Achieving a "Greener" IOD

With all of the recent talk of greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprints, and global climate change, the IOD is sitting up and taking notice of the need to be more "green" at work.

At the quarterly All-IOD meeting in March 2008, the IOD was fortunate to hear about what UNH is doing to be more green in day-to-day life and in the long term. Tom Kelly, Ph.D., director of UNH's Office of Sustainability, and Denise Blaha, co-director of the New Hampshire Carbon Challenge™, gave an enlightening presentation on the complete definition of sustainability and cutting carbon dioxide emissions to reduce energy consumption.

Following the March meeting, the IOD's Strategic Team has committed to promoting sustainability within the IOD. To this end, the IOD has drafted several sustainability goals, including:

• Reducing the carbon output of IOD employees by 200,000 pounds per year, or approximately 5,000 pounds per person
• Reducing utility usage at IOD offices by 10% per year
• Reducing waste at all IOD offices by 10% per year, and
• Reducing the number of trips taken by IOD employees between the IOD's Concord and Durham offices by 10% per year.

IOD staff members were also encouraged to take the New Hampshire Carbon Challenge™ in an effort to more accurately measure individual commitment to carbon emissions reduction. To date, a few IOD staff members have taken up the Challenge, collectively saving over 15,000 pounds of carbon and over $2,000 in the coming year. Other employees are swapping out incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent ones, using ceramic dishes and cups in place of paper plates and plastic cups, and printing documents double-sided to conserve paper.

For more information and ideas on how you can be more "green," visit www.sustainableunh.unh.edu.