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New “green” practices on campus help fuel efforts to conserve energy and reduce waste.

The University of South Florida has earned its best grade yet in its efforts to promote a sustainable environment on campus and embrace new “green” practices throughout the campus community, rating a “B+” for its efforts in the College Sustainability Report Card.

The report card is the only independent evaluation of campus and endowment sustainability activities at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The report card is a project of The Sustainable Endowments Institute, which is a Cambridge-based nonprofit organization engaged in research and education to advance sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices.

With this year’s report card, USF moves into the upper half of colleges and universities that have sought to reduce their campuses’ impact on the environment and sought to incorporate new practices to conserve energy and reduce waste into daily campus life.

View the report card here.

“We are very pleased to see the outcome of the Sustainability Report Card this year, which recognizes USF for its efforts toward creating a cleaner, greener campus environment. Since President Genshaft signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, sustainability has taken off at USF with rocket speed,” said Christian Wells, director of USF’s Office of Sustainability.

“Since the signing, we have incorporated sustainability into the university’s strategic plan, convened a sustainability steering committee to oversee our transition to becoming a more resilient university, established an Office of Sustainability, implemented a university-wide policy on institutional sustainability and, most recently, launched the world’s first School of Global Sustainability. Most of these initiatives got off the ground in just the past 365 days.  I can’t wait to see what next year’s report card will hold for USF.”

Of the nine categories on which USF was rated, the university earned an “A” on six measures: administration, green building, student involvement, transportation, endowment transparency and investment priorities.

USF was lauded for such efforts as including in the campus master plan policies that support green building initiatives, installing water metering technology, lighting sensors, and LED lighting in all buildings, as well as low-flow showerheads and dual-flush toilets in some buildings. The Patel Center for Global Solutions will open USF’s first fully designed “green” building at the end of the year.

Food and recycling efforts – which rates practices on buying locally-grown and fair trade foods, and reducing paper waste in campus dining centers – earned USF a “B” as did the university’s climate change and energy initiatives.

USF has conducted a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and is working to reduce emissions with the aid of carbon offsets. To decrease energy use, heat recovery systems, lighting systems, and energy-efficient lighting fixtures have been installed.

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The Tampa Independent Business Alliance (TIBA) invites everyone to “unchain” by doing all shopping, dining out, and other business only with locally-owned independents, on Saturday, November 20, adding millions of dollars to the local economy while joining in the 7^th annual observance of America Unchained!

The Saturday before Thanksgiving is intentionally chosen to remind everyone of the impact of their spending choices, before the onslaught of slick advertising from national chains on Black Friday. “While every dollar spent locally helps all year long, the holidays are a perfect time to reflect on the combined impact of our small everyday acts. America Unchained reminds us that every time we select the local alternative, we have a tangible effect on our community’s quality of life. Our dollars count more when we support those who have invested here, have roots here, and keep their proceeds and profits circulating here,” says Josh Dohring, TIBA President and Vice President of the Dohring Group.

America Unchained focuses on the results of numerous studies confirming that local retailers return more economic value to the community than chain retailers, as locally owned independents generate over 3.5 times as much local economic activity as national chains. Applying the findings to 2009 gross sales figures from the Florida Department of Revenue, there could be more than $40 million injected into the Hillsborough County economy, and over $23 million in Pinellas County, if all such spending was with locally owned businesses and none with national chains for just one average November day.

“The number of jobs that over $60 million dollars could keep or create in the bay area is staggering. Whether looking at the amount of local economic activity per square foot, the percentage given to local causes, or any other measure, the consistent results of repeated studies cannot be ignored, and even a small shift of spending from big boxes to locals has significant impact,” says Carla Jimenez, TIBA Board member and co-owner of Inkwood Books.

The USF Bull Market on Wednesday, November 17, and the Tampa Downtown Market on Friday, November 19, have both adopted the theme of America Unchained, with TIBA members’ tables added to the usual mix of produce, food items, plants, and arts and crafts. TIBA will be there to sign up new business members and FOTIBAs (Friends of TIBA) and spread the word about spending locally during the holidays. Beginning at 5:00 Friday afternoon at The Spain Restaurant, downtown TIBA businesses including Old Tampa Book Company, Spain, Bamboozle Cafe, The Dohring Group, Jerk Hut,Old Tampa Book Company, Bamboozle Café and others kick off the weekend with a block party mixer, free for TIBA and FOTIBA members, $5 for everyone else. “It’s a natural fit for TIBA to spread the word about America Unchained at markets featuring local produce and unique local entrepreneurs. And our mixer allows everyone to enjoy a party while visiting these downtown gems and keeping it local,” says Jessica Raia-Long, TIBA Vice President.

Other TIBA member businesses throughout the community will offer special promotions to celebrate America Unchained, making it a great time for a head start on holiday shopping. (The list of special offers will be available online at www.tibatampa.org as the date approaches.) “TIBA members include fantastic shops for clothing, jewelry, gifts, music and books – and of course bicycles – plus the top restaurants and salons. For that personal touch in human-scaled surroundings, the one-of-a-kind indies are the best choice, and helping the local economy is an added bonus,” says Kelli Cyr, TIBA Board member and owner of City Bike Tampa.

America Unchained will be observed by over 100 participating business alliances, main street coalitions, national trade associations representing booksellers, music stores, toy retailers and restaurants, as well as numerous individual businesses, in the U.S. and Canada. As one of over 70 affiliates of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), TIBA is part of the international movement to reverse the trend of remote-controlled chains displacing locally owned businesses.