Introduction to Sustainability

Reduce Your Paw Print!

Sustainability Guide

Paw Print Alert: August, 2009
Northwest's Recycling Efforts are “In the Bag”

In an effort to reduce the amount of plastic and paper bags thrown away on campus and in town, the Northwest Recycling Committee is sponsoring a new cloth shopping bag program. The committee hopes that those receiving a cloth bag will be motivated to take the bag with them when they shop at on- and off-campus businesses. Each time a reusable bag is used, it will eliminate the use of a plastic or paper sack, thereby diverting it from the waste stream.

The “Reduce Your Paw Print” cloth shopping bags will be distributed in multiple ways throughout the next year. In the fall, students living on campus will receive a welcome package from Aramark inside one of the cloth bags. Faculty and staff will receive a bag at their Opening Meeting. Any faculty and staff members not in attendance will receive a bag through departmental distribution. Additionally, the Bearcat Bookstore and C3 Convenience Store in the Station will provide cloth bags to shoppers at no additional charge while supplies last. Finally, in the spring, Textbook Services will give students their rental textbooks packaged in the cloth bags instead of paper. By utilizing reusable cloth bags, the Recycling committee estimates that approximately 600 pounds of waste will be saved by not using plastic and paper bags.

Each bag will feature the “Reduce Your Paw Print” slogan, as well as include Northwest’s Sustainability web address. All locations supplying the cloth bags will have more information about the program.

Northwest would like to give a warm thank you to the Northwest Missouri Regional Solid Waste Management District and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for funding more than 60% of this project.

Being green is everyone’s responsibility! We hope you will join us and Reduce Your Paw Print. Help us make sure the success of our efforts is “in the bag!”

Sustainability Guide Developed by:

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Conservation vs. Efficiency

Conservation means avoiding using energy unnecessarily. A good example would be turning off the lights when nobody is in the room. It is generally the cheapest way of saving energy, but requires support from building occupants and other University staff.
Efficiency means doing the same thing with less energy. For instance, replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs gives the same light with 25% of the energy use.

Source: New York University Sustainability Office - www.nyu.edu/sustainability

Northwest Missouri State University