Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 51.17
Liaison Tom Hartzell
Submission Date Feb. 22, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Calvin University
OP-22: Waste Minimization

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.62 / 5.00 Henry Kingma
Groundskeeper
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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Waste generated::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Materials recycled 223.88 Tons 226.90 Tons
Materials composted 432 Tons 0.30 Tons
Materials reused, donated or re-sold 0 Tons 0 Tons
Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator 756.74 Tons 943.95 Tons

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Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Number of residential students 2,269 2,284
Number of residential employees 10 10
Number of in-patient hospital beds 0 0
Full-time equivalent enrollment 3,885 3,983
Full-time equivalent of employees 758 816
Full-time equivalent of distance education students 10 0

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Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or three-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year Jan. 1, 2014 Dec. 31, 2014
Baseline Year Jan. 1, 2009 Dec. 12, 2009

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A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
Baseline year was chosen because a building project was completed and Calvin Energy Return Fund projects were first implemented.

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A brief description of any (non-food) waste audits employed by the institution:
Totals calculated annually.

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A brief description of any institutional procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
n/a

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A brief description of any surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
n/a

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A brief description of the institution's efforts to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
College has a Portal for staff and students where they can access information about anything from a course syllabus to committee information to items for sale.

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A brief description of any limits on paper and ink consumption employed by the institution:
Printer access is by login. Departments and student accounts are billed.

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A brief description of any programs employed by the institution to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
Recycling stations are set up at each residence and a local church has a donation site for thrift items in each dorm lobby.

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A brief description of any other (non-food) waste minimization strategies employed by the institution:
Composting of material generated by Grounds Department. ~250 cubic yards/year. Concrete and asphalt is sent to be crushed and re-used.

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A brief description of any food waste audits employed by the institution:
Food waste is tracked through Dining Service's production menuing system which monitors waste in order to better predict the amount of food needed in the future.

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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:
Production menuing system allows purchase amounts to be adjusted for future meals to increase efficiency.

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A brief description of programs and/or practices to track and reduce post-consumer food waste:
Dining Services participates in the college's composting program, recycling program and Food Recovery Network. Compost and recycling weights are tracked. They also purchase locally when possible and collaborate with the colleges Campus Gardens for fresh produce.

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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):
To-go meals incorporate the use of compostable and recyclable products.

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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):
Dining halls, catering and conference center all use reusable service ware for dine-in meals.

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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:
CUPPS (Cannot Use Paper,Plastic or Styrofoam) mugs are sold by student organization and receive discounts at all campus establishments.

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A brief description of other dining services waste minimization programs and initiatives:
Dining Services participates in the college's composting program, recycling program and Food Recovery Network. They also purchase locally when possible and collaborate with the colleges Campus Gardens for fresh produce.

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The website URL where information about the institution’s waste minimization initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Re: Materials donated, re-used, re-sold. Calvin donates a large amount of student move-out surplus to a local church, but the material is not weighed.

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.