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A Message from President Dennis J. Murray

I am pleased to present this comprehensive report on Marist College's efforts to make our campus cleaner and more environmentally friendly. Marist has been a longtime leader in preserving and protecting the Hudson River Valley, and we are very proud of our commitment to sustainability. This report outlines the College's significant environmental accomplishments over the past 11 years and provides ideas for additional actions that can be taken to protect our planet. I urge you to pay particular attention to the section on what you as individuals can do to make a positive impact.

It is important for all organizations to be concerned about our environment, but colleges and universities must take the lead in educating people about the issues related to sustainability, as well as setting an example of environmental stewardship. We must also ensure that we address issues based on good research and sound science. Marist is justifiably proud of its record, and I thank you for your support as we continue our efforts to find sustainable solutions to today's environmental challenges.

To ensure that Marist is doing everything that it can reasonably do, in 2007 I established the Campus Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC). One of CSAC's first tasks was to review the environmental work that Marist had previously completed and to suggest items that should be on our agenda going forward, both at the institutional and individual levels. The following is a summary of our major initiatives.

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What Is Marist College Doing?

Environmental-Friendly Practices

Other campus sustainable projects?

• reusable beverage mug program at campus retail food locations
• relamping of campus with energy efficient bulbs
• energy efficient shower heads in college residence facilities
• campus toilets designed for low consumption of water
• all campus construction utilizes super insulation for heating and cooling
• heat recovery units used in residence facilities
• energy efficient boilers
• use of unbleached napkins in campus dining facilities
• energy efficient appliances in residence kitchen and laundry facilities
• printer cartridge and cell phone recycling

• The College has a recycling program with FUNDING FACTORY to recycle printer cartridges and cellphones. Funds generated through this recycling effort are used for Student Appreciation Day and the Marist Fun Day. Laser printer toner cartridges, ink jet printer cartridges and cellphones can be brought to the Help Desk in Donnelly Hall during normal business hours.

• water and energy conservation with updated campus washers and dryers

In 2003 the College replaced all of its campus laundry room washers and dryers with energy efficient machines. All machines are powered by natural gas and the washing machines require only 14.5 gallons of water per cycle.

During 2004/2005, there were approximately 82,620 wash cycles. With the "old" top load washers using on average 34 gallons of water, total water usage would have been approximately 3,013,080 gallons. With our new efficient machines, only 1,197,990 gallons were used for a water savings of 1,815,090 gallons per year!

The more efficient front load washing machines spin out about 90-95% of water used during the wash cycle. As a result, the gas usage for dryers is far less, resulting in less energy use.

• Campus Dining Services offers Green Mountain Coffee, utilizing fair trade certified coffee beans. The use of fair trade coffee guarantees farmers a fair price for their product, thus ensuring they can feed their families, keep their children in school and reinvest in the quality of their coffee product. Marist uses ecotainer cups for all hot beverage sales, an eco-friendly cup using a lining comprised of corn instead of petrochemicals.

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Recycle Your Computer

All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to recycle their computer's energy and be part of the biggest philanthropic grid computing venture in the world. Marist signed on as the principal partner to IBM's World Community Grid in fall 2004. Since then, Marist has paved the way for schools and businesses alike to take the initiative and partner with this revolutionary program.

Here's how it works -World Community Grid is a global humanitarian effort that brings together the collective power of millions of individual PCs and business computers to address the world's most urgent challenges using grid computing technology. There are an estimated 650 million PCs in the world.

More information about the World Community Grid

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Talk Back!

Do you have a comment, question or suggestion? Please email us at Recycle@marist.edu and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Do you have a recycling problem? Having a bad plastic day? Broken glass conundrum? Cardboard or chipboard? Email us at Recycle@marist.edu and we'll help you through it.