunteers with support from the Center for Sustainability and the Science Center for Women.
There are several woodland areas of campus that are managed organically. These areas are kept as natural woodland areas, and are managed by the Center for Sustainability, the campus arborist, and volunteers. One of the woodland areas, referred to as the Birds Georgia site, has been the focus of concentrated volunteer efforts to remove invasives and replant with natives, with the ultimate goal of getting the area certified as a Birds Georgia (formerly Georgia Audubon) Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Agnes Scott student organization, People for Pollinators, manages the college's Bee Campus USA application. As part of that certification, the People for Pollinators' Chair, works closely with the college's outdoor services to receive an updated inventory list of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. The successful Bee Campus USA application, including the inventory list on page 8, is published on the college's Center for Sustainability website under Campus Landscape along with publicly available via download on this STARS Credit website.
https://www.agnesscott.edu/center-for-sustainability/campus-landscape.html
Have the institution’s landscaping/grounds services eliminated their use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides?:
Online resource affirming the organic status of the institution’s landscaping/grounds services:
Document affirming the organic status of the institution’s landscaping/grounds services:
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
4.2 Ratio of ecologically managed green space to total managed green space
Area protected or restored:
Area of tree canopy:
Area managed organically:
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following four figures:
Ratio of tree canopy to total managed green space:
Ratio of areas managed organically to total managed green space:
Points earned for indicator OP 4.2:
Optional documentation
Additional documentation for this credit:
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.