What’s been happening?

Yes, at Saint John’s you really can recycle all plastics marked #1–7

Don't throw any plastics marked #1–7 in the trash! Save Saint John’s some cash by putting them in the recycling. Our recycler, Waste Management, accepts these plastics.

Read about it in the StarTribune 
Learn more about recycling at Saint John’s 

Saint John’s power house switches to natural gas

From November 1, 2011 through October 31, 2013, the Saint John’s Power House will be burning natural gas as a primary fuel for heating, cooling and electrical generation, based on thermal demand. Coal and fuel oil will be used as secondary and backup fuels.

This shift in fuels will cut the CO₂ emissions of the Power House by about 58 percent by preventing the emission of approximately 41,000 tons of CO₂. At this time, Saint John’s cost of burning natural gas is approximately 5 percent more than that of burning coal, but the environmental benefits and the savings on the wear and tear on the equipment make this fuel shift worthwhile.

Massive campus lighting retrofit completed

In the spring of 2011, the Saint John’s campus had over 6,000 fluorescent light fixtures that had old, inefficient T-12 lamps and ballasts. Over the summer and fall of 2011, OSB/SJU Physical Plant retrofitted these light fixtures with new and more efficient T-8 lamps and ballasts. The new lamp and ballast combinations use 40% less electricity.

What are T-12 and T-8 lamps? Find out 

Bottle-filling stations to be installed this semester

Saint John’s Senate voted to grant the Sustainability Office $2,100 in additional funds for the installation of bottle-filling stations on campus. This funding, along with funding from the MacLeod Trust, enables Physical Plant to install seven stations on the Saint John’s campus this semester. The locations include:

• Quad 1 (near admissions)
• Refectory
• Quad IT Services lab
• Sexton 1st floor (across from SJU Senate office)
• SBH Auditorium, 1st floor
• Palaestra 2nd floor (near Gagliardi's office)
• Peter Engel 2nd floor west

Most of these will be similar to the stations found at CSB.

Sustainability Alliance and SIFE promote green club certifications

The Sustainability Alliance is working with SIFE in promoting a hybrid Green Club Certification to maintain greener, more sustainable clubs on campus. SIFE is planning on having the clubs off-set their carbon foot prints by planting trees equivalent to their impact.

Sustainability Alliance launches new Facebook page

Get to know the Sustainability Alliance 

New steam meters installed

In November, Physical Plant installed ten steam meters to help monitor steam usage for different parts of the campus. This is the latest stage of the electronic metering project that started in late 2009, which now includes electricity, steam, water, and natural gas meters.

Take a look at the meters (Internet Explorer required) 

Where on campus was the header photo taken?

The first student to reply to this e-mail who can correctly identify where the photo at the top of this message was taken wins a reusable shopping bag.

The photo was taken by Br. Alan Reed, OSB.