Blue Goes Green

ODU is going green! I met with the Associate Director of Environmental Health & Safety, Doug Alexander, earlier today and learned a lot about what the university is doing to green things up around campus.

This blog post is an appendix to the article posted on 24 Seven Cities.

• Many of the cleaning products are Green Seal certified.
• Much of the lighting has retrofitted to maximize efficiency.
• ODU was the first state school to build a LEED certified structure.
• Recycling has more than doubled in the past two years from 500 thousand pounds to more than 1 million pounds.
• The school started Donate It, Don't Dump It which is kind of like a huge swapping party for students.
• All new structures on campus meet LEED Silver status.
• 50% of all construction waste is diverted from the landfills and recycled.
• Two electric trucks were acquired for the grounds department.
• Rain water is harvested in two cisterns and used for lawn projects.
• A new bike rental program is available for students and for those with bikes, a maintenance crew is available to help fix busted rides.
• The university has developed an Environmental Advisory Committee to stay abreast of new greenie movements.
• ODU has two Adopt-A-Streams on the Elizabeth & Lafayette Rivers.
• A graduate student on campus is working on a Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the school.
• A central chiller plant was installed which reduces energy consumption.
• B10 biodiesel is used for all diesel vehicles on campus.
• ODU Dining Services eliminated the use of trays in the cafeteria which reduced the amount of waste.
• There are two rain gardens on campus.
• A nutrient management plan is in place which eliminates the need for fertilizer on many of the school's grounds.
• There's a green roof on part of the BAL building.
• Tree clippings are taken to the Norfolk Zoo to feed some of the animals.
• The Education Dept developed an Environmental Curriculum which rolled out in the Norfolk Elementary School System.
• ODU is a Model Level (highest rank) for the River Stars Program.

I received more tid-bits on the greening of ODU and the list could go on and on. You're awesome ODU!