SUSTAINABILITY

• Unplug your electronics when not in use or charging, especially over breaks.
• Use a CFL in your lamp instead of overhead lights.
• Use an energy star fridge in your room and use only one.
• Sign up to “Be Green Certified” with the Sustainability Office.
• Participate in eco challenges, events and clubs on campus.
• Turn off lights 

Being a consumer comes with responsibilities. Everything you buy affects the world you live in. Buying locally grown food or locally made items will cause that money you spent to stay in your community and multiply. Every dollar you spend is showing your support for that item and where it was made. In some cases your purchase may support child and slave labor in other countries. Learn about where it was made and how it was made before you buy something. Every purchase matters.

Easy Everyday Practices for the Environment

1. Shut Off & Unplug It

When you leave the room, turn off the light – even if you’ll only be gone for a minute. Brushing your teeth or conditioning your hair in the shower? Turn off the water unless needed to rinse, and you’ll help save gallons of water! When taking your phone off the charger, also unplug the charger from the wall because it still uses the same amount of electricity whether being used or not, which is called using “phantom electricity.”

2. Have a Light Bulb Moment

If it is daylight, consider opening your blinds before flipping your switch on. The type of bulbs in your sockets matter – buy LED or CFL lights. Though more expensive, the payback comes quickly.

3. Drive Less, Walk or Bike More

You’ll save gas and be healthier for it. If you must drive, minimize your trips and ask friends to ride along. If you drive and have a cell phone, charge it in the car because it doesn’t require any extra energy whereas at home it does. You can check out an orange bike at the Vogel Library to use around Waverly! 

4. Consume Wisely

Buy from socially and environmentally responsible companies, purchase Energy Star-certified appliances, search for items with the least amount of packaging, and try to buy from locally-owned businesses.

5. Seek More Information

Stay involved and aware of both contemporary issues surrounding sustainability as well as progressions in technology development. This will make you better equip to participate in our democratic process.

Food

Wartburg Garden

Students in the 2009 IS 101: Sustainability came up with the project of starting a vegetable garden that would be located on the corner of Fifth Ave. NW and Seventh St. NW. On Earth Day, garden planners and volunteers got to work constructing a fence around the garden plot, measuring and marking rows, and planting the first seeds of the garden.

Today, the garden has moved locations to the corner of Seventh St. NW and Third Ave. NW (just east of Lohe Hall). Produce from the garden can be used by Dining Services to be incorporated into meals. The garden is sustained with volunteer support, and we need YOU to volunteer! Watch for an opportunity in the spring to adopt a plot or help prepare the raised beds for planting. Knowing how to grow your own food can be a valuable skill when you are on a tight budget or learning to live more sustainably. If you are interested, email sustainability@wartburg.edu with “Garden” in the subject line.

Buy Fresh, Buy Local

Buying locally produced food helps farmers in your region. In turn these farmers are more likely to reinvest their money into their own community. This cycle will help strengthen your community. Buying local will also help the environment. Locally produced food travels on average 1,500 miles fewer than most items found in a supermarket. This means less resources involved in packaging, distribution and transportation.

Buying local can also help your health. Since the food doesn’t have as far to travel it isn’t long after the food is picked that you buy it. This allows the produce to retain a higher nutritional value.

Reduce & Reuse

Water Bottle Fillers

Wartburg has bottle fillers in the Science Center, Luther Hall, Saemann Student Center, Vogel Library and The W. Please choose these over bottled water to reduce waste.

Dining Services

Wartburg’s Dining Services has made great strides toward becoming more sustainable. A couple of the major achievements have been going tray-less in the Mensa and purchasing front-loading washers. Going tray-less has led to savings in water, the energy needed to heat the water, the number of dishes that need to be washed, and the amount of food and water waste generated. The front-loading washers, over the period of 48 days, saved 14,976 gallons of water and have decreased the number of loads that need to be done each day.

Extra Tips

– Eat in the Mensa as opposed to other dining locations to use their reusable plateware instead of disposable ones.

– Don’t be afraid to ask for smaller portions when eating in the Mensa.

– Bring your own reusable water bottle or mug instead of wasteful disposable ones.

– Use a cone instead of a dish for ice cream.

Purchasing

Fair Trade

The 2011 US Department of Labor’s guide to products made of slave and child labor is a great guide for making social justice guided purchasing decisions. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2005 requires the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Affairs (ILAB) to “develop and make available to the public a list of goods from countries that ILAB has reason to believe are produced by forced labor or child labor in violation of international standards.” ILAB published its initial List on September 10, 2009, which included 122 goods from 58 countries. ILAB published its first update to the List on December 15, 2012, adding 6 goods and 12 countries. The 2011 update adds 2 good and 1 country to the List, a relatively small number compared to the 2009 initial List and the 2010 update. The List includes only those goods for which we are able to document the use of child or forced labor in their production. Given the pervasive nature of these global problems, it is likely that many more goods are produced through these egregious forms of labor use.

Source: http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/

Thrift Stores

Trinkets & Togs
114 10th Street SW, Waverly (next to Sasquatch Jack’s)
(319) 352-8029 
Store Hours: M 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; T-F 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sa 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Goodwill Waverly
400 Technology Place SW, Waverly, IA
(319) 352-8804
Store Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day

Single Stream
These items go into the big blue bins that are provided by the city and is collected by the city. 

Items Accepted in Single Stream:

• Plastic #1-7 (no bags or styrofoam)
• Paper and Paperboard (white, colored, glossy, newspaper, magazines, cereal boxes)
• Metal (tin, steel, aluminum)
• Cans (tin and aluminum)
• Plastic bottles and containers
• Redeemable containers (bottles and cans)
• Cardboard (broken down)

Items Not Accepted in Single Stream:

• Glass
• Food waste and food soiled containers
• Plastic bags and packaging
• Waxy paper products
• Plastic food service containers
• Food wrappers and bags
• Tissue, paper towels, and napkins
• Mixed material items (milk cartons, etc.)
• Styrofoam
• E-waste

Waste Reduction
Looking for small changes to make a big difference?  
Here are a few every day ways to lessen your carbon footprint:

• Bring your own reusable dining items, such as a reusable bottle or cup for drinking, silverware to eat with in the Den, and a straw.
• Ask for 100 percent recycled paper at the print center.
• When needing to purchase school supplies, start at the REUSE(D) store in ’15 Old Main (basement). Don’t find what you’re looking for? Consider purchasing green items, like the refillable or EarthWrite recycled pencils, recycled folders, notebooks, etc.
• Participate in eco challenges, events and clubs on campus.
• If planning a campus events, follow the “Sustainable Event Planning Guide” under resources.

Cans for a Cause
Cans for a Cause is a program that gives student organizations around Wartburg College an opportunity to help with campus sustainability while earning money for their organization. Student groups volunteer to sort redeemable cans from around campus and in return the student organization will receive the deposits from the cans. All coordination is lead through Knights Who Serve.

Recycling in Dining
A portion of to-go containers from Wartburg Dining can be recycled, IF they are clean, not soiled with grease or wet food.

Single-Stream Recycling in Retail Dining Areas:

• Paper boats
• Paper bowls
• Wartburg coffee cups (paper)
• Paper bags
• Plastic cups

Electronic Waste (E-Waste) Recycling
As part of the recycling program, Wartburg offers the collection of electronic materials. 

Examples of E-Waste:

• Computers
• Laptops
• Mice and keyboards
• Servers
• Monitors
• Copiers
• Printers
• Paper shredders
• Cell phones
• Network equipment

REUSE(D) Store
REUSE(D) items are available outside the Student Life Office. The items are free to students, faculty, and staff.

Give:  Unwanted, gently used office supplies from your office/room.

Receive:  Before buying new, stop by Student Life to see if the item you are looking for has been donated. Take supplies that you need free of charge! If you find you don’t need them, simply return them.

Here is what we regularly shelve:

• Binders
• Notebooks
• Folders
• Staplers and Tape dispensers
• Scissors
• Three hole punchers
• Staples and tape
• Pens and pencils
• Envelopes
• Office organizers
• Markers, crayons and colored pencils
• Paper clips, rubber bands and pins