- How can I get involved?
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Anyone can be a part of the campus “Green Buzz” by making a commitment to reduce, reuse, and recycle while at Georgia Tech. The Institute supports multiple programs that enable the campus community to engage in environmentally responsible behaviors. There are also numerous student organizations, classes, research centers, and events that are open to students, faculty, and staff searching for additional ways to get involved. For more information on each area, check the Green Buzz page for weekly updates or click on any of the following links:
- How do waterless urinals work?
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Georgia Tech has a number of waterless urinals on campus. Estimated to save between 15,000 and 45,000 gallons of water per year, waterless urinals use environmentally friendly liquids, instead of water, to carry urine into existing waste lines. The surfaces of waterless urinals are also urine resistant to reduce the amount of liquid required to cleanse the fixture. Georgia Tech also makes a conscious effort to install low-flow urinals when waterless urinals are not an option. More than half of Tech’s urinals use one gallon of water or less per flush.
- What is LEED?
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LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. (U.S. Green Building Council Web Site, May 15, 2008)
- What is reclaimed water?
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Georgia Tech regularly uses reclaimed, or recycled, water to irrigate green spaces on campus. The term “reclaimed water” denotes that water has been treated and purified for reuse, rather than discharged into a body of water, such as the sewer system. Georgia Tech reclaims rainwater, condensate from chillers, and water from several underground springs located across campus. Georgia Tech’s use of reclaimed, non-potable water saves more than 5,000 gallons of water each week from being diverted into Atlanta’s sewers.
- Where can I find organic food on campus?
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Georgia Tech’s Campus Supported Agriculture (CSA) program gives students, faculty, and staff the ability to order fresh, local, organic meat, eggs, cheese, milk, pasta, grains, vegetables, and vegan fare. Weekly deliveries ensure a continual source of organic produce for campus. In addition, Georgia Tech Dining Services is always looking for ways to offer more dining options to the campus. The sustainable food committee regularly meets to address issues such as the use of organic food in dining halls.
- Where/what can I recycle?
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In addition to paper, plastic, and metal materials, Georgia Tech also recycles toner cartridges, cell phones, furniture, food, pallets, corrugated cardboard, glass, oils, clothing, monitors, televisions, and computers. The recycling program recovers more than 600 tons of materials each year, including 376 tons of paper. Anyone on campus can recycle at one of the many recycling bins located in every building, office, residence hall, athletic venue, and dining hall. The campus recycling office also accepts items for recycling.
- Does the campus compost its food waste and/or its green waste?
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Georgia Tech’s Students Organizing for Sustainability (S.O.S.), Dining Services, and the Office of Environmental Stewardship sponsor a campus composting program.
- Does Georgia Tech purchase renewable energy or green tags?
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Currently, Georgia Tech does not purchase green tags or renewable energy. However, Tech is fully committed to creating and utilizing alternative energy resources. Having the 9th largest solar roof on a US college campus, as well as the 3rd largest solar implementation of its type in the world, supplements campus energy consumption. Georgia Tech was also a very early adapter of geothermal technologies that conserve energy and reduce CO2 as a by-product of energy use. Tech demonstrates a commitment to green or renewable energy with the implementation of demonstration projects and extensive, alternative energy research.
- Does Georgia Tech use solar panels?
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Georgia Tech both uses and conducts solar panel research. In 1996, Georgia Tech installed the world’s largest rooftop photovoltaic system connected to a utility grid in the Student Athletic Complex (now the Campus Recreation Center). Between July 1996 and November 2006, the solar panel system produced 3259 megawatt hours of energy, enough to power 326 homes in Georgia for one year. It supplements the center's main electrical system and serves as a research model.
- Does Georgia Tech have a community garden?
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Georgia Tech’s Students Organizing for Sustainability (S.O.S.) founded and maintain a community garden on the East side of campus. The group has plans to expand the garden and welcomes everyone to get involved in the effort.
- How does Georgia Tech control pests?
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In addition to utilizing green cleaning methods to reduce the occurrence of pests, Georgia Tech uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM), an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of the following common-sense practices designed to reduce the amount of pesticides used in landscape management:
- Cultural practices - Selection of native plants, analysis of soil type, location and soil preparation, and planting beds free of weeds and disease material
- Identification - Accurate identification of the pest problems and the use of recommended products at proper rates
- Intervention - Physical (mowing, pulling and pruning) or chemical (pre-emergence and post emergence)
- Does Georgia Tech conduct environmental sustainability research?
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Georgia Tech has 21 endowed chairs and 23 research centers that include significant sustainability components or a sustainability focus. Interdisciplinary research centers, corporate partnerships, National Science Foundation and SEED funding all support major sustainability research at Georgia Tech. We have many highly referenced (h-index), green chemistry award winning (including the Presidential Green Chemistry Award) researchers as well as many accomplished graduate and undergraduate researchers in the area of environmental sustainability.
- What water sources does Georgia Tech use to irrigate its landscape during a drought?
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Georgia Tech uses only reclaimed water to irrigate green spaces on campus. The reclaimed water is collected from rainwater, condensate, and non-potable underground springs.
GOT A QUESTION? E-MAIL greenbuzz@gatech.edu!