Chancellor's office is going green

The Office of the Chancellor, in its commitment to creating a sustainable and environmentally friendly university, has rallied with six other UAA departments to go green. In accordance with UAA's Office of Sustainability, the chancellor's office is officially certified as a "Green Office."

There are five prerequisites in the program's outline for a department to become a certified green office. This includes the department or office designating a green team, using 30 percent post-consumer recycled paper for 90 percent or more of their paper purchases, having well-labeled recycle bins, recycling toner and printer cartridges and, finally, offering regular training or information about sustainability efforts.

"The idea is to encourage, in a positive way, departments and offices to reduce their energy and resource use and reduce their waste, which saves the university money," says UAA's Sustainability Director Paula Williams. According to Williams, in fiscal year 2012, UAA spent nearly $5.25 million on electricity and gas expenditures on campus buildings and resident housing. By encouraging departments and offices to power down their computers and turn off the lights each night, the university could save millions of dollars each year, which would directly benefit students.

For more information about turning your office or department green, visit the Office of Sustainability website.

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