Green Is the Color of Progress on Washington Square

By Christopher James

      As springtime blossoms and Mother Nature turns campus green, here is an update on some of NYU’s own efforts to become as green as possible:

NYU Cogeneration:
      On schedule to flip the switch in April 2010, the cogeneration plant installation marks an important “bottoming out” threshold this month. The site is fully dug out and the installation of the equipment will now begin. Once operating, the cogeneration plant will significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, improve NYU’s energy efficiency, and allow more University buildings to come off of the local grid. Furthermore, on top of the new cogeneration facility will be a new public space plush with trees and plants.

NYU Dining:
      NYU Dining has implemented sustainable practices in its daily operations, utilizing biodegradable meal containers and disposable utensils made from potato by-products instead of plastic, buying Fair Trade coffee for all dining halls, and increasing the purchases of local produce and seafood.
      Under a new initiative started this year, NYU Dining has also removed trays from the majority of residential dining locations to reduce food waste and to conserve water and energy. Since the implementation of tray-less dining, each student has reduced their food waste by one pound per meal, on average. That translates to a reduction of 21,750 pounds of food waste in a semester at each tray-less dining location, and a significant lessening in use of chemical cleaning products.

Environmental Assessment Report:
      The NYU Sustainability Task Force released its first annual “Environmental Assessment Report” this past spring. The 83-page document—complete with maps and graphic representations of energy consumption—evaluates and makes recommendations about NYU’s environmental impact.
      As part of the NYU Green Action Plan, the report offers a snapshot of institutional data available for the 2006-07 fiscal year along with an analysis on its implications. To complete the assessment, sustainability initiative staff and volunteers contacted and worked with dozens of offices and administrators throughout the University to assemble, collate, and analyze data.
      The environmental assessment can be viewed at http://www.nyu.edu/sustainability/ pdf/assessmentreport09.pdf.