November 2012 

Did you know? 

As of 2011, 1.3 billion tons of food, about one third of the global food production, is lost or wasted annually?  Read more at the end of this newsletter about how Clarkson Dining Services is combating this problem. 

The time approaches to celebrate, decorate, give gifts and travel this holiday season. But these practices also generate a lot of waste and increase our energy use.  The volume of household waste in the US generally increases 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day – about 1 million extra tons. Check out these sources for ideas to green your holiday season:

• EPA – Greening the Season
• Eco-Friendly Holidays: Ideas to Green Your Celebrations
• AASHE – 13 Tips for a Sustainable Holiday Season
• Green Travel Options

Do you travel back and forth to Clarkson over break? If so, check out the Clarkson Rideshare Facebook page to add your post about rides needed or available for Clarkson students or find bus transportation information through Adirondack Trailways.

Read more in past issues of the
Sustainability Newsletter

When  the Institute for a Sustainable Environment was established in April 2010, President Collins  stated that we will… “build sustainability into everything we do at Clarkson.”

EVERYBODY needs to be involved to meet President Collins’ goal. This month’s newsletter is a tribute to the many faces of sustainability across campus.  Please note that this is representative list. We acknowledge that there are more people who we would like to acknowledge than space permits!

The gratitude expressed here comes from Susan Powers and the Institute for a Sustainable Environment. We can provide advice, ideas and support for sustainability efforts, but we need your efforts too!  So….

THANK YOU!    THANK YOU!     THANK YOU!

President Collins has taken leadership in recognizing the value of improving the sustainability of our campus in many ways.

The Marketing and External Relations Office led by Kelly Chezum embraces sustainability in every aspect of their activities.  Their efforts have been acknowledged with our campus’ first Platinum Sustainable Office Certification.  Way to go!


  Prof. Brian Helenbrook was the first individual faculty member to certify his office through the Sustainable Office Certification program this fall.  We need more like you Brian!

 Holly Stone and Patty Schwartfigure work hard to educate faculty, staff and students users of the CAMP and Rowley buildings to promote proper recycling.  

Chris McKinney (CUOC), Joe Robbins (Synergy) and Matt Desmaris (Synergy) accompanied Prof. Powers to the Adirondack Youth Climate Summit to learn and brainstorm about projects to engage the student body in sustainable practices.

TeShawn Ambrose is the ISE web guru.  Thank you TeShawn for transforming this newsletter into a web page and email every month!

Shannon Robinson, the Director of Project Management in the Facilities and Services Department, coordinates Sustainability Fund Projects that require Facilities involvement and has been the Clarkson liaison for the successful efforts to certify the TAC (Gold) and Student Center (silver) as LEED certified buildings. 

Prof. Chris Robinson, who is among the Hum & Soc. Sci. faculty members who teaches students and faculty alike about the need for a “strong” sustainability approach, which includes a fundamental change in how we view and relate to the natural world. 

Emily Ball, has been a Campus Sustainability Intern for the past two years and is the force behind a lot of our recycling awareness initiatives across campus. She is currently working on her M.S. degree in Env. Science and Engineering.

Mark Bayer, a senior Civil Engineering student, has been President of Synergy for years and has taken a lead on integrating sustainability features into campus tours for prospective freshman.

Theresa Ferero, Lorrain Hicks, Janessa Scott and Susan Cutler have assumed responsibility for organizing and promoting the Sustainable Office Certification Program and making it web-enabled.

A sad farewell thank you to Kurt Stimeling and Kevin Lynch, who have been long-tern members of the campus sustainability committee and who will be missed for their insight and dedication to integrating sustainability principles into student life and information technology offices.

Courtney Evans promotes sustainability efforts for Clarkson Dining Services.  She has coordinated the Sustainable Iron Chef competitions, local food diners and ARAMARK’s food waste reduction efforts that are described below.

“Waste Not, Want Not”

Providing customers with quality food efficiently and consistently is the top priority of Clarkson Dining Services, and ARAMARK Corporation.  In order to fulfill this promise, a “farm‐to‐fork” “Food Management Process” is carefully followed, resulting in a consistent approach to food procurement, preparation and service.

The new “Food Waste Minimization” initiative began with a simple concept; identify and eliminate unnecessary food waste. Then, provide food operations with a standard and sustainable way to manage the food production process which directly result in the following:

• Ensures adherence to recipes, thus creating a higher quality product.
• Simplifies and standardizes processes to ensure safety, quality and consistency while reducing waste.
• Measures and tracks performance for continuous improvement.
• Engages employees through training and accountability.

Though the focus is on minimizing food waste, the sorted, unusable pre-consumer scraps are destined for a sustainable purpose.  Since June of 2012, the organic materials from the Cheel kitchen have been feeding the anaerobic digester on campus. Once digested, the goal is to treat the effluent to use as fertilizer in the greenhouse and campus lawns and the biogas produced from the process will be turned into electric power. Produce from the Clarkson greenhouse is incorporated into featured dining specials and catering recipes…now that’s coming full circle!