Green Fact: Samford's 2009 recycling efforts saved 2,739 mature trees! See more Green Facts here...

Go Green

This is the home of Samford University's environmental stewardship efforts. You can check this site for updates on campus initiatives, Go Green facts and profiles on what is being done on campus to ensure we are good stewards of our resources. The Samford University foundational statements list one of the institution's core values as "stewardship of all resources."

Background of the Samford Go Green Initiative

Also, please check this site frequently to see how you can Go Green!

Green Updates

Transportation Services implements bike loan program: Samford has implemented a bike loan program to provide free alternative transportation around campus. This will decrease the number of vehicles moving around campus and allow the Samford community to easily and conveniently borrow a bike for up to three days. Check out a bike today at The HUB!

Samford to reduce utility costs in 2010: The 100 Grand to Green program was announced at the 2009 Campus Sustainability Day and is aimed at reducing utility costs by $100,000 in fiscal year 2010. Check this website for monthly usage statistics and educational material to assist in the cost saving effort.

Samford implements responsible printing initiative: Dennis Self, Interim Chief Information Officer, announced Samford's Responsible Printing Initiative in an e-mail sent to students, faculty, and staff on Jan. 22, 2010.

"At the beginning of each semester, students will be given an allocation for printing that equates to 500 black and white single-sided pages. As printing takes place, the student will see current information of remaining allocation and total used for the term. Should a student exceed their allocation, a means is available to increase the allocation.

"The expected result is immediate reduction in the volume of printing in computer labs. The reductions should come from elimination of printing by unauthorized persons and from decreased printing by students. Student reductions will likely come from awareness of actual use that will lead to reduction in waste."

To learn more about the program, visit the Responsible Printing Initiative website.

Click here for more Go Green printing tips.

Samford eliminates Caf trays: Samford's traditional dining facility eliminated trays on Sept. 15, 2008.

For decades, Samford students commandeered cafeteria trays on the rare occasion the campus had enough snow for sledding. We now know that was probably the most environmentally responsible use of the trays. Recent studies have revealed that those seemingly harmless plastic helpmates, when used as intended, exact an enormous price in energy, water and wasted food.

In July the ARAMARK company, which provides dining services to many of the hundreds of U.S. colleges and universities going trayless, published a white paper titled The Business and Cultural Acceptance Case for Trayless Dining, based on two studies:

One of the ARAMARK studies documented food waste at 25 colleges and universities and found that institutions reduced waste by 20-30 percent when they eliminated dining hall trays.

A second study considered the cultural implications of eliminating trays. Out of almost 100,000 students and employees of 300 universities, ARAMARK determined that 79 percent would accept the change.

Putting national findings in perspective, Mike McCormack, Director of Samford's Business Services office, said Samford must wash 3,200 trays on a normal day. In addition to the potential energy and water savings of eliminating that washing, he said, "it is estimated there might be a savings of about $40,000 in food waste [annually]."

Samford's elimination of trays starting Sept. 15 is part of its ongoing Go Green initiative. The comprehensive, university-wide initiative, launched in 2007, helps bring Samford's practices in line with other U.S. universities and colleges and reflect its commitment to good stewardship of all its resources.

Recycle bins available on campus! Recycling bins are available behind the University Center. Click here for more information.

Green Events

**Celebrate Earth Week at Samford -- April 18-22, 2011. Click here to view a schedule of the week's events.

---

**Campus Sustainability Day (http://www.campussustainability.info/) is celebrated each fall.

You can access materials from the 2009 webcast here.

---

-Thanks to those who came by the CommuteSmart info booth and who partipated in the emissions testing. We appreciate your support of our Go Green initiative!

For more information on CommuteSmart, you can direct your web browser to http://www.commutesmarter.org.

---

-Green Clean: Over the next month, Samford will be collecting and cleaning out dated materials (ie electronic equipment, furniture, books, etc.) across campus. These materials will be sorted into recyclable goods, items slated for donation to local charities, and those that can be sold in a Samford garage sale (proceeds benefiting our Go Green efforts). We will work with each building coordinator to identify pick up dates and also develop a list of items that departments would like to have collected (there will be no charge for picking up these materials). As we perfect this process, we will repeat it every semester.

Picture from Samford's Green Products Fair | February 29, 2008