Sustainability
#StampNapkins - Stamp received a grant from the Sustainability Fund to deliver helpful waste-sorting tips on napkins in the Stamp Food Court. This project aims to reduce contamination of recycling and compost by trash items by teaching food court users where to place different items in the waste sorting stations.
Energy Saving Updates - Stamp received a $10,000 PEPCO rebate for installing high-efficiency lighting in its meeting rooms and for conversion of Hoff Theater lighting to LED in 2015!
Chef's Garden - Year two of the garden produced a bounty of spring mix lettuce, spinach, basil thyme, parsley for both Green-Dining and the Food Truck. The Lavender and Rosemary shrubs thrived as well and will produce year-round. New this year was installation of a timer to regulate the watering schedule. This herb garden is a fantastic way the Stamp Student Union is complying with the University’s goal of being more sustainable. No longer will herbs need to be shipped in, cutting back on carbon emissions and the rain barrels will help limit urban runoff. This project remains a great collaboration between The Stamp, Dining Services and Arboretum/Horticultural Services and was harvested by great student employees.
Composting - Catering and Food Court vendors in The Stamp have composted for years. At the beginning of the fall 2012 semester, The Stamp introduced a post-consumer composting option in the food court by combining all trash cans and recycle bins in to 3 stream sorting stations. Please take a few minutes to watch our informational and instructional video on post-consumer composting in The Stamp food court. Your participation is the key to success! watch video.
Ongoing outreach to inform our students and guests to support the program is crucial and Peer educators are needed assist visitors to the food court. If interested in helping, please contact Dan Wray at (301) 314-5931. Volunteers earn a highly-coveted 'Terps Leave Small Footprints' tee shirt (made from recycled material, of course).
Green Office - Each unit within The Stamp has recently attained at least Bronze level certification in the Green Office Program. Stamp Facilities is proud to share that it earned level Gold this past fall. For more information on the Green Office program, click here
Battery Bin - Good for all alkaline battery types. Located by the info desk, it is accessible to staff and students. When the bin is 3/4 full, Stamp emails recycle@umd.edu for a pick up. Another 'green' step forward!
Hydration Station - To compliment our eco-friendly hydration station located on the ground floor near the Hoff Theater, around the corner from Chick-fil-A, Stamp has installed a Taylor-Halsey bottle filler outside the Grand Ballroom in support of the campus wide program organized by the Office of Sustainability. Clean, Simple, Smart, Green.
Green Roof - By and large, the 2013 Atrium and Prince George's Room Green Roofs renovation was a success. The original roof installation in 2009 failed in essence by disintegrating to ‘fine’ and preventing the plants from flourishing. Once in place, Stamp entered in to a stewardship program with Plant Science faculty and The Furbish Company to use the new system as ‘learning research labs’ for their students and which will also help to insure long term success!
Water Conserving Faucets - Bathroom faucets in the Stamp Student Union save water, electricity, maintenance costs and make the bathrooms more hygienic. The previous faucets, which were a traditional style faucet with leavers that turn on/off the water, were replaced with faucets that only run water when they sense users' hands under the spout. These new faucets use about 70% less water than the old faucets because they cannot be left running and they are regulated to use only 0.5 gallons per minute versus the 1.0 gallons per minute flow rate for a traditional faucet. This means the 102 new faucets in the Union are saving approximately 1,193,400 gallons of water per year. Also, considering the tremendous amount of energy required to heat water, these new faucets also save more than 29 million BTU of energy each year. The total project cost of $26,000 will be paid back through savings in a little more than two years.
Sustainable Carpets - The Stamp Student Union is gradually replacing carpet with a very environmentally preferable carpet that boasts various benefits. First, it is cleaned with only hot water – it requires no detergents or shampoos. This cuts down considerably on chemical use and simplifies the cleaning process. Second, the carpet is made of eco-friendly materials. The face fiber and backing are certified as Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP). The backing also contains bio-based renewable resources and contains 20% post consumer recycled content. Third, the carpet is installed with a low volatile organic compound (VOC) adhesive, which means better indoor air quality for visitors and employees of the Union. Fourth, at the end of its use, the carpet can be removed and recycled into new carpet, thus minimizing the amount of new material that has to be harvested or manufactured for the carpet industry
Green Cleaning – Throughout the building we use mostly green cleaning chemicals and methods. These are environmentally friendly, renewable or otherwise green. Our cleaning philosophy is to use the smallest amount of the most environmentally friendly products and chemicals, using stronger concentrations or chemicals only if needed.
Living Green Off-Campus – It’s easy being green! Follow these simple tips to reduce your carbon footprint and save money! Click here to learn more.
Electric Hand Dryers – In addition to the water conserving faucets, the restrooms located in the Stamp contain high efficiency electric hand dryers. These hand dryers will eventually replace paper towel dispensers, which will greatly reduce the amount of paper products the Stamp uses.
Floor Protection – In 2010, Stamp invested in a 3M floor protector product that is more durable than wax. This material drastically reduces the amount of chemicals we used to use annually to maintain our floors.
Recycling Containers – We are excited to announce that we will retrofit recycling containers to align with the Single Stream Recycling Program the University is implementing around campus.
The Stamp is a supporter of the University of Maryland Office of Sustainability. Learn more about University sustainable initiatives on their website: http://www.sustainability.umd.edu/
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