Environmental Management Systems

 What is an EMS?

A process to identify and manage our environmental impacts.

An EMS creates procedures and processes to integrate environmental stewardship into daily life at Mount Holyoke College. It is an ongoing process of improving our environmental impact. There are four stages to an EMS:

1. Planning — Identify environmental impacts, establish objectives and benchmarks, set goals.

2. Implementation — Establish responsibilities, training, documentation, and communication.

3. Evaluation — Are targets being met? What can be improved upon?

4. Review — Make modifications to improve performance.

What are Aspects and Impacts?

The key to implementing an EMS is to identify the aspects and impacts of College activities.

Aspects are College operations that affect the environment.

Impacts are changes to the environment resulting from College operations.

Focus Areas

Our EMS efforts are organized around 5 focus areas that are specifically identified in the Mount Holyoke College Plan for 2010.

• Green Building Constuction and Design
• Waste Reduction and Recycling
• Energy Conservation
• Environmentally Sensitive Grounds Practices
• Hazardous Materials Management

Aspects:	Impacts:
Design	Energy, water, and heat use Ease of recycling within building
Construction Materials	Use and release of toxic materials Use of non-renewable or non-sustainably harvested materials
Location	Storm water run-off Impact on open space and wildlife habitat
Furnishings	Use and release of toxic materials Energy use in transport of materials
Construction Activity	Disposal of contruction debris Soil disturbance and contaminated run-off Use and release of hazardous materials

Environmentally Sensitive Grounds Practice

Aspects:	Impacts:
Trail Construction and Maintenance Snow and Ice Removal Pesticide and Fertilizer Application	Impacts of storm water runoff on lake and river water quality
Grounds Maintenance	Air emmissions from power equipment Storm water runoff Stumps sent to landfill Off-site leaf disposal removing beneficial compost material from campus
Parking	Damage to turf Tree stress Storm water runoff from inpervious surfaces
Planting	Irrigation water consumption Storm water runoff of pesticides and fertilizers
Vehicle Operation and Maintenance	Air emissions Storm water runoff of fluid loss and vehicle washing
Manure Production	Pest attractor Storm water runoff
Pets on Campus	Feces contamination, nuisance and storm water runoff

Aspects:	Impacts:
Use/storage of hazardous materials	Release on-site or during use or transport resulting in environmental contamination and community member exposure. Production and release of hazardous materials resulting from manufacture of the material.
Disposal of hazardous/universal waste	Release on-site or during transport or off-site during transport, treatment or disposal resulting in environmental contamination and community exposure.

Energy Conservation

Aspects:	Impacts:
Burning of fossil fuels for central heating	Use of non-renewable resource Emission of carbon dioxides, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, particulates Potential for fuel release
Electricity use Lighting Computers	Emissions at electrical generation facilities
Vehicle use Lighting Computers	Fuel use Emission of carbon dioxides, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, particulates