December 2013
KU Surplus Reaches Landmark Donation Kari Cantarero, Center for Sustainability This spring, KU Surplus aims to reach a milestone by donating their 20,000th item to area non-profit organizations since the program was established in 2007. KU Surplus is a program of the Center for Sustainability that collects and redistributes furniture and office goods that are no longer needed by departments on the KU Lawrence Campus. “Donations are a result of a campus-wide effort to get the maximum value from our furniture,” said Surplus Operations Coordinator Sam Pepple. “Surplus prides ourselves in being able to find homes for items that are no longer needed at KU. It is so much better to get items out into the community rather than gathering dust in a closet, or worse yet, just ending up in the landfill.” Through the program, items deemed as surplus due to replacement, remodeling or downsizing are diverted from the landfill and made available first for reuse to KU departments. Those items that do not find a home on campus are either sold through public auction sites or donated to area not for profit organizations. In the past year, KU Surplus has prevented more than 200,000 pounds of materials from entering the landfill. And, by selling items to departments at a nominal price, the program has saved the University an estimated $300,000.00 in avoided cost during that time period. “I am very proud of the valuable service KU Surplus provides for our campus and our community,” said Jeff Severin, director of the KU Center for Sustainability. “By capturing and redistributing surplus material, we are able reduce or environmental impacts, save money for campus departments, and support the local community.” KU Surplus is funded in part through revenues, with a goal of being completely self-sufficient within the next 2 years. Recent changes to state statues and Kansas Board of Regents policy has allowed the program to expand and explore additional options for redistribution. Severin hopes the program can eventually expand to recover additional materials, including fixtures and building materials removed during building remodels, and develop additional partnerships to further reduce the environmental and financial impacts of campus
KU Center for Sustainability
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December 2013 development. KU Departments wishing to purchase surplus materials can view inventory online at www.surplus.ku.edu. Customers can also view items in person during KU Surplus store hours on Tuesdays, from 8 to 10 AM, or by appointment at the Maintenance and Surplus Building, 2303 Bob Billings Parkway. Appointments can be made by calling 785.393.4256. Anyone who would like to receive inventory updates can email “subscribe” to surplus@ku.edu.
KU IT Recognized with ImpacT Award The University of Kansas received a 2013 ImpacT Award, which recognizes businesses and organizations in the Kansas City area that have successfully completed projects to deliver efficiency and environmental benefits. KU joins Cerner and Hangers Cleaners in winning an award in the Environmental Impact category for its electronic document imaging and workflow project. The first phase of the KU project, which was complete in March 2013, expanded the university’s use of Perceptive’s ImageNow technology to automatically scan, route and process documents electronically. Prior to the project, a few units on campus had implemented the technology within their units to streamline document-heavy business processes. Bold Aspirations, KU’s five-year strategic plan, made it possible to take a big-picture approach to electronic document imaging and workflow and expand use of the technology on campus. The award-winning phase included the Admissions Office, Financial Aid & Scholarships, the Office of the University Registrar, the Comptroller’s Office, Research and Graduate Studies, Human Resources and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. KU CIO Bob Lim said, "This project is the result of our campus partnerships and the unified vision outlined in Bold Aspirations. Before this project, a few units on campus were successfully using the technology to improve their internal business processes. Bold Aspirations allowed us to engage those units to create a shared solution to benefit all of KU." The project has already delivered benefits to the university, including:
Saving almost 400,000 sheets of paper each year.
Some phase one participants reclaimed valuable office space by scanning and disposing of approximately 30,000 physical files.
Multiple units have been able to dedicate more staff time to customer service by automatically processing applications and forms.
The Office of Admissions reduced application-processing time from five to six weeks to less than two.
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December 2013 "Besides the cost and paper savings, this project and the resulting service will create considerable efficiencies and ultimately continue to improve our student service,” said KU CIO Bob Lim. The
ImpacT
Award
program
is
presented
by
the
Kansas
City
Business
Journal.
KU Information Technology provides a broad range of services to the KU community, including key campus technical infrastructure. From data to voice, email to video, web-based academic and administrative systems, software and virus protection, KU IT delivers innovative services in support of learning, scholarship, research and creative endeavor. KU IT includes a 24/7 enterprise data center and knowledgeable staff providing KU with expertise in server and desktop support, application support, software development, IT security, networking, as well as customer support and project management. Working together, our staff deliver the technology services our KU customers need and use every day.
Winners of Food Drive Competition Announced Kari Cantarero, Center for Sustainability Congratulations to the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office and Pi Beta Phi! They are the winners of the KU Fights Hunger Food Drive Competition that was held during Campus Sustainability Week. The CLAS Dean’s Office donated $3.70 per person in their office, for a total of $100! Their monetary donation allows Just Food to purchase an estimated 550 lbs. of food. For the Greek House Food Drive Challenge, we asked all participating Greek houses to collect physical and monetary donations, pitting them against each other in a friendly competition toward the most pounds. Pi Beta Phi was the winner with a total of 450 lbs. of food! The CLAS Dean’s Office and Pi Beta Phi will be recognized for their efforts during our Sustainability Leadership Awards this coming April. Pi Beta Phi will also be recognized in January’s Greek Awards Ceremony. Thank you so much to everyone for helping to make the KU Fights Hunger events in October a success! The goals of the KU Fights Hunger initiative are to raise awareness about hunger issues and to take action to help those in need. To meet those goals, we planned three awareness events and held a campus wide food drive, in addition to the challenges for Sustainability Ambassadors and Greek Houses. Your help made these events a great success, especially the food drive. KU staff, faculty, students and even some visitors donated: 3,000 lbs. of food $3,430 on the Just Food website $186 by rounding up $1 on purchases at the KU Bookstore $894 at the showing of the "A Place at the Table" documentary
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December 2013
Taking Sustainability Home: Green Your Holidays Did you know…?
Americans throw away about 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.
35% of Americans have an unused present collecting dust in their closet. (www.epa.gov)
As we celebrate this holiday season, we also create a lot of waste. But that doesn’t need to be the story of the season. With a few easy steps we can “green” our celebrations and our giving. Reuse Gifts don’t have to be wrapped in store bought paper. Be creative, and wrap your gifts in items found around your house. Wrapping paper saved from previous gifts, newspaper, paper shopping bags, comics and reusable bags all make great gift-wrap. Check out treehugger.com for some great gift-wrap ideas! Replant, mulch or compost your live tree. Many cities have programs for tree disposal, turning the tree into compost or mulch. Visit your city’s website or call your local city office to find your options. Reduce Reduce the amount of packaging by wrapping gifts without a box, giving gifts that require little or no packaging or even better, give the gift of your time! Offer to cook a meal, babysit, whatever your specialty may be! When going shopping, whether it’s for groceries or gifts, remember to bring your reusable bags. Recycle Use reusable dishware, and avoid using disposable. If you are having a large gathering, ask if you can borrow dishware from a relative, neighbor or close friend. If disposable is a must, make sure you purchase compostable or recyclable items and
www.treehugger.com
steer clear of wax lined plates and cups. Most wrapping paper contains metallic flecks or a coating, making it non-recyclable. When using wrapping paper, make sure the paper indicates that it can be recycled. Or follow our reuse suggestions for a creatively wrapped gift! KU Center for Sustainability
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December 2013
Calling all planners, leaders, ambassadors... Do you want to be part of a sustainability event at KU? We are looking for faculty, staff and students to plan KU Earth Day 2014. This will be a weeklong series of campus wide events organized to celebrate the 44th Earth Day.
If you are interested in being a part of the planning committee, contact us at sustainability@ku.edu.
The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 West Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS 66045, (785) 864-6414, 711 TTY.
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December 2013 KU Recycling collects the following materials at most locations.
OFFICE PAK
ALUMINUM CANS
Includes: White Paper Pastel Colored Paper Brochures Stapled Books Envelopes Manila File Folders Junk Mail Greeting Cards Heavy Weight Paper
Does Not Include: Newsprint Cardboard or Chipboard Paper or Styrofoam Cups Napkins of Tissues Food Contaminated Paper Magazines or Glossy Paper Books with Glued Binding Paper Bags
Includes: Aluminum cans ONLY
Steel or Tin Cans
STEEL CANS Includes: Steel (tin) cans ONLY
NEWSPAPER Includes: All Newsprint
Does Not Include: Magazines or Glossy Paper Phone Books or Catalogs
CORRUGATED CARDBOARD Includes: Corrugated Cardboard Boxes Corrugated Packaging
Does Not Include: Soiled Pizza Boxes Waxy Cardboard Any boxes that have food contamination
CHIPBOARD Includes: Other Paperboard Packaging
Does Not Include: Corrugated Cardboard
MAGAZINES Includes: Magazines Glossy Paper
Does Not Include: Aluminum Cans Bottles of any kind Sheet or Scrap Metal
TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES & CATALOGS Includes campus and municipal phone books and catalogs with similar construction (heavy-weight cover with newspaper-like pages)
Mixed Paper Grades of paper not listed above, including journals, hard-back books and glue-bound books should be recycled separately from other materials.
Shredded Paper Does Not Include: Junk Mail Phone Directories
#1— #7 PLASTICS Any #1-#7 plastic (salad bar take-out, plastic packaging etc)
KU Center for Sustainability
Does Not Include: Foil Food Wrappers
Bags of shredded paper should be tied shut to close bag completely. Do not put shredded overheads or any other type of plastics in with the shredded office pak. DO NOT put shredded paper in, or stack on top of or next to the regular recycling bins. Instead, contact KU Recycling for a special collection.
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