| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 45.20 |
| Liaison | Scott Carlin |
| Submission Date | July 15, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
LIU Post
OP-22: Waste Minimization
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.23 / 5.00 |
William
Achnitz Sustainability Coordinator Facilities |
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indicates that no data was submitted for this field
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Waste generated::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Materials recycled | 117.87 Tons | 81.34 Tons |
| Materials composted | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials reused, donated or re-sold | 0 Tons | 0 Tons |
| Materials disposed in a solid waste landfill or incinerator | 777.81 Tons | 904.49 Tons |
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Figures needed to determine "Weighted Campus Users”::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Number of residential students | 1,565 | 1,643 |
| Number of residential employees | 25 | 25 |
| Number of in-patient hospital beds | 0 | 0 |
| Full-time equivalent enrollment | 7,504 | 7,599 |
| Full-time equivalent of employees | 956 | 987 |
| Full-time equivalent of distance education students | 242 | 72 |
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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 | Sept. 1, 2012 | Aug. 31, 2013 |
| Baseline Year | Sept. 1, 2011 | Aug. 31, 2012 |
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A brief description of when and why the waste generation baseline was adopted:
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A brief description of any (non-food) waste audits employed by the institution:
A comprehensive waste audit was performed as part of RecycleMania to estimate how much trash gets disposed of through our front loaders on a weekly basis. For the entire duration of the competition, a student observed the volume of trash in each front loader, and then used the volume-to-weight conversion factors provided by the EPA and the CURC to estimate weekly weights. These estimates were then adjusted to account for seasonal fluctuations in trash output and an annual trash output was determined.
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A brief description of any institutional procurement policies designed to prevent waste:
As per the University's Vendor Evaluation and Selection policy, vendors will be evaluated on a number of relevant factors including sustainability and environmentally preferable sourcing practices. This includes purchasing in bulk and encouraging vendors to minimize packaging.
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A brief description of any surplus department or formal office supplies exchange program that facilitates reuse of materials:
Offices and departments on campus are directed to contact Facilities Services if they are discarding any furniture or surplus materials. Facilities Services then does their best to give a second life to these materials. A Facebook Freecycle group also exists for students to buy, trade, sell, or donate their unwanted belongings during the school year.
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A brief description of the institution's efforts to make materials available online by default rather than printing them:
LIU Post encourages students, faculty, and staff to use e-documents rather than printing multiple copies. All course catalogs, course schedules, and directories are available online in addition to many other materials. Furthermore, web-based resources have been adopted for departmental and university-wide document sharing through Microsoft's Sharepoint. Newly-released functionality within our content management system, Blackboard, also facilitates our green goal of reducing paper and printing by accommodating organizational groups with the same management and communication tools afforded to courses. iTunes U is also used for quick and easy iOS access to course-related and institutional documents.
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A brief description of any limits on paper and ink consumption employed by the institution:
All Xerox printers at LIU Post use solid ink sticks instead of toners. Xerox's "Colorqube" is environmentally friendly and creates 90% less waste than regular toners. IT at LIU Post also encourages scanning to email and faculty use of Blackboard with paperless assignments through the use of posters in student areas and faculty trainings. Printing from general access labs at LIU Post is limited to 10 free pages per person per day for black and white copies for all LIU Post students. During the two-week period around mid-terms and finals, this limit is raised to 20 pages per person. Printing beyond these limits is allowed but a nominal fee is assessed.
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A brief description of any programs employed by the institution to reduce residence hall move-in/move-out waste:
The Department of Facilities Services and Residence Life at LIU Post work together to reduce waste during Move-In and Move-Out. During Move-In, containers for recycling cardboard are placed in the lobby of each residence hall. During Move-Out, containers for various items are placed in each lobby for resident students to either donate or recycle their unwanted belongings. Salvageable items are donated to The Salvation Army and non-working items are recycled through the many recycling programs that we offer. The Salvation Army also installs drop-off collection boxes around campus during Finals Week and has a truck accepting donations at a central location on the last Move-Out day.
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A brief description of any other (non-food) waste minimization strategies employed by the institution:
All offices and departments on campus at LIU Post are encouraged to reuse envelopes through inter-campus mail.
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A brief description of any food waste audits employed by the institution:
The University has not conducted any comprehensive food waste audits to date. However, after examining weights and trends from data provided by our waste hauler, LIU Post has determined that it produces about 100 tons of food waste per year. Equipped with this data, LIU Post has begun exploring the prospect of implementing a full-scale composting program.
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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:
Dining Services has implemented an extensive pre-consumer waste management program designed to minimize loss due to production inefficiencies and lack of controls. The program includes an extensive production management system that is designed to ensure that enough food is produced to support the needs of our guests without overproducing. Production numbers are based on a number of factors, specifically menu mix, prior usage, weekly trends, and even weather conditions. Every item has a recipe and set of handling instructions, from the time the product enters the building to the time it is consumed. Cooking and production techniques are constantly monitored and reinforced to ensure that the process is followed and that waste is minimized due to improper temperature handling, lack of food rotation and poor trimming techniques.
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A brief description of programs and/or practices to track and reduce post-consumer food waste:
Menus and recipes are constantly reviewed and adjusted to make sure that students are as satisfied as possible with the end product. Dining Services also holds true to their portioning policy that states that students are given one portion at a time and are encouraged to return to the line if they want more. This policy helps to reduce plate waste. Dining Services has also implemented a trayless dining program for a number of years to prevent students from taking with them more than they can actually eat. The opportunity of conducting a full study of post-consumer waste has also been explored and any future results arising from such a study are planned to be utilized in an educational campaign at the Winnick residential dining hall.
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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):
Dining Services purchases and uses compostable plates and to-go containers at all dining locations on campus. At the Winnick residential dining hall, students may also participate in a reusable to-go container program.
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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 Services offers a full line of reusable service ware for dining in at the Winnick residential dining hall. All retail dining locations on campus also offer compostable service ware only.
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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:
Dining Services offers patrons a 20-cent discount for using a reusable beverage container at any of its retail locations. Reusable coffee mugs may also be purchased from Dining Services at its Hillwood Cafe location.
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A brief description of other dining services waste minimization programs and initiatives:
Dining Services utilizes bulk utensil, napkin and condiment dispensers, which prevents unnecessary waste. Utensils and napkins are dispensed one at a time, which discourages waste that results from customers quickly grabbing several at a time. Dining Services also sells reusable shopping bags at its Hillwood Cafe location.
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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:
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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.