Army Supports Sustainability Using Net Zero Goal

From US Army website:

The Army has identified six pilot installations for an initiative to reach net zero by 2020. The Army is focusing on three categories: net zero energy, balancing energy used with renewable energy created; net zero water, limiting freshwater used and recharging water into the watershed from which it was extracted; and net zero waste, minimizing of waste through recycling. In addition to the six pilot installations, in 2014 the Army will encourage twenty-five installations per category to self-nominate for the net zero initiative.

A number of Army installations have already taken steps toward reaching net zero. At Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia, soldiers began replacing hay with wood pellets in stables, creating compost instead of material typically sent to landfills. U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii regularly collects rainwater in rain barrels, which is later used for lawn watering. Assistant Secretary of the Army Katherine Hammack notes that striving for net zero is imperative across the Army because “without appropriately stewarding energy, water, and waste, [the Army is] not able to function."