From Green Right Now Reports

Star Market at Chestnut Hill in Newton, Mass., recently became the first grocery store in the nation to receive US Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership platinum store award. The advanced refrigeration technology in the new store, which is part of the Shaw’s line of supermarkets, significantly reduces its impact on climate change and the stratospheric ozone layer by cutting the use of refrigerants by 85 percent compared with the typical supermarket.

Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, called the store’s efforts “wicked cool.”

“This store shows that smart design and advanced technologies help us right now to better protect our climate, the ozone layer, and our health,” McCarthy said in a statement.

The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is an EPA cooperative alliance with the supermarket industry to promote advanced technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.

GreenChill partners emit about 50 percent less emissions than the industry average, and have pledged to continually lower them as part of the program. EPA estimates that if every supermarket in the nation joined GreenChill and reduced emissions to the current GreenChill average, the U.S. would prevent 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 240 tons of ozone-depleting substances annually, and save $108 million in refrigerant costs each year. GreenChill has 46 partners, with more than 6,500 retail food stores in 47 states.

Under the program, GreenChill Partner stores agree to:

• Transition to non-ozone-depleting refrigerants;
• Reduce refrigerant charges;
• Reduce both ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas refrigerant emissions; and
• Promote supermarkets’ adoption of advanced refrigeration technologies

Earlier this year, the EPA honored a handful of supermarkets for reducing their use of greenhouse gas refrigerants that deplete the Earth’s ozone layer and contribute to climate change. Awardees included  Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods, and Hill Phoenix.

Sprouts Farmers Market, which owns stores across California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, received a New Partner Award.

New partners pledge to go above and beyond regulatory requirements by measuring and tracking refrigerant emissions that affect climate change and the Earth’s ozone layer, and then setting reduction targets for these emissions. Partners also agree to use only ozone-friendly alternatives in all new and remodeled stores.

“We look forward to a productive and mutually beneficial partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market,” Keilly Witman, GreenChill Program Manager, said in a statement. “The public wants to do business with companies that share their environmental values. By joining GreenChill, Sprouts Farmers Market is proving to consumers that they care about the Earth’s ozone layer and climate system.”

Whole Foods Market’s newest store in the North Atlantic Region, located at Legacy Place in Dedham, Mass., was recognized for its environmentally friendly design, construction, and operations with the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes certification and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) GreenChill certification.

For the Green Globes certification, the Dedham store was evaluated in six categories, including energy, water, resources, emissions, indoor environment and environmental management systems, and received a three out of four “Green Globes” rating. The EPA’s GreenChill certification program promotes advanced technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.

“With the combined power generated from our fuel cell and solar panels, the Dedham store is essentially able to generate almost 100 percent of its power needs on-site with clean energy resources,” Kathy Loftus, global leader of sustainable engineering, maintenance, and energy for Austin-based Whole Foods, said in a statement. “We are the first supermarket to use fuel cell technology in the state.”

By generating most of its power on-site with a fuel cell, Whole Foods’ Dedham store will prevent the release of more than 764 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually, the equivalent of planting more than 175 acres of trees and removing over 90 cars from the road, according to the natural foods grocer. The peak power generated from the photovoltaic (PV) solar energy system is enough to meet the store’s entire lighting power needs.

To achieve a Green Globes rating, Whole Foods used Green Globes’ online and interactive program to monitor the environmentally friendly building upgrades. A GBI-authorized third-party building science expert was engaged to review the building documents, conduct an on-site inspection and assess an official Green Globes rating.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. and upcycling firm TerraCycle today announced they will partner on a program  to enhance the sustainability performance of some of K-C’s product packaging. The new program also will create fundraising programs that benefit schools and communities nationwide.

The new program allows participants to earn funds for their selected charity of choice for every used piece of plastic packaging associated with Scott or Huggies brands that they collect. The collected plastic packaging will be upcycled into affordable, high-quality products available next year at major retailers nationwide, the companies said.

“Kimberly-Clark is already making significant strides in reducing packaging waste from its products, but this program with TerraCycle will help us do even more,” Matt Kolton, brand manager of Scott Naturals, said in a statement. “No longer will all the plastic packaging from both our Scott brand bath tissue, towels, napkins and moist wipes, and Huggies brand diapers be considered waste. Rather, it can be used as a resource in a new generation of products.

Schools, business, houses of worship and even individuals can set up a “Brigade” to collect packaging.  For each piece of packaging a Brigade participant collects, two cents is paid to a school or non-profit group of their choice.

Each of these Brigade programs is diverting product packaging waste from landfills, giving much needed funding to local communities and helping to raise consumer awareness about reusing and reducing.

A field monitor checks a gas meter for leaks. (Photo: Department of Energy)

From Green Right Now Reports

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell announced today that the first installment of $123 million in federal Recovery funds for weatherization will begin to be released Nov. 2, part of $253 million that the state will use for this purpose.

The Governor said the funding represents an unprecedented level of investment that will help to create new, “green” jobs, save money for struggling families, and stimulate local economic activity as weatherization agencies buy required material, vehicles and equipment.

“The weatherization program stimulates the economy in several ways,” Gov. Rendell said in a statement. “It saves money on energy bills for people who need it the most, and keeps those dollars circulating in local communities because families will be able to spend more on food, clothing and other necessities. It also will create new jobs in the growing ‘green’ economic development sector.”

Pennsylvania’s allocation of $253 million for weatherization from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the fourth largest in the nation; only New York, Texas and Ohio received more. The money will be paid over three years.

Ohio technicians prepare to seal a roof prior to re-insulating an attic containing vermiculite. (Photo: Department of Energy)

In Ohio, the $266.8 million Recovery grant from the Weatherization Program is allowing the state to boost the energy efficiency of more than 32,000 homes. Adding insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment will reduce energy costs for Ohio homeowners by an average of 24 percent. In general, the Weatherization Program allows for an investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and is available to homeowners making approximately $44,000 a year for a family of four. The Department of has recognized Ohio as a leader in the weatherization program with 951 homes completed in July 2009.

Ohio allocated funds from the grant to local community agencies and other public and not-for-profit organizations. In addition, 54 independent contractors were hired to supplement existing contractors. It is estimated that by completion of the project at the end of March, 2012, 590 new positions will be created and 487 jobs retained.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has awarded $288 million in federal stimulus funding to 66 cities, counties, and eligible nonprofit organizations across the state to weatherize the homes of an estimated 40,000 low income Texans. Overall, the state received $326.9 in weatherization funds, the balance of which TDHCA will award in 2010.

The Recovery Act provided approximately $314 million more in funds than what Texas typically administers each year for weatherization activities. By comparison, the state annually weatherizes approximately 3,700 homes using current funding levels of approximately $13 million.

Ocean waves near Freeport, Texas (Photo: National Weather Service)

Ocean waves off the coast of Texas may soon provide the first commercial wave power in the US to generate electricity and desalinate water.

Renew Blue Inc. said today that the Texas General Land Office has granted it the first-ever state off-shore wave energy lease. The company said it will use ocean water and waves to produce desalinated water; the first 100 percent fossil-fuel-free bottled water.

Renew Blue, a wholly owned subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Independent Natural Resources Inc., is the first licensing entity of SEADOG Pump, a technology that uses ocean waves to generate electricity. The company plans to operate in the Gulf of Mexico near Freeport, Texas, to produce 3,000 gallons a day of desalinated water and will bottle and distribute it under the brand Renew Blue.

This will be a small demonstration of what SEADOG Pump technology can do in providing electricity and clean water to regions all over the world that lack fresh water and energy but have an abundance of ocean waves along their coastline.

“Texas is proud to be the initial site of this wave-powered energy innovation,” Rene Truan, deputy commissioner for professional services at the Texas General Land Office, said in a statement. “Renewable energy production on the Texas coast means renewable revenue for the school children of Texas. The SEADOG Pump is another great example of the exciting opportunities that exist and that the Texas General Land Office is working hard to take advantage of.”

Renew Blue will place an off-shore modular platform about one mile off the coast of Freeport, in roughly 25 feet of water. The company said it expects the platform, which is currently being manufactured outside of Houston, to be installed in the fourth quarter of 2009 or the first quarter of 2010.

Independent Natural Resources Inc. said it sees major advantages in the SEADOG Pump system, which is powered solely by the wave energy it harnesses. The company says electric power accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the operating costs in the desalination process, meaning the new pump system should provide significant cost savings and minimal environmental impact compared to the large-scale use of power generated by fossil fuels.

“For the past seven years the SEADOG has been fine-tuned to produce this major accomplishment as the first commercial wave power generation in the US,” Mark A. Thomas, CEO of INRI, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to showcase the SEADOG to the world as an innovative yet simple technology illustrating the ability to extract wave energy at low cost, with high levels of efficiency resulting in immeasurable benefit to humankind.”

Organizers of the second IEEE Green Technology Conference are seeking technical papers on topics related to current and emerging renewable energy sources and energy-reduction technologies.

Accepted papers will be presented during the conference  April 15-16 at the Gaylord Texan Hotel and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. They will also be published in a conference proceedings CD and available through the digital library IEEE Xplore.

Contributed papers in the following areas are solicited:

• Alternative energy sources for homes, businesses and communities, including wind, solar and bio-fuels
• Energy resource usage reduction, conservation and efficiency, including electric grid, home automation and commercial building energy management
• Alternative energy choices, large and small, and their effects in product development
• Green requirements, specifications and emerging standards and certifications
• Architectural and engineering sustainable designs, including the use of green building components
• Environmental, economic, political and social impacts of “going green”
• Indoor and outdoor environmental use, impacts and quality

To submit a paper, which must be received by Nov. 2, 2009, go to http://www.ieeegreentech.org/TechConf/PaperSubmission.htm. Submissions must describe original work not previously published or currently under review for publication in another conference or journal. Instructions can be found online.  Authors will be notified by Dec. 15, 2009, whether their papers are accepted. For questions regarding paper submissions, contact Edward L. Safford, technical program chair, at e.safford@ieee.org

Proposals for workshops, panels and tutorials are also welcome.

With increasing concerns about fossil fuel costs, supplies and emissions, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are more closely examining the commercial viability of renewable energy sources. These include solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal, hydro and biomass, among others, as well as alternative vehicle power sources such as fuel cells, gasoline and liquid natural gas electric hybrids and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The conference aims to look at these technologies.

The 2010 IEEE Green Technology Conference is sponsored by IEEE Region 5, the IEEE Financial Advantage Plan, the IEEE Fort Worth Section and IEEE-USA.

IEEE-USA advances the public good and promotes the careers and public policy interests of more than 210,000 engineers, scientists and allied professionals who are U.S. members of IEEE. IEEE-USA is part of IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional society with 375,000 members in 160 countries.

By Tom Kessler

ADDISON, Texas (ADDISONGREEN.INFO) — When you have the word “green” in your school name, it’s probably safe to assume that environmental awareness is top of mind. That’s exactly the case at Addison’s Greenhill School, a coeducational private day school with more than 1,200 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

Over the last four years, the school’s Green Team — composed of parents and faculty — has led a series of sustainability initiatives that are truly putting the green in Greenhill. School leaders have looked for ways to make the school a more sustainable place and to promote eco-friendly habits in the students. >> Read the full story

Newsweek has launched a ranking of the greenest companies in America and Hewlett-Packard tops the initial list. The Newsweek Green Rankings, based on companies’ environmental footprint, policies and practices, appears in the Sept. 28 issue of the magazine.

The green ranking covers America’s 500 largest publicly traded companies as measured by revenue, market capitalization and number of employees. Companies were ranked based on criteria such as each company’s greenhouse gas emissions, toxic waste emissions and use of other natural resources. Newsweek and its partners also assessed the companies’ management of environmental issues and policies, regulatory compliance and policies concerning climate change. Newsweek said the rankings also factor in the results of a reputational survey of CEOs, corporate social responsibility officers, members of the media, academics and members of key environmental groups.

The top 10 greenest companies in America according to the report are:

1. Hewlett-Packard Company
2. Dell Inc.
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Intel Corporation
5. IBM
6. State Street Corporation
7. NIKE, Inc.
8. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
9. Applied Materials, Inc.
10. Starbucks Corporation

Newsweek also broke out the list by industry sector, determining the top 10 greenest companies in their respective industries. The top companies from each industry are:

• Banks & Insurance — Wells Fargo & Company
• Basic Materials — Praxair, Inc.
• Financial Services — State Street Corporation
• Food & Beverage — Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.
• General Industrials, Construction and Materials — ITT Corporation
• Health Care Equipment and  Services — Baxter International Inc.
• Industrial Goods and Services — Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Industrial Transportation, Aerospace and Defense — United Technologies Corporation
• Media, Travel and Leisure — Starbucks Corporation
• Oil and Gas — Marathon Oil Corporation
• Personal and Household Goods, Autos and Auto Parts — NIKE, Inc.
• Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology — Johnson & Johnson
• Retail — Kohl’s Corporation
• Technology and Telecommunications — Hewlett-Packard Company
• Utilities — PG&E Corporation

Partners on the survey included environmental research experts KLD Research and Analytics, the lead partner on the project, Trucost and CorporateRegister.com.

Newsweek said it used an expert panel to appraise the Newsweek Green Ranking methodology and review the preliminary and final list. The panelists included Dan Esty, prof. of environmental law and policy, Yale University; Marjorie Kelly, senior associate at Tellus Institute and co-founder and former editor of Business Ethics Magazine;
Wood Turner, executive director of Climate Counts; David Vidal, global Corporate citizenship research director at The Conference Board; and John Steelman of The Climate Center, National Resource Defense Council.

Daryl Hannah brings a personal sweetness and actor’s intensity to the stage of environmentalism, a term she doesn’t like.

Like many environmental terms — green, eco, sustainability, organic – “companies have co-opted and glommed onto these words,” she told an audience in Fort Worth this week. Luckily, she says the public is learning to be more informed.

“People are making ethical choices that help all living things to thrive, not to just sustain,” said the casually dressed actress who has starred in many memorable films such as Splash (with Tom Hanks), Steel Magnolias (with Sally Fields), Roxanne (with Steve Martin) and two Kill Bill movies directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Hannah, who was the headliner for a green event benefiting the Texas Trees Foundation and the North Texas Clean Air Coalition, said that although she has lived off the grid for 20 years, she didn’t speak about it until 9-11.

“It was after 9-11 that I realized we didn’t need to go to war for oil,” she said. “There are other options available and we have the infrastructure to do it now.”

Hannah has two cars – a 1984 El Camino that is powered by vegetable oil from local restaurants and the other, her “Kill Bill Trans-Am” that has been converted to running on alcohol. “I don’t remember the last time I went to a gas station, except to use the restroom,” she said.

“Rudolf Diesel built the original diesel to run on vegetable oil,” she pointed out. “The idea was that farmers could fuel the vehicle with their produce.”

Noting that the Chevy Volt is expected to debut in 12 months, she said the public will have to recognize that their energy may still be coming from dirty, fossil fuels.

“Electric cars are important,” she says, “as long as they are not plugging into the grid. If they are you might as well be burning coal in your home.”

By living off the grid, Hannah has no utility bills. Her home runs on passive and active solar-power and was built using non-toxic and recycled materials. She uses no petroleum products and uses spring water. The Rocky Mountain home, built in the 1800s and snuggled into an insulating  mountain, is no mansion, she says.

“It doesn’t have 19 bathrooms.”

On the outward facing side of the house, solar panels collect and retain energy to power the home, and while a biodiesel generator is available for backup power, Hannah says she hasn’t had to use it. The home is designed so that all the water from the sink, dishwasher and shower – the grey water – is used to water the garden.

A vegetarian since she was 11, Hannah says she believes that not eating meat is the most effective thing a person can do for the environment.

“The meat industry puts out more carbon emissions than the transportation industry,” she says. “Even giving up meat for a weekend, helps.” In her case, she became a vegetarian, because, “ I couldn’t disassociate from the creature on my plate.”

Hannah’s love for all living things is the inspiration for her video blog, DHLovelife.com.

“I was going to do a TV show with the Discovery Channel, but I was suspicious of some of their sponsors.” Instead, she chose to produce videos on her own and not worry about censorship. “I want to focus on solution to the crises that we face,” she says. She writes and shoots most of the vlog herself, with the exception of some of the interviews she conducts with oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle and environmental scientist Dr. David Suzuki.

Hannah sees a three-way solution to global warming: Conserve, renew and offset.

Conserving can be accomplished by buying locally grown food, giving up meat, using a fully loaded washer, air drying clothes, installing CFLs and unplugging small appliances.

By renewing, Hannah suggests buying the new, more energy-efficient large appliances such as refrigerators; insulating hot water heaters; and using public transportation. As for offsetting, she suggests checking out the many websites that can help you calculate how much carbon you are responsible for and then offset it buy purchasing wind power or planting a tree.

Of course, she adds, “It is less important to offset and more important to ask the question: Do I need so much stuff? We need re-evaluate our lifestyles…for our own health and our kids’ future. And we’ll save money in the long run. ” And, she adds, “get the poisons out of your house.” Check to see if the deodorant, makeup, cleaning products you are using are non-toxic and biodegradeable.

Hannnah points out that despite what some may think, something that is carbon neutral isn’t all good. For instance, she points out, a so-called carbon-neutral nuclear plant contains radioactive waste. And while natural gas burns clean, it is still a fossil fuel.
The basic thing, she says, is that “we need clean air, clean water and unpoisoned soil to grow our food. It’s common sense. And it’s not a partisan thing.”

Education is key, she says. As her mentor, aquanaut Sylvia Earle, says, “You can’t care, if you don’t know…Once you know, you don’t go back.”

Hannah recommended several authors to the crowd including William McDonough and Michael Braungart’s Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, which talks about making ethical choices that will help all living things to thrive, including all children in all species, for all time. There’s also The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. Food should be grown in the ground or on a tree, says Hannah. If it’s processed or packaged, it’s not really food.

Lending her celebrity name to a good cause had gotten Hannah arrested twice. Once, she was arrested in South Central Los Angeles for supporting an urban garden that was being threatened by a developer (the garden was subsequently razed). In June, she protested mountaintop removal mining alongwith NASA climate scientist James Hansen.

“Civil disobedience is a useful tool when something’s not right. It brings awareness and supports a struggle. A recognizeable name can help, “ she admits. “When I got arrested in West Virginia, the police were very respectful…they all wanted their picture taken with me,” she said with a grin.

Although making movies are still part of Hannah’s life, she says, “more of my time and energy is being spent on educating ourselves. There are solutions.” She notes that people around the world look to the American Dream subscribing to the concept that “big is better.”

“ I think we can redefine the American Dream as beautiful, well-made, but keep it simple and essential without excess.”

Hannah’s Camino is a good example. It’s hardly the luxury vehicle of a movie star. But it gets 40 miles to the gallon and its fuel has virtually no toxicity (about the same as table salt). She demonstrates this in one of her DHLoveslife videos by actually pouring a glass of grease fuel and taking a drink.

Hannah is an actor who has become immersed in her environmental role and doesn’t just talk the talk. But drinking grease fuel? “I really did that,” she said. “It wasn’t that bad.”

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Whole Foods Market announced today that it purchased 776 million-kilowatt-hours of renewable energy credits from wind farms — equal to 100 percent of its electricity use in its North American operations. The company said nearly 90 percent of this year’s purchase will help fund E.ON Climate & Renewables’ recently-completed Texas-based Panther Creek wind farm.

The Panther Creek wind farm iis 50 miles east of Midland in Big Spring, Texas. It began operating in 2008, and its final phase of construction was recently completed. The project is built and operated by EC&R North America, a renewable energy developer headquartered in Chicago, with development offices in Austin and Denver. The remaining RECs come from a number of different wind farms in locations across the U.S. and Canada. The total purchase of 776,115,000 kilowatt hours, the largest to date by a U.S. retailer, was made in partnership with Boulder, Colo.-based Renewable Choice Energy.

“Support from companies like Whole Foods Market with partners like Renewable Choice Energy creates a valuable revenue stream for us that helps make new wind farms like Panther Creek possible,” said Dean Tuel, vice president of Energy Marketing for E.ON Climate & Renewables North America. “EC&R is developing a number of large scale wind projects in the U.S. over the coming years. Extra funding from renewable energy credit sales will play a crucial role in this growth.”

Whole Foods Market said the wind power purchase will help avoid up to 868 million pounds of carbon dioxide pollution. The environmental impact is similar to taking more than 72,000 cars off of the roads for a year, or planting nearly 3.6 million mature trees.

From Green Right Now Reports

SunChips, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division’s brand of multigrain snacks, announced it will work with Kroger to raise up to $1 million to help revitalize Galveston, Texas, which was devastated by Hurricane Ike in 2008.

SunChips said that through Sept. 19, when consumers buy two bags of SunChips snacks at any of the more than 2,400 Kroger stores across the US, $1 will be donated until the project reaches $1 million. the funds will be used to create an environmentally friendly park on the famous Galveston Seawall.

The Galveston Seawall is a 10-mile national historic engineering landmark that protects the island from the ravages of the sea. Rebuilding and enhancing the Seawall is a key element in the city’s recovery as it serves as a major driver for tourism.

“The SunChips brand team and Kroger know the revitalization of the Seawall is crucial to Galveston’slong-term recovery, and the city has identified a number of projects to help the effort,” Gannon Jones, vice president of portfolio marketing at Frito-Lay North America, said in a statement. “We can be a catalyst for the revitalization, help start some of these worthwhile projects, and impact the community and the environment in a positive way.”

Motorists in Dallas-Fort Worth now have the option of going green with their oil change service. City Garage this week began offering 100 percent re-refined motor oil called Universal ECO Performance at its 16 Metroplex locations.

The eco-friendly motor oil is the result of technology that Universal Lubricants introduced to the market in August from its re-refinery in Wichita, Kan. According to Mike Maloney, CEO of Universal Lubricants, the company has been collecting used motor oil for the last seven years. Until now, the collected motor oil had been used primarily as a combustible and in making asphalt.

Universal is now processing the used oil into a high-quality motor oil that can be used safely in today’s cars. Universal also refines other lubricants, such as transmission fluids, from the used motor oil.

City Garage charges $34 for the green oil change, which is $5 more than the conventional oil change service. Scott Morrison, president of City Garage, said that the re-refined oil is a superior quality product that meets and exceeds the same performance standards as motor oil made from crude oil stock.

Since its founding in 1993, City Garage officials say the coppany has followed such green practices as:

• Removal and proper disposal of more than 45,000 gallons of used motor oil, transmission fluid and contaminated fuel last year.
• Proper disposal of over 36,000 oil, gas and transmission filters.
• Over 14,000 gallons of antifreeze will be sent to an ethylene glycol recycler this year.
• City Garage stores have 10 standard operating procedures relating to being an environmentally conscious business, from proper disposal of fluids, filters, parts and paper, to recycling printer ink and toner cartridges and by encouraging suppliers to provide electronic catalogs.

A year after showing up and discovering all the trays had vanished fron their dining halls, many college students returning to campus this fall will find more “green” changes. ARAMARK Higher Education is introducing a re-usable “to go” food container for use at the campus dining halls.

ARAMARK, which operate food services at more than 600 colleges and universities across North America, said it will roll out its new Green Thread program at many of the campuses it serves. The company projects the program will divert more than two million disposables from landfills during the 2009-2010 school year.

“Through our Green Thread environmental stewardship platform, ARAMARK continues to look for ways to reduce our environmental impact,” Michael Leone, Senior Vice President of ARAMARK Higher Education, said in a statement. “The re-usable ‘to go’ container program is the next phase of our ongoing plan to strive toward zero waste and support the sustainability goals of our partner campuses.”

ARAMARK said it successfully piloted the re-usable containers at several campuses last year, including Baylor University, University of Florida, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Peace College (NC) and Salem College (NC). Since implementing the re-usable “to go” containers in fall 2008, Baylor University reduced disposable container usage by 40 percent.

Last year, ARAMARK implemented a trayless dining program at the majority of its campus partner locations, which yielded “significant reductions” in energy, water, cleaning agents, food waste and waste removal, the company said. The new re-usable containers are dishwasher-safe and go through the same cleaning process as the dinnerware used in campus dining halls.

“Student feedback from the pilot program was very positive,” Leone said. “Everyone on campus immediately understood the reduction in landfill waste, when compared with a traditional, disposable container. Our program also commits to recycling these re-usable products at the end of their useful life.”

Green Thread was introduced in 2008 by ARAMARK to encompass a range of environmental stewardship programs and practices that can be offered to its clients.