Sustainability

lasell water bottle At Lasell University, environmental sustainability means "going green" in every aspect, from our building maintenance and dining options to our involvement with the community.

Lasell is embarking on a course of action that will lead to an 80% reduction in campus carbon emissions by 2050. Our entire Lasell community is working together to ensure a greener environment and future.

What We're Doing

Dining

Elimination of trays in Valentine Dining Hall to reduce food waste
Composting partnership with CERO; since implementation in 2017, Lasell has diverted 203,913 pounds of food waste from landfills and saved 97 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere
Recycling of used cooking oil through Mass Biofuel; proceeds from the sale of the biofuel made from our used cooking oil heat the Pine Street Inn homeless shelter in Boston
See our Dining page for more about our sustainability efforts

Facilities & Sustainability Management

24 refillable water stations across campus, with more to come
Low-flow showers and toilets
Water containment tanks: rainfall drains from some rooftops into underground tanks to reuse for irrigation
Updated irrigation system controls that turn off automatically or slow irrigation flow if sufficient moisture (especially rainfall) is detected
Boiler and burner conversions to 90 percent efficiency for heating and cooling
LED lighting retrofit projects
Energy-efficient windows and doors
Green cleaning products
Energy Star appliances
Partnerships with community initiatives, including the Charles River Watershed Association to remove invasive water chestnuts and improve the river ecosystem by providing volunteers, a portable floating dock, and waste disposal services

Transportation

Hybrid police cruisers: first two in Massachusetts; plus five electric vehicles in our campus fleet
Two-stall EV charging station, with additional stations to come
Daily shuttle service to the Riverside MBTA stop and several off-campus locations. For specific times and locations, check out our Lasell Shuttle Interactive Map.
Bike racks across campus
Discounted MBTA Charlie Cards for students
Work with our vehicle repair vendor, Sullivan Tire, to convert to bio-based motor oil for all Plant Operations vehicles

Waste and Recycling

Single-stream recycling
Lasell Leftovers: At the end of the year, students place items they no longer want in collection bins. Lasell staff and faculty volunteer to sort and box donated items for distribution to non-profit organizations. In 2018, 1,500 pounds of clothing, bedding, non-perishables, and school supplies were donated to Big Brother Big Sister Waltham, Pet Supplies Plus, the Newton Food Pantry, and local elementary schools, respectively.
Office cleanouts and recycling of documents and paper waste
Recycle all spent and older florescent light bulbs and fixtures via our partnership with Viola Lighting Recycling
"Recycle/ trash rooms" located in all residence halls
Multi- use MAX- R trash/ recycling clusters, which are made from recycled plastic
Recycle campus metal
Re-purpose older and slightly worn residence furniture for Third World country use in partnership with The Reuse Network (IRN) Surplus Property Program. In 2018, Lasell donated 273 pieces of surplus furniture totaling 15,1999 pounds to relief efforts in Georgetown, Guyana.