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August 14, 2008
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution/August 2008
Emory University student Maria Town was admittedly a little skeptical of the dual flush toilets and the mantra that accompanied them —"flush up for liquid, down for solids" at the school's newly constructed eco-friendly dormitory.
But after a year of living in Turman Hall, Emory's award winning dorm built with sustainability in mind, Town had changed her tune.
"Everyone who comes into the building wants to see those toilets," said Town, who served as a resident adviser. "You realize how much water flushing really uses."
The dorm is chock full of features aimed at teaching its residents how to conserve. Stroll through the sun-filled lobby with the terrazzo floors made of recycled auto parts to the computer touch screen monitor on the wall. Throughout the year, students go to the screen to monitor their energy consumption, floor by floor, because they compete to see who can use the least.
"It's still a comfortable living space, but it's so much more," Town said. "It says a lot about where Emory is going."
In the age of "An Inconvenient Truth," colleges, like many businesses, are making environmentally friendly policies part of their core missions.
For the first time this year, the Princeton Review, the go-to guide for college-going kids and parents alike, began ranking the nation's top "green" colleges, and two Atlanta institutions — Emory and Georgia Tech — made it to the top of the list. The schools are among 11 in the nation that scored 99 points or higher on Princeton's 100-point green scale.
Marcia Kinstler, head of campus stewardship at Georgia Tech, said students are coming to campus more environmentally aware. Enthusiastic students coupled with a campuswide policy of green behavior have put Tech ahead of its peers, she said.
"It's broader and deeper than most universities," she said. "We're known as engineers, so there's always been a focus on energy efficiency,"
Tech officials say the campus has 26 sustainable buildings, the highest in the nation. Tech has 21 endowed chairs and 23 research centers that include sustainability components. The institution has hosted international and national conferences on climate change and water conservation.
The dining halls are now going trayless, saving 3,000 gallons of water per week once needed to wash trays. And Tech created a "Green Buzz" Web site that pulls together all of the sustainability projects around campus. Since its launch in April, www.gatech.edu/greenbuzz has received more than 12,000 hits, more than half of those internally.
Liam Rattry, who is headed into his third year at Tech as an honors public policy student, has spent his time on campus helping create a sustainable food project. Each week during the school year, folks line up to receive boxes of fresh produce at the student center, provided by a local farm. Rattry organizes cooking demonstrations, showing students how to make meals with whole, fresh food.
Rattry worked on an organic farm in England in high school and said understanding where our food comes from gave him a different perspective.
"It's about respecting the environment and realizing how the climate change affects food production," he said.
At Emory University, evidence of the school's commitment to campus greening is everywhere. More than half the school's bus fleet uses alternative fuel. The university's board of trustees made sustainable building and LEED certification (the national marker for green construction) a priority in 2002, spending millions to achieve the goal.
Andrea Trinklein, Emory's executive director of housing, said such programs as recycling centers and sensors to remind students to conserve energy extend far beyond dorm life.
Students realize how easy it is to help do their part for the environment, she said.
"And that is something that can stay with them forever."
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