| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 66.69 |
| Liaison | Laurie Husted |
| Submission Date | June 8, 2020 |
Bard College
OP-18: Waste Minimization and Diversion
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.19 / 8.00 |
Laurie
Husted Sustainability Manager Bard Office of Sustainability (BoS) |
Figures needed to determine total waste generated (and diverted):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 125.39 Tons | 167.10 Tons |
| Materials composted | 112 Tons | 250 Tons |
| Materials donated or re-sold | 6.81 Tons | 1 Tons |
| Materials disposed through post-recycling residual conversion | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 459.88 Tons | 484.60 Tons |
| Total waste generated | 704.08 Tons | 902.70 Tons |
A brief description of the residual conversion facility:
Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Period | July 1, 2018 | June 30, 2019 |
| Baseline Period | July 1, 2007 | June 30, 2008 |
A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
Best (of oldest) year of record keeping.
Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of students resident on-site | 1,325.50 | 1,410 |
| Number of employees resident on-site | 30 | 39 |
| Number of other individuals resident on-site | 40 | 0 |
| Total full-time equivalent student enrollment | 1,959.80 | 1,662 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 963 | 590 |
| Full-time equivalent of students enrolled exclusively in distance education | 0 | 0 |
| Weighted campus users | 2,570.98 | 2,051.25 |
Total waste generated per weighted campus user:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total waste generated per weighted campus user | 0.27 Tons | 0.44 Tons |
Percentage reduction in total waste generated per weighted campus user from baseline:
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator by recycling, composting, donating or re-selling, performance year:
Percentage of materials diverted from the landfill or incinerator (including up to 10 percent attributable to post-recycling residual conversion):
In the waste figures reported above, has the institution recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold the following materials?:
| Yes or No | |
| Paper, plastics, glass, metals, and other recyclable containers | Yes |
| Food | Yes |
| Cooking oil | Yes |
| Plant materials | Yes |
| Animal bedding | No |
| White goods (i.e. appliances) | Yes |
| Electronics | Yes |
| Laboratory equipment | Yes |
| Furniture | Yes |
| Residence hall move-in/move-out waste | Yes |
| Scrap metal | Yes |
| Pallets | Yes |
| Tires | No |
| Other (please specify below) | Yes |
A brief description of other materials the institution has recycled, composted, donated and/or re-sold:
Cell phones, cardboard, plastic bag recycling, electronics, food (BardEATS to Kingston)
Materials intended for disposal but subsequently recovered and reused on campus, performance year:
Does the institution use single stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
Does the institution use dual stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
Does the institution use multi-stream recycling to collect standard recyclables in common areas?:
Average contamination rate for the institution’s recycling program:
A brief description of any recycling quality control mechanisms employed:
Paper is hand sorted by student workers at our transfer area
Containers are hand sorted by student workers at our transfer area
A brief description of the institution's waste-related behavior change initiatives:
Yearly participation in Recyclemania. We use signage, tabling and events carried out by paid BardE3 students, tabling and events by the student eco club, and also individual one on one conversations during staff meetings. We also have re-use bins in all Residence Halls, year round, as well as a residential hall compost program where student staff members pick up compost from freezers and bring it to residential compost bins located at key points around campus.
A brief description of the institution's waste audits and other initiatives to assess its materials management efforts and identify areas for improvement:
A BardEATs student intern did waste audits in our main dining hall. Data collection will be shared publicly and be reported in a consistent way over time.
A brief description of the institution's procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
Bard College is committed to environmental protection and will seek to the fullest extent possible to purchase environmentally friendly products. This reduces Bard’s waste stream, lowers our energy use and enhances Bard’s reputation. This policy extends to Bard contractors. The following qualities are preferred:
EPA Energy Star ™ labeled products, or equivalent
Durable, as opposed to single use or disposable items
Items made with recycled materials, maximizing ‘post consumer’ content
Non toxic or minimally toxic, preferably biodegradable
Recyclable products, and if not recyclable, can be disposed of safely.
Shipped with minimal packaging (consistent with care of the product), and such packaging that is made of recycled or recyclable materials
Produced locally or within our region
Items designed for longer life or repair
Special Notes:
Bard is committed to buying post consumer content recycled office paper for office use.
Bard seeks to avoid or eliminate the purchase of incandescent light bulbs.
Procedures:
When sourcing items, the purchaser should request items with as many of the listed qualities as possible. Bard employees responsible for hiring contractors should communicate this policy. These purchases should be made whenever cost, specifications, standards and availability are comparable to the non-preferred products.
Examples of products that might be included in this policy are office supplies, paper products, building materials, lubricants, remanufactured parts, landscape products.
Recycled paper is encouraged when placing orders for brochures, catalogues, books, letterheads, business cards, etc.
Use reusable products if possible. Examples are ceramic coffee mugs, glass drinking cups, metal silverware, rechargeable batteries, and campus mail envelops.
When preferred products are distributed, special educational efforts are made to let end users know that they have received a preferred product.
A brief description of the institution's surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Bard has a FreeUse store which is open 5:00–7:00 pm Monday–Thursday and 1:00–2:00 pm Friday–Sunday and closed on school holidays. Re-usable materials go through collection bins located at every residence hall recycling & re-use station around campus plus some common areas (150+ locations) and are brought to FreeUse where the work study student staff sorts them for redistribution on campus. All items are free and available to Bard community members.
A brief description of the institution's platforms to encourage peer-to-peer exchange and reuse:
Bard's yard sale site fosters some exchange as well as a pennysaver listserv for faculty and staff. During MoveOut, the Office of Sustainability maintains a Special Requests List and attempts to match up Moveout items to community members who might need items for themselves, their departments or community partners.
A brief description of the institution's limits on paper and ink consumption:
Students have a paper budget and must pay for printing after a designated number of copies are exceeded (range of free copies depends on the student's department).
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
The Office of ResLife has gone paperless - moving all student files online as well as doing a paperless room draw for the first time in 2020. https://www.bard.edu/reslife/room-selection/
Admission, PR, and Web Services have been making an effort to make more documents available on Bard's websites.
In an effort to reduce the carbon footprint, we have encouraged faculty to scan items, rather than post items. The avenue to increase this is through our Moodle or Reserves systems.
The Transportation Department now lists all schedules on our website blogs.bard.edu/transportion. No more hard copy schedules are printed: currently we only post laminated hard copy at the Shuttle stops.
Course catalogs are all online, prints are only by request.
A brief description of the institution's program to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
During MoveOut we concentrate on salvaging re-usable items for our FreeUse store - a former two car garage on campus located next to our Diversity Equity and Inclusion office. We carry this out by designating FreeUse drop locations at 20 locations around the residential areas, starting 10-14 days before MoveOut. On MoveOut Day we have a team of students who collect the items, sort them and put them in storage for next year's Move In. We also work to support the local Dutchess County Community Action Agency by salvaging unopened, non perishable food items from kitchens. For MoveIn, we focus on messaging around salvaging cardboard and using the campus bins for recycling and reuse.
A brief description of the institution's programs or initiatives to recover and reuse other materials intended for disposal:
The College has an online Yard Sale / Classified page. There is a "pennysaver" listserv. The Bard Bartering FaceBook page was started as by a student worker to enhance bartering but has added sales: https://www.facebook.com/groups/132239776883883/
Website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization and diversion efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
FY19 (July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019) was chosen as Performance Year, since is it most recent and complete set of data (1 full year) for GHG emissions, energy and water consumption, waste figures, etc.
BoS reduce, reuse recycle: https://bos.bard.edu/initiatives/consumption-production/
FY19 (July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019) was chosen as Performance Year, since is it most recent and complete set of data (1 full year) for GHG emissions, energy and water consumption, waste figures, etc.
BoS reduce, reuse recycle: https://bos.bard.edu/initiatives/consumption-production/
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.