Blog – Sustainability /sustainability Mon, 12 Jan 2026 20:35:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 /wp-content/themes/b/bates-framework/styles/images/bates-favicon.png Blog – Sustainability /sustainability 32 32 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is Carbon Neutral! /sustainability/2019/05/15/carbon-neutrality/ Wed, 15 May 2019 22:00:53 +0000 /sustainability/?p=4046 After nearly 20 years of hard work on campus, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College is now carbon neutral! By using renewable fuel oil (RFO) for heating, sustainably sourced electricity, raising campus awareness, behavioral shifts, and lots of small individual efforts, we have reduced our carbon footprint by 11,600 metric tons of CO2. Here’s to a green future for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½!

]]> 2018 Garden Party /sustainability/2019/05/09/2018-garden-party/ Thu, 09 May 2019 20:31:32 +0000 /sustainability/?p=4022 The 2018 Garden Party served as the opening event for the Plot. Fresh tomatoes, homemade cookies, and other appetizers were served, and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ own Take Note a cappella group performed.

]]> The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Garden /sustainability/2019/05/09/the-bates-garden/ Thu, 09 May 2019 20:30:30 +0000 /sustainability/?p=4020 The Garden group hosted weekly meetings and open hours this year, opening up the Plot to the community for people interested in gardening, farming, and food systems.

Plot leaders Katherine Gaillard ’19 and Isa Moise ’19 in the Carnegie greenhouse at a weekly Wednesday afternoon meeting. Having just finished planting onion seeds, they organized Garden Club members on a daily watering schedule to ensure the plants would be ready to transplant later this spring.
]]> Green Bikes /sustainability/2019/05/09/green-bikes/ Thu, 09 May 2019 20:29:23 +0000 /sustainability/?p=4017 This year, the Green Bike team has been busy keeping the collection of bikes online. They also have hosted open hours at the bike barn for the community.

]]> Electric Cars /sustainability/2019/05/09/electric-cars/ Thu, 09 May 2019 20:27:14 +0000 /sustainability/?p=4015 In the Spring of 2018, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ swapped out its vans for electric cars to run the community shuttle. Each day, the shuttle makes countless runs to various locations in the Lewiston/Auburn area. With several new Nissan Leafs, the impact of this service has been greatly reduced.

]]> Hand Dryer Implementation /sustainability/2019/05/09/hand-dryer-implementation/ Thu, 09 May 2019 20:26:04 +0000 /sustainability/?p=4012 Many buildings at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ still use paper towels in the bathrooms. This year, EcoReps are hoping to implement high efficiency hand dryers to eliminate the energy and resource waste created by paper towels. The projects for the project are that over the next ten years, this implementation would save the campus over $200,000 and 42.8 tons of CO2 emissions.

Hundreds of gallons of water are used in this process as well. With ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™ green-sourced energy and a conversion to electric dryers, the campus would prevent a significant amount of emissions and resource usage.

]]> Waste Audits /sustainability/2019/05/09/waste-audits/ Thu, 09 May 2019 20:23:59 +0000 /sustainability/?p=4009 Periodically, the waste and recycling team performs waste audits around campus. This consists of sorting through trash and recycling in order to analyze the waste habits on campus. These results help us to understand how to improve our sorting in order to prevent unnecessary landfill use and close wasteful loops through composting and recycling. These also take place through Junior Advisor programs in the dorms, which allows first-years to get a better understanding of effective waste habits at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

]]> Outreach /sustainability/2019/05/09/media-outreach-team/ Thu, 09 May 2019 20:16:12 +0000 /sustainability/?p=4007

One of the main tasks for the Media and Outreach team is to create monthly newsletters that spread the word of sustainability around campus. Each month the newsletter carries a theme for a new project or update on campus sustainability. Click here for past newsletters, and follow us on social media for up-to-date info about sustainability initiatives at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½! Follow us on , and check out our Ìý±è²¹²µ±ð.

]]> Trashion Show /sustainability/2019/05/09/trashion-show/ Thu, 09 May 2019 20:09:00 +0000 /sustainability/?p=4001 This fall’s trashion show was one for the books. Contestants modeled dressed made out of plastic straws, plastic bags, packaging, and more. Read more here!

]]> Eco Service Day /sustainability/2019/05/09/eco-service-day/ Thu, 09 May 2019 20:08:31 +0000 /sustainability/?p=3999 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ hosts a biannual Eco Service day, on which the campus pitches in for various projects.

The Fall 2018 EcoService day went off without a hitch. Students, faculty, and other community members undertook a number of projects, including

  • a cleanup of Mount David
  • closing and winterizing the Plot
  • a waste audit for various buildings on campus

It was great to see everyone outside and engaged!

The Spring 2019 Eco Service day is around the corner on Wednesday, May 15th. Stay tuned for updates on what projects will be happening and how to help out!

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