Duke University
IN-1: Innovation 1

Green Grant Fund -- Duke University’s Executive Vice President, Tallman Trask, has committed $50,000 annually to fund student, faculty, staff or alumni led projects or activities that reduce the environmental impact of Duke's campus or health system. The fund has been used to put on conferences, conduct research, provide education and training, and seed new programs. The focus of the fund is to provide resources required to initiate new sustainability projects on campus that ultimately reduce Duke’s environmental footprint. Grants can be used for educational purposes if it is clear that the education will lead to a reduction in Duke's environmental impact. Another innovative aspect of this fund is that, for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 academic years, a committee of students called “Students Taking an Active Role In Sustainability” has been involved in reviewing and allocating $25,000 of the $50,000 towards sustainability projects of their choice. Descriptions of two examples of projects funded through the Green Grant Fund during the 2009-2010 academic year are provided below: Tammy Hope, Quality Assurance Manager for Duke Dining, received funding to start a reusable to-go container program in the Great Hall and The Loop. The clamshells are like current to-go containers used at the West Campus eatery, except they’re made of environmentally-friendly polypropylene, a type of hard plastic. The Eco-Clamshells can be washed and reused, as opposed to being thrown away, like other to-go containers. After using a clamshell, employees and students are asked to rinse it out and return it to a drop station by the cash register at the Great Hall, where it will be cleaned and sanitized. When an owner turns the to-go container in, he or she receives a keychain token that can be turned in for a replacement clamshell. Tammy purchased 550 reusable to-go containers and gave out the first 200 containers for free as an incentive to join the program. Cloe Liparini and Sarah Trent, staff members of Duke Engage, received funding to “green” the annual Duke Engage Academy, which is attended by all student participants of Duke Engage. Meals were nearly 100% vegetarian and featured local, organic and seasonal ingredients. Instead of providing boxed food to-go, which is heavily packaged, Duke Engage reorganized the schedule and location of events to ensure that breakfast, lunch, and dinner were served in a central location utilizing durable china and silverware. Pre- and post-consumer composting occurred at all meals. Duke Engage also partnered with Sustainable Duke to provide two sessions for students on “Going Green During Duke Engage”. Also, through a partnership with the Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative, Duke Engage offered students, faculty and staff the opportunity to go carbon neutral with their travel. Duke Engage has pledged to incorporate these sustainable changes into the Duke Engage Academy in future years.