Chancellor Carol Folt had several announcements Monday afternoon touting UNC’s efforts to curb the impact of the university’s operations on the environment.

Those announcements included that UNC was now water neutral – meaning that the university does not use more water than what falls on university grounds.

“We’ve had a real focus here to reclaim and capture our water for non-potable uses,” Folt said. “That, of course, saves money – we don’t have to buy it. It also saves our waterways; it saves downstream environmental damage. And it also reduces the amount of storm runoff that carries pollutants and also destroys landscapes.”

Water neutrality was one of the three zeros in the environmental initiative. The other two are zero waste to landfills and net zero greenhouse gases.

Folt said UNC was able to make progress toward water neutrality through efforts with local organizations, including Orange Water and Sewer Authority.

“That’s a real tribute to our area,” Folt said. “And, of course, OWASA is a big partner for the things that we do here. I think it’s another example of how a university does not exist in a vacuum; it exists embedded in these amazing partnerships with people locally and across the state.”

UNC chief sustainability officer and associate vice chancellor for campus enterprises Brad Ives said that UNC was working to find innovative ways to work toward the initiative’s other two goals, which includes finding better ways to dispose of the university’s waste.

“We’re sending some of it away to be composted now,” Ives said. “But can we do more of that? Could we take that waste and actually turn it into electricity through an anaerobic digester?

“These are the types of issues that we’re going to be tackling as we figure out how to limit our amount of waste that we’ve got going to landfill.”

On the energy front, Ives also announced that the university would be increasing its use of natural gas, which will allow UNC to cut its use of coal by one-third. A solar farm to be located near Horace Williams Airport has also been approved by the university Board of Trustees for an effort to work toward energy production and storage.

Folt also announced that UNC would be launching a bike share program with 100 bicycles as a starting point for use around the university.

Photo via Blake Hodge

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