Newsletter > December 2007
December 2007 Newsletter
In this Issue:
- Happy Holidays
- Greeks Going Green
- Biodiesel Finds a New Home
- Looking for Books?
- UF Has a Heart
- Toxic Toys
- Announcements
- Did You Know?
- Sustainability Forum
Happy Holidays
From the Office of Sustainability
You may not be ready for a McKibben-style
Hundred Dollar Holiday or to join Lester Brown in proclaiming that
Santa Claus is Chinese, but we hope that you will take some time
this season to celebrate and be joyful.
With personal and national debt soaring, there has never been a better time to simplify the holidays. Our simple gift to each of you is the gift of gratitude (no, we’re not just being cheap). We are genuinely grateful to the UF community for all of the support and dedication you give to our collective efforts to envision a sustainable future.
Happy Hanukkah (belated)
Merry Christmas
Joyous Kwanzaa
Happy New Year,
The Office of Sustainability
Greeks Going Green
UF’s Greek Community work on their eco-footprint
The Greeks have a new agenda and things are looking greener on the other side. The Alpha Psi chapter of Delta Delta Delta is chartering a first-ever “Greeks Going Green” campaign to help promote environmental awareness and eco-friendliness within the Greek community at the University of Florida.
The premise of the campaign is for sororities and fraternities to be challenged each year to make one lifestyle change in each of their respective chapters. This change can be as simple as installing CFL light bulbs around the house or carrying a tote bag to the grocery store.
However big or small a chapter’s pledge to the program may be, the idea is to get Greeks on track to living in the most environmentally efficient quarters and/or leading the most eco-efficient lifestyle they possibly can, given their resources. There is great opportunity for change within the Greek community. The sense of commitment that members feel to their Greek “family” is a very powerful and effective tool that can be used to develop a collective following for a cause, and in the end, produce overwhelmingly successful results.
With many Greek chapters working together for a common goal - to preserve the planet for the generations to come - it is hoped that the efforts will result in effectively reducing the carbon footprint at the University of Florida. The Greek population makes up over 15% of the university’s total population, which means 15% of the UF population that’s headed in a greener direction, living more socially responsible lives, and making a huge difference.
A secondary program of “Greeks Going Green” is a partnership with Publix to encourage sorority women to bring their own shopping bag to the grocery store to participate in the “We Don’t Do Plastic” – BYOB (Bring your own bag) competition. Through this program, sorority chapters are in competition with one another for the chapter to have the most members shopping the eco-friendly way, without plastic bags.
Organic cotton t-shirts and grocery totes are being sold to support the campaign. Proceeds from these sales will benefit Alachua County Trust.
The entire Greek community has been encouraged to participate in “Greeks Going
Green” as a way to work together to make strides in the direction of a more
sustainable Greek community and a more sustainable UF campus. Visit us on the web
at www.greeksgoinggreen.com.
Contributed by Kylie Savino
Biodiesel finds a new home
Hastings tractor fleet runs on 99% Biodiesel
On the sustainable energy front, the University of Florida’s Institute of
Food and Agricultural Sciences is best known for its groundbreaking research on
cellulosic ethanol.
But for the past year, another innovation has quietly taken place at the Florida Partnership for Water, Agriculture and Community Sustainability at Hastings. It’s a research and demonstration facility serving Northeast Florida’s tri-county agricultural area—Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
A fleet of tractors used at the partnership’s research and demonstration farms have been running on biodiesel, a fuel made by processing organic material such as animal fat or vegetable oil.
Advocates say biodiesel has several advantages over traditional petroleum-based diesel, including greatly reduced carbon emissions and the fact that biodiesel can be produced domestically.
Those claims sounded appealing to Scott Taylor, director of operations at the partnership. So, with the blessing of IFAS administrators, he put them to the test.
Beginning in January, seven tractors were operated with a fuel blend containing biodiesel and standard petroleum-based diesel fuel. The yearlong trial run began with B-20, which contains 20 percent biodiesel. When it proved successful, later fuel orders were put in for blends containing 40, 60 and finally 99 percent biodiesel.
The switch from pure diesel fuel to biodiesel blends required no modification of the tractors, and had no adverse effect on their performance, he said.
“The really interesting thing about this is, as petroleum fuel prices have gone up, the cost of biodiesel has decreased relative to diesel,” Taylor said.
As of November, standard diesel fuel for the tractors cost about $2.95 per gallon, while B-99 – the blend containing 99 percent biodiesel and 1 percent diesel – was 20 to 25 cents less.
“So not only are we reducing dependence on foreign oil, we’re reducing our carbon footprint and we’re also spending a little less money,” he said.
In 2008, the fleet will continue using biodiesel blends. During the eight or nine warmer months, B-99 will be the fuel of choice. When winter arrives, Taylor plans to use B-60, which contains 60 percent biodiesel and is better for cold-weather performance.
“We can reduce our petroleum consumption by 75 to 80 percent over the course of the year,” he said. The fleet uses 4,000 to 5,000 gallons of fuel per year, which means they’ll save anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of petroleum.
Taylor plans to collaborate with a UF agricultural engineering researcher to make a more in-depth evaluation of the overall fuel use, performance and economy involved with biodiesel. Once the facts are in, he’ll tell the partnership’s stakeholders – including potato, cabbage and sod farmers – what to expect if they try the alternative fuel.
“It’s important for us to lead by example, not to just say ‘this is something you can do,’ but be able to tell our clients ‘here’s what we did and here are the results we got,’” he said.
Economics will likely dictate whether local producers adopt biodiesel, but Taylor says the price picture can change over time, depending on such factors as the supply of biodiesel feedstock and the price of oil.
As with oil, world events can play a role in biodiesel prices, and sometimes those events don’t have an obvious connection to fuel, said John Magwood, president and CEO of First Coast Biofuels, a Jacksonville-based company that currently provides the partnership’s biodiesel.
For example, biodiesel prices rose this year as the holiday season got under way. Why? Look to the dinner table for an answer.
Some biodiesel refineries, including First Coast’s supplier, use chicken fat as a feedstock. When the holidays roll around, U.S. chicken consumption drops as consumers purchase more turkey and ham. Chicken producers scale back their production accordingly, which means there’s less chicken fat available, driving up prices for the feedstock. The result—higher biodiesel prices.
“Anytime there’s a squeeze on supply or an increase in demand, prices go up,” Magwood said.
Taylor says despite the challenges, he’s glad to be exploring the world of alternative fuels.
“We want the solutions we provide to be long-range sustainable solutions,
we are very, very committed to that,” he said. “You can figure out how
to fix a flat tire and get your car back on the highway. Or you can figure out how
to prevent a flat tire from happening in the first place, which is a better way
to go. That’s the kind of view we take.”
Contributed by: Tom Nordlie
Lookin’ for Books?
New UF Book Market
Students now have more opportunities
to sell used textbooks through the UF Book Market. This new website allows students
to sell books to each other with the Classified Ads (textbook listing) and/or by
receiving Buyback Alerts from the University of Florida Bookstore. These two options
are designed to increase the availability of used books on campus and to lower the
costs associated with textbook purchases. This effort will help make us a more sustainable
campus by recycling your textbooks. Get
started!
UF Has a Heart
UF raises over 28,000 for American Heart Association
The University of Florida, under the sponsorship of Ed Poppell, Vice President for Business Affairs, was the top-raising company at this year’s Alachua County Heart Walk. The annual event raises awareness about heart disease and stroke, while fundraising for research by the American Heart Association. Walkers from the university gathered at the Haile Plantation Village Center on October 13th and were cheered on by family and friends as they traveled the 3.6-mile route.
IFAS’s Executive Associate Vice President Dr. Joseph Joyce headed up the IFAS teams; Russell Armistead, Associate Vice President for Finance and Planning, oversaw the Health Science Center teams; teams from the main campus were led by Mike McKee, Assistant Vice President for Business Affairs and University Controller.
The top individual donations were raised by Finance and Accounting, including Barbara Bennett ($1,855.13), Karen Frank ($1,525), team leader Gloria Sheffield ($1,433), and Mike McKee ($1,225). UF’s 192 participants contributed a total of $28,564.37 to the overall $194,851 raised by the area
Toxic Toys
Learn what’s in toys before you buy
Millions of children’s toys have been recalled
for high lead levels recently. Additionally, in tests of 1,268 toys, the Michigan-based
Ecology Center found that 35 percent contained lead, mercury, cadmium, and/or arsenic,
and only 23 of these toxic toys had been recalled. Before you do your holiday shopping
for the little ones (or the young at heart), check out the Ecology Center's full
searchable results of the testing a HealthyToys.org.
Announcements
News, events,
and opportunities
- January 5th-Paynes Prairie Overnight Backpacking Trip. Fee: $10.00 per person. Call the visitor center 466.4100 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. for more information or to RSVP.
- January 17-Museum Nights presents a musical tour through the Harn Museum of Art. 7pm. For more information visit: http://www.harn.ufl.edu/
- January 31- Focus the Nation at UF. A climate change awareness fair, a Science of Global Warming Panel, and a political forum are among the activites planned for this day. For more information, contact Anna Prizzia at aprizzia@ufl.edu.
- Check out all the great events hosted by the College of Fine Arts that are happening around campus. Visit http://www.arts.ufl.edu/events.asp
Did You Know?
Sustainability Around Campus
Sustainability is all around you. From the commitment of some departments to switch to 100% post consumer recycled paper to the everyday actions (e.g. turning off computers and lights) of people like you, UF is working hard to be a more sustainable campus. Just a few of the latest initiatives are:
-
The Message boards on University and 34th have been changed
to LED technology. These new lights reduce the energy use for these boards by three-fold.
- Building Services will soon be stocking the bathrooms with a "greener" paper towel. The natural paper towel is Green Seal certified, is made from 100% recycled paper and contains up to 82% post-consumer waste. The paper towels are also made with a de-inking process free of chlorine and other harmful chemicals.
- UF's Small Business & Vendor Diversity Relations Division announces the establishment
of an on-line small business registration
system and directory. This on-line directory will be used to identify small
businesses, including women and minority owned businesses, and the products and/or
services they provide and to share this with our campus community. For more information
on the directory or registering, please contact Small Business & Vendor Diversity
Relations at (352) 392-1331 ext. 500.
Sustainability Forum
Send us your questions about campus sustainability
Q: I have noticed that most of the buildings at UF seem to be overly cold due to the use of air conditioning. This seems like a waste, and I am wondering why UF does not turn up the thermostat to save money and energy?
A: A large majority of UF buildings are cooled through a very efficient
Chilled Water utility produced by UF’s Physical Plant Division (PPD). This
system cools the supply air to 55 degrees. Each building is different, but many
have a re-heat type system that uses heated piped steam to reheat the air back up
to the desired air temperature set for the zone or space. Having a cooler temperature
setting actually saves energy by not reheating up the air. However, we must reheat
to a minimum level of comfort for all the occupants. Currently, in our humid climate,
this is the best way we have of removing the humidity from the air to keep our buildings
healthy, and free of mold and mildew. We are continuously trying to improve our
systems by increasing comfort and unit efficiency, while still focusing on decreasing
energy consumption. PPD can always use feedback from our customers by calling our
Work Management Center to report an area that seems to be too cold or too hot at
392-1121.