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Call to Action: Fulton County Single-use Plastics Vote on Wednesday, June 19th
In their next meeting on June 19th, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners is voting on the resolution to phase out “single-use plastics” in all county-owned, -operated and -leased facilities. According to the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, the vast majority of plastics are not recycled, and much of it ends up in our waterways, including the Chattahoochee … Continue Reading →
Campus Facilities Reach Important Milestones
Emory’s 2025 Sustainability Vision identified four main action arenas, including utilizing Emory’s landscape, buildings, and operations to model best practices. This past year, campus departments made important strides toward realizing Emory’s Sustainability Vision goals
Campus-Wide Recycling Events Divert Tons of Waste from Landfill
Every year, Emory Recycles and the Office of Sustainability Initiatives hold a competition encouraging recycling efforts around campus. This contest, held throughout November, works to unite the actions of faculty, students and staff in order to demonstrate the largest comparative difference between buildings in recycling from the corresponding month of the previous year.
Division of Animal Resources (DAR) Labs Commended for Waste Diversion Practices
The Division of Animal Resources (DAR), headquartered in the Whitehead Biomedical Research Building, made strides in sustainability when they turned to recycling and composting laboratory materials and was recently recognized for its efforts.
Donated Student Goods Support Charitable Non-Profit
Emory students participating in the “Don’t Dump It — Donate It” recycling program as they moved out of residence halls last month turned their used books, clothing, furniture and housewares into support for a local charitable non-profit, re:loom.
Earth Month Recycling Day at Emory Point
By Kristen Kaufman | May 27, 2018 On April 18th, members of the Clifton Corridor community convened at Emory Point to celebrate Earth Month with a recycling event. Earth Month Recycling Day at Emory Point is a daylong event that invites the public to dispose of unwanted household items, providing a chance for local community … Continue Reading →
EcoChemory: a Sustainability Project in the Department of Chemistry
EcoChemory: a Sustainability Project in the Department of Chemistry EcoChemory was created by Dr. Kevin Sullivan (Hill Lab, Dept. of Chemistry), Elena Jordanov (Saikawa Lab, Dept. of Environmental Health), and Rachel Bender (Heemstra Lab, Dept. of Chemistry). The overall goal of EcoChemory is to incorporate the culture of sustainability into chemistry labs. We aim to … Continue Reading →
Emory Awarded EPA Grant for Exploration of On-Campus System for Food Waste Processing and Renewable Energy Generation
By: Clare McCarthy, General Sustainability Intern, Office of Sustainability Initiatives The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently selected Emory University as 1 of 12 recipients of its 2020 Sustainable Materials Management Funding Opportunity. This opportunity provides a solution to the issue of American food waste sent to landfills by encouraging the expansion of anaerobic digestion (AD) … Continue Reading →
Emory community makes progress on ‘zero landfill waste’ goal
A year after its launch, Emory’s 2018 Waste Management Policy has already led to a measurable increase in the amount of campus waste that is diverted from area landfills. Emory seeks to divert 95 percent of campus waste from municipal landfills by 2025 through standardization of all indoor and outdoor waste bins, removal of desk-side waste service, … Continue Reading →
Emory compost streams temporarily diverted to landfills
By: Emory Report Emory Campus Services has announced that the university’s compost streams — including food waste from kitchens and green bins around campus, as well as animal bedding — are being temporarily sent to landfills. This short-term diversion was necessitated when the vendors that haul and process Emory’s compost either went out of business or … Continue Reading →
Emory Dining leading waste diversion & reduction efforts with sweeping changes
By: Katelyn Boisvert Intern, Office of Sustainability Initiatives With the introduction of Emory’s new Waste Policy in January of this year, Emory Dining plays a very important role in helping the University achieve its goal to divert 95% of all waste from landfills by 2025. Emory Dining has recently implemented a number of waste reduction … Continue Reading →
Emory earns 2019 Outstanding Institutional Recycling Program award
Emory University’s efforts surrounding recycling and sustainability continue to earn notice. The latest recognition is from the Georgia Recycling Coalition (GRC), which gave Emory its Spirit of Green Award for 2019 Outstanding Institutional Recycling Program. This award is given to Georgia colleges, universities, military installations or other institutional campus or industrial entities at the GRC’s … Continue Reading →
Emory Farmers Market Reduces Waste, Increases Options
The Emory Farmers Market has been a staple of the community since 2008 when it opened on the campus with its original seven vendors. The market was envisioned as part of Emory’s Sustainable Food Initiative, bringing the Emory community the opportunity to build relationships with farmers and producers who grow and make their food.
Emory Healthcare’s new Musculoskeletal Institute groundbreaking ceremony marks step forward for long-term plan in Executive Park
ATLANTA, GA – Emory Healthcare celebrated today the groundbreaking of the new Emory Musculoskeletal Institute, located in Brookhaven, Georgia, to continue its commitment to develop innovative treatments and provide solutions for health care challenges facing the local communities. As the newest addition to Emory’s Executive Park health innovation district, the approximately 180,000-square-foot, LEED-certified building will … Continue Reading →
Emory Honored in Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge
Emory University has been recognized by the City of Atlanta for its commitment to energy and water conservation through the 2016-2017 Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge.
Emory University Hospital Eliminates the Use of Plastic Bags in its Retail Cafes to Reduce Single-Use Plastic Waste
By: Kristin Kuwada, Communications & Marketing Intern, Office of Sustainability Initiatives As of September 28th, Emory University Hospital (EUH) no longer offers single-use plastic bags in its retail spaces, including Clifton Café, Asbury Café and the gift shop. According to Sabrina Bauggue, the Director of Food and Nutrition Services at EUH, this initiative will save … Continue Reading →
Emory Voices: Science-Inspired Sustainable Behaviors
In the May 31, 2019 issue of Science, young scientists lent their perspectives on personal sustainable behavior change in the article NextGen Voices: Science-inspired sustainable behavior. The Emory Office of Sustainability Initiatives recently posed the same question to our weekly newsletter readers: How has your awareness of science inspired you to adopt more sustainable and … Continue Reading →
Environmental Justice July Blog Series – Blog #4
Dispelling the Myth of the Emory Bubble: Connecting Calls to Action from the Environmental Justice Movement to Campus and Community Change Many who come to Emory, especially undergraduate students, may have heard the term “the Emory Bubble,” which is most often used to describe a feeling of geographic and social disconnect between Emory community members … Continue Reading →
Following Emory’s Waste: Where Does It Go And Who Does It Affect?
Historically, waste has been a burden placed on vulnerable and marginalized communities, so our office wanted to follow Emory’s waste by using the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice tool to see which communities are being affected. We hope that contextualizing where our waste goes will remind us that there is no “away” when we throw … Continue Reading →
From Waste to Watts: Emory Students Experiment with Compost to Electricity Systems
By Austin Lai, Yuhgene Liu and Miranda Mitchell Any farmer, gardener or sustainability-minded citizen who composts organic matter might notice that their compost pile generates a substantial amount of heat over the course of a few weeks to months. However, the concept of capitalizing on the thermal energy generated from these compost piles to produce electricity … Continue Reading →
Go green for Emory’s annual recycling competition
Everyday choices by students, faculty and staff are key to reaching Emory’s goal of diverting 95 percent of waste from landfills by 2025. The impact of those individual efforts is highlighted each year with the November Recycling Competition, which kicks off Friday. The competition, held by Emory Recycles and the Office of Sustainability, encourages faculty, … Continue Reading →
Green Offices encourage sustainable work spaces
By: Madi Mainman Intern, Office of Sustainability Initiatives Laura Hunt, the Program Coordinator for the department of Russian and East Asian Languages and Cultures (REALC), and Terez Whatley, the Academic Department Administrator for German Studies, have teamed up to enhance sustainability in their offices at Emory’s Modern Languages Building. Whatley serves as the Sustainability chair for … Continue Reading →
In Fiscal Year 2016, Emory Diverted 55% of Waste Materials from Landfill
During the 2016 fiscal year, Emory successfully diverted 55 percent of waste materials from the landfill. With an almost 5 percent increase from 2015, the University is making progress toward achieving the goal of 95 percent diversion by 2025.
Innovative Practices and Projects from Lab and Office Grants Show Measurable Results
In the summer of 2016, the Office of Sustainability Initiatives (OSI) announced the recipients of its inaugural Green Offices at Emory and Green Labs at Emory Incentives Fund programs, created to encourage students, faculty, and staff to contribute innovative ideas for achieving the goals outlined in Emory’s 2025 Sustainability Vision.
Monthly Sessions Will Answer Questions on New Campus Waste Policy
Emory Campus Services – Emory Recycles and the Office of Sustainability Initiatives are hosting monthly meetings to answer questions about the University’s new.
New Emory Policy Seeks Zero Landfill Waste
When Emory crafted its current Sustainability Vision, one of the University’s most transformative — and ambitious — goals was a commitment to divert 95 percent of campus waste from municipal landfills by 2025, effectively a zero-waste policy.
November is Recycling Competition Month!
Throughout November, Emory buildings will compete to increase landfill waste diversion weights during this November compared to the previous November. Occupants of the winning building will receive $3,000 to spend on an innovative project aimed at increasing landfill diversion in the building.
November Recycling Competition Results
Congratulations to Candler School of Theology/Rita Ann Rollins & Pitts Library, the winner of the University-wide November Recycling Competition! They diverted 37,388.24 lbs more during the month of November 2019 than they did in November 2018! See the list of the top-10 performing buildings below. This annual competition, held by Emory Recycles and the Office of … Continue Reading →
Presenting the Blakey Lab – A Gold Certified Green Lab!
By Ramsey Baden | July 29, 2018 Discovery is part of the fabric of chemistry at Emory, and Dr. Simon Blakey’s lab pushes for discovery every day. Some of his team’s most innovative practices are rooted in sustainability. In Blakey’s words, his lab practices “sustainability on a molecular level.” Blakey’s lab seeks to create methods that reduce the … Continue Reading →
Presenting the Emory Dance Office – A Gold Certified Green Office!
By Ramsey Baden | August 27th, 2018 The Emory Dance & Movement Studies Program places great value on our relationship with our surroundings. In the words of Director Lori Teague, “the fundamentals of dance are body, energy, space, and time.” It is fitting, then, that Emory Dance’s office is a Gold-certified Green Office. The office takes a number of … Continue Reading →
Presenting the Hickman Lab – A Gold Certified Green Lab!
By Ramsey Baden | August 26, 2018 Emory’s Department of Biology is one of the most active in the country for a reason – there will always be questions waiting to be answered in the life sciences! The Hickman Lab is a biology lab that focuses on fungi: how they reproduce and how they respond … Continue Reading →
Presenting the Morran Lab – A Gold Certified Green Lab!
By Ramsey Baden | August 19, 2018 The Morran Lab is an Emory Biology lab that studies coevolution (which accounts for much of the evolution that occurs in nature) and mating systems (which account for the distribution of genetic variation). To do this, it looks at worms like the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. As a certified Green Lab, … Continue Reading →
Presenting the Steinhauer Lab – A Gold Certified Green Lab!
By Ramsey Baden | August 12, 2018 The Steinhauer Lab is a microbiology and immunology lab at Emory, and it is on the front lines against influenza. Their study of the structure and functions of the virus HA (hemagglutinin glycoprotein) is directly related to the development of vaccines. Sustainability was already practiced at the Steinhauer Lab when they … Continue Reading →
Science at Emory: a Sustainability Project
As a nationally recognized leader in scientific education and research, Emory University has hundreds of teaching and research labs throughout its campuses. Beginning in the Summer of 2019, labs will now be included in Emory’s mission towards 95% landfill waste diversion. Launching in the Rollins School of Public Health in May 2019, Emory’s Laboratory Landfill … Continue Reading →
Sisterhood of the Traveling Dining Hall
Todd Doyle | July 18, 2018 Author’s note: This is a follow up to http://news.emory.edu/stories/2016/09/er_duc_interim_dining_facility/campus.html. Opening in summer of 2017, the DUC-ling staff has served a year’s worth of meals to members of the Emory community. The interim dining hall project enters its second and final academic term with Emory, as construction of the CLC … Continue Reading →
SMARTER WATER: In just five years, Emory’s WaterHub has reclaimed and recycled more than 300 million gallons of campus wastewater—and captured interest across the globe.
Every day, colonies of ravenous microorganisms—dwelling within the dense root systems of hydroponically grown plants—help clean and repurpose nearly 400,000 gallons of campus wastewater for non-potable uses. These colonies are just one of the complex biological processes that make up Emory’s cutting-edge WaterHub. Five years ago, the WaterHub became the first facility of its kind … Continue Reading →
Student move out donations divert waste for a good cause
By Ayla Ekici At the end of the academic year, Emory’s thousands of student-residents moved out of the residence halls, requiring them to make choices about what to keep and what to discard and how. Housing, ResLife, Building and Residential Services and the Office of Sustainability once again teamed up for the “Don’t Dump It, … Continue Reading →
Theater Emory Connecting with Community through Creative Landfill Diversion Efforts
Theater Emory presents several productions each year and with every new program, old scenery materials are replaced by new pieces for current performances. Instead of dumping previous set pieces into a landfill, Theater Emory has found innovative and creative ways to divert about 95% of its waste.
WaterHub at Emory University Recognized in Georgia Water Coalition’s “Clean 13”
By: Kristin Kuwada, Communications & Marketing Intern, Office of Sustainability Initiatives Emory University has been recognized as one of the Georgia Water Coalition’s “Clean 13” for the WaterHub at Emory, a wastewater treatment plant that reclaims about 40% of Emory’s total water to use for utility purposes. This annual list recognizes 13 organizations and individuals … Continue Reading →
Winners Announced for Zero Landfill Waste Video Competition
The Office of Sustainability Initiatives (OSI) invited Emory students, faculty and staff to submit a two-minute video that creatively and effectively educated about the importance of landfill waste diversion, including the social and environmental impacts of landfills.
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: Comparing the Concept of “Waste” across Cultures
Comparing the Concept of “Waste” across Cultures By Layth Mattar, Senior in Emory College, Arabic and Biology double-major When I was younger, especially before the Arab Spring, I would spend my summers in Egypt living between the homes of my grandparents. A shared characteristic of their homes was that they were ornately decorated with antiques, … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: Compost, Now!
Compost, Now! By Davida Halev, Senior in Emory College, Sociology Major and Sustainability Minor Georgia has a food problem and it’s not what you think it is. Despite one out of every seven Georgians being food insecure, over 800,000 tons of food waste ends up in Georgia landfills each year (Georgia Environmental Protection Division). In … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: Coronavirus Plastic Crusade: Fight it, Don’t Join It
Coronavirus Plastic Crusade: Fight it, Don’t Join It By Davida Halev, Senior in Emory College, Sociology Major and Sustainability Minor COVID-19 has reinvigorated plastic consumption and production in industry and in our personal lives. Drop in petroleum prices and lifestyle changes – specifically, increased demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) and single-use plastics (SUPs) – … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: From Trash to Art – Artists are Breathing Life into Garbage to Stimulate Change
From Trash to Art – Artists are Breathing Life into Garbage to Stimulate Change By: Erica Kahn, First year in the 4+1 BS/MPH program in Environmental Health, Junior in Emory College majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in English One of the best parts about making or viewing art is the positive feedback loop it … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: How Zero Waste Can Save You Money
How Zero Waste Can Save You Money By Candace Allison, MPH Candidate in Behavioral, Social and Health Education Sciences Since beginning my low waste journey two years ago, I’ve encountered a common misconception: it costs a lot of money to go zero/low waste. Upon first glance, it certainly seems that way, with “supply lists,” including … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: Low Waste Gift Ideas During a Pandemic
Low Waste Gift Ideas during a Pandemic By: Esha Babu, First year in Emory College, Natural Sciences major The Holiday season normally serves as a time to reconnect and spend time with loved ones. My extended family and friends would often spend Winter Breaks escaping the bitter cold with my family in Florida. However, this … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: Stopping the Flow of Plastic at its Source
Stopping the Flow of Plastic at its Source By: CJ O’Brien, Second year Master’s in Development Practice Student with concentrations in environmental conservation & organization and management, Academic Fellow at Oceana As a Florida native, I have always been in love with the marine ecosystem. The first time I saw a coral reef in the … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: The Spectrum for Adopting a Zero Waste Lifestyle During College
The Spectrum for Adopting a Zero Waste Lifestyle During College By: Michelle Ly, Senior in Emory College, Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Major Over the past almost four years learning to be zero waste at college, I’ve realized the zero waste lifestyle lies on a spectrum (now more than ever with the current pandemic). While the term … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: Tips for Reducing Food Waste
Tips for Reducing Food Waste By: Elizabeth Beling, Senior in Emory College, Sociology major and Sustainability minor In the United States, 80 billion pounds of food are thrown away each year. That’s 219 pounds of food waste per person. Why is this a problem? One core issue is that this food could be going to … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: Upcycling, Recycling, and Downcycling: What I Didn’t Know About Off-Campus Recycling
Upcycling, Recycling, and Downcycling: What I Didn’t Know About Off-Campus Recycling By: Cooper Jannuzzo, M.S., EHI Office of Quality Before my journey to zero waste, I was a recycling extremist. Everything plastic, glass, paper, and cardboard went into my at-home recycling bin. I was uneducated and thought that everything with a triangle was recyclable. Not … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: Wear Your Values – An Insight into Fast Fashion
Wear Your Values – An Insight into Fast Fashion By: Emily Kim, Second Year in Emory College, Chemistry and NBB major I’m sure you’ve heard it before: “use code ____ for 15% off”. Even if you haven’t, we’ve all seen great bargains for the cheapest, trending clothing option on the internet, and to no one’s … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste Ambassador Blog: Youth are the Future of Waste Diversion
Youth are the Future of Waste Diversion By: Maya Encantada Meeks, CVT, RLAT, Division of Animal Resources After a weekly drop off at the Emory Recycling Center, my child, a friend and I decided to take a hike down to the creek. While walking, we discovered that there is not direct access to the … Continue Reading →
Zero Waste: Abandoning the Trashy Life
By Monica Lefton Apr 04, 2018 Each American produced an average of 30 pounds of trash per week in 2014, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Applying that statistic to the undergraduate population at Emory, students would theoretically produce a whopping total of 237,480 pounds of trash per week. Hopefully we don’t produce quite that much … Continue Reading →