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Projects

The College has many projects with green implications underway. Not all projects are delineated here.

 

• Recycling: The College has pursued responsible recycling for a long time. To learn more, please click here. For more general information on recycling, please visit the Indiana Recycling Coalition home page (http://www.indianarecycling.org).
• Scrape Your Plate: The Office of Volunteer Services (OVS) has recently kicked off a new program on campus that involves students, Chartwells and the community in a cycle of “green” actions that are designed to minimize food waste. “Project Clean Plate” consists of asking those who eat in Haist Commons to simply scrape the food left on their plates into specially marked bins before depositing their tray and dishes onto the racks for cleaning. The scrapings taken from the bins will be donated to local farmers who will use the discarded food to feed livestock (pigs & goats).
  
  The volume of food waste collected will be measured, and as food waste declines Chartwells will contribute the cost savings to OVS, who will use the money to support food banks, soup kitchens and others in need. Hopefully, diners at the Commons will also become more aware and ultimately minimize the amount of food they waste when they take food they don’t eat.
• Green Cleaning: The College has transformed its cleaning products to account for their impact on the environment. To view information on these changes, please clicking here.
• A New Energy Infrastructure: Installing a new energy infrastructure will reduce Manchester’s carbon footprint in a big way. The College is seeking funds to replace two central boilers with smaller boilers in individual buildings. It also wants to replace the chiller and add a leading-edge monitoring system that will ensure energy is used only where and when it’s needed. The current chiller and boilers are more than 30 years old. Once installed, the new system is expected to increase efficiency by at least 30 percent. Consuming less energy will save money and help Manchester contain costs for students.
• Middle Eel River Watershed Initiative: This is a four-year, $1 million grant through the 319 nonpoint source pollution program of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. It is a multi agency effort, led by MC, to write a watershed management plan for the watershed, monitor stream water quality and remediate high priority nonpoint source pollution in the watershed).

• Redside Dace Recovery Grant: This is a four-year grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to design a regional recovery plan for this state endangered minnow species.
• Participation in Earth Day ceremonies in Indianapolis. To learn more about Earth Day in Indiana, please visit the Earth Day Indiana site at http://www.earthdayindiana.org/.
• Collaboration of Peace Week and Earth Day – MC Campus activities.
• Construction of new wetland on our Koinonia property this past fall.
• Water quality study of Pony Creek.

 

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