Dickinson laundry quota

Dickinson College Laundry and Printing Quotas

+UNDER CONSTRUCTION+

In the fall of 2009, Dickinson College implemented both a printing and a laundry quota. Student reactions to these changes have varied. This Wiki page will explore the different reasonings for employing for both quotas and explore the social, environmental and economic impacts of them implementation. We hope this page will serve as a tool to both the Dickinson College administration and students. Information gathered will be used to critique the existing quota systems and to formulate suggestions for potential future changes.

History of Quotas and Sustainability at Dickinson College

• • UNDER CONSTRUCTION**

The laundry and printing quotas at Dickinson College are two policies which combine financial and environmental sustainability. Both quotas were implemented at the same time, but the discussions which culminated in these decisions are different. Therefore, it is important to provide their concise history in order to better understand the current policies, as well as re-evaluate them in order to make them effective and efficient. Such policies call for an appropriate amount of education about the decision and its implications to be available to students. The laundry quota was put in place for the fall 2009 semester.

What our Overlap Institutions are Doing

Dickinson College's overlap institutions are also characterized as small liberal arts colleges, that also have small class sizes and specialized global education programs. An overlap institution is a college that has similar characteristics to others, such as similar programs. Overlap institutions are ranked in terms of the schools that prospective students apply to in addition to that particular institution. Below are Dickinson College's Top 10 Overlap Institutions.

1. Franklin & Marshall College 2. Kenyon College 3. Gettysburg College 4. Hamilton College 5. Bucknell University 6. Colgate University 7. George Washington University 8. Colby College 9. Tufts University 10.William & Mary College

Each overlap institution was contacted and asked to provide information about their particular quota system. The following schools do not have a quota system in place for laundry or printing (therefore, printing and laundry is technically free and unlimited): Kenyon College, Gettysburg College, Colgate University and William & Mary College. Franklin & Marshall College does not have a limit to laundry use, but they charge students for all printing. Franklin & Marshall had a 200 page printing quota in place prior to charging students for printing. Hamilton College does not have a printing quota, but all students pay for their laundry. Bucknell University does not have a laundry quota, but there is a 500 page printing quota. Both George Washington University and Tufts University make students pay for all laundry and printing. Colby College also has their students pay for laundry, but there is not limit for black and white printing. Colby currently has a $10.00 printing quota for color printing.

Laundry Quotas

Environmental Considerations

By implementing laundry quotas, Dickinson College may noticeably decrease college wide consumption of both water and electricity as well as decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

Each washer at Dickinson College uses 15 gallons of water per wash cycle and 0.56 kWh of electricity. During the 2009 fiscal year, before the laundry quotas were imposed, Dickinson students ran 98,957 loads of laundry. This averages about 20 loads of wash per students per semester (98,536 loads / 2500 students / 2 semesters).

The college has 38 electric dryers on campus, and 54 driers that run primarily on natural gas. Electric dryers us 4 kWh of electricity per 50 minute load. The natural gas dryer use 0.2 kWh of electricity and 14 cubic feet of natural gas per 50 minute load. During the 2009 fiscal year, Dickinson students ran 91,458 loads of laundry through dryers. This averages about 18 dryer loads per student per semester (90,055 loads/ 2500 students/ 2 semesters).

With the imposed quota, students are allowed 34 cycles of laundry -- 17 wash & 17 dry or any combination of the two. Because the quotas were just imposed, we do not have any conclusive evidence, however, based on predictions, if each student uses the allotted 17 wash loads we will reduce our water consumption by 14%, electricity by 8% and natural gas by 6%. These savings change however, based on the combination of wash and dry loads.

To figure this out, data was placed into an excel spreadsheet. The following formulas were used to calculate values:

Water consumption: Wash loads x 15 gallons x 2500 students

Energy consumption: (wash loads x .56 kWh + dryer loads x (38/92) x 4 kWh + dryer loads x(54/92) x 0.2 kWh) x 2500 students [Wash Energy + Electric Dryer Energy + Natural Gas Dyer Energy]

Natural Gas consumption: Dry loads x (54/92) x 14 cf x 2500 students