PRESS RELEASES

Contact: Will Toor, (303) 492-8308
October 22, 2003

Update to CU’s ‘Blueprint for a Green Campus’ released and posted on the Web

2002-2003 Update examines last year’s progress toward environmental goals as well as future challenges and opportunities

For Immediate Release

The 2002-2003 update to the Blueprint for a Green Campus: An Environmental Action Plan for the University of Colorado at Boulder, originally issued by the CU Environmental Center in 2000, is now available by accessing the Environmental Center’s website, www.colorado.edu/ecenter and clicking on the “Greening CU” sidebar.

The original Blueprint illustrated a vision of a growing, dynamic campus which steps lightly upon the earth and satisfies additional demands for energy, transportation, and resources through increased efficiency rather than increased consumption.

The original Blueprint set forth the following goals for the CU campus to work toward:

• Creating a climate-friendly campus:
  Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2010
• Growing without increasing traffic:
  Capping car traffic at year 2000 levels
• Creating a safe and healthy campus:
  Reducing hazardous waste
  Reducing our exposure to toxic chemicals and pesticides
• Greening campus consumption and disposal habits:
  Purchasing environmentally-responsible products
  Capping waste going to the landfill at year 2000 levels

The update outlines campus-wide and departmental environmental progress towards these goals over the past year and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, and includes reports from major campus departments including Facilities Management, Housing, UCSU, Environmental Health and Safety and Parking and Transit Services.

The update explains campus progress in achieving these goals, including the start of a pay-for-print system allowing for the use of 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper, the implementation of a new Campus Energy Officer position, the start of a new bus route linking the main and east campuses and the furthering of bike programs on campus.

The update also outlines the new information and statistics from the previous year, including a student survey indicating that 86 percent of students feel that it is either very or somewhat important that CU remain a leader in campus environmental management, and statistics showing a steady increase in the amount of waste diverted.

The update concludes with the future steps the Environmental Center and the campus need to take to ensure the accomplishment of each goal outlined in the original Blueprint.

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