Food, Water, and Land Use Initiatives
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Food and Farming on CampusThe Bard Farm produces vegetables for Bard Dining and has a seasonal weekly farmstand. The Bard Farm Educator, Rebecca Yoshino, collaborates with the Bard Land Lab to investigate methods for determining the carbon content of farm soil. The College and the dining provider are committed to improving the food system. By 2019, more than 20% of food met the definition of real food according to the student-driven Real Food Challenge. Staff, students, and faculty collaborate through BardEATS. Bard Farm BardEATS
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Stormwater and WastewaterStormwater comes from rain or melting snow that doesn’t soak into the ground but runs off into waterways. Non–point source pollution from stormwater runoff is a leading cause of stream health degradation in New York State. Bard was awarded funding from New York State to implement a Regional Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project at the Olin parking lot that addressed stormwater runoff from a 9-acre drainage area on the Bard campus.
Stormwater and Wastewater
Stormwater comes from rain or melting snow that doesn’t soak into the ground but runs off into waterways. Non–point source pollution from stormwater runoff is a leading cause of stream health degradation in New York State. Bard was awarded funding from New York State to implement a Regional Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project at the Olin parking lot that addressed stormwater runoff from a 9-acre drainage area on the Bard campus.
Olin Parking Lot
The Bard Regional Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project at Olin addresses storm-water runoff from a 9-acre drainage area on the Bard campus. The project used permeable asphalt, porous paver walkways, a constructed wetland, bioretention and bioswales. The project ultimately cleans water before entering the Saw Kill, which is Bard’s drinking water source. Does it work? Professor Robyn Smyth's Environmental & Urban Studies students use the site as a living laboratory for their classwork.
Low Impact Development / Green Infrastructure Features – how we slow down water and help clean it up:- 81-space permeable parking lot (asphalt); 25,500 square feet
- Constructed wetland – walk around the path and find a frog
- Permeable paver walkway
- (2) small bioswales in the lawn south of Henderson computer lab
- Native planting along east side of parking lot
- Vegetated bioretention swale on the west side
- Does it work? the Hose Test
- Installing at the north end
- Rainy day drive into south end,
- Bucket Demo
- North end under construction (includes ponding on walkway, porous parking working at entrance)
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Micro Hydropower ProjectIn 2016, Bard received $1 million from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's Energy to Lead Competition to evaluate and implement micro hydropower on existing small dams on the College's 1,000-acre campus. A dedicated website helps explain how this complicated, multidimensional, mutistakeholder project continues to take shape.
microhydrony.org -
Drinking Water and Water ConservationWater makes up more than 75 percent of the Earth's surface, yet only 2.8 percent of it is available for human consumption. The Bard Water Lab is a student-run community lab devoted to bringing water science to water communities. The lab is an initiative of the Bard Center for the Study of Land, Air, and Water in collaboration with the Saw Kill Watershed Community.
Bard Water Lab
Maps and Trails
Food, Water, and Land Use Resources
Water Guidelines and Policies
Low-flow fixtures are plumbing fixtures that use significantly less water than conventional fixtures. They include toilets, urinals, showerheads, and faucets. That translates into measurable savings in both water expenses and sewage expenses, as well as a savings in the energy used to heat the water. The College specifies low-flow toilets and shower heads, as well as aerators during building new construction as well as during renovation.
If you see a faucet that won't turn off (it drips), let B&G know - put in a Service Request. Even a seemingly slow drip adds up very quickly to create water and energy waste.
Bottled water coolers have been replaced by in-line filtration units. These water sources provide hot and cold water, but do so without the need to be refilled with five-gallon plastic bottles of water. They use our existing water supply, which comes from the Saw Kill Creek and is treated by our state-of-the-art drinking water plant (2009 upgrades made possible by the American Investment and Recovery Act).
Water Actions and Materials
Bard has decreased our "direct" use of water (gallons per person) by 30% since 2005 to about 40 gallons /person/day. But that number does not account for water embodied in food. Did you know it takes about 2000 gallons of water per person per day to produce the average American diet? Producing 1 lb. of beef requires 1,799 gal. of water. Chicken requires 468 gal. (Read more in National Geographic)
- Sustainability Report (STARS) Water reporting
- We collaborate with the community
Food and Land Use Guidelines and Policies
- The 2014-2017 Sustainability Report (STARS) describes our Landscape Management (including Integrated Pest Management, native plants, wildlife management, Tree Campus USA status, snow and ice removal policies and compost program) as well as the Rainwater Management.
Food and Land Use Actions and Materials
Bard Programs
- Visit the Bard College Arboretum
- View a campus tree map
- Visit the Center for the Study of Land, Air & Water