09/10/2025
New York State and the SUNY system are leaders in the push for widespread sustainable behaviors, especially across university campuses. Two major acts and orders have been mandated to help promote more sustainable operations across campuses, particularly in what we are purchasing for campus use.
The Sustainability Office encourages all campus members, students, faculty and staff alike to check out their new Green Purchasing webpage, especially those in charge of purchasing. On this site you will find links and information about Executive Order 22 and the SUNY wide single-use plastic ban.
SUNY Single Use Plastic Policy
SUNY Cortland is ramping up its work to eliminate single-use plastic on campus in compliance with the 2024 SUNY wide single-use plastic ban. This policy applies to all campus departments, campus activities and affiliated organizations, and activities. Including but not limited to: Cortland Auxiliary Services, Student Government, the College Foundation, the Alumni Foundation. We ask all purchasers to prioritize durable, reusable and washable items to replace single-use plastic items.
The next major deadline for this is in 2027 with all plastic beverage bottles in retail dining, food service containers and cafes and grab-and-go locations and take-out utensils will need to be eradicated from campus and cannot be purchased using state funds.
The likely next step of its implementation on campus will be removing the liner of classroom and personal office trash cans. Per the SUNY Cortland Handbook Recycling Policy, this should not have a huge impact on the individual since personal trash cans are emptied once a week. Taking any smelly garbage, like food scraps, to the communal or break room trash can is a great way to get some movement throughout the workday. Who said wellness and sustainability don’t go together?
Executive Order 22
New York State Executive Order 22, directs state agencies to adopt sustainable practices in a number of focus areas, ranging from the procurement of renewable energy to utilizing concrete in construction projects with a lower embodied carbon.
As State Affected entities develop guidelines and methods to demonstrate compliance with the Executive Order, one focus area that has broad reaching impacts is our purchase of goods and services, so any procurement.
SUNY and SUNY Cortland Purchasing Office are developing ways to track “Green Purchases” to measure progress towards meeting the Executive Order targets.
Attention ALL Campus purchasers, in compliance with EO22, please reference GreenNY Purchasing Specifications prior to spending state funds. GreenNY website offers guidance on sustainable contracts, products and sources. New Purchasing Specifications are being updated and released every month, so this is a very active moment in the progress of tracking and monitoring our emissions impacts based on what we purchase.
For those looking to learn more, there are some other great resources within the SUNY system: