Goals & Results
Track the Monterey Institute's progress in creating a sustainable campus.
As part of its commitment to students, faculty, and the general public, the Monterey Institute publishes summary statistics of its sustainability efforts. Here you can find information on the Monterey Institute's greenhouse gas and waste audits. Going beyond simple numbers, these statistics serve as a tracking device for you, the student. Every year we will put forward goals to further reduce our GHG emissions and non-recyclable waste that can be monitored here.
Greenhouse Gas Audit
Every year, the Monterey Institute conducts a greenhouse gas (GHG) audit of Institute facilities and Institute-related activities. Conducting annual GHG audits allows the Institute to monitor progress in reducing emissions and determine a quantity of offsets necessary for carbon neutrality.
Year-by-Year CO2e Emissions Comparison
| Travel | Electricity | Natural Gas | Landfill | Mobile | Total | |
| 06-07 | 2865 | 304 | 212 | 15 | 2 | 3398 |
| 07-08 | 2725 | 273 | 218 | 44 | 2 | 3262 |
| 08-09 | 1945 | 294 | 241 | 54 | 7 | 2541 |
| 09-10 | 1433 | 281 | 235 | 47 | 2 |
1998 |
| 10-11 | 1654 | 257 | 213 | 50 | 1 |
2175 |
From 2008- 2010, the Monterey Institute saw a considerable reductions in its emissions from travel. The FY 2010-11 audit, however, showed an increase in travel emissions. Reducing travel emissions, the largest component of the campus footprint, represents a major challenge that is currently being addressed by the Monterey Institute Sustainability Council.
In the 2010 fall semester, the Monterey Institute conducted a student and employee commute survey. By expanding the scope of the GHG audit to include commute, we can provide a more accurate account of our footprint. With this new information included, we can see that commute accounts for 9% of the Institute's total emissions.
Emissions by Source 2010-2011
The FY 2010-11 audit shows 24.5 tons of emissions reductions in electricity and 22 tons of reductions in natural gas emissions compared to the 2009-2010 audit. Additional upgrades and improvements will result in further decreases in FY 2011-2012. Details can be found in the "Carbon Neutrality" section of our "Current Initiatives".
Campus Waste
The Monterey Institute is committed to minimizing waste and recycling whenever possible. The Sustainability Council continuously monitors, documents, and tracks the progress of weekly campus waste output. Our 2010-2011 waste metrics were as follows:
- Average Weekly Waste: 2,776 lbs.
- Average Waste Recycled Weekly: 847
- Average % Waste Recycled Weekly: 31%
Future Plans and Goals
On July 1, 2010, the Monterey Institute completed its merger with Middlebury to officially become a "Graduate School of Middlebury College"; therefore, we feel it is only appropriate to at least match our partnered university in their recycling efforts. With this in mind, we are proud to announce that the Monterey Institute has set a goal of recycling at least 40% of its waste.
Battery recycling
Since February 2008, the Monterey Institute has been collecting used batteries in special recycling bins throughout campus. To date, the Institute has recycled 1,406 pounds of batteries!
Printing
As a result of better printing practices from our faculty and staff, the Monterey Institute reduced its printing footprint from the 2009 to 2010 school year. This conservation effort saved:
- Over 33 trees from reduced paper usage
- $6,787.23 from paper purchasing
- 9,698,820 liters or 2,521,693 gallons of water needed to produce paper
- Roughly 145 metrics tons of carbon dioxide
