Sustainability

Grounds' turf program emphasizes organic and sustainable practices whenever possible.

Campus is sectioned into four separate zones.

• Fine Turf
  • Fine turf is categorized as high profile areas that receive intense maintenance. This includes but is not limited to "Center Campus" which includes the commencement area and the campus center that houses the admissions office.
  • All fine turf is aerified at least once per year, and all receives organic fertilizer 4 times per year. All fine turf is overseeded annually.
  • Broad leaf weeds are monitored and sprayed only when needed.
  • The commencement area has in ground irrigation and is monitored closely for fungal diseases.
• Athletic Turf
  • Athletic turf is broken down into two separate entities, game fields and practice fields. Of the ten athletic fields, three game fields are intensely maintained.
  • All 10 fields are aerified at least once annually and all receive organic fertilizer 4 times per year. All fields are overseeded annually.
  • Intensely maintained fields may receive a second aerification application.
  • Intensely maintained fields are monitored closely and fungicides are applied only when necessary. Practice fields and secondary fields do not receive fungicides.
  • Intensely maintained fields are monitored for broad leaf weeds and pesticides are applied only when needed. Practice fields and secondary fields rarely receive broadleaf herbicides. Broadleaf weeds are only spot sprayed not boom sprayed.
• Secondary Turf areas
  • Secondary turf is all mown areas that are not part of center campus. Secondary turf comprises 60% of all mown turf.
  • Secondary turf receives organic fertilizer 3-4 times per year. Usually is aerified only in cases of extreme compaction.
  • Fungicides are never used in secondary turf areas. Broadleaf herbicides are only used in large breakouts.
• Meadows
  • Meadows are brush hogged once per year.

The arboretum uses a color coded zone system splits the campus into high and low maintenance areas.

• Red Zone - Includes but is not limited to center campus and high profile areas. Weeds are kept to a minimum in these areas.
• Blue Zone - Secondary areas outside the red zone. Not as highly maintained.
• Yellow Zone - Outside areas that may only be weeded several times per year.

Arboretum employs student workers that hand weed many of the campus beds. Glysophate is only used when absolutely necessary. Trees are monitored by a contracted arborist who inspects and treats for pest specific problems. The arboretum follows ANSI A300 Best Management Practices.

The arboretum's native plant program policy incorporates natives on three levels. Native to: 1) SE Pennsylvania, 2) East Coast and 3) North America. Exotic plants are used to maintain plant diversity for history and study.

Composting of Grounds and Arboretum waste is as follows:

• Grass clippings are not collected, used as a source of nitrogen.
• All leaves are collected and composted and used in the campus community gardens.
• All woody tree and brush clippings are chipped and recycled into mulch.
• Tree removals are chipped and recycled as mulch except larger logs. These are shipped to plywood plants or split for firewood.

Haverford College Dining Services is committed to providing the most environmentally friendly dining program possible and one that supports the Haverford Community.

Dining Services Sustainability

Haverford is committed to sustainable disposal of as much of its food waste as possible. As of August 2019, College uses an aerobic digester to process pre and post-consumer food waste from the Dining Center, as well as pre-consumer food waste from the COOP.

Want to make your office a little greener? Not quite sure how to go about it? The Committee for Environmental Responsibility (CER) has put together a green office program that'll guide your department in a sustainable direction. *

How it Works

1. Download the Green Squirrel Checklist
2. Decide if you want to go for the Silver, Gold or Green Squirrel.
3. Fill out the checklist for the corresponding category.
4. Email the following information and your completed checklist to Claudia Kent at ckent [at] haverford.edu (subject: Green%20Office%20Program)
   Office or Department Name
   Number of People in the office/Department
   Percentage of "Buy In" **
   Name of Department Green Representative
   Representative's Email

Offices must complete every action on the checklist. E.g. If going for "Gold Squirrel," all actions must be completed in the silver as well as the gold category.

Students and new employees should be oriented to expectations of submitted document.

* The Green Office Program provides guidance to offices wanting to improve their environment. It also provides insight to CER on green practices on campus.

** Seventy five percent of the office/department needs to "buy in" to be eligible for a green office award. This includes faculty, staff and current student workers.

The Housekeeping Division is responsible for the cleaning of all administrative, academic and athletic buildings.

The housekeeping staff also maintains common areas, i.e., stairways, hallways, and restrooms, bathroom facilities of the dormitories, and the entryways of faculty apartment buildings.

• Cleaning Products: Currently 4 of the 5 cleaning products used have earned the Green Seal Standard for Industrial and Institutional Cleaners.
• Paper Products: Toilet paper and paper towels are made from recycled materials.
• Trash Bags: All trash bags used in outdoor receptacles, dorms and some academic buildings are made from recycled materials.
• Housekeeping is in compliance with recommendations for purchasing dorm furniture.

Many devices like computers, televisions, microwaves, copiers, and printers use standby power, even when off. Most chargers continue to pull small amounts of energy, even when not plugged in. This 'vampire' or 'phantom' energy accounts for 5-10% of the total electricity in homes and accounts for about 1% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. If you're interested in more information or would like to better understand the impact of this in your life, devices like the 'Kill A Watt' can measure this draw.

We encourage all community members to unplug their devices—or to switch off surge protectors that connect to those devices—whenever possible. Over lengthy breaks, vacations, or times when a device is not in use, all equipment should be unplugged so as to avoid unnecessary energy use, and to protect the device from any unanticipated power surges.

Certain items cannot be recycled in the standard commingled recycling stream, but can be disposed of by other means. On-campus avenues for responsible disposal include:

• Batteries: Any type of battery may be disposed in one of the battery disposal bins, found in the Dining Center Lobby, VCAM Makerspace, Facilities Management, and the ground floor of the Campus Center. 
• Cork: Through our partnership with ReCORK, the College collects cork in the Dining Center Lobby
• Fluorescent lightbulbs: CFLs (compact fluorescent lightbulbs) and fluorescent tubes may be dropped off for safe disposal at the electrical shop at Facilities Management.
• Flexible Plastic Packaging (FPP): Through a partnership with Trex, certain plastic films and packaging can be disposed of in the Dining Center Lobby

This Sustainable Purchasing Policy, authored by the Council for Sustainability and Social Responsibility, is designed to reduce Haverford’s environmental impact by advocating for purchasing decisions that align with our commitment to sustainability.

Download the Policy

Haverford College is actively engaged in efforts to conserve and manage water on both systems-wide and local levels.

Below are some of Haverford's water saving initiatives and storm water mitigation projects.

• All shower heads and faucets have been switched to low flow.
• Most toilets on campus use 1.6 gallons per flush.

Haverford College also has implemented several projects to help mitigate storm water:

• Stokes Hall Green Roof- 5,700 square foot extensive green roof on academic building.
• Meadows-Haverford has recently converted seven acres of mown turf into meadow.
• Haverford's main parking lot consists of 170 porous paving parking spots.
• Stone Swales to catch and slow down storm water.