Campus Greenings

Today I walked up to Jazzman's at Rollins to find a new hot pink sign glaring me in the face. It promoted an idea that had come to mind before and hence I thought was long overdue. I mean if I can come up with it then someone else surely should have awhile ago. It said that patrons that buy coffe and provide their own mug would receive $0.15 off the regular price. This is a great strategy to reduce waste from the operation, but when I asked what made them start this they could only say that it was for the same reason that they started using the frequent combo cards (buy 8 get one free). The cards are actually extra paper that ends up in the garbage so I figured that they do these things to make more money, by getting people to come back over and over in the latter case and by saving the cost of cup they would otherwise go through faster. Interestingly it seems the cost of cups is what is really driving this change, since everyone knows coffee (water) is basically free around here and prices don't shift even during severe shortage, such as the one we have now.

Georgia Tech's highlights are certainly focused on water. The first has been around for awhile and is worth noting again. That is, the flushless/waterless urinals in many on the men's bathrooms on campus. The second is a bit newer and more subtle and that is the new faucet heads on all the sinks. Now the water comes out of the sinks more like a watering can than an open hose. I first noticed this strategy last weekend at the cabin when everytime I went to the kitchen sink the water came out in this 'shower' fashion as opposed to the 'cylinder' of H2O to which I have become accustomed. I must say it works. If you want proof you need only try to fill a water bottle. You'll notice that it takes significantly longer to fill the volume. So in the brief seconds you need to get handwashing water you're not losing as much water down the drain. Well done engineers.