Chatham College Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Spring 2003, Purchasing

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1 People and Nature: Our Future is in the Balance National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Center Drive Reston, VA Chatham College Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Spring 2003, Purchasing BACKGROUND Campus Profile Chatham College was founded in 1869 and is home to 1,200 undergraduate and graduate students on 32 park-like acres in the Shadyside area of Pittsburgh. Chatham remains a private, selective, fully accredited, nonsectarian institution, offering baccalaureate degrees only to women. Master s and doctorate degrees, continuing education programs and teacher certification are offered to both women and men. Chatham College is dedicated to enabling its graduates to make an impact on the world around them. Students personal, professional and leadership skills are developed to their fullest potential through internships, study abroad, service learning, leadership training opportunities and personal development seminars. Students can personalize their curricula, choosing from more than 35 majors in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, fine and performing arts, preprofessional programs and interdisciplinary areas such as environmental studies and global policy studies. Our previous campus greening project named Chatham ecollegie was initiated by the campus-based Rachel Carson Institute and the environmental student group, Green Horizons. Chatham ecollegie Stage 1 was launched in 2000 with modest goals: to initiate a campus-wide recycling program, eliminate all styrofoam and bleached napkin products from our dining services, implement an energy-reduction contest between all buildings and resident halls on campus, and launch an interdisciplinary team-taught course which offered an in-depth evaluation of Chatham s energy, waste and purchasing systems where students researched ways our campus community could lessen its impact. Contacts Amanda Schiffman Paul Kovach Program Associate Director of College Communications Rachel Carson Institute Chatham College Phone: Phone: aschiffman@chatham.edu pkovach@chatham.edu GOALS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals September 2002 marked the 40 th anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring. Chatham College is the alma mater of renowned environmentalist, Rachel Carson, whose seminal work signaled to the world the dangers of chemical use; therefore, a fitting context was created for launching Stage 2 of our campus greening project. A second set of goals was established to kick off Chatham ecollegie, Stage 2, which included a reduction in the use of toxic chemicals on campus and the purchase of renewable energy. In addition, we initiated a more rigorous National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Yearbook

2 recycling system incorporating new items to be recycled. We also offered renewed education to energize the campus community s commitment to greening. With this initiative, coined TRAC (Toxic Reduction & Alternatives on Campus), we targeted three areas for toxic reduction: cleaning supplies, indoor/outdoor paint and pesticides used to care for our 32-acre campus. Obtain list of our current cleaning, paint and lawn-care products through the purchasing department. Research the available information about each product by ingredient list, Obtain Material Safety Data (MSD) sheets on all products targeted to be phased out and summarize information by product name, ingredients listed and hazard rating, Prepare a 12-month cost-analysis on current products and lay out the cost parameters for our proposed alternatives, Research toxic-free alternatives for cleaning supplies, paint and lawn care products that are economical and perform as well as our current products. Once identified, meet with perspective vendors to sample products and discuss cost requirements, Compile comprehensive TRAC Initiative document to describe the purpose of the initiative, the goals and benefits to the college and guidelines for transition and launch. Include research summaries for each target area to include current product information, hazards to the environment and human health, proposed alternatives, cost of alternatives and performance analysis. Schedule meeting with senior administration to distribute TRAC document and build support for our proposed initiative, Develop a partnership with our Facilities Management director to secure further support and involvement in the approval of alternative products, actions for a successful transition to the alternatives and phase-out of current products. Schedule additional meetings with prospective vendors to include the director of facilities management continue further testing of products until approval. Find an economically feasible way to purchase a portion of our energy from windgenerated sources. Compile data from previous energy-efficiency audits over the past several years to assess long-term patterns in energy usage and cost, Consult with renewable energy suppliers to assess relative costs and premiums for purchasing 5, 10 and 15% renewable energy, Build constituency for renewable energy purchase within the college administration and secure meetings with senior administration, Assess wind-purchasing consortiums and secure lowest cost contract. Increase the size and scope of our recycling program on campus. Educate incoming students on recycling specifics to increase overall participation of campus recycling and to achieve zero contamination of recycle bins. Acquire additional recycle bins at zero cost, National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Yearbook Page 2

3 Develop an ecollegie, Stage 2 recycling guide that describes recycling details with highlights of the new items that can be recycled. Distribute to every staff, faculty member and student on campus, Educate incoming first-year students about our greening efforts and recycling program, Develop project for new-student orientation to acclimate students to layout of campus recycling program. Accomplishments TRAC Initiative-Through approval and support of both our VP of Finance and Administration and the new Director of Facilities Management we were able to move forward with the understanding that the alternative products must maintain current quality and performance standards and yet not incur a higher cost to the college. Cleaning Supplies-After several meetings and discussions with Green Village, the distributors of Tech 21 M, a Sun & Earth non-toxic industrial cleaning product, we put the product through the final test. The CEO of Green Village came to campus with plenty of product ready to go up against its toughest critics-four members of Chatham s cleaning crew. We had tackled the issue of cost, through savings to the college estimated at $10,000 a year; to us, it seemed to deliver superior performance, but the cleaning staff had to be pleased with the quality of the product for final approval. Various surfaces were tested-walls, windows, carpet stains and tile floors. Tech 21M passed with flying colors and negotiations over issues of quantity, distribution methods and training of staff were finalized. The new toxic-free cleaning products were phased in within the same month. Paint-After researching the alternatives for paint, we found only one paint on the market that emits zero volatile organic compounds (VOC) and is certified by Green Seal. This line of paints, called Pure Performance, was developed by PPG Industries and was added to its Pittsburgh Paints line in We met with the Regional Manager for PPG Industries to discuss our objectives and obtain samples. Through negotiations over our proposed partnership it was agreed that that PPG would donate all of the indoor paint for a current campus renovation project and offer a price per gallon at a much lower cost than our current paint brand. Pure Performance proved to have superior quality and performance along with the environmental and health benefits of zero VOCs. Transition to Pure Performance was immediate and is now used for all indoor and outdoor paint applications. Lawn-We proposed that toxic reduction on lawns occur as a phased process due to the time required to properly test alternatives for quality and effectiveness. We began with eliminating the use of Monsanto s weed killer RoundUp on campus. We agreed to continue to work with the Director of Facilities Management find alternative toxic-free weed killers, pre-emergence herbicides and lawn fertilizers. Wind Energy-Due to projected $10,000 savings per year with the environmentally friendly cleaning alternative, the college agreed to use the money it saved to cover the cost of the wind National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Yearbook Page 3

4 premium and buy 10% of our energy from wind-generated sources through Community Energy Inc. This placed Chatham College as the leader in purchasing renewable energy among all colleges and universities in our state and second in the country. This enabled Community energy to leverage Chatham s purchase to pressure other, larger, institutions to raise their commitment level, creating an expanding cycle of renewable energy purchasing among the many higher education institutions in the region. A goal has been set to purchase 15% by the year Recycling-We were able to obtain 30 additional recycle bins at no cost thanks to Facilities Management Services at Carnegie Mellon University who donated their surplus to us. We sent out an on campus for dorms, hallways or office areas that were missing bins or needed additional ones and proceeded to distribute the bins accordingly. We also increased the scope of our recycling program to include phone books, magazines, catalogs and newspapers. Our ecollegie, Stage 2 guide was completed and distributed across campus. For our new-student orientation project, students created recycle-boxes and distributed them to faculty and staff offices and placed descriptive recycle cards on every recycle bin on campus. Challenges and Responses TRAC-The most time consuming aspect of our TRAC Initiative was collecting information and Material Safety Data sheets on our current cleaning, paint and lawn care products we were currently creating a cost analysis based on monthly purchase orders. Due to some gaps in information, this phase of the project took much longer than we had anticipated, but we were able to supplement missing information through independent research. Another challenge we faced with this project was finding viable and cost-effective alternatives for lawn care applications. We are still in the experimental stage of testing various toxic-free lawn care products. Wind-Administrative concerns over costs due to the increased premium for the purchase of wind energy were our biggest challenge. While the college recognized the moral and marketing value of asserting our leadership in the renewable energy field, our requests came at a time of budget shortfalls and declining markets. Once we were able to demonstrate the cost savings that would result from the purchase of the non-toxic cleaning supplies, this issue was overcome. Recycle-We decided to increase the scope of our recycling program; however, we had to create our own plan for transporting the new items. We were able to find numerous drop-off sites near campus for phone books, magazines and newspapers, but none included a pick-up service. Rather than forgo the expansion of our recycling program, we decided to take responsibility for transporting the items ourselves until a more sustainable solution can be arranged. ENGAGEMENT & SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters ecollegie, Stage 2, which includes the TRAC Initiative, wind energy purchase and recycling program expansion was a project of the Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham College and spearheaded by Dr. Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director. National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Yearbook Page 4

5 The success and achievements of the TRAC Initiative would not have been possible without the cooperation, partnership and vision of Tim Bowman, Vice President of Finance & Administration and Bob Dubray, Director of Facilities Management. Other Supporters include: Josh Knauer, former CEO of Greenmarketplace.com, who was instrumental in forging the relationship between Chatham College and Green Village, Bryan Thomlison, CEO, Green Village, the supplier of Tech 21M, Chatham s new toxic-free cleaning product, John Halley, Sales Director, Community Energy, the leading developer of wind-generated power in the market, J. Jeffrey Hulse, Region Manager, PPG Industries, the maker of Pure Performance VOC-free paint, Funding Funds were not needed for the switch to Pure Performance VOC-free paint since the product was secured at a significantly lower price than our current paint. In addition, after careful calculations, we discovered that the switch to cleaning products would create such a significant annual savings ($10,000-12,000), that it would enable the college to use those savings to cover the cost of the wind premium and purchase 10% of our energy from wind each year. A truly sustainable solution! Thanks to Barb Kviz, Environmental Coordinator, Facilities Management Services at Carnegie Mellon University, we were able to obtain additional recycle bins at no cost. National Wildlife Federation s Campus Ecology Program Program staff of NWF s campus ecology program worked with us to promote the 40 th Anniversary of Silent Spring celebration, which marked the launch of Chatham ecollegie, Stage 2. Assisted in lead-up to the project, Provided support in developing media and communication outreach strategy, Highlighted our efforts on their Campus Ecology website which brought more attention to our project. National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Yearbook Page 5