NERC in the News
Providence School Department Recognized
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Providence Journal; Providence, Rhode Island; May 29, 2011
The Providence School Department has been awarded gold recognition from the State Electronics Challenge — a national environmental stewardship program administered by the Northeast Recycling Council Inc. — for its accomplishments in 2010 in decreasing the environmental footprint of its computer equipment. This is the second consecutive year that the district has achieved this distinction.
The city’s schools are estimated to have saved enough energy to power almost 1,700 Rhode Island households per year, avoided greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 2,500 cars from the road, and avoided creating 32,000 pounds of hazardous waste, as well as avoiding the generation of trash equivalent to the amount created by 51 Providence households.
Among the innovative steps that Providence took to achieve these results were to ensure that 100 percent of its computers’ and monitors’ power-saving features were turned on — and kept on. The district has also promoted the use of online file sharing rather than printing, and ensuring that printers and copiers use double-sided printing.
Providence schools recycled 29 tons of computer equipment.
