Sustainability Check-Up

Monday: St. Thomas’ green grade below state average

For the second year in a row, St. Thomas received an overall grade of ‘C+’ on the college sustainability report card. Meanwhile, the University of Minnesota, Carleton College and Macalester College each received an ‘A-’. See what’s in the works to help make campus a bit greener.

Monday evening: Recycling a no-go for Naked juice bottles, Starbucks cups

Naked juice bottles and Starbucks coffee cups appear to be recyclable. But the containers should not be tossed into recycling bins in the Twin Cities and that has been causing confusion for many. As recycling coordinator Bob Douglas puts it, the non-recyclable containers create “green-washing” with consumers.

Tuesday: Food services struggles to go local

Exactly how much of St. Thomas’ food is purchased within a 150-mile radius? The total is close to $1 million. But as St. Thomas struggles to connect with truly local farmers, Macalester College works with six area farmers to help bring its overall sustainability grade to an ‘A-’.

Wednesday: Can’t finish caf meal? These pigs will

It’s common for the cafeteria to see nearly 200 gallons of wasted food at the end of each day. In an effort to become more sustainable, the cafeteria puts the wasted food to good use. Scraps from the cafeteria help feed nearly 3,000 pigs at a pig farm just north of Andover in St. Francis.

Thursday: LEED tag for student center, not athletic center

While Macalester College’s Markim Hall leads the green way with its platinum LEED certification, St. Thomas will try to cut emissions without LEED certification with the athletic center but will shoot for some level of LEED recognition in the student center.

Friday: Steamed heat in res halls saves energy, money

As winter rolls in, campus heating units will be at full throttle. Steamed heat keeps residence halls warm this winter and reporter Zach Pagano found out just how the steamed heat process works.