By Paul Sheldon and Burt Klein
No matter where you live, it’s clear that the goal for government is to do more with less.
Small changes are not going to be enough, so it’s time to conduct a sustainability assessment of your facility to see where you can save money and/or increase revenue. One great place to start is the American Correctional Association Policy/Standard on sustainability.
This is your outline to review your operation. If you want more ideas on saving money, the National Institute of Justice’s Corrections Center of Excellence has a great guidebook that you can download for free, here.
In 2011, the American Correctional Association (ACA) passed its first Public Correctional Standard on Environmentally Responsible and Sustainability Oriented Practices, which stated:
“Adult and juvenile facilities and programs have the responsibility to deliver short- and long-term cost-effective performance through the implementation of environmentally responsible and sustainability-oriented measures, such as composting, energy conservation, recycling, water conservation, pollution reduction and the utilization of renewable energy alternatives.”
Combined with the National Institute of Justice Greening Corrections Technology Guidebook’s simple, seven-step approach to greening your institution, the ACA Standard provides a straightforward roadmap for saving money and creating new sources of revenue.
The ACA Standard emphasizes:
• Composting
• Energy Conservation
• Recycling
• Water Conservation
• Pollution Reduction and
• Renewable Energy
Similarly, the Guidebook recommends a 7-step approach, including:
• Integrating Technology and People
• Lighting
• HVAC Systems
• Plug-in Appliances (including pumps and motors)
• Materials Flow (including recycling and toxics reduction)
• Water and
• Energy (including transportation)
Taken together, these two outstanding resources offer any institution an opportunity to reduce costs and identify new sources of revenue, while protecting public safety and maintaining institutional security.
Paul Sheldon is a Senior Advisor for Natural Capitalism Solutions, a founding member of the American Correctional Association’s Clean and Green committee, and Publisher of Green Town Earth.
Burt Klein is the President of Portion Pac Chemical Corporation, manufacturers of the PortionPac and CorrectPac lines of environmentally-responsible cleaning products (www.PortionPacCorp.com).