Global corporations catch green fever

Reduction of environmental footprint by big business is goal of sustainability movement

By: Lauren Sigel

Posted: 2/27/08

Nike is setting a high bar for sustainable businesses and organizations across the country.

On Feb. 26, the director of innovation and waste matters for Nike's Considered team, Jim Goddard, visited OSU and gave a lecture on how Nike is reducing its environmental footprint and incorporating sustainability into its products.

Goddard came in place of Lorri Vogel, the general manager of Considered products for Nike who was the originally scheduled speaker. Vogel was unable to attend due to the flu.

Goddard is part of Nike's Considered team, comprising a dozen staff members with an average of 11 years of Nike experience, mostly in product sustainability. The group's mission is to combine innovation and sustainability in Nike products without sacrificing performance and aesthetics.

"As a company, Nike looks at maintaining sustainability through energy, waste, toxics and water," Goddard said. "Our operations and facilities set leadership goals around sustainability."

For OSU the sustainability movement is a familiar subject. With programs such as the Student Sustainability Initiative in place at OSU and the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition working with over 80 businesses and organizations throughout the city, the green movement was locally underway long before environmental ethics became a global trend.

"OSU has one of the top recycling programs in the U.S. as far as universities go," said Peter Lepre, OSU's recycling program manager. "We pretty much recycle anything that can be recycled, including tapes and CDs.

"During the school year, we fill a 30-yard container with bottles and cans once a week. Every 2.5 weeks, we fill a 53-foot truck with 3,000 to 3,500 pounds of office paper."

Like Nike, the SSI works to promote sustainable ethics through energy, waste and toxics.

"There are a few key ways in which OSU is working to conserve energy. One of the more visible ways is the occupancy sensors we're putting in Milam and Ballard halls," said Brandon Trelstad, OSU campus sustainability coordinator.

"These occupancy sensors are put into common areas where no individual takes ownership over the space, so lights are sometimes left on when unneeded, like at night and on weekends."

"The biggest project right now for improving energy efficiency on campus is the new Energy Center. It will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by about 38 percent by making some of our electricity on campus," Trelstad said.

Toxic waste is mostly produced by research and academic activity.

"The toxic waste produced on campus is handled through Environmental Health and Safety - the department that houses the Sustainability Office," Trelsad said. "We are somewhat reliant on lab workers and other in-campus departments to handle hazardous materials during use. When that becomes waste, they contact EHS to have it picked up and taken to a central storage facility on campus, packaged properly,and then taken for offsite disposal by a private contractor."

As for non-toxic waste, the SSI has a rather innovative way of getting rid of it.

The SSI composts West Dining Hall food and campus landscaping waste using a composting bin called the Earth Tub.

They also compost used coffee grounds from Raintree Coffee Co. in McNary Dining Hall using a worm bin called the Worm Wigwam.

"An Earth Tub can hold up to 3,200 pounds of waste when it is full. The initial purchase of an Earth Tub is high, but running and maintaining it does not cost any money other than the cost of electricity and labor," said Andrea Norris, SSI coordinator.

"We also have a three-bin composting system and a vermiculture system called a Worm Wigwam. The Worm Wigwam breaks down organic waste using worms, which digest the organics and produce excellent compost."

The CSC, formed in Jan. 2007, is a network of organizations and Corvallis residents who are working together to accelerate the creation of a sustainable community.

Like Nike, its mission is to reduce the community's contribution to toxic chemicals, protect natural ecosystems and use renewable resources whenever possible.

Allied Waste, a member of the CSC, is the main movement behind recycling the waste of Corvallis.

According to its website, the company is constantly seeking new technologies and services that will not only preserve the environment, but provide more efficient and economical collection, recycling and disposal of waste matters.

Even their recycling bins are made from 20 percent recycled plastic, and within the next several years they will be made from 80 percent recycled material.

Even though Corvallis and OSU are constantly working on new technology and looking for new ways to practice sustainability, both entities must be responsible for their products from beginning to end.

"The producer of the product has to be responsible for it for its entire life cycle," Goddard said. "They have to consider the choices they make when making products, and also consider the impact the products make not only when being made, but when they are done being used as well."

Lauren Sigel, staff writer

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