Several Atlanta institutions are getting recognition for their efforts to clean and conserve water. They’re on the Georgia Water Coalition’s annual list of 13 people and organizations that work to protect the state’s environment.
One honoree: Emory University’s WaterHub. It’s a sewage treatment plant that looks like a greenhouse, and it supplies 40% of the campus’s water, Joe Cook with the Georgia River Network said.
“And it is odor-free,” he said. “It processes some 400,000 gallons of sewage daily and returns that treated wastewater to the campus where it is used to flush toilets in some of the residence halls and is used to heat and cool campus buildings.”
Another organization getting recognition is Live Thrive Atlanta, which runs the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, otherwise known as CHaRM. Cook said they have kept tens of millions of tons of waste out of landfills.
“At CHaRM, Styrofoam finds new life as home insulation,” he said. “Electronics are broken down and mined for reusable material, paint is used for community graffiti cleanups, and tires are turned into asphalt that fills potholes around the city.”
