Evaluating Global Warming Burden Research

Evaluating Global Warming Burden Research Essay

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Evaluating Global Warming Burden Research Essay

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RE: Eco-Friendly Paper Towels

The Sustainability Council here at DU has been successful in achieving its goal of implementing environmentally friendly practices around campus in the fight against global climate change. These efforts can be seen all around DU’s campus. In the Residence Halls and Academic Buildings, the Sustainability council is responsible for bottle-filling stations, and all of the recycling and composting bins.

The council seems to be committed to their goal and mission statement, which proposes that “campuses that address the climate challenge by reducing global warming emissions and by integrating sustainability into their curriculum will better serve their students and meet their social mandate to help create a thriving, ethical and civil society.”

As Chair of the Council, you will understand that through the improvement and integration of sustainable practices on campus, the Sustainability Council is benefiting the environment and life at DU. Yet there is one issue that the Sustainability Council has not yet addressed or recognized as contributing to global climate change.

This problem consists of the current paper towel usage in the bathrooms at DU. This paper towel usage contributes to increases in greenhouse gas emissions and the waste output of the university as a whole. Though this may seem like a minimal contribution to the waste in comparison to other products that are transported to landfills, Harvard University’s Rob Gogan estimates that “paper towels account for 20 to 40 percent of waste in an office building or dorm.”

It is important to recognize that not only does paper-towel usage produce a lot of waste, but also it creates a mess for the cleaning staff, especially in the Residence Halls, due to overflow of bins. According to the DU Recycling Proposal, from 2008, DU produces around 120 tons of waste each month, all of which goes to landfills and contributes to greenhouse emissions.

Therefore if DU takes away a maximum of 40 percent of that waste by solving the paper-towel problem, this reduces greenhouse gas emission and benefits the environment. This is a problem, which further inhibits the Council from reaching its goal and upholding its mission statement.

Making a plan for paper towel usage at DU will only help the environment and will add to the Sustainability Council’s reputation in their effort to positively effect global climate change. This project may not be at the top of the Council’s priority list, but as Chair, it is important to realize that making a change to the current system would decrease the waste output from DU and fulfill DU’s reputation as a sustainable school, that values its positive impact on the environment.

Also as the Chair, making this change may affect the Denver community at large, for the reduction of waste from a major university in Denver would in effect reduce the waste production of the larger Denver area.

However it is understandable that the Sustainability Council has not placed its efforts in this a change like this, considering its preoccupation with other major projects that promote sustainability. The Sustainability Council has been doing good work and has dramatically changed how DU practices sustainability.

There have been many improvements to DU’s waste management system and great efforts to reduce energy usage on campus. For instance, Residence Halls have reduced electricity usage by 102,962 kwh. It may seem that solving the paper-towel issue is not as important as some of their other projects to the Council, yet solving this waste problem could have a significant effect on the environment and is also essential to maintaining the Council’s goal.

In the Sustainability Management Plan, the Council states that DU is committed to achieving their goal of a 24 percent carbon reduction by the year 2020. This could be the next big project that could achieve this goal and could lead to more sustainable projects in the future.

Some of the possible solutions to the problem may also create more reasons why the Sustainability Council has not changed the current system. It is worth considering the expense of this change to DU, for the current system of drying in the bathrooms may be the least expensive and easiest method. Recycling paper towels or using dryers may cost much more than regular paper towel rolls.

Paper towels may also be considered to be the most sanitary, in that all the germs are contained in the one paper towel. Therefore it is not worth the effort, money, and loss of sanitation to switch to more eco-friendly methods.

As Chair, efficiency and cost is obviously a very important factor in deciding which system would be implemented, yet also as Chair, it is important to consider the degree of harm these systems have on the environment. Are the monetary savings worth the irreversible harm some of these products have on the Earth’s environment?

When there are products that have considerable effects on the environment, it seems far more valuable to uphold the reputations and remain true to the goals of the Sustainability Council at DU, than to save money and time. Some of the products that are considered to be more expensive and use up more energy, like electric dryers, may actually use less energy than paper towels in the long run.

An electric dryer may cost up to fifteen hundred dollars, which adds up if there are at least 2 per bathroom. Yet energy consumption of the dryer, including the energy use in the manufacturing and the actual drying of hands, is lower than paper towel energy use, according to Environmental Resource Management in their independent study.

While paper towels have a “global warming burden” that is equivalent to a car traveling 6700 km, a drier has a “global warming burden” that is equivalent to 5000 km. This is a slight difference, yet is a slight difference that shows that he drier is more environmentally friendly than the paper towel.

Yet there may be a method of drying that cost efficient and good for the environment. Though using compostable paper towels costs a little more than using regular paper towels, it is something DU would be able to do given their current composting system in the Dining Halls and most other buildings on campus.

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Compostable paper towel rolls in a case of 12 can cost up to 75 dollars, and regular paper towels can cost up to 50 dollars in a case of only 6, with the rolls being a little larger. In comparison to using electric dryers, this system is much closer in cost to the current paper towel system, as well as very good for the environment.

The Sustainability Council would simply need to add a separate trashcan for composting paper towels in each bathroom, perhaps beginning with the Residence Halls and then moving to Academic Buildings.

The Council has made such huge progress in the Dining Halls alone, with their organic food efforts, the recyclable napkins, and the compost and landfill bins, why not now focus on the Resident Halls by changing the waste production of paper towels in the bathrooms.

It is possible to make a dramatic change in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change, which is a fight DU sees as necessary and important, without sacrificing large amounts of money and time.

Evaluating Global Warming Burden Research Essay

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