Summer 2009

Lipscomb University received the 2009 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Green Schools - Higher Education. (cont'd from Green Lipscomb) This curriculum and commitment is deployed through a formal Institute for Sustainable Practice led by Executive Director Dodd Galbreath. The Institute is exclusively organized to advance the practice of sustainability through education, research, training and service to the community and the world. Nineteen graduate students have enrolled in Tennessee's first academic program in sustainability, and undergraduate students are now enrolling in the new sustainability studies. Lipscomb is one of only 66 schools offering environmental and sustainability degrees in the country, and it is the only one in Tennessee. Lipscomb is also modeling the way it creates a green campus between Belmont Boulevard and Granny White Pike. The University has added $21 million in new green construction since 2008. This includes three seperate geothermal systems that have decreased energy expenses by more than 50 percent. One system even paid for itself in 16 months. Other sustainable practices in new construction at Lipscomb University include:

• Using high performance faucets, toilets and sinks
• Using energy efficient lighting
• Using building materials with recycled content
• Purchasing materials from vendors less than 500 miles away
• Landscaping with native plants

(Taken from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Time and Trails newsletter, Volume 6, No. 4, June 2009 Special Issue. http://tennessee.gov/environment/awards/09awds/2009_Governors_Awards_Special_Issue.pdf)

David Lipscomb Elementary School Received the 2009 Governor's Award for Excellence in Green Schools, K-12
The Governor's Award for Excellence in Green Schools - K-12 went to David Lipscomb Elementary in Nashville. David Lipscomb Elementary School has several outstanding elements in their approach to environmental education. One key element was the creation of a new outdoor classroom for students. The outdoor classroom includes an amphitheater, math patio, a human sundail, weather station, frog pond, birding equipment, rainwater collection system and an area for vegetables, butterflies, and Tennessee native plants. In addition to providing a publicly available recycling receptacle in their parking lot, the school also recycles plastics, aluminum, paper, cardboard, and does its own composting. Since January 2008, 30,000 pounds of mixed recyclables have been collected at Lipscomb and kept out of the landfill. Due to its many accomplishments, David Lipscomb Elementary School has achieved Performer Level in the Tennessee Pollution Prevention Program. It's the first K-4 school in Tennessee to attain highets-leverl Performer status. (Taken from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservations's Times and Trails newsletter, Volume 6, No. 4, June 2009 Special Issue. http://tennessee.gov/environment/awards/09awds/2009_Governors_Awards_Special_Issue.pdf)

Spring 2009

• An energy audit of the campus
• Continual recycling at the school and bins open to the public
• Hydroponic gardening
• Intentional efforts to use less paper
• Sales of custom re-usable grocery bags to families
• Re-usable plates and glasses now used in cafeteria
• A Newspaper collection where more than 7,500 pounds of newspaper was collected and then sold to purchase 100 tree seedlings to replace trees being clear cut in Mexico