UF will have one of state's first carbon-neutral residence hall laundry operations

August 29, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida is partnering with ASI Campus Laundry Solutions and Neutral Gator to create one of the first carbon-neutral residence hall laundry operations in Florida.

The partnership will offset the entire operation of UF housing’s washers and dryers and continue for the foreseeable future, according to ASI Executive Vice President David Drake.

This is not the first sustainability-related partnership between UF Housing and ASI Campus Laundry Solutions. In 2007 ASI introduced the “Gatorwash” laundry program, with the goal to “Fill the Swamp” by saving 40 million gallons of water — the amount required to fill Ben Hill Griffin Stadium — in eight years. Since the beginning of that program, UF has saved an estimated 20 million gallons of water by replacing older washers with high-efficiency models.

Neutral Gator, an UF-specific initiative of the nonprofit organization Earth Givers Inc., provides carbon offsets through local weatherization and forest restoration projects. To create its locally sourced carbon offsets, Earth Givers organizes volunteer teams to plant indigenous trees in the Gainesville area for carbon sequestration and to perform energy efficient upgrades in Gainesville’s low-income housing. “The whole concept is that a carbon offset is most valuable where it is created,” Executive Director Jacob Cravey said.

ASI, based in Dayton, Ohio, is offsetting an estimated 754,884 kilowatt-hours of electricity and natural gas and 3,744,000 gallons of water for a total of 488 tons of carbon emissions annually through their national corporate offset program Carbon Les.

Anna Prizzia, director of UF’s Office of Sustainability, said, “We welcome this partnership as an important step toward the university’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2025.”

To learn more about Neutral Gator, please visit www.NeutralGator.org.

To learn more about ASI Campus Laundry Solutions, please visit www.asicampuslaundry.com.

More information about the University of Florida’s goal of carbon neutrality and associated climate action plan is located at www.sustainable.ufl.edu/topics/energy-climate-change-at-uf/.