The NYU Sustainability Report: An ongoing look at NYU’s “greening” progress

By Christopher James

In honor of America Recycles Day, which took place on Nov. 15, the following is a look at some of NYU’s efforts to reduce, re-use, and recycle. See www. nyu.edu/recycling for more information and to sign a “Recycling Pledge.”

REDUCE:
Since its inception in July 2007, the “Say it—No Bag, Thanks!” campaign at the NYU Bookstore has reduced by roughly 200,000 the store’s plastic bag consumption, which is equivalent to about 19,000 pounds of plastic. The program—which has trimmed the annual plastic bag consumption by 50 percent—is due in large part to a charitable donation incentive program. Every plastic bag declined by a customer becomes a five-cent donation, and the customer is given a “wooden nickel,” which they place into one of four bins on their way out of the store. Each bin represents an environmentally friendly organization—the National Audubon Society, New Yorkers for Parks, the National Wildlife Federation, or Greenpeace.

RE-USE:
Over the past five years, NYU’s Office of Asset Management has re-used and re-distributed thousands of items, including: 741 desks, 1,164 filing cabinets, 3,448 chairs, and 2,663 computers. Additionally, during the 2007-08 academic year, Asset Management donated a total of 1,253 items to local not-for-profit organizations and schools—items such as file cabinets, chairs, desks, tables, bookcases, typewriters, projectors, scanners, and computers. Please visit www. nyu.edu/asset for more information.

RECYCLE:
Since November 2007, NYU has avoided releasing over 1,400 metric tons of CO2 into the atmo¬sphere through various recycling efforts. This is equivalent to taking 270 cars off the road for a year, using 3,400 barrels of oil, or 52,919 propane cylinders used for home barbeques. Roughly 72 percent of greenhouse gasses are made up of CO2.