University Co-op - CoopCares

The University Co-op Cares

At the University Co-op, we "Wear Orange and Think Green"!

Over the past few years, the Co-op has implemented many "Think Green" initiatives within our store operations.

In addition, we work with our vendors on an ongoing basis to stock our stores with enviromentally friendly merchandise.

Let's all work together and "Wear Orange and Think Green"!

University Coop Recycled Statistics:

The Coop has been recycling various materials for a number of years such as packaging materials, office paper, plastic and miscellaneous cardboard. See chart below for information about what the store recycled in 2009.

GreenWeaver Caps & Gowns by Oak Hall:

Beginning in 2010, we are proud to begin selling a new line of eco-friendly caps and gowns. Each cap & gown will be made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. The new GreenWeaver caps & gowns produced by Oak Hall Cap & Gown, are comfortably soft and virtually indistinguishable from traditional polyester gowns. Each gown is made of fabric spun from molten plastic pellets. It takes an average of 23 water bottles to make each gown.

In one year of adopting these gowns, UT graduates will keep nearly 200,000 water bottles out of landfills annually. Production of these gowns also helps reduce C02 emissions by 54.6%, and energy usage by 52.6% by using thermal recycled energy. The cardboard and plastic bags used for transportation and delivery of these gowns are made from recycled materials as well.

Longhorn Merchandise:

We continue to shop the market for Green and Sustainable lines of clothing and merchandise for the Longhorn departments. We are negotiating with several manufacturers to convert all Longhorn basic tee shirts to Fair Trade and Organic cottons over the course of the next 5 years.

Please see our Green Longhorn Gear catalog!

Burt's Bees:

Burt's Bees is an "Earth Friendly, Natural Personal Care Company" which creates natural, Earth-friendly personal care products formulated to help you maximize your well-being and that of the world around you.

To make certain that all their products meet the highest standards, as well as our dedication to ensuring The Greater Good, the products are carefully crafted from time-tested, proven recipes using ingredients that are the best nature has to offer: beeswax, botanical and essential oils, herbs, flowers and minerals. These safe, effective ingredients have withstood the test of time.

TreeHugger Frames :

The TreeHugger frame is used for several of our diploma frames and many of our picture frames. Each frame is guaranteed to be made from 90% recycled and reprocessed materials. A portion of all TreeHugger purchases is donated back to AmericanForests.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to protect, restore, and enhance the natural capital of trees and forests. This unique molding is made by combining scrap waste from the frame manufacturing process with post-consumer recycled material. New England Picture has recycled over 12 tons of scrap molding and 12 tons of post-consumer waste since they began manufacturing TreeHugger frames.

Blued and Social Awareness :

Social Awearness plants a tree for every 4 styles of their Blued line that is purchased. As the Coop has sold over 4400 units with them in the past 12 months, our purchases have made a significant impact on their Re-Green Campaign. This is equivalent to more than 1000 trees.

1,000 trees planted will absorb a significant amount of carbon dioxide each year -- the equivalent of off-setting 2,577 gallons of gasoline annually, or 51,540 vehicle miles traveled per year.

Coop Operations Efforts :

The store has reduced the summer 2008 utility costs more than 40% over the last two years by switching to more efficient compact flourescent lighting.

The store gift box utilizes 100% recycled chipboard, which forms the foundation of the boxes. The white paper overlay on the boxes is manufactured from recycled material with 80 to 100% recycled content.

The store utilizes digital thermostats to control the heating/cooling cycles in all stores.

Store annually recycles 15 tons of cardboard and paper, the equivalent of 1104cf of landfill space. This represents a savings of 56,000 gallons of oil, nearly 1,000,000 gallons of water and 2500 trees.

Shipping boxes average 59% recycled content of which 44% is post- consumer.

Recycle student's unwanted books, over 6 tons this year, enough to save 300 trees.

Store sells 200 tons of used books each year, this saves 10,000 trees every year.

Ink Cartridge Refilling Station :

Each year, about 1.3 billion ink cartridges are sold world-wide. That’s a lot of waste!

Our state of the art ink refilling system provides a convenient, earth-friendly way to recycle your ink cartridges. And at less than half the cost of buying new cartridges, you’ll not only be doing your part to save the earth – you can save some serious cash too.

Don’t sacrifice quality. Our new system allows you to avoid the hassle and mess of a do-it-yourself kit; your cartridges will be professionally refilled while you shop. Our new refilling station will:

Electronically test your cartridge
Completely evacuate old ink
Thoroughly clean the print head
Replenish the ink supply
and perform a print test……all in about 15 minutes. Stop in today and ask us if your cartridges can be refilled, and let us put our ink refilling technology to work for you!

Sustainability Efforts On Campus:
UTakeCharge, Facilities Services and Project Management Construction Services
Sustainability Studies, Environmental Science Institute
Green ’Horns
McCombs Green Team
School of Nursing Green Team
University Services (Copy Centers, Mail, Printing)
UT Office of Sustainability

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