Oregon DEQ: Land Quality - Solid Waste - Commercial Waste Reduction Clearinghouse - Success Stories

Schools/Libraries

Business: Bend Community School (Bend)

Number of Employees: 3

Vignette

Placed signs above light switches and next to computers to turn lights and computers "off" when not in use. Set thermostats back at night. Turned down water temperature from 135^o to 120^o Fahrenheit. Installed 1.5 gallon-per-minute aerators on faucets at hand-washing sinks. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $210/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 3,000 kWh/year and 13,000 gallons/year of water.

Reduced paper use by encouraging double-sided copying, placing a bin next to the copy machine with "draft" paper (paper that is already used on one side, but can be reused), and turning off the automatic transmission report on the fax machine.

Case Study

None

Business: Cannon Beach Elementary School (Cannon Beach)

Number of Employees: 10

Vignette

When garbage cans are emptied, the custodian only replaces the plastic liners if they are soiled or starting to smell. Garbage can liners that have held nothing but paper and other dry wastes are not changed every day. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $90/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 25 pounds of liners/year.

The foot pedal on a large bathroom sink was stuck in the "on" position. Fixing it cut water and sewer bills. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: as much as $1,348/year in water and sewer bills. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 345,600 gallons/year.

Low-flow aerators were installed on restroom and classroom water faucets, saving water and the energy to heat it. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $154/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 39,600 gallons/year.

Floats on tank toilets were adjusted to use less water per flush. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $142/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 40,500 gallons/year.

Coils on refrigerator and milk coolers are vacuumed every 3 months to improve energy efficiency.

Case Study

None

Business: City of Milwaukie (Milwaukie)

Number of Employees: 148

Vignette

The City of Milwaukie has four buildings: City Hall, Ledding Library, Public Security (fire and police), and the Johnson Creek Building (offices and shops).

Reduced hot water temperature at all faucets to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $104/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 230 therms/year.

Installed water conserving valves on all urinals in men’s restrooms. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $97/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 25,000 gallons/year.

Purchased a unit to recondition rechargeable batteries. After multiple rechargings, most batteries lose their ability to hold a charge. Reconditioning restores the batteries so that they can be recharged and reused again. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $274/year (net). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 55 pounds/year.

Reduced paper use across all City offices by 6% through employee education about double-sided copying and efficient printing and formatting practices. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $351/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 585 pounds of paper/year.

Encourages reuse of filing folders, hanging files, and other office supplies.

Installed a crank timer for lights in a storage loft. This turns the lights off after 10 to 30 minutes. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $321/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 7,400 kWh/year, plus light bulbs.

Installed a crank timer for lights in the parking garage. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $522/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 11,000 kWh/year, plus light bulbs.

Reduced outside night-time lighting levels by 50-75% at the Johnson Creek Building offices and shops. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $3,211/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 50,900 kWh/year, plus light bulbs.

Fixed a shower drip in a locker room. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $28/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 16 therms (gas) and 4,900 gallons (water)/year.

Fixed a leak at the truck/car wash. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $113/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 29,200 gallons/year.

Incorporated recycled content building materials into several remodeling projects.

Case Study

Report available on use of recycled building materials in remodeling projects. Call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: Corvallis-Benton County Public Library (Corvallis)

Number of Employees: 62

Vignette

Transports books between locations in durable plastic totes, rather than paper boxes.

Uses remanufactured toner cartridges. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $325/year.

Buys stationery containing recycled paper.

Recycles office paper, corrugated cardboard boxes, newspaper, yard debris, and bottles and cans.

Encourages the reuse of books through an annual used book sale. Consolidates unsaleable books with Oregon State University for recycling.

The Library has an unofficial policy banning the use of brightly colored papers ("astrobrights") which are difficult to recycle. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $200/year.

All restroom sinks have self-regulating faucets that provide water for about three seconds before shutting off. Water is also set at a constant temperature, so patrons don’t waste water adjusting the temperature.

Reduced run times on automatic sprinkler irrigation system from 20 minutes per station to 6 - 10 minutes per station. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: approximately $530/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: approximately 440,000 gallons of water/year.

As bulbs in exit signs burn out, staff are replacing them with LED lamps. LED lamps have life expectancies of 30-50 years, compared to 4-6 months for traditional incandescent lamps. The full retrofit will cost $1,352. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $628/year when fully implemented (electricity and bulb savings, labor savings not included). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 8,000 kWh/year (when fully implemented).

Case Study

Case study exists.

Business: Lynch Wood Elementary School (Portland)

Number of Employees: unknown

Vignette

Students eliminated the use of straws, individual food wrappers, and single serving food containers in the cafeteria.

The school reuses polystyrene packing peanuts and packing foam, and also recycles paper, plastic, glass, tin, crayons, batteries, and cooking oil.

Case Study

None

Business: Me and Company (Winston)

Number of Employees: 2

Vignette

Me and Company is a stained glass studio, including retail sales of stained glass supplies and space for classes and workshops.

All scrap glass generated in the studio is saved for use in smaller projects or donated to the art teacher at Douglas High School for student projects.

Broken window glass is accepted from the public for use in teaching students how to cut glass.

Recovering lead from leaded stained glass projects and waste solder is a skill taught to classes.

Polystyrene packing peanuts, office paper, and paper towels used to clean glass pieces are reused.

Work tables are made from scrap lumber or old kitchen cabinets.

Scrap glass bins are old kitchen cabinet drawers.

Cardboard, yard waste, and beverage containers are also recycled.

Case Study

None

Business: North Plains Elementary School (North Plains)

Number of Employees: unknown

Vignette

North Plains Elementary School implemented a "food choice" program in the school cafeteria. Previously, all hot-lunch eaters were given a tray with the same food. The school made four significant changes:

Provided two or three entrees to choose from each day.

Introduced child-size "self service bars" stocked with uncooked fruits and vegetables and bread products.

Allowed students to accept or decline other hot foods (cooked vegetables).

Observed foods thrown out and revised ordering and production amounts.

Average participation in the meal program increased from 61-73% while the average cost of food per meal dropped from $0.85 to $0.71. Food discarded per tray dropped 47%, and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables increased significantly.

A simplified version of this food choice program was also implemented at Charles F. Tigard and Metzger Elementary Schools in the Tigard-Tualatin School District.

Case Study

Call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland)

Number of Employees: unknown

Vignette

Replaced two water heaters with higher efficiency models.

Reduced thermostat settings for both water and space heating systems.

Installed energy-efficient lights and controls.

FINANCIAL SAVINGS: The Oregon Shakespeare Festival expects to save around $5,000/year as a result of these three changes.

Case Study

Call Oregon Office of Energy, 1-800-221-8035

Business: Sagewood School (Bend)

Number of Employees: 8

Vignette

Informed parents of how to pack a "waste wise" lunch for kids; switched from paper towels to cloth towels for staff; and started a mixed paper recycling bin. The school was able to reduce the size of their garbage can from 60 gallons to 33 gallons.

Reformatted reimbursement forms to use half as much paper.

Began double-siding the school newsletter.

Turned down hot water temperature from 130^o to 120^o Fahrenheit. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $23/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 460 kWh/year.

Case Study

None

Business: Tualatin High School (Tualatin)

Number of Employees: ~100

Vignette

Encourage teachers and students to copy, print, and write on both sides of the page.

Eliminated print overruns of the school newspaper. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $1,260/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 260 pounds/year.

Use a posting policy to discourage excess posters; install more bulletin boards, reduce number of posters. This reduces high custodial costs repainting damaged walls.

Classroom garbage can liners are no longer changed every night unless obviously soiled. Lunchroom garbage can liners are only pulled between lunches if more than half full.

Replaced paper food trays for a la carte items with wax tissue pickups. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $458/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 320 pounds/year.

A mulching mower is used everywhere except the football field and baseball diamond. This saves mowing time, hauling expenses, and garbage bags. It also returns nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil, reducing lawn fertilizer needs. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $10,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 37,800 pounds/year.

Purchase cleaning solutions in concentrate. A dispenser unit is used to mix the concentrates with water at the correct ratio. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $300/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 350 pounds/year.

Purchase remanufactured laser printer cartridges rather than new cartridges. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $1,200/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 72 pounds/year.

Built in 1991, the school features glazed and double-paned windows, electronic ballasts, advanced fluorescent lights, and computer controlled heating and cooling. As a result of these design features, Tualatin High School uses 36% less energy per square foot of building space than the district’s other high school. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: approximately $35,000/year.

Case Study

Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: Western View Middle School (Corvallis)

Number of Employees: 55

Vignette

The Student Leadership Class designed and delivered educational messages to teachers and other students on the importance of using both sides of paper, conserving energy, and recycling. Electricity use dropped 7% compared to the same period one year earlier.

The school reduced the size of the school newsletter by shrinking advertisements from full pages to half- and quarter-pages, replacing registration forms with short articles (with phone numbers), and reformatting articles and announcements to use space more efficiently. The amount of paper used in the newsletters dropped 17%. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $155/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 70 pounds/year (about 14 reams).

Each teacher is given a photocopying budget at the start of the year. Teachers who don’t use all of their allotment are allowed to spend the difference on other improvements. One team of teachers saved enough to buy an extra computer for use by students.

As 40-watt fluorescent lamps burn out, they are replaced with high efficiency 34-watt lamps. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $1,289/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 32,000 kWh/year.

Case Study

Case study exists.