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At the Georgia Center — Every Drop Counts

The Georgia Center encourages staff and guests to conserve water as seriously low water levels in North Georgia and drought conditions throughout the state continue to threaten the water supply. Water Conservation: Action and Education  •  At each entrance to our building posters remind our staff and inform out of town guests that we are in Phase Four water restrictions and that "Every Drop Counts."  •  Georgia Center staff wear buttons that read "Every Drop Counts, I'm Doing My Part" to promote awareness of the drought.  •  We have instituted the Save the Planet program where guest room towels and bed linens are only changed every third day of guests' stay unless they request daily service. This program saves thousands of gallons of water every month.  •  We have disabled all of the automatic toilet flushers throughout the building and we have retro fitted toilets with low-flow water saving flush assemblies.  •  We have installed hand sanitizers in the bathrooms as an alternative to using soap and water.  •  In each of our 200 hotel guestrooms, we provide an information tip sheet on ways guests can save water while staying in the hotel.  •  Our complimentary bottled water has been switched from bottled water within our drought area to bottled water from a source that is not experiencing drought conditions.  •  All silver flatware and china plates have been replaced in our high-volume Courtyard Café and meals are now served with paper plates and disposable flatware to reduce dishwasher water consumption needed for cleaning silver forks, knives, spoons and china.  •  Water flow reduction aerators have been installed on bathroom faucets.  •  The Banquet Department and the Savannah Room Restaurant pour water "by request only" at all meals and food functions.  •  Clean water from ice bins and conference room water pitchers is collected each day for use by our landscape crew on exterior trees and plants. Energy and Resource Conservation The Georgia Center is also addressing other vitally important conservation measures. The Georgia Center's Green Team has been in existence for almost three years and through their efforts we are recycling more and more items every month. On average, our cardboard recycling program fills three dumpsters every week. We are working with several units on campus to help conserve energy and have met with UGA's Director of Energy Services and discussed programs to reduce our use of electricity and steam. All incandescent light bulbs throughout the Georgia Center are being changed and replaced with energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs. The Georgia Center is also partnering with the School of Agriculture to pilot a sustainable agriculture program that will enable us to buy locally grown food products and help reduce the negative impact of fuel emissions for delivery of food supplies to the Georgia Center. We are trying to be good stewards of our natural resources and state funds. For more information about the Georgia Center's conservation efforts, contact: Craig Edelen, 706-543-0029 or craig.edelen@georgiacenter.uga.edu

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