By Paul Sheldon, C1 Contributor
If you want to save money and increase revenue while protecting institutional security and public safety and promoting a positive public image, check out these three websites for “greening” corrections:
- Sustainability in Prisons Project (www.SustainabilityInPrisons.org)
- Green Prisons (www.GreenPrisons.org), and
- Ohio Green Prison Project (www.vera.org/project/ohio-green-prison-project)
Sustainability in Prisons Project Network
As featured on Corrections1.com previously, the Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) is one of the nation’s earliest and most conspicuous networks of sustainability-oriented programs in the country. From its beginnings in 2004 at one facility in the Washington State Department of Corrections, the Sustainability in Prisons Project has grown to include a nationwide network of projects at nine agencies in six states (Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Ohio and Maryland).
Co-founded by Washington DOC Assistant Secretary and Director of Prisons Dan Pacholke and University of Utah faculty member Nalini Nadkarni, SPP originally focused on teaching science, technology, engineering and math to inmates in Washington’s correctional facilities. It has now expanded to support a diverse array of sustainability-oriented activities and projects at facilities throughout the country.
Since SPP began with a project to grow endangered mosses at Cedar Creek Correctional Facility in Washington, most SPP-affiliated programs include some aspect of rearing endangered species for reintroduction into the wild. But most facilities have also expanded their programs to include many other aspects of sustainability, including recycling, composting, organic gardens, less-toxic chemicals, water efficiency, energy efficiency, renewable energy and training for staff and inmates. From recycling alone, the Washington DOC has saved over $5 million. SPP offers several publications, including a very extensive manual on how to duplicate their programs in other locations.
GreenPrisons.org
The leading online resource for information on greening corrections remains GreenPrisons.org. Established in 2011 by the founding co-chair of the American Correctional Association’s “Clean and Green” Committee, GreenPrisons.org offers a wide range of connections and resources, based on the “7 Steps to Sustainable Corrections” approach presented in the National Institute of Justice’s Greening Corrections Technology Guidebook.
In addition to the excellent resources offered on the www.GreenPrisons.org website, Green Prisons has also sponsored two national symposiums on Sustainability in Corrections and a comprehensive webinar series, also based on NIJ’s 7 Steps approach. Presentations from the national symposiums, as well as recordings of the online webinars, are available on the www.GreenPrisons.org website.
Ohio Green Prison Project
The Vera Institute of Justice maintains a very useful website concerning the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s (ODRC) Green Prison Project. Through the Green Prison Project, ODRC offers special inmate-led trainings at 10 facilities throughout the state in a program called Roots of Success, as presented at the first Sustainability in Corrections Symposium. It also models recycling programs such as the one that has allowed The Ohio State University to divert 92 percent of the waste from its football games to be recycled through Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster, Ohio.
Ohio Green Prison Project’s program allowed Ohio State to win a national award for Approach Zero Waste. Plus, the prison gets to keep the revenue from sale of the recyclable materials! The Ohio Green Prison Project website also includes links to ODRC’s comprehensive, 3-year sustainability plan, as well as to other sustainability-oriented resources.
Paul Sheldon is a senior advisor to Natural Capitalism Solutions (www.NatCapSolutions.org) and www.GreenPrisons.org, a founding member of the American Correctional Association’s Clean and Green Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of Planting Justice.