Knoxville Zoo’s Green Practices List

This is a list of some of the things the Knoxville Zoo is doing to conserve resources. Look through it and see if there are ideas that you can use in your home or office.

• Re-use yogurt cups, margarine containers, etc when preparing food in the Animal Commissary.
• Re-use items for enrichment such as tires, phone books, newspaper, burlap, cardboard boxes, paper towel tubes, etc.
• Use commercial recycled paper bedding and used newspapers for small animal bedding

Cleaning

• Use washable towels instead of paper towels for cleaning, drying hands, dishes, etc.
• Wash only full loads of laundry
• Re-use plastic grocery bags and zip-lock bags
• Use re-useable vinyl table clothes for company picnics
• Prudent use of cleaning supplies

Electricity

• Use low-wattage lamps at desks instead of large ceiling fluorescent lights. (one two-bulb fluorescent fixture uses 68 watts, while a 60 watt equivalent compact fluorescent bulb uses only 15 watts)
• Turn off lights when out of the room
• Turn off computer at the end of the day
• Use energy saving settings to set computer to “sleep” during the day when not in use or turn off monitor when away from desk

General

• Trash-to-treasure: use other department’s unwanted items
• Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.
• Sell or give away unwanted equipment (Zoo Garage Sale) instead of sending to dump
• Buy or receive used products (used vehicles, office equipment, etc.)
• Re-use videotapes
• Proper battery disposal
• Educate the public, staff and volunteers through publications, education programs, signage, keeper chats, animal encounters, website, TV, interaction between public and staff/volunteers, and more.

Heating and Cooling

• Keep doors and windows closed while heating or cooling
• In buildings without animals, turn down the thermostat at night in winter and up in summer.
• Use windows, doors and fans for cooling during warm days.

Office Supplies

• Cut used paper into squares for note paper
• Re-use envelopes for in-house communication, deposits, etc.
• Use used paper for printing draft documents and copying for in-house documents
• Print and copy double-sided as much as possible
• Use e-mails for memos and other in-house communication as much as possible
• Use a central bulletin board instead of multiple memos
• Use e-mail and website for communication with other zoos and organizations
• Recycle ink cartridges
• Re-use manila folders and filing folders by using new labels.
• Purchase office supplies that contain recycled fiber as much as possible physically and economically
• Purchase office supplies that are printed with soy ink when possible physically and economically
• Store data and documents electronically instead of printing
• Brochures are designed for minimum waste (ex.- new zoo brochure is one two-sided panel, outreach brochure includes registration form that can be mailed without an envelope, etc.)
• Rubber bands from commissary vegetables saved for zoo staff office supplies.

Recycling

• Recycle office paper and mixed paper (paperboard, envelopes, books, etc.)
• Recycle plastic bottles/containers (#1 & #2)
• Recycle tin and aluminum cans
• Recycle corrugated cardboard
• Reuse/Recycle Zoo maps (visitors can drop them off at the entrance to the Gift shop. Good ones are reused. Bad ones are recycled. Visitors are not automatically given a map. They can ask for one at the front gate.

Staff/Volunteer

• Staff job descriptions have a paragraph encouraging conservation of zoo's and earth's resources.
• Staff/Volunteer orientation, training and manual includes zoo’s mission statement and conservation message.
• Volunteer manual is on disk. Printed versions are only available by special request.

Visitor Services

• Refill sipper program conserves paper cups.
• Employee discounted drinks conserves paper cups.
• Minimum use of non-biodegradable food-service items. No clam-shells. Minimum packaging. Wood stir-sticks. No disposable straws and lids. No plastic forks, knives; spoons rarely used, mainly just for employee specials, off season.
• Have asked all vendors to minimize packaging. A message to that effect is incorporated into our purchase order forms.
• Re-use donated bubble-wrap for Zoo Shop packaging.
• Cut tissue paper in half, to save both money and paper.