Coe Green: college committed to environmental sustainability

Coe College is committed to environmentally friendly practices and sustainability. As an educational institution, Coe recognizes its responsibility to provide leadership in this area. In the past few years, there has been increased emphasis on various green initiatives on campus, including:

Academic Computing:

  • More than over 6,000 pounds (greater than 3 tons) of computer and network equipment are recycled each year. All of Coe's outdated technology is recycled by a licensed company that disposes of monitors, printers, computers and network equipment in an environmentally safe way.
  • In 2004, Coe began replacing lab printers with new, more efficient duplex printers. The change saves the college more than 100 cases of paper per year - that's over 500,000 pages of paper saved by using duplex printing.
  • Power savings: Campus computers and monitors shut down when they've been idle for more than one hour. The computer and monitor come back to life when users hit the space bar on the computer. This saves the college over $10,000 per year in electrical use.
  • More power savings: In 2006, Coe replaced half of its old servers with new, efficient blade servers that shared storage. The college is saving $4,800 of electrical use every year with this arrangement.
  • In 2006, Coe started purchasing more efficient data projectors that use less power and have extended life bulbs (with less mercury). The older projectors used 700 watts every hour they were on and the bulbs lasted 1,200-1,500 hours. The new projectors use 300 watts per hour and have a lamp life of 2,500 hours.

American College and University President's Climate Commitment:

  • Signed by Coe President James Phifer, joining more than 500 college and university presidents around the country.
  • Coe will strive to design future building projects to be as energy efficient and environmentally responsible as possible.
  • Coe purchases ENERGY STAR appliances and electronic devices whenever possible.
  • Coe participates in RecycleMania, a recycling competition among colleges and universities.
  • Coe conducts periodic greenhouse emissions inventories.
  • Coe will develop a climate action plan for moving the college toward climate neutrality.
  • View Coe's Climate Action Plan (PDF).

Coe Environmental Club:

  • Student-run organization active in Coe's movement towards environmental sustainability.
  • Worked with Sodexo Dining Services and other members of the campus community to establish the Coe Garden, which produces fresh herbs and vegetables for the cafeteria.
  • Launched the project called CoeBIKES! The program uses donated bikes that are available for students, faculty and staff to check out and use free of charge. The college received a $1,000 grant from Rockwell Collins to use for repairs, locks, paints and helmets.

Coe Sustainability Council:

  • Established in 2006 by members of the campus community who are strongly committed to sustainability issues.
  • Comprised of Coe faculty, staff and students.
  • Helps oversee implementation and monitoring of the American College and University President's Climate Commitment.

Coe Wilderness Field Station:

  • Located five miles north of Ely, Minnesota, it is adjacent to the largest and most pristine wilderness area in the eastern half of the United States.
  • Coe assumed operation after the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) decided to discontinue operation of the field station.By doing so, a portion of the 2 1/2 million acre Superior National Forest has been preserved.
  • Groups paddle directly by canoe from the field station to the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in about two hours.
  • Visitors can paddle to Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park in about eight hours.
  • Gives students an opportunity to experience nature in many different ways.

Dining Services (Sodexo):

  • Recycles all cardboard, plastic, cans, glass and paper.
  • In the winter of 2008, Sodexo began giving cooking grease to a person in Wisconsin who converts it into bio-diesel.
  • Worked with the Coe Environmental Club to start the Coe Garden, which grows vegetables-some of which are used in the cafeteria, especially during the summer.
  • Discontinued the use of all disposable cups in the cafeteria-students are now required to use Nalgene bottles or their own water bottles.
  • After doing waste studies based of all students using trays, going tray optional and going without trays, "The U" has been trayless since May '09 graduation.
  • Uses biodegradable cups, plates and silverware at campus picnics.
  • Periodically weighs the food waste amounts to set goals to reduce the amount of waste from uneaten food.
  • Began composting food after the 2005 remodeling of the cafeteria. The composter compresses all food waste and takes out the water, essentially leading to fewer trips to the dump and smaller amounts of garbage.
  • Uses only biodegradable napkins in the cafeteria.
  • Traditional Midnight breakfast during finals week is now served using real china, which eliminates paper product waste.
  • Future goals include minimizing the amount of waste caused from students taking too much food during meals, and installation a "green" roof on a portion of Gage Memorial Union.

EcoHouse:

  • Themed housing on Coe's east campus that provides students interested in environmental sustainability a place to practice and teach their skills.

Environmental Science Major:

  • Offers a rigorous education for preparation for careers in natural resource management, environmental monitoring, and graduate work in the field, and is also engaged in solving environmental problems in the community.
  • Students can work with Trees Forever to inventory the urban forest in Cedar Rapids utilizing GIS and GPS technologies.
  • Students study microbiological processes involved in bioremediation of hazardous metals in the sub-surface environment.
  • Students assess eastern Iowa water quality and find ways to address water pollution problems.

Lighting:

  • Energy efficient lights were installed in the Clark Racquet Center in 2008.
  • Various other lighting projects on the campus have reduced energy consumption.

Paper and Printing:

  • Coe has adopted printing procedures for students as part of a larger effort to make the campus more environmentally responsible.
  • Each student has the ability to track his or her paper usage.
  • Each student is given a printing account of 1,500 free pages per year (750 pages per semester at no charge). Students working on honors projects are allowed an additional 500 extra sheets for the year.
  • Once an account limit is exceeded, students are charged $5.00 for a package of 100 pages.
  • Managing printing in this way makes the college community more environmentally friendly by conserving paper and reducing waste.
  • 100% recycled paper is used in all lab printers.
  • Coe's outside printing vendors use recycled paper whenever possible. In addition, these printers use environmental friendly inks.
  • In 2008-2009 the white and colored paper purchased by Coe resulted in the following savings:
    • 147 trees saved
    • 837 pounds of waterborne waste eliminated
    • 124,460 gallons of water flow conserved
    • 13,224 pounds of landfill waste diverted
    • 25,847 pounds of atmospheric emissions eliminated
    • 25,645 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions eliminated
    • 205,477,185 BTU's of energy conserved

Recycling:

  • Faculty/Staff advisor oversees recycling program at Coe.
  • Every floor in each academic and residential building contains recycling bins for paper, plastic, cans and cardboard.
  • Student workers collect recycling from each building and deliver to it the proper bins in the Coe Recycling Center.
  • In 2008, Coe began working with a different recycling company to help improve efficiency and make recycling more user friendly for members of the campus community.