Jacksonville Correctional Center Sustainability 

In FY2012 Jacksonville Correctional Center, along with its satellite facilities, Pittsfield Work Camp and Green County Work Camp, formed a Sustainability Committee to effectively collect, store and return waste materials received daily throughout each facility. Throughout the many years several changes had been made to reduce expenditures by implementing "Green" initiatives. The following efforts are being made to ensure our environment is kept green, while educating staff and offenders on the importance of their place in our environment.

Jacksonville Correctional Center

The facility has implemented a few programs related to consumption of materials and recycling of waste materials. This will mark the first year for the garden program at Jacksonville CC. All of our cardboard is picked up by a vendor for recycling along with the rinsed dietary metal cans and scrap metal.

Jacksonville serves as the parent facility for two work camps, Pittsfield and Green County, both of which have several sustainability initiatives underway.

Pittsfield Work Camp

• Mop heads are no longer dried in the electric dryers. A rack was constructed to hang all mop heads which saves a tremendous amount on energy costs.

• The facility has maintained several garden plots throughout the past years. All produce grown is distributed to local food banks, Reach Out Center, and consumed by staff and offenders at the facility. The Pittsfield garden produced 26,000 pounds of produce in FY2011.

Greene County Work Camp

• All metal cans from the Dietary department are rinsed daily and placed in designated containers for our State truck to pick up and returned to the parent facility for State Vendor to pick up and recycle.

• This past decade, the facility discontinued using paper bags in the Inmate Commissary. Each offender is issued a mesh bag upon arrival to carry their bought goods to their assigned housing unit.

• In 2012 the washer and dryers were replaced with more energy efficient machines.

• Newspapers are collected from offenders to be used to wash windows at the facility. 

• All metal cans from the Dietary department are rinsed daily and placed in designated containers for our state truck to pick up and returned to the parent facility for the state vendor to pick up and recycle.

• The garden plot was expanded this year and has already produced large amounts of produce which is being used at the Work Camp and the parent facility at Jacksonville Correctional Center.

Our goal is the near future is to begin recyling plastics.  All three facilities continue to look for ideas to reduce expenditures by implementing "Green" initiatived, reducing consumption of utilities, and taking steps in the right direction of environmental sustainability.