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In This Issue
- Emory University Earns STARS Gold Rating

- Innovative Water Reclamation Facility Under Construction

- Fleet Services: making moves to a greener fleet

- Launched: The Green Office Pilot Program

Emory to ban bee-harming pesticides to protect pollinators


- Climate@Emory: Interview with Dr. Eri Saikawa
Upcoming Events

- Campus Sustainability Day, Friday, Oct. 24, 2-4pm

- 'Who Owns Water' Screening hosted by TEDxEmory, Friday, Oct. 24, 6pm-8, PAIS 290

- Emory Farmers Market & Pumpkin Carving, Tuesday, Oct. 28th, 11am-3pm

- Dr. Vandana Shiva, Seed Freedom and Food Democracy, Thurs. Nov. 6 at 6:30pm, Center for Ethics Room 102

- 8th Annual America Recycles Day: Race2Recycle 5K, Sat. Nov. 15 at 8am, Clairmont Campus

-Green Networking Night, Thurs. Nov. 20th 7-8:30pm, Cox Ballroom
Sustainability Initiatives
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Emory University Earns a STARS Gold Rating
 by Kelly O'Day Weisinger, Sustainability Programs Coordinator, Office of Sustainability Initiatives

In recognition of its sustainability achievements, Emory University has earned a STARS Gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. 
 
Emory has chosen to report comprehensively on the activities of its entire contiguous main campus, including its hospitals, clinics, and multiple research facilities. Emory’s STARS report is publicly available on the STARS website here.

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Innovative Water Reclamation Facility Under Construction
by Opal Patel, Intern, Office of Sustainability
 

Construction is underway for a unique Water Reclamation
Facility (WRF) at Emory University.  The facility, housed in a greenhouse structure near Emory’s baseball fields, utilizes a unique biological treatment method involving a series of interconnected, sequentially operated, cascading reactors. Water is circulated through both aerobic and anaerobic chambers in which suspended plant roots serve as a natural habitat for 2,000-3,000 different microorganisms that form a unique ecosystem specially engineered to break down waste.  The recycled water will then replace potable water that is currently being used to heat and cool Emory’s buildings as well as flush toilets.
 
Emory uses nearly 1 million gallons of water each day and this facility will help Emory reduce potable water use by over 30% by reclaiming wastewater that can then be re-used for non-potable applications with the co-benefit of significantly decreasing the energy demands of moving clean water to campus and wastewater off campus for treatment. The resulting system will represent a revolutionary approach to water treatment in the United States, creating relief for stressed water systems and mitigating increased effects of climate change caused by traditional energy production and water treatment.

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Fleet Services: making moves to a greener fleet
by Erica Adams, Intern, Office of Sustainability Initiatives
 
“Do the right thing. Do it the right way. Do it for the right reason.” This is the value statement of Campus Services and is a focus for the Fleet Services division of Transportation and Parking Services at Emory.  This division was formed just over two years ago to provide inspection, registration, planning, and maintenance support for the University’s vehicle fleet. With an emphasis on sustainability, the Fleet team has succeeded in finding ways to improve energy efficiency, lower the fleet’s carbon footprint and minimize unnecessary resource use and costs.  The Fleet Services division reduced the fleet by 10% in fiscal year 2014.
 
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Launched: The Green Office Pilot Program
by Melanie Aleman, Intern, Office of Sustainability Initiatives

Emory’s Office of Sustainability’s Green Office program was created through a collaboration of volunteers representing a variety of departments and units, and complements existing Sustainable Events and Green Labs programs. These collaborative programs provide opportunities to engage the Emory community in achieving the goals and actions called for by Emory's Sustainability Vision in 2006.

The Green Office team is currently soliciting offices to volunteer to participate in the pilot program from November 2014 to April 2015. Pilot offices will conduct an initial review of the Green Office checklist, spend six months implementing strategic actions in categories such as energy, waste and purchasing, and provide essential feedback on the program before it is launched to the entire Emory community in 2015. The Green Office Team will assist with the implementation, supply feedback and give recognition to participating offices that are helping to make Emory a greener campus.

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Emory to ban bee-harming pesticides to protect pollinators
By Kimber Williams | Emory Report | Sep. 4, 2014
 
In response to declining global bee populations and environmental threats to other pollinators, Emory University is taking steps to eliminate the use of neonicotinoid-based pesticides and pre-treated plants on its campus grounds.
 
This week, Emory's Office of Sustainability Initiatives released a new campus pollinator protection commitment grounded in the philosophy that "protecting pollinators will further Emory's sustainability 
vision to help restore the global ecosystem, foster healthy living, and reduce the university's impact on the local environment," says Ciannat Howett, director of the Office of Sustainability Initiatives.
 
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Climate@Emory: Interview with Dr. Eri Saikawa
by Amelia Conrad, Intern, Office of Sustainability Initiatives
 
In January of 2014, Emory faculty and staff, along with the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, launched an Academic Learning Community called Climate@Emory, which aims to “discuss and identify opportunities for scholarship, teaching, and service at Emory on topics associated with a changing climate." Dr. Eri Saikawa, a Climate@Emory leader, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and the Department of Environmental Health in the Rollins School of Public Health, and a Global Health Institute Faculty Fellow, answered a few questions about Climate@Emory and her own involvement in teaching about and promoting sustainability.

Amelia Conrad: Congratulations on winning a Sustainability Innovator Award! Can you tell me about the work with Climate@Emory that led to this award?

 
Eri Saikawa: I am grateful to someone that has kindly nominated me for this award but this was really for a group initiative to establish Climate@Emory. I am excited that Climate@Emory has taken off so nicely and we are now moving towards next steps for this initiative.
 
AC: Tell me more about Climate@Emory. What is your relationship to the program? How does it impact students and faculty at Emory?
 
ES: With support from the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, Emory faculty and staff launched the Climate@Emory Academic Learning Community to foster a series of conversations about the status of climate change scholarship, teaching, and service at Emory. I was one of those that started this initiative.  We hope that this initiative will enhance Emory’s engagement in the field of climate change at multiple levels—for example, in raising awareness, offering more courses, and having more interactions among researchers on climate change.

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