by Mary Beth Marklein

Colleges should clean up their campuses not only because it's the right thing to do environmentally but also because it could save them millions of dollars, says a new report by the National Wildlife Federation.

Cheap bus passes, reusable drinking mugs and toilets that consume only two gallons a flush are among the ways some colleges have gone green, write David Eagon and Julian Keniry, authors of Green Investment, Green Return.

They praise higher education in general for staging "a quiet revolution" to improve the environment , but challenge institutions "not yet in serious pursuit of opportunities" to increase their efforts.

The report highlights 23 projects on 15 campuses, large, small, public and private, that together save $16.8 million a year. Projects saved between $1,000 and $9 million annually.

Among them:

• State University of New York at Buffalo has saved more than $60 million by conserving energy. A $17 million retrofit program cuts energy costs by almost 15%, and along with other energy-conservation projects saves $9 million a year.
• A University of Colorado bus pass program in Boulder eliminated the need for more parking lots. Students pay $19.42 per semester. Annual savings: $1 million.
• Columbia University in New York cut its water bill by about 25% and saved more than 59 million gallons of water by upgrading toilets, shower heads and faucets. Annual savings: $235,000.
• The University of Wisconsin-Madison earns $241,800 a year in sales and revenue from selling surplus office, classroom and laboratory equipment that otherwise would have ended up in a scrap-metal heap or landfill. The university also sells refillable red mugs for hot and cold drinks and saves an average $34.50 for every 1,000 disposable cups it doesn't buy. Annual savings and revenue: $11,400.
• The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign uses reprocessed waste oil on fleet vehicles. Annual savings: $3,500.
• Seattle University landscapers replaced chemical weed killers with dense-growing ground cover such as rock rose. Annual savings: $1,300.
• Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., composts kitchen waste, then uses it to fertilize campus gardens. Projected savings per academic year: $10,000.

The report acknowledges that some projects carry hefty initial price tags, but Reginald Wilson, senior scholar at the America Council on Education, says he hopes that doesn't deter college presidents from investing. "There's a message there (similar to the) message colleges and universities give to their students," he says. "Just as students get out loans, you recoup that investment over the long haul."

©1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission. Originally appeared in USA Today, 03/09/1998.

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