Professional Writing Professor Francis Tobienne University of South Florida 140 Seventh Avenue South St.

Petersburg, FL 33701 (727) 873 4873 (4USF) August 2011

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

USF Sprouts!
In this issue
Table of Contents 2 Solid Waste Management Hierarchy 3 Recycling, its Cycle & What it Means 4 How does USF Compare? 5

Economics of Recycling As recycling rates increase, recycling programs become more cost effective. So, the more we recycle the less it costs to fund our recycling programs. With that in mind how much does USF recycle and what are the costs involved with that recycling effort?

Green Initiatives 6 Greener Living 7 How is USF Going Green 8 Past Contributions to Greener Living 10 How are our Cafeterias Going Green? 11 Sustainable Practices 12 Green Thread Program 12 USF Office of Sustainability 13 Affordable Solar Power 14 Future Contributions to Greener Living 14

Executive Summary
Team Sprouts Contributing Writers Gail Acquaviva, Summary Writer and Lead Editor Heike Doiron, Lead Researcher and Compiler Kelsey Hedger, Team Lead and Executive Summary Writer David Pertosoff, Summary Writer and Compiler Joseph Van Der Linde, Researcher and Lead Interviewer
From the outside, one might never guess it, but the University of South Florida has made great contributions in the movement to go green. This white paper focuses on how USF reduces, reuses, and recycles. Our team consists of Gail Acquaviva as Summary Writer and Lead Editor, Heike Doiron as Lead Researcher and Compiler, Kelsey Hedger as Team Lead and Executive Summary Writer, David Pertosoff as Summary Writer and Compiler, and Joseph Van Der Linde as Researcher and Lead Interviewer. Together we are Team Sprouts, because we are excited about where USF has been in the green revolution and how it is going to sprout in the future. In our white paper we show what it means to recycle and how we as a school recycle, how we conserve energy and save water, and how we are currently doing in our participation of going green. We have provided focuses on how we compare to other colleges around the country and what initiatives have been made to make us number one in protecting the environment. Another focus is on our campus cafeterias, coffee bars, and restaurants. Our intent is to show what they have done and are now doing to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We have unraveled the mystery of what goes on behind the countertop. Certain key elements we have found in USFs contribution is that we use biodegradable materials whenever possible, provide reusable products in the dining halls, and have participated in many programs to help us become a top contender in sustainability and saving the earth.
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Table of Contents
3 What is the Solid Waste Management Hierarchy? Recycling, its Cycle and What it Means. Cont. What is the Solid Waste Management Hierarchy? Chart Materials discarded into the Municipal Waste Stream in 86 5 How does USF compare to other Colleges across the state of Florida? Chart Florida College Rankings 6 Cont. How does USF compare to other Colleges across the state of Florida? Green Initiatives 15 Works Sited 7 Greener Living 16 Annotated Bibliography Chart - MSW Recycling Rates 1960 2009 8 How is the University of South Florida Going Green? Cont. How is the University of South Florida Going Green? 4 9

10 Past Contributions to Greener Living

11 How are our cafeterias going green? 12 Sustainable Practices Green Thread Program 13 USF Office of Sustainability 14 Affordable Solar Power Future Contributions to Greener Living

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What is the Solid Waste Management Hierarchy?

According to Debra Strong, the author of Recycling in America; there are four steps of the solid waste management hierarchy. The first step is Source reduction. This is the idea of individuals and / or businesses reducing the waste at its source. For instance, a restaurant that chooses to use cloth napkins in lieu of paper would be a great example of reducing at the source. In the packaging industry, we see a very tangible example. The coffee packaging industry has moved away from packaging coffee in steel cans. You may ask why as I did? In order to package 65 pounds of coffee in to two pound coffee cans requires a massive 20 pounds of steel. Compare that to the alternative option of foil bags. In order to package that same 65 pounds of coffee into two pound vacuum packed foil bags only required a meager three pounds of packaging material. That example alone nets 17 pounds of unnecessary waste saved from our land fills.

The second step of the solid waste management hierarchy is recycling. Over the years recycling has become increasingly easier for the consumer. Today most cities and / or counties offer curbside recycling. This gives each consumer an opportunity to recycle there own waste and have it picked up along with the balance of there waste on a weekly basis. In 1986, the beginning of the Recycling movement if you will, a staggering 41% of all waste was contributed by paper and paper board products. This was followed by a large gap with Yard Waste coming in at 17.9%. The balance of the waste was contributed to 8.7% of Metals, 8.2% of glass waste, 7.9% of food waste and 6.5% contributed by plastics. The numbers have dropped substantially since 1986, but with the growing number of our population the numbers are not coming down as quickly as some would like to see.

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Recycling, its cycle and what it means.

When a product is recyclable it will have a symbol like this.

Materials Discarded into the Municipal Waste stream in '86

Paper and Paper Board
Yard Waste

7.9% 8.2%

6.5%

1.6% 41.0%

Metals
Glass
Rubber, Textiles & Wood

What does this symbol mean exactly? There are actually some conflicting answers to that question, but they are all correlated. Some believe the first arrow stands for collection and that it represents the materials that are segregated for the intent of reprocessing. The second arrow would then represent reprocessing, or the process of the taking the collected materials and reworking them to make other materials. The final arrow completes the cycle and represents the purchasing of these remade or reworked materials. Lets call this outlook recycling. There is another popular interpretation of this symbol which believes that the arrows stand for the three Rs; reduce, reuse and recycle. This is the interpretation that I find a bit easier to comprehend. The way I see it is reduce what you use and or consume, reuse the materials that you can and then recycle those materials that have the symbol. Both of these meanings are similar and are just a different way of understanding the process.

8.2% 8.7%
Food Waste

17.9%
Plastics
Miscellaneous Inorganic Waste

Above graph data taken from Recycling in America by Debra Strong

The third step of the solid waste management hierarchy is waste combustion or incineration. WTE (Waste to - energy) facilities take the waste and burn it at an extremely high temperature to eliminate any toxic emissions. The steam that is created by this waste combustion creates a great deal of steam which can be turned into energy or electric power. In 1997, there were only 120 of these plants operating in the United States; thirteen of those plants are located here in Florida.

The final and fourth step of the solid waste management hierarchy is Land Filling. The land fills are the last resort in a since, but are necessary none the less. This is where the balance of waste that cannot be reused or recycled is taken. Fifty percent of the approximate 6,000 landfills in the United States are government operated believe it or not. A mere fifteen percent of them are privately owned.

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How does USF compare to other Colleges across the State of Florida
According to www.greenreportcard.org, Florida colleges have seen little change in there efforts to go green. That is with one exception however. The University of South Florida has gone from a 1.8 to a 3.4 grade in just the last three years. USF has progressively increased there efforts with much success. In comparison to the other 4 major colleges in the state USF has impressively come out on top according to the 2011 report card. The question is then what is USF doing differently. What are we doing that other campuses can learn from. Some of the findings of www.greenreportcard.org are as follows: USF partners with many groups in its environmental efforts. When it comes to the food industry and USF; USFs Office of Sustainability has partnered with the following groups for its sustainability initiatives. Aramark Marketing Department Students Protecting the Environment and Animals through Knowledge (S.P.E.A.K) Student Environmental Association

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Florida College Rankings

4 Grade 4=A 3=B 2=C 1=D 0=F

Florida Atlantic University Florida State University University of Florida University of Miami University of South Florida

0 2009 2010 Year 2011

Above graph data taken from www.greenreportcard.org

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There are recycling receptacles located in both University and Aramark operated areas. USF boasts that its dining services current wastediversion rate is 25%. What does this mean exactly? This is the percentage of recyclable and / or compostable waste that is segregated from traditional waste.

These partnerships have contributed to the score USF received from www.greenreportcard.org this year. USF scored an overall B+ grade. Some of the major contributors to this score are the As that USF received in the categories of Administration, Green Building, Student Involvement, Transportation, Endowment Transparency and Investment Priorities. USF received solid Bs in the Food and Recycling Category as well as the category for Climate Change and Energy. The one low grade came from the Shareholder Engagement category in which we received a D. In the Food and Recycling category, some of the contributing highlights to this category were the use of reusable mugs. The purchase of these reusable mugs comes with an extreme discount on refills. Tray-less dining was highlighted as well which saves USF approximately 33,000 gallons of water every year. USF also was recognized for recycling electronics, traditional materials and used cooking oil. Some of those traditional materials include Aluminum, Cardboard, Paper, Plastics and others including tin through FritoLay and Republic Waste Services.

Green Initiatives

There are a variety of green initiatives that can be practiced to help clean the environment and improve upon the impact being made. The need to reduce and reuse waste is a key factor in this effort. Products can be manufactured out of biodegradable materials and programs could be administered to collect post-consumer waste for composting. Such efforts could help reduce the amount of landfills and methane gas emissions which are harmful to the environment. The University of South Florida is one of many colleges to address this matter by implementing a compost program as well as adapting green improvements to dining facilities on campus. Such strives lay the beginning foundation to environmental sustainability and green evolution.

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Greener Living
The residents of USF Maple B Hall began a composting program to teach students about composting and awareness of living a greener lifestyle. Created by Robert Brinkman, The Green Living and Learning Community introduced the possibilities of composting. Students deposited and collected food scraps and other organic materials into large plastic containers. Combining volcanic ash to reduce odor and the red worms that do most of the work of breaking down the compost, the organic matter decomposes and creates a rich, soil-like substance that is used as a natural fertilizer for plants. The nutrients stored can be easily absorbed by plants and the procedure has reduced the amount added to landfills, leaving space for non-recyclable materials. [Source: USF] Additional efforts have been taken by the University of South Florida to forward the cause of greener living. The dining hall and facilities have many sustainable practices put into place already. Napkins and paper goods are made of recycled post-consumer waste and are environmentally friendly bleach free. Signage with the slogan Taste, Dont Waste is posted to raise awareness about food waste. Students are encouraged to participate in ecofriendly programs by purchasing reusable and recyclable USF cups for discounted soda fountain beverages. Einsteins, Starbucks, and Java City offer reusable recycled coffee cups for discounted coffee purchases. Also, students can make a difference by purchasing reusable and recyclable USF bags that are available and participate in a reusable to-go container program. [Source:Campusdish] A multiple of small steps can equate into a big difference when everyone gets involved. The question is, how can these small steps grow into bigger strides? Many other college campuses have made grander efforts toward the green movement.

According to epa.gov, Americans generate a rate of 4.3 pounds per day per person equating to a combined 253 million tons of disposed waste per year. Approximately 33.8% of this is recovered and recycled, 11.9% can be burned or composted at a combustion facility, and the remaining 54.3% is deposited into landfills. [source: EPA] As landfills become more numerous and grow, there is a significant amount of methane greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere. In addition, run-off from the landfills fall into the waterways. Any high amount will deplete the oxygen and lead to the loss of river life and water quality. The adoption of green waste management can make significant changes to this trend and improve the natural environment.

http://www.epa.gov/garbage/facts.html
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How is the University of South Florida Going Green?

The University of South Florida is making many strides in the effort to go green. It is both important to not only save money by making cheaper alternatives and or cutting back in certain areas, but also in the fight and constant battle with sustaining our beautiful yet very fragile environment. If you are a student here at USF then you are aware of the plethora of alternative campuses that one can attend. USF does not have just one campus, and with other campuses come other ways of going green. There are Green groups that all USF locations have in order to have a group/organization that is responsible for making and or sustaining changes that come with the responsibility of going green. The main group is located at the USF St. Pete campus and is responsible for the most of the ideas that are place at the other campuses. Some of the ideas that the green group has come up with are but not limited to; the Earth Week Alternative Transportation Challenge Pledge, the USFSP Recycling Program, Green Cleaning, SEEDS Technology, the Science & Technology Building, and the Central Lawn Project. The first one, the Earth Week Alternative Transportation Challenge Pledge is on the week of April 19-25th of every year. This event involves challenging USFSP faculty and students to save as much energy as they can through the 19-25th. They have to do this by using alternative forms of transportation for going and coming to school and going and coming to work etc. Some ideas that the USFSP Green group has listed on their personal website are, carpool, walk; bus; sail; bicycle; and skate. This event is truly a great idea that USF and the green group has started. With ideas like this being done just one time for one week a year it shows both students and faculty that there are alternative ways to still do the things you love and to get there via a plethora of ways. The second idea that the Green group has come up with is the USFSP Recycling program. At this point in time there is probably a recycling program at every university in the United States. I say this because the awareness of saving your recyclable trash is not only prudent but also very important as we have come to find out.
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How is the University of South Florida Going Green? Cont.

Clearly USF is no different, they have a recycling program as well and it is set up very perfectly for the school. It includes the collection of all the normal recyclable materials including aluminum, paper, plastic etc. which are taken up by the company called Recycling Management Solutions Inc. and then after the items are recycled they are then in turn sold and a percentage of the sales goes to charity. There is somewhere around 70 cans for paper products as well as almost 40 cans for plastic and aluminum spread out and around the campus. USF has also gone with Green Seal products. The products that have received this seal have been thoroughly tested and have also had a plant test which in turn they need to pass in order to receive this certification. All the glass cleaners and the hard-surface cleaners as well as any other cleaning solutions that would have contained toxic chemicals that would be harmful to the environment have received this seal which therefore means they are removed and are environmentally friendly.

As you can see these are just some of the changes that the university has made. They might not seem like much but in the long run they are doing more then you can possible imagine in keeping the environment around them clean. USF is also a school of innovation. This is the standard now for going green in most every school and university. USF is looking to the future and wants to set a new standard, a golden standard that will raise the bar when people think of a university that has gone green. The University of South Florida is creating new degrees that will help with the ongoing attempt at going green. One of the new degrees that is going to be offered is called Global Sustainability and will help provide research with water, and making clean and renewable energy along with more research in areas such as human health. This is a very rapidly growing field, and a very important one.

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Past Contributions to Greener Living

Back in 2008, USF challenged its students living on campus to save energy by throwing the ConservaBull Energy Cup. By offering prizes to the residence hall that reduced their energy by the largest percentage, they got students to save energy and perhaps change their normal habits to better our environment. The competition lasted from September 2 to November 3. It wasnt just the potential prizes that got students riled up, but the chance to contribute to saving our community environment a little bit at a time and have fun doing it! The different halls of the USF Tampa campus motivated each other and worked together throughout the two months. This not only helped save energy, but allowed students to unite and socialize with new people. The challenge was repeated in 2009 with the same halls participation. The winners of 2008 were Zeta hall, who seemed to win by a landslide saving nearly half the amount of energy normally consumed.

Since fall of 2009 USF St. Petersburg Student Philanthropy Boards have been issuing $5,000 grants to non-profit organizations with beneficial plans to better our community and environment. Each semester (fall and spring) one organization is awarded with this grant because they have applied and proved they can expand upon an already existing program or create a whole new program that is going to help our communitys sustainability in some way. Each semester the grant is aimed at a different goal; for instance this past spring 2011 the topic was to propose a plan to redefine waste or how to better dispose of our resources and become more efficient. The money for these grants comes from a grant USFSP received for $395,000 by Learn and Serve America so that we may engage our students in projects for the community. Organizations that have applied range from Homeless Services to The Boys and Girls Club to Police Academies and much more.

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Going green did not become very important until around the 1990s. Around this time more and more people came to understand the real danger that we as a race were in. The planet was undergoing changes and it was because of us and green house gases that this was happening. As more and more people began to realize this, different organizations along with top notch colleges such as the University of South Florida began to act and respond to this great endeavor. Their first plan of response was to start planting trees. USF at the time planted over two thousand trees and have been continuing to this since the 1990s. This paved the way to more innovations for the present. Some of the new innovations that University of South Florida has been working on are in the areas such as energy renewal and fuel consumption. In the area of fuel consumption they have done extensive work with Bio-Fuel. Bio Fuel is a type of fuel that is derived from bio mass which makes it more environmentally friendly. They took this fuel and created an engine for it and put that engine in the city buses and the buses that are used for transportation of students around the campus. This was a great idea, not only did the buses get better gas mileage overall, but it became better environmentally.

How are our Cafeterias Going Green?

USF sustain-a-bull efforts range far and wide in our dining halls and restaurants. Not only do we have our own programs and criteria, but the individual restaurants represented in our food courts and elsewhere have their own as well. Therefore, its like getting double the effort towards keeping our school green. As mentioned earlier, we offer tray-less dining, reusable and recyclable cups and bags, and reusable to-go containers. Those are just a few of the ways in which our dining options contribute to this phenomenon of going green, we also have made community partnerships with local programs and restaurants, we use sustainable practices, and follow the Green Thread Program. Organizations and Community Involvement We at USF are a member of Water-Pro, an outreach designed to save water through the use of their products and tips. Our efforts to conserve water are also attached to Energy Star and LEED, encouraging us to not only protect the environment, but save money at the same time.

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 ThefooditselfthatyoucangetatUSFdining hallsisalsopartofsustainableprograms.The SeafoodWatchProgramisoneweareapartof; theyadviseconsumerwhichseafoodproducts toavoidandwhicharesustainablesources fromwhichyoushouldbuy.Beingthatwelive inFlorida,seafoodisabigpartofourfood industry.Afewotherorganizationsweare associatedwitharetheRainforestAlliance, USDAorganic,andFairTradeCertified. Otherareasinwhichweareconnected withoutsideprogramsaretransportation, wastemanagement,greenbuildings,andmuch more.

USFreducesandrecyclescookingoilanduses improvedfryingtechniques.Anotherpracticeis therecyclingandreusingofusedcoffeegrinds, whicharegiventoUSFBotanicalGardens.Allof ourStarbuckslocationswilloffercustomers freeusedgroundstoenhancegardensoil.

GreenThreadProgram
AtUSFwearepartoftheGreenThread ProgramthroughARAMARKHigherEducation. Theystandtosayagreenthreadconnects everythingwedoanditstrue.Theystriveto weavethisgreenthreadthroughouttheir dailybusinessoperations.Thisthreadconnects sustainablefood,greenbuildings,responsible procurement,wastemanagement,energyand waterconservation,andtransportation.This respectforourenvironmentisevolving, growing,andtouchingmoreandmorepeople everyday.Thatiswhythisprogramisoffering theirexpertadviceandsolutionstocampuses ineffortstoreduce,reuse,andrecycle.

SustainablePractices
Therearemanypracticesweuseinour cafeteriasandelsewheretoprotectourselves andourenvironmentsowecanlivelonger, healthierlives.Wearecommittedtobuying ecofriendlyappliancesthroughEnergyStarand cleaningsuppliesthataregreensealcertified. OurlightbulbsareallCFL(compactfluorescent lightbulbs)andrecycledafteruse.

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USF Office of Sustainability

USF has sought to improve on sustainable goals and practices since 1995. Beginning with a Master Plan to promote using infill development, increased density, and parking lots as development sites in order to reduce sprawl, traffic, utility extensions, off-campus light pollution, and minimize increases in impervious areas while preserving undeveloped land. The university planted over 2000 trees, implemented a free regional shuttle system, and increased the quantity of on-campus residence halls. Energy conservation continues to be a major priority, and USF has saved approximately $10 million over the past 10 years with the Green lights replacement program.

After convening a Sustainability Initiative Committee in 2006, USF decided to create the Office of Sustainability in 2009 to manage USFs climate impact assessment and reporting, as well as to serve as the single point of contact for sustainability programs and activities for the USF system. The Office of Sustainability contributes to the USF Strategic Plan by: Strengthening and supporting integrated and synergistic interdisciplinary research across disciplinary, departmental, college and campus boundaries Building a sustainable campus environment at USF Constructing an up-to-date clearinghouse of information about all the sustainability engagement activities currently occurring at USF and encouraging and rewarding faculty, staff, and student engagement in sustainability initiatives Creating a sustainable environment that supports an expanded and improved teaching and research mission, a more engaged residential community, and a university-based global village

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Affordable Solar Power

With the goal of making solar power affordable and available 24/7, a USF team is building a solar power plant on campus. Professor D. Yogi Goswami and his team at the College of Engineering are building a solar power plant at the Tampa campus of USF, with the aim of finding a way to make solar energy available 24 hours a day at affordable prices. The on campus solar plant will be funded with a grant from the State of Florida through the Florida Energy Systems Consortium. This project will also include a thermal storage system being developed with a $3.9 million grant from the US Department of Energy. Dr. Goswani has won more than 50 international awards and certificates; he has 14 patents with 6 more pending, and has written 16 books and published more than 200 scientific articles.

Future Contributions to Greener Living

USF Tampa students have been part of a project for the past two years to build the most energy efficient home in the world. The construction of this house finally started in June 2011 in Tampa. They are not the only school doing this though; numerous universities throughout Florida are in the running to build this prestigious, eco-friendly home. In the fall they will take apart the house and make way for Washington to compete against 20 other schools in the U.S. Solar Decathlon. They are calling their project Flexhouse and it is designed to generate as much energy as it uses. It uses solar panels, partitioned rooms, and several other features to save energy. It is hi-tech on the outside, yet simple on the inside. The students and staff involved want to show people that this can be done and that it can be affordable. After the competition, Flexhouse will come back to Tampa and be showcased to the public; and perhaps one day be available for the public to buy into.

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Works Cited

Miller, Daylina. USF Residence Hall Goes Green: A composting set up in residence hall Maple B teaches students about greener lifestyles. USF.edu. 30 Nov. 2010. Website. Web source and graph: http://www.epa.gov/garbage/facts.html Web source: http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSS/UnivSouthFlorida/Sustainability/ Chacherre, Vickie. Sustainability Gold - University of South Florida. Florida, July 2011. Web. http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/?a=3116 Strong, Debra L. Recycling in America: a reference handbook. California: ABC-CLIO, 1997. Electronic Book. Sustainable Endowments Institute, www.greenreportcard.org. Massachusetts, 2007 2011. Website. USF Student Philanthropy Board. Resource Efficiency: Redefining Waste. University of South Florida St. Petersburg, March 2011. Website. USF sustain-a-bull Efforts. Dining with USF. www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSS/UnivSouthFlorida/Sustainability/ Florida, July 2011. Website. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=green+sprout&view=detail&id=0FEA2194AE8ADB0019027 648F956FEAFD2ECDE81&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

ConservaBull 2009." Conservabull. University of South Florida, 2009. Web. 20 July 2011. <http://ctr.usf.edu/egb/conservabull/>. Castro, Carlos. "Student Philanthropy Boards." Student Life and Engagement. University of South Florida, 05/27/2011. Web. 17 Jul 2011. <http://stpete.usf.edu/studentlife/grant/>. "USF students compete to make most energy efficient home." Tampa Bay Online. News Channel 8: Tampa, 08 Jun 2011. Television. 26 Jul 2011. <http://video.tbo.com/v/40858554/usf-students-compete-to-make-most-energy-efficient-home.htm>.

Temple, Lisa. " Solar Power Plant Coming to USF - University of South Florida ." Solar Power Plant Coming to USF - University of South Florida. N.p., 5 Jan. 2011. Web. 30 July 2011. <http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/?a=3044>.

"USF Office of Sustainability." University of South Florida - A metropolitan Research I university, with 4 campuses located in central Florida.. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jul. 2011. <http://usfweb2.usf.edu/Sustainability/>. http://usfweb2.usf.edu/Sustainability/

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Annotated Bibliography
Miller, Daylina. USF Residence Hall Goes Green: A composting set up in residence hall Maple B teaches students about greener lifestyles. USF.edu. 30 Nov. 2010. Website. This article introduces the Green Living and Learning Community created by USF resident advisor Robert Brinkmann in 2009. The composting program was managed by resident assistant Susana Alvarado in the Maple B Hall of University of South Florida campus. Students practiced post-consumer composting and environmental sustainability. Composting helps reduce the amount of waste in landfills and transforms into viable fertilizer. This process reduces the amount of harmful methane greenhouse gases and water run-off.

Chacherre, Vickie. Sustainability Gold - University of South Florida. Florida, July 2011. Web. http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/?a=3116 Earlier this year, USF was given a gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, which is the nations leading advocacy group for the green campus movement. USF scored top marks in sustainability innovation and activities, as well as its coordination and planning for a more sustainable campus. The article goes on to show other examples of what USF is doing to be eco-friendly, including recycling, and conservation.

Strong, Debra L. Recycling in America: a reference handbook. California: ABC-CLIO, 1997. Electronic Book. Strongs book includes a great deal of facts in regards to the history of the recycling movement. It makes reference to historical dates and numerical facts and comparisons. She speaks about Waste Management as a Hierarchy and explains in detail each step. She elaborates on Recycling as one of the key elements of this Hierarchy. The book is a great reference and was extremely helpful in my research. I am using the information found in this text as a baseline for how the efforts of USF measure up historically.

Sustainable Endowments Institute, www.greenreportcard.org. Massachusetts, 2007 2011. Website. The Sustainable Endowments Institute hosts a website that is a compilation of college responses to a sustainability survey. The survey grades each college on particular criteria in relation to sustainability. It identifies colleges and universities that are leaders in this effort. The purpose of the website is to provide an outlet for colleges and universities to learn from others that have been and are successful. 90% of 322 schools respond to the Report Card survey. I am using this information to see how USF measures up to the competition. The survey compares USF to other institutions in 9 different categories.

USF Student Philanthropy Board. Resource Efficiency: Redefining Waste. University of South Florida St. Petersburg, March 2011. Website. stpete.usf.edu/studentlife/grant/documents/SPB17ResourceEfficiencyRedefiningWaste.pdf Back in March this took place, and it appears they do one every year or so. It is a grant to a non-profit organization that has a plan or idea to conserve energy, improve our waste disposal programs, or anything that will enhance our sustainability. Specifically for the USF St. Petersburg campus, the Student Philanthropy Board hosts it and decides on the best proposal. The grant is $5,000, which includes training, equipment, supplies, and consultants.

USF sustain-a-bull Efforts. Dining with USF. www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSS/UnivSouthFlorida/Sustainability/ Florida, July 2011. Website. USF has many options available in their dining hall from Moes Southwestern Grill to the classic Chick-Fil-A. This site shows USFs Sustain-a-bull efforts, both those made by the restaurants corporately and the schools use of paper products, recycling, etc. It has a good amount of information on the practices and products our cafeterias and dining halls use to promote sustainability.

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