Sustainable Action
WATER QUALITY & CONSERVATION
Rain Gardens
- UT has constructed quick-draining, native vegetation rain gardens in several locations
- Garden 1: Parking Lot 10, north of the Glass Bowl, and the Ottawa River on Main Campus
- Garden 2: Between International House and Academic House on Main Campus
- Garden 3: Next to the Center for Performing Arts on Main Campus
- Garden 4: North of the front entrance for Lake Erie Center
- Rain gardens not only soak up runoff and make the campus more beautiful, but also serves as an outdoor classroom for students studying water quality and environmental sustainability practices
- The gardens collect and filter storm water runoff from a 30,000-square-foot area and helps prevent it from draining directly into the Ottawa River
- Storm water carries a lot of pollutants, and keeping sediments, fertilizer, lawn and garden pesticides, oil and road salt out of the river on Main Campus is better for the fish and insects that live there, at the bottom of the food chain
- Before the installation of the gardens, storm water drained directly into the river
PURCHASING
The University is committed to the environmentally responsible use of resources and sustainability. Purchasing practices of 'buying green' support the University's initiative of minimizing the effects our institution has on the environment by using procurement methods that are socially and economically responsible.
Environmentally Preferred Purchasing (EPP) or green purchasing attempts to reduce environmental impact and maximize resource efficiency. To reduce our carbon footprint, Purchasing also works with suppliers who make regular deliveries to our campuses to reduce the number of delivery days needed yet meet the needs of our customer base.
Categories for sustainability that all employees should be aware of when making purchases are:
- Energy Star products
- Energy efficient alternatives for interior/exterior lighting
- Products with recyclable content
- Remanufactured toner cartridges
- Use of biodegradable materials for packaging
- Use of renewable resources
- Bio-based fuels, hybrids, electric batteries (less polluting alternatives for vehicles purchases)
- Cleaning solvents (no ozone depleting substances, reduced flammability, no added dyes, fragrances, skin irritants)
List of presently used products bearing Green Seal certification at UT:
- 3M General Purpose Clean Concentrate #8
- 3M Glass Cleaner Concentrate #1
- 3M Neutral Cleaner Concentrate #3
- 3M 3 in 1 Floor Cleaning Concentrate #24
- Spartan Graffiti Remover SAC- Bio Renewable, soybean and corn esters, no petroleum solvents are added
- Lite'N Foamy Citrus Fresh Hand Soap- Bio- RenewableBay West Roll Rowels 45800
- Bay West Tissue 14000
DINING
UT's Dining Services provider, ARAMARK, is committed to improving dining our experience while minimizing the environmental impact. Dining and Hospitality Services focuses on many sustainability initiatives featured through their Green Thread commitment.
- Sustainable Packaging
- To-go containers are made from 100% recycled content paperboard that is non-bleached
- Napkins, paper towels and office paper are made of post-consumer recycled material
- Box lunch containers from our Catering Department are paper-based
- Grab 'n Go salads, sandwiches, parfaits and more are all packaged in biodegradable to-go containers
- Used office print cartridges are sent back to the company for proper recycling
- Sustainable Cleaning
- Green Seal certified cleaning supplies are used at all dining locations
- Follow Energy Star procurement policy on new dining appliances
- This means, any new dining appliances we purchase are Energy Star qualified
All retail and residential locations at UT are 100% tray-less, reducing water usage (one-third to one-half gallon of water per tray) and eliminating the need to heat water (reducing energy usage)- Sustainable Eating
- Coffee in all residential restaurants are UTZ-Certified
- Purchase locally grown produce as frequently as possible from such vendors as Better Made, Awrey's Bakeries, Flat-Out Flatbread Wraps, Detroit Chili Company and many others.
"Locally grown" means the items are transported from within a 150-mile radius of UT
= less harmful gas emissions to the Ozone.- Milk and icecream are hormone-free and antibiotic-free and comes from a local dairy farm
- All eggs are cage-free
- Used fryer oil is converted into biodiesel fuel
- To prevent waste, perishables remaining at the end of each semester are donated to the Cherry Street Mission