Student's Guide to Sustainable Living at Stanford
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A Student’s Guide to Sustainable Living at Stanford Your guide to an eco-friendly collegiate lifestyle Welcome to Sustainable Stanford! “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.” Certified as a green business in 2004, Stanford has been in the high- est tier for overall leadership in sustainability in North America —Albert Einstein in 2007, 2009 and 2010 (See http://greenreportcard.org/). As we continue to seek innovative and lasting solutions to reduce our elcome to Stanford—a campus that cares deeply about environmental footprint, we invite you, the most important stake- Wresponsible and environmentally sustainable resource use. holder, to be an active part of that journey. We believe sustainability means meeting the needs for today in a This guide has been created by your fellow students with help from responsible fashion that does not compromise the ability to meet campus staff to provide you with some easy tips for an eco-friendly the needs of our future. lifestyle on campus. The actions your friends share as they welcome Stanford researchers are uncovering policy and technological you to campus greatly complement the efforts underway by admin- solutions to climate change, greener buildings, and renewable ener- istration and staff. In this guide you will see examples of specific gy. Stanford staff members lead by example and use environmental accomplishments in campus sustainability, and things you can do sustainability as a criterion for all aspects of university operations. deepen their impacts. Not every aspect is included in this booklet, and with your help we will enrich the content every year. With your enthusiasm, support, and creativity, we look forward to getting even closer to achieving a shared vision-—a truly sustainable Stanford University; your learning environment for the next four momentous years. Stanford Office of Sustainability Office hours: every Monday 3:30- 5:30 PM 340 Bonair Siding, Stanford, CA 94305 Visit us at http://sustainable.stanford.edu Contents Welcome to Sustainable Stanford!. Inside front cover Why Go Green?. 4 Sustainability Starts at Home. 6 Working Hard or Hardly Working? . .10 Zero In On Waste. 14 Eating Green . .16 Sustainability must become a core value in everything we do. As a com- munity we are committed to developing our core campus in a sustainable Getting Around the Green Way . .20 fashion that preserves what we cherish, that demonstrates leadership in the university’s commitment to be a good environmental steward and that Shopping With an Environmental Conscience. .24 safeguards the ability for future generations to thrive at Stanford.” -John Hennessy, President, Stanford University Learn More and Stay Connected . .26 Sustainability Pledge. 28 Acknowledgements . Inside back cover Why Go Green? a The Reason Your Choices Matter Reasons to Go Green When you become a part of the Stanford community, you are joining 1. It’s Easy, and It Adds Up an academic institution dedicated to being a model for environmental stewardship. Your daily decisions affect the environment in small ways that add up to make a large impact. In the same way, small individual daily Knowing where your energy and water come from is the first step in choices can make a big difference. understanding your environmental impact and ways to reduce it. Read on to learn where Stanford gets its resources. 2. It’s Good For You Actions that are healthy for the environment are often healthy for Water you too! Consider all the extra exercise you get by biking or walk- ing instead of driving. • Stanford’s drinking water comes Quick Tips: from the San Francisco Public How much is a pound of 3. It Saves You Money Utilities Commission, which draws CO2? Imagine CO2 trapped its water primarily from the Hetch Using less costs you less. For example, buying a fluorescent light in a balloon. A pound of bulb instead of an incandescent one can save you more than Hetchy Reservoir near Yosemite. CO2 would make a balloon that 3 $30 over the life of the bulb. • Stanford’s irrigation water comes was 8 ft . With 44 lbs CO2 emit‐ from surface water diverted from ted by each of us daily, imagine 4. It Saves Our Planet everyone on campus walking creeks on Stanford property in the 3 around with a 350‐ft balloon As the world’s population continues to grow, each of us needs to be foothills and from wells on campus. bobbing above our heads! more conscious of our use in order to provide for future generations. Electricity Our environmental choices are especially important as residents of California, a state that will face impacts of climate change, and a • Most of Stanford’s electricity is trendsetter for the world. produced on campus at the Cardinal Cogeneration power plant, which creates electricity from natural gas and chilled water for cooling. The 5. Your Campus Needs You steam waste heat from electricity generation is used to heat campus Your campus encourages you to work with the various sustainability buildings. programs to continue to keep this campus an environmentally • The local utility, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), buys back excess sustainable one. energy from the Cogen plant. What can you do? Read on! 4 5 Sustainability Starts at Home Staying Cool or Warming Up: a Ways to be Green Around the House • If you are using air conditioning or heating, make sure that your Your house, room, or apartment is the easiest place to begin making a windows are tightly shut. If you’re too hot while the heater is running, positive impact. Read on for simple ways to reduce your home’s turn it off (if you can). Opening the window will only cause the heater water and energy usage—and convince your peers to make eco-friendly to work harder, making your room even hotter. changes while you’re at it. • If your room is too cool for your comfort, opening the shade while the sun is out will warm up your room. When the sun goes down, close At Home: In Your Room the shades for extra insulation. On the other hand, if your room is too warm, keep the windows and shades closed during the hot day to Lighting: keep the heat out, then open them during the cool night to lower your Study in the daylight whenever you can! If you need light during the room’s temperature. day, open up your shades before flipping the light switch. Do You Really Need Your Own Refrigerator? • If you bring any of your own lamps to school, be sure to buy compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). These not only use 75% less energy than • If you think you might want conventional bulbs, but last 10 times longer and are much cheaper to a fridge, wait to consult with operate. your roommate. You may want to share one. If you do • It may seem obvious, but don’t forget to turn off the lights when you buy a fridge, select an Energy leave your room. Star model. • Instead of purchasing a new fridge that you will probably need to resell at the end of your four years, consider rent- ing one. • Better yet, all on-campus houses have a house fridge located in the kitchenette that you can use for free. Just remember to label your food. Student studying under natural daylight to save energy 6 7 At Home: In the Bathroom At Home: Doing Laundry Showering Using the Washing Machines • Shorten your shower. Every minute less you spend in the shower saves • Only do laundry if you have full loads. If you don’t have enough laun- up to two gallons of water. Think also about lowering your water dry for a full load, combine loads with your roommate. Not only will pressure using the sliding handle on many showers and using less hot you conserve water and energy, but you will also be saving a trip to the water—a cool shower feels great after one of laundry room. Stanford’s hot sunny days. • Consider washing with cold water under the “bright colors” setting. Saving Water • Use greener laundry detergents that are plant-based and free of phos- • Utilize the dual-flush function available on phates. Also remember to recycle your used laundry detergent bottle. many school toilets to reduce water usage— • If a shirt is not stained or smelly, why throw it in the laundry bin? Fold remember to check the low flush direction. it up and put it back in the drawer. Don’t worry, no one’s watching. • Turn off the faucet while you are • Contrary to popular belief, there’s no reason to separate your whites brushing your teeth and doing dishes—people and colors unless you’re washing in hot water. Just choose the bright have probably been telling you this since you colors setting and toss it all in there. were five, but this is just a friendly reminder. Stanford Fact: What About Drying? • If you see a leaky faucet, let Housing know by Water conservation efforts filing a fixit request http://fixit.stanford.edu. • Stanford has a lot of sunny warm days— have reduced daily domestic perfect for drying your clothes outside water use from 2.7 million gal‐ • Remember to recycle your used shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, and lons per day ( mgd) to 2.1 mgd spray gel bottles. or on a clothesline. If your house doesn’t have a clothesline, contact Housing to let since 2001. Drying them know you prefer line drying! • Buy a hand towel to dry your hands in the bathroom. Using • If it’s necessary for you to use a dryer, note that disposable paper towels is wasteful; a hand towel is way more the dryers are much larger than the washers at Stanford.