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Vote for an entry on: What is my department or group doing now for sustainability?
Thanks to all who participated in the contest. Here are the entries:
Entries |
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| 1 | We are trying to do many things including:
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| 2 | Last year my department switched from having bottled water delivered to having a water dispenser with a replaceable filter. No more driving around heavy containers of water, hauling them up stairs, lifting 40 pound containers onto the dispenser, etc. Cuts way back on carbon emissions from manufacturing and transporting the containers. Fewer back problems, too! Even saves money. Easy to repeat in other departments, as long as there's a water source near the dispenser. |
| 3 | We are converting our servers into virtualized servers to save on cooling, space and electricity. |
| 4 | We only print the 1st page of the email we receive (if it's important) since the other pages are responses to our email anyway. |
| 5 | While our department doesn't provide individual recycling bins, we made our own recycling bins from old cardboard boxes. |
| 6 | Currently we distribute monthly printed expenditure statements that use thousands of pages of paper. We are actively working with the Stanford community deliver these electronically via PDF and save the paper. |
| 7 | My department does not use "postcards" to send information to staff members via ID mail. If more departments find other ways to advertise services and remind people of deadlines, the University as a whole will save A LOT of money and prevent these postcards from ending up in the trash. In the past week I have received 4 postcards in the ID mail from various departments, and they all ended up in the recycling bin. The cost of each postcard is high, and the number of employees is very high. Do the math – it’s a lot of money, a lot of wasted paper, and a lot of information not going to those who might need it! This affects every department on campus, and every employee. Instead, information can be sent via email. Employees can be referred to web sites for details. This is an easy, cost-saving method of distributing information. Stanford will have less trash, and less to recycle. People have a better chance of getting the information they need! Thank you. |
| 8 | We are using BES Console to set power setting for all of our computer and monitors in the entire School. This will save energy. |
| 9 | Each winter our unit participates in the campus shutdown and we are all encouraged to unplug monitors, computers, etc. We also have motion detector activated lights and there are recycling bins on each floor and next to every trash bin. |
| 10 | We have recycling bins available for mixed paper and glass/plastic/aluminum. |
| 11 | We request removal from generic mailing lists and catalogs (especially for those with incorrect/outdated information and duplicate mailings). This not only reduces paper recycling, but is less work for the post office and administrators sorting the mail. |
| 12 | When my group has or hosts lunches or other food-related activities, we use recyclable materials for serving and eating and provide appropriate trash/recycle waste baskets with lists of the types of things that go into each container. |
| 13 | Many of the labs in our department only order recycled paper for their printers. |
| 14 | Turn off the light when not in use. |
| 15 | Our department purchased printers that do double-sided printing to save on paper. |
| 16 | As the office manager for my department I only purchase (if viable) recycled office supplies, such as paper, pens, folders. We also try and use the REUSE site to obtain filing cabinets, furniture, etc to fullfill our needs. |
| 17 | 1) we now purchase recycled paper for our department copiers 2) attempt to purchase recyled supplies when ordering for the department 3) turn off lights and AV equipment whenever I see a room not in use |
| 18 | We're are using sustainable techniques that have the added benefit of sustaining the good mental health of our staff. We turn off monitors and printers each evening, but don't shut down our computers, which are "sleeping" anyway. Ok, we could save a little bit more electricity, but this allows IT to back up our computers & shared drives and fend off an impending crisis with a "Big Fix". This has resulted in the aggregate lowering of staff blood pressures each morning when our files are safely where we left them, and if we stupidly delete a critical spreadsheet, IT can save our bacon. We have recycling bins in every office and all public spaces, and a culture that creates tremendous guilt if you dare throw away an aluminum can. Taking our individual bins to the large recycling bin is better exercise than surfing the Web. We haven't used postcards in years. Even our 80 yr. old alumni have email. We use email for everything. By reducing visits to our colleagues offices, we've saved wear & tear on the carpets, we're more productive, and bosses get more bang for their budget. Printing documents to a pdf is a wondrous thing! The best thing since sliced bagels and email. We've reduced paper filing by at least 95%, pixels are cheap and they take up so little room. We're putting more documents online and mailing less paper. We've purged many paper files and sent them off to find a better and recycled life. Not filing has made me 20% happier. No more bottled water for meetings. We use pitchers for water and glasses that can be recycled. We've installed some dual flush toilets. Many of our staff use alternative transportation. We're almost obsessive, in a good way, about turning off lights, turning down lights, and printing double-sided. And …. our windows open, so we aren't using AC and we could almost smell the roses, if they were a little closer. :D |
| 19 | 1. Turning off light in our conference room when not in use 2. Purchased an Electric Cart for our department that is used soley off electricity and not gas for our department vehicle instead of using a car. 3. Purchased recycling bins for every individual so that they can recycle all paper. 4. Purchased save energy bulbs for all lights. Our department purchased printers that do double-sided printing to save on paper. |
| 20 | As an events department, we strive to make green efforts when our group or client has the budget such as: * Working with PSSI and Stanford Catering to use biodegradable disposables * Using cambros and corn plastic glassware instead of bottled waters * asking attendees to return plastic name badge holders and lanyards after events * creating signage we can reuse at future events * eliminating paper confirmations and sending out e-mail confirmations |
| 21 | We use recycled paper for our printer/copier. |
| 22 | We were supported when we made a proposal to scan our records (the project is underway). This will help Stanford in many ways including: 1) reducing the trips to our office by our external clients to conduct research (we'll be able to provide more information electronically for perusal at the client's office), 2) allowing these records to be accessed quickly by internal Stanford operational and support staff (reducing the time needed to do their work), 3) reducing our department staff's time pulling paper records that are typically sent out to copying vendors (this will refocus their time on research assistance), and 4) ensuring a backup copy of these important records that can be sent to off-site storage. For others considering this... we estimated the number of records we had, obtained estimates from scanning vendors (considering the security of our records), and then wrote a proposal. Planning for how we would name files and access them after they were received was also an important step. |
| 23 | Our department has taken advantage of a recent move (from private offices by and large to shared communal space and cubicles) to increase efficiency and reduce waste (power, garbage, paper, food). All of our events are now catered locally using non-disposable servingware and utensils whenever possible. Leftovers are kept in our fridge and actually eaten. Larger, more efficient printers and copiers are used by all, and a much greater emphasis has been put on recycling and reducing waste. Lastly, carpooling and general knowledge about alternative means of transportation has been spread throughout our staff to greatly reduce our carbon footprint. |
| 24 | * Use recycle paper for copy machines. and used printed paper for scratch paper. * Recycle Bins throughout the buildings for paper,plastic, glass * Purchase less office supplies (save on waste and overuse of un-necessary items) * Purchase rechargeable batteries for our electronic equip. requiring batteries. |
| 25 | Our department: 1)Turning off light in our conference room and exercise room when not in use. 2)Purchased a hybrid car for our department. To save gas and reduce pollution. 3) Reduce waste by purchasing biodegradable kitchen supplies such as utensils, plates, hot cups, and cup lids. 4) Purchase recycled paper for our copy machines. 5)Uses a shredding company that recycle all of the shredded materials. |
Getting to Green: IT Paths to Sustainability at Stanford
