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EPA to Reconsider Treatment of Hazardous Waste - Earth911, 05/11/09
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University of Georgia, Building Services Department is featured on the cover of the ISSA Today magazine! The article can be found on page 14 of the Jan/Feb 2009 e-magazine.
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Green Life Expo
Friday, January 30, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday, January 31, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
The Classic Center, Athens, GA
Kim Thomas, Assistant Director of the Services Department at the UGA Physical Plant, along with Mr. John Chittom, President of the Athens Janitor Supply Company, will be presenting a seminar on "Green Cleaning Your Office" on Friday, January 30 from 10:30 am - 11:15 am. This is a FREE event! For more information, visit The Green Life Expo Website.
Congratulations, Athens!
Athens, Georgia made Popular Science's list of the top 50 Green Cities. Popular Science used raw data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Geographic Society’s Green Guide, which collected survey data and government statistics for American cities of over 100,000 people. The statistics were divided into four broad categories and the sum of these four scores determines a city’s place in the rankings. Athens scored 14.1 points out of 30 to come in at 33rd in the nation. It is the only Georgia city included in the list.
Click to read the entire article.
Happy 2009, UGA!
Planning is under way for UGA's participation in the 2009 Recyclemania competition! We plan to participate in a big way this year & hopefully break our 2008 tonnage and 3rd place ranking. The competition begins on January 18 and goes through March 28. Be sure to mark your calendars! And while you're at it, join UGA's Recyclemania Facebook page for the latest updates!
Have a GREEN New Year!
UGA sure is a trashy bunch! Yesterday, November 6, 2008, during our first Waste Audit, Physical Plant and student volunteers poured through over 750 pounds of trash from the SLC alone! We discovered that roughly 60% of this trash was recyclable! |
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| Most of it was paper, but there was a significant amount of bottles and cans too. The numbers will be crunched to get more accurate amounts, but that's roughly it. Does that mean that we can extrapolate out this one building on this one day to the rest of campus for the rest of the year? No. But this is a good start. Let's pretend that this is a true figure and we can extrapolate out. That means that we waste roughly $9600 per month on landfill costs x 12 = $115,200 just in annual landfill cost avoidance savings from diligently recycling bottles and cans and paper products from trash. Then once you think about the potential profits to be made from the sale of our recyclables, the number just increases. It is definitely something worth thinking about...and that is the point of our waste audit exercise...to get people thinking. A HUGE Thank-you to all of our volunteers!! If you're interested in participating in our next waste audit, please contact our recycling coordinator, Andrew Lentini. |
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Check out News Source 15's coverage of the SLC Waste Audit:
Spartan Chemicals congratulates UGA on becoming CIMS certified with honors : http://www.compuclean2000.com/News.aspx
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UGA IS CIMS CERTIFIED, WITH HONORS!: For information on our CIMS certification process, please email bldgserv@uga.edu. |
September 9, 2008 |
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Physical Plant Division Recognized for |
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 July 15, 2008; L-R: Ralph Johnson, Jim Chittom, Kimberly Thomas, Greg Ford, Betty Davenport, Dexter Fisher, Mark Blackwell |
UGA Physical Plant, Services Department was recognized on July 15, 2008 by the VP for Spartan Chemical Company, Greg Ford & the President of ISSA, International, Mr. Jim Chittom, for our Green Cleaning Efforts. |
Our Building Services Crews have worked very hard to employ green, sustainable practices throughout UGA's North Campus & we look forward to expanding our efforts campus wide. PPD is currently on target to reach it's goal of providing green cleaning services to the entire campus within the next three years!  |
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100 Things Challenge
Can you live with just 100 things? Greenopolis.com poses the challenge to consumers to reduce their possessions to 100 items or less. If that sounds tough to you (okay, we understand that those of you living in the dorms may already abide by this rule), that's because it is! But it may end up being worth it.
Liv Green, of Greenopolis.com, says "As consumers, we tend to consume a lot. I'm not just referring to food, either (though from all of those news stories about rampant obesity, I take it we do eat a lot). I'm talking about all of the things that we purchase as consumers: furniture, decor, games, car products, souveniers (sic), music, movies, books, electronics, all of it. Not only do all these things cost us money, but they add to our carbon footprint as well. The environmental impact of just one of these items can often be staggering if we look at it closely."
Interested in taking the challenge? Check out these articles for more information on how to get rid of the clutter and reduce your impact on the environment. Greenopolis.com & Time.com
Click here to read the entire article on the benefits of CIMS certification. |
Assistant Director of Services, Kim Thomas, was recently quoted in an article describing the benefits of CIMS certification in the May/June issue of ISSA Today. Kim states “We feel that CIMS will help us craft a business model that’s uniquely designed for the campus. We are dedicated to our new green program, which incorporates not only the usage of green cleaning products, but more consciously focuses on the standardization of purchasing policy, inventory and equipment control, work-management processes, and training guidelines for our operations. We believe that our staff and campus community have already seen a tremendous benefit and will continue to see positive results as we move forward.” |
For more information on elevating your standards through CIMS certification, visit the ISSA's website at http://www.issa.com/ |
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EARTH DAY 2008! |
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Physical Plant would like to thank everyone who participated in this years Earth Day 2008 Event! Vendors who participated include: Participating UGA Departments & Organizations: |
 Earth Day 2007 • Up, Up and Away Balloons • Barron's Rentals • Chick-Fil-A • Planet Smoothie • Taco Stand • The Grill • Gumby's • McAllister's • Zim's • The Farm • Bluebird Cafe • The Grit • EarthFare • Athens Clarke County • Southland Graphics • Bike Athens • Uncle Otto's • Publix |
A special thanks also goes to our guest speakers: And finally we would like to thank the GO GREEN ALLIANCE on all of the hard work they put in to making Earth Day 08 such a great success! We'd love to hear what you thought about the Earth Day 08 Captain Planet Carnival! If you have a moment, please fill out our event feedback survey. Thank you! |
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Recycle Mania Results: UGA came in 3rd (of 61 schools) for RecycleMania's Gorilla prize, with 543,260 pounds of cumulated recyclables! That's 271 TONS! |
The State of Georgia is currently under a Drought Level 4!
Declared Drought Response Level Four – No outdoor water use is allowed, other than for activities exempted in 391-3-30-.05, or as the EPD Director may order.
It is important to check with your local water authority for additional restrictions. Local water authorities have the power to add restrictions beyond those mandated by the state
Please, help out by reporting any leaking water. If you spot a leak on campus, please make sure to report it to our Work Orders office by calling 542-7456 or by emailing ppdwork@uga.edu.
Help conserve water during our drought crisis!
A letter from Arnett Mace, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Water Conservation Tips from UGA.edu - Every drop counts!
The University of Georgia Food Services program is a happy participant in many environmentally sustainable activities. Click here to check out what they're doing to help.