Towel and Tissue: Students Spur Tulane University to Go Green

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Students seeking to make positive environmental changes at Tulane University recently convinced the college’s administration to switch its paper towel, tissue and napkin systems to the eco-friendly Tork brand of SCA Tissue.

When student members of Tulane Environmental Action League learned that the bath tissue and hand towels used on the Tulane campus were made with virgin fiber from trees rather than recycled paper, they went on a quest to find more environmentally friendly alternatives for the university. The result was switching to Tork products throughout the campus.

“Tulane University is part of a trend toward Tork we are seeing among colleges and universities in North America as students, faculty and facility managers learn that going green can have both environmental and financial benefits,” said Joseph Russo, SCA Tissue Vice President of Sales — Distribution, U.S. and Canada.

Tulane University, located in New Orleans, serves 9,000 students and 3,082 faculty and staff members plus visitors. Since it would be a major undertaking to switch out all the paper products and dispensers throughout the campus, the students knew they had to make a solid case for change and deliver a viable solution.

Allied Paper Co., a distributor in the New Orleans area, helped facilitate meetings with the student group, Tulane University’s facility managers and SCA Tissue to discuss the environmental record of SCA Tissue and its green products as an alternative.

“In our meetings, I explained how Tork products are made from 100 percent recycled fibers and have received third party certification from both EcoLogo and Green Seal,” said Stephen Savage, Senior Account Executive, SCA Tissue. “These environmental certifications are widely recognized and set the industry standards for environmentally responsible products and services.”

“I also stressed to the students that they shouldn’t just look for recycled products, but they should look at the manufacturer’s environmental track record as a whole,” added Savage.

Impressed with SCA Tissue and its products, the students conducted their own research to confirm the information Savage shared with them. When everything checked out, the students were convinced that Tork products were the way to go and went on to present their case to the university administration.

“Concerned with the lack of an environmental policy, the students not only brought us the issue but also offered a solution,” said Heather Hargrave, assistant vice president for facilities, operation and maintenance at Tulane. “We were able to investigate their solution and found that the SCA Tissue products would save us about 6 percent per year for tissue and paper towels. We thought that it was a win-win situation.”

As a result of the student’s initiative, Tulane University is installing 800 Tork Matic touchless hand towel roll dispensers that control usage with one-at-a-time dispensing and 1,200 Tork Jumbo Roll Twin bath tissue dispensers that reduce waste by ensuring the first roll is completely used before making the second roll available. In the foodservice areas, the university is installing the Tork Xpressnap napkin dispensing system, which guarantees to reduce napkin usage by at least 25 percent over traditional spring-loaded dispensers.

Use of Tork products also can contribute to the earning of LEED points in the sustainable cleaning products and materials category and in the occupant-recycling category — another selling point.

“We’re working to certify one of our residence halls with the LEED-EB standard,” said Liz Davey, program manager for the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research. “It was neat to have students involved in a step to help us earn those credits.”