Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007

American University Ball State University Berkshire School Catawba College Claremont McKenna College Colby Colle...

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American University Ball State University Berkshire School Catawba College Claremont McKenna College Colby College College of the Atlantic Colorado School of Mines Daemen College Franklin Pierce College Harvard University Iona College Ithaca College Massachusetts College of Art Michigan State University Middlebury College Minnesota State University at Moorhead Pacific Lutheran University Portland State University Purchase College State University of New York Rice University Sheldon Jackson College Tennessee State University The New School The Ohio State University University of British Columbia University of Colorado at Boulder University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Massachusetts at Boston University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of North Florida University of Oregon University of Southern Maine University of Vermont University of West Alabama University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Washington State University Wellesley College Williams College Worcester State College

Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

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© National Wildlife Federation All Rights Reserved No part of this report may be reproduced without the permission of the National Wildlife Federation. Content by National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program and contributing college and university campus team members. Design by Marlena Jones If you chose to print this document, please print double-sided, using chlorine-free, high postconsumer content paper (30% or higher) if possible. Please reuse and recycle the printed document and recycle all print toner cartridges. Gratitude is extended to the Kendeda Sustainability Fund of the Tides Foundation for generous support of this report.


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~ Catawba College, Salisbury, North Carolina (C) John Wear


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by Kevin Coyle, VP of Education, National Wildlife Federation The college and university’s role in supporting environmental reforms and sustainable use of natural resources became more important in 2006. In just one year, the American public, including many business and governmental leaders, gained a new perspective on and respect for the threat of global warming. A sharp, new urgency arose across America that has placed higher education in a pivotal role for addressing global warming. First, there have been several startling scientific findings that show global warming is happening more rapidly and that increased temperatures affect everything from droughts and violent weather to ice breakup to new disease vectors. These and other revelations confirm that global warming poses a greater and more immediate public threat than was ever before estimated by the scientific community Second, the American business community began looking seriously at how every form of commerce, including energy, agriculture, forestry, trade, and transportation, will need to operate with a new set of rules that acknowledges warmer climates and conditions. Third, the U.S. public became more aware of global warming. It was exposed to more in-depth information and is rapidly deciding that global warming is, indeed, the greatest threat the human race has ever had to face. What does this heightened awareness mean for higher education? It provides many new challenges, including: 1) helping students learn about global warming’s full consequences and what can be done to avoid them; 2) organizing professional school curricula in ways that address global warming through new technologies, designs, business systems, and more; and 3) looking much more carefully at campus contributions to greenhouse gas emissions and implementing significant ways to reduce them. In 2006, the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program stood up and acknowledged these fast-moving shifts in the responsibilities of U.S. higher education by developing a strong new focus on stopping global warming. We became part of the 30-organization Campus Climate Challenge and have launched into a series of efforts to mobilize campuses and students to productive action. Our aims are simple. We want campuses to be visible examples of low-carbon use and greenhouse gas reductions. We also want students to better understand global warming and take steps to organize and reverse it. Finally, we want our campuses to become seed beds of innovation. U.S. schools will need to teach new skills to our emerging leaders and professionals if we are to have become a low-carbon society. They will need to encourage and equip America for a future that can be quite bright if they are up to the task, but quite worrisome if they are not.


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University of British Columbia Vancouver, Bristish Columbia, Canada (C) Laura Madera


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I.

Executive Summary

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II.

Where is your School?

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III. Assessment

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IV. Building Design

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V.

Dining Services

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VI. Energy

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VII. Environmental Literacy

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VIII. Environmental Management Systems

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IX. Habitat Restoration

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X.

Purchasing

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XI. Transportation

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XII. Waste Reduction

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XIII. Water

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XIV. Acknowledgements and Resources

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XV. Index

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XVI. Contributors

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University of North Carolina - Charlotte, North Carolina (C) Kathy Boutin-Pasterz


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College and university campuses are like villages or small communities in their size and environmental impact. National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Campus Ecology Program has worked with more than 1,000 higher education institutions since 1989 and has found that these colleges and universities are making positive steps to confront global warming. Campuses are constructing energy-efficient buildings; retrofitting existing buildings; restoring habitat to serve as carbon sinks; implementing transportation plans to encourage ride-sharing, walking, and bicycle riding; and reducing waste by recycling and composting. These colleges and universities are models for sustainable living, and the Campus Ecology program is proud to support and help guide them. We are especially excited to highlight their accomplishments in this year’s Campus Ecology Yearbook. This 17th edition of the NWF’s Campus Ecology Yearbook celebrates initiatives at 40 of the 200-member higher education institutions in the United States and Canada. Each of the featured campuses established sustainability goals and worked to achieve them throughout the 2005-2006 academic year. The entries showcase campus achievements; note cost-savings and other benefits; address obstacles encountered; and share lessons learned, website addresses, and other contact information. We are also proud to announce this year’s winners of NWF’s Campus Ecology Recognition. Each year NWF awards special recognition to a handful of campus applicants that established and achieved challenging goals, overcame difficult barriers, and did an outstanding job of engaging the broader community. This year, those campuses are: American University in Washington, D.C., for launching a Campus Climate Challenge campaign and asking students to vote in favor of purchasing 50-percent renewable energy by 2012. Students voted 70 percent in favor of purchasing renewable energy. The Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts, for developing an environmental awareness program for incoming freshmen. Eight days were dedicated to conservation topics such as recycling, natural history, energy, water, dining services, buildings and grounds, forestry of the mountain, and invasive species. Colby College, Waterville, Maine, for receiving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification for the Schair-Swenson-Watson Alumni Center (the first LEED building on campus). The alumni center has several green features, including bicycle storage and changing rooms, three geothermal wells, and an indoor air quality management plan, to name a few.


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Daemen College in Amherst, New York, for completing an energy audit of two campus buildings and preparing recommendations for energy conservation. Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire, for conducting a campus sustainability assessment and producing a report card with findings and recommendations. Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, for successfully linking two campus programs – the All-College First Year Seminar experience and “Positive Growth,” a comprehensive college sustainability initiative. This connection ensures that first-year students will learn about campus sustainability. The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, for: 1) creating a comprehensive sustainability strategy complete with 68 campus targets and actions, 2) designing a green building rating system for residential buildings, and 3) completing an energy and water infrastructure upgrade. The University of West Alabama in Livingston, Alabama, for continuing to support the Blackland Prairie Restoration project by burning 17 acres with the help of a volunteer team of students, faculty, and staff in January; establishing study plots; and planting seeds in 10 new plots in the spring. Williams College, Williamstown, Maine, for gaining student, faculty, staff, and administration support to reduce emissions on campus. This support resulted in the establishment of a Climate Action Committee, which will set reduction targets and research strategies to reduce emissions on campus. Williams also launched the Do It in the Dark competition to reduce energy use on campus and published the weekly EnviTips, a publication packed with tips for adopting environmentally friendly habits. NWF’s Campus Ecology program is proud to support and recognize all of the campuses and leaders featured in the Yearbook. We hope that this publication will help step up climate leadership on college and university campuses, assist leaders in connecting among campuses and document the unfolding history of greener campuses that model what “sustainability” means for the broader community, nation, and world. ****


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Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio (C) Melissa Fries


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American University 39 Ball State University 56, 112, 134 Berkshire School 57 Catawba College 59 Claremont McKenna College 153 Colby College 21 College of the Atlantic 62 Colorado School of Mines 121, 135 Daemen College 41 Franklin Pierce College 15 Harvard University 65 Iona College 67 Ithaca College 68 Massachusetts College of Art 25 Michigan State University 93 Middlebury College 43 Minnesota State University at Moorhead 85 Pacific Lutheran University 28 Portland State University 35 Purchase College State University of New York 46 Rice University 122 Sheldon Jackson College 48 Tennessee State University 137 The New School 114 The Ohio State University 97 University of British Columbia 17, 31, 49 University of Colorado at Boulder 125 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 71 University of Massachusetts at Boston 144 University of North Carolina at Charlotte 145 University of North Florida 74 University of Oregon 147 University of Southern Maine 78 University of Vermont 100, 116 University of West Alabama 103 University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee 105 Washington State University 87, 109 Wellesley College 130 Williams College 51, 80 Worcester State College 89


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Campus assessments are useful for establishing baseline information about campus performance, setting goals and priorities, and tracking progress. Campus assessments cover a variety of practices and policies on campus, including waste management, energy and water use, transportation, purchasing, landscaping, and more. Michigan State University even conducted a herpetofauna assessment -- developing a species list of amphibians and reptiles found on campus. An environmental assessment requires cooperation and participation from many groups and departments on the campus, including students, faculty, staff, operations departments, and academic programs. University of British Columbia’s Inspirations and Aspirations: A Sustainability Strategy, a publication of campus sustainability targets and actions, was developed by more than 100 campus stakeholders. Read on to learn how Franklin Pierce College not only conducted an assessment this year but also created a reporting system to grade the campus on specific aspects of sustainability.

~ NWF has played a crucial role in this project to date in both its financial support and its logistical expertise. In particular, Kristy Jones, Julian Keniry, and Kristin Kranendonk have been crucial to the projects’ success. ~ Scot Miller, NWF Fellow, Harvard University

CampusEcology EcologyYearbook Yearbook2006-2007 2006-2007--17th 17thEdition Edition Campus

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Ethic” essay, as well as from the campus ecology movement. A summary of the early goals of this Initiative can be found at http://www.fpc. edu/pages/Academics/nscience/envsci/ecisummary.pdf. Contact Catherine Owen Koning, PhD Professor of Environmental Science 20 College Road Rindge, NH 03461-0060 Phone: 603-899-4322 Office: Marcucella Hall 109 Email: [email protected]

(C) Catherine Koning

BACKGROUND Campus profile Franklin Pierce College (FPC) is a private, four-year, primarily undergraduate, liberal arts college located in rural southwestern New Hampshire. There are 1,650 students enrolled on the main campus in Rindge, and there are 60 full-time and 24 part-time faculty members. The college’s curriculum is a blend of traditional liberal arts, pre-professional study, teacher preparation programs, and a nationally recognized core curriculum, The Individual and Community. FPC’s largest undergraduate majors are psychology, mass communication, and sports and recreation management. Biology and environmental science are also popular majors with students. The main campus consists of 1,200 acres of land adjacent to a lake, and within view of Mount Monadnock. Most of the land is undeveloped forest and wetland. The land is teeming with wildlife, from moose and mink to black bears and bobcats. FPC’s faculty and staff members, and students use the land for hiking, watching birds, drawing, doing research, and all forms of recreation. The land and the lake provide great inspiration to the entire community, and they have formed the basis for much of the environmental ethic that has evolved here. In 1998, a small group of faculty and staff members, and its students, led by Catherine Owen Koning, began the Ecological Conscience Initiative at FPC. This campus-greening effort took its inspiration from Aldo Leopold’s “Land

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals At FPC, our goal was to conduct an assessment of the college’s progress toward sustainability and to produce a report card grading the College community’s work relative to other schools. Accomplishments FPC’s sustainable communities class worked with the director of facilities, and the managers of purchasing, food services, maintenance, and environmental services to collect data, present findings, evaluate progress, and make recommendations for change. The written report was finished in May; it will be reviewed before being made available on the FPC website. The report gave the following grades for the college community: buildings and grounds, B+; energy: B+; food services: C+; purchasing: D; waste: C-. The class estimated the ecological footprint of the average student at FPC at 22.5 acres, well above a sustainable level of resource use. The buildings and grounds section of the report noted that the facilities department has made several efforts to reduce environmental impacts, including responding quickly to resource-wasting problems, switching to a no-sand road de-icer, recycling used furniture and metals, and using very little pesticide and fertilizer relative to other schools. Undeveloped lands remain quite healthy. Problems remain in the lack of sustainable green building initiatives, a number of areas with erosion and litter, and some problems with invasive species. This


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group’s most important goals are the protection of 500 acres of land from development and the construction of a certified green building by 2026. The energy section shows that the college is attempting to cut down its use of fossil fuels and electricity and is using less electricity per capita than other schools. The action plan included the education of community members to reduce electricity use, the increased energy efficiency, the investigation into systems to reduce overheating of residences, the purchase of energy-efficient vehicles, the use of alternative fuels for heating, and the replacement or increased insulation of the Airframe. The food services section found that Sodexho Food Services’ operations are working to reduce environmental impact by serving less beef and fish and by cutting down on disposable dinnerware. Goals include raising community awareness of the environmental costs of nonorganic foods, beef and fish, food waste, and disposable products, plus reducing the use or occurrence of those items. Sodexo should buy more locally grown and organic food products. Under the purchasing section, students found that FPC is only buying 5.4 percent green products, and that very little paper with recycled content is used relative to other colleges. The purchasing section’s action plan suggests ways to increase purchasing for more products that are local, have energy star ratings, or both. The waste section reports that each person at FPC produces 100 pounds of waste per month, more than most other schools. FPC recycles less than most schools but has made a number of efforts to reduce water use and toxic waste. At the same time, FPC’s waste section is looking to increase recycling and to decrease toxic waste and water use. Action plans to reduce waste include a food composting system, an increase in recycling, and a strategy to reduce waste on move-out day. Challenges and Responses The largest challenge for this project was obtaining the data about FPC and comparable data from other similar schools. Information from the Campus Ecology Program website was

very useful but required a lot of digging around to find. In the future at FPC, we hope to alleviate some of the data mining problems by asking for regular reporting of certain indicators from the relevant departments; if this information becomes available on the Internet, perhaps other schools will follow suit and we may all see what works and what doesn’t. Useful indicators include these: oil and electricity use per capita and per square foot, acres mowed, pounds of fertilizer or pesticide used per acre, pounds of solid waste produced per capita, gallons of water used per capita, acres of land restored or protected, acres of developed land, acres of degraded land (erosion, invasive species), and so forth. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters This project was led by Catherine Owen Koning, the Environmental Science faculty member, and eleven students: Emmy Andersen, Katie Bogaard, Pat Deane, Sean Doyle, Greta Frost, Derrick Gardner, Patti Gillen, Katie Hadsell, Andrew LaFleur, Reid Lichwell, and Tom Merkt. Major assistance and support came from Kim Knox, Sodexho Food Services General Manager; Doug Lear, Director, Facilities Department; John Mims, Chief Financial Officer; Barbara Peloquin, Manager, Environmental Services Department; Robert St. Jean, Manager, Purchasing Department; and John Weir, Manager, Maintenance Department. Funding and Resources This project did not require any additional funding because it was conducted in the context of a class. However, it did require quite a bit of staff members time, attendance at meetings, and compilation of data. Community Outreach and Education The class conducted two community forums: one in the evening and one during the day. About 45 students attended the evening session; about 12 students, 3 faculty members, and 6 staff members attended the weekday forum. The students presented their research and asked for ideas about what could be done to improve the situation. Climate Change This project focused on reducing many sources


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of greenhouse gases, from landfills to the burning of fossil fuels. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program We At FPC used the Campus Ecology program website extensively to find links to other colleges as we searched for comparative data and looked for ideas to move our project forward. The publication titled State of the Campus Environment was very useful for our project. CLOSING COMMENT As FPC’s leader of the initiative, I would like to hear about any similar efforts and would like to see the National Wildlife Federation start a conversation about sustainability indicators so we at FPC can collect and disseminate comparable data.

ic benefit of $4 billion for the local economy. It has been only five years since UBC became Canada’s first university to implement a sustainable development policy, and already it is Canada’s leader in campus sustainability. In academia, UBC has many years of nurturing world-class scholars, including Ecological Footprint theorist Bill Rees and green architecture genius Ray Cole. Campus think-tanks ranging from the Sustainable Development Research Institute to the Institute for Health Promotion Research are conducting cutting-edge work. Faculty members in schools such as Agricultural Sciences and the School of Community and Regional Planning have adopted sustainability as a core value. The university also offers an impressive array of more than 40 courses that are directly related to sustainability. Contact Heather Scholefield Manager, UBC Sustainability Strategy Phone: 604-827-5642 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

(C) Laura Madera

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of British Columbia (UBC) campus lies a few kilometers from downtown Vancouver. It is located on the tip of the Point Grey peninsula and is surrounded by 763 hectares of forested parkland that provide a green belt between the campus and the city. Incorporated by the British Columbia government in 1908, UBC has consistently ranked among the top 50 universities in the world. A research-intensive university with the province’s only medical school, UBC is home to more than 50,000 undergraduate, graduate and international students and has an econom-

Goals The goal of this project is the launch of its document, Inspirations and Aspirations: The Sustainability Strategy. This strategy for sustainability at UBC is the second phase of a three-phase process. Completed last year, the first phase, Inspirations and Aspirations, is a catalog of all sustainability actions currently under way at UBC. The third phase, as directed from UBC’s policy number five, will outline detailed targets and actions for each department on campus. Those targets and actions will be designed and implemented by individual departments to specifically address their sustainability needs. The final phase of the process is an academic sustainability strategy. Accomplishments The project’s goals have been accomplished. UBC is the first university in Canada to create a comprehensive sustainability strategy complete with 68 targets and actions. The UBC Sustainability Office initiated and helped develop this strategy in response to the UBC’s sustainable development policy, which was put in place in


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1997. The policy calls for clearly targeted action plans in all departments with the objective of improving performance in key sustainability areas. The sustainability strategy will serve as a model for institutions around the world. In 2003, the sustainability office produced a catalog, Inspirations and Aspirations that detailed sustainability achievements across faculties and departments. In 2004, UBC drafted a follow-up document, titled Inspirations and Aspirations: The Sustainability Strategy. To create those publications, UBC held a stakeholder consultation process with 20 departments, all of UBC’s faculty members, and all major student organizations. Together, those groups developed a framework and identified the following nine major goals for sustainability at UBC: • Improve human health and safety. • Make UBC a model sustainable community. • Increase understanding of sustainability inside and outside the university. • Reduce pollution. • Conserve resources. • Protect biodiversity. • Maintain and maximize the use of the physical infrastructure. • Maintain and enhance the asset base. • Ensure ongoing economic viability. Challenges and Responses Accomplishing UBC’s sustainability goals will be a university-wide team effort. The long-term vision of the administration will help everyone at the university see the world through new eyes. Progress will be made by integrating the three rings of sustainability in a supportive environment that promotes new ways of doing our jobs, and living in our community, as well as teaching, researching, and learning.

Support for this project also exists through the UBC TREK 2010 vision document and endorsement from the UBC Board of Governors and the President’s office. Funding and Resources The project’s costs are funded through the campus sustainability office’s budget. Community Outreach and Education More than 100 stakeholders identified objectives and set specific targets. The result is that every target listed in Inspirations and Aspirations: The Sustainability Strategy has at least one UBC department, faculty member, or organization that has assumed responsibility for achieving it. UBC has also produced an easy-to-read brochure, Inspirations and Aspirations: The Sustainability Strategy and YOU, that is based on the targets, and that outlines how everybody at the university can contribute to the goals. UBC has also produced a printed document outlining the 68 targets. Both were available May 29, 2006. To order a copy, send an email to [email protected]. Climate Change The development and implementation of targeted action plans in all departments with the objective of improving performance in key sustainability areas will mitigate climate change. With every campus department doing its part, UBC will see significant reductions in greenhouse gases from its 1997 baseline year. One of the ecological goals in Inspirations and Aspirations: The Sustainability Strategy is to reduce pollution. The first objective of that goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Targets for that objective include the following:

ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters This project was generated and administered by staff members. UBC’s sustainable development policy proved helpful in gaining campus support for the project. For more information on the policy, please see UBC’s website at: www.policy.ubc.ca/policy5.htm.


• Reduce carbon dioxide and equivalent emissions from institutional and ancillary buildings by 25 percent during 20002010 (adjusted for growth). • Implement and update the Strategic Transportation Plan by fall 2006. • Maintain daily automobile traffic equal to or less than 1997 levels. • Convert at least 10 percent of UBC’s fleet to a super-ultra-low-emission standard by 2010. 18

Other targets addressing climate change include the following: • Reduce particulate emissions by 80 percent during 2000-2010. • Reduce energy consumption in institutional and ancillary buildings by 25 percent during 2000-2010 (adjusted for growth). • Make new institutional buildings 25 percent more efficient than national standards (on average). National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program Both Ecodemia and enrollment reporting were helpful. The National Wildlife Federation name recognition was also useful. CLOSING COMMENT As Freda Pagani, director of the UBC Sustainability Office, says, “Get on with it!”


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With colleges and universities spending approximately $11 billion in new construction, campus buildings can dramatically impact a school’s overall climate footprint. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2006 Energy Date Book, buildings in the United States account for at least 38 percent of our total carbon dioxide emissions. All across the country campuses are stepping up to ensure environmentally preferable practices are incorporated into campus buildings. Addressing building design gives colleges and universities an exceptional opportunity to be leaders in energy conservation and education initiatives. Colby College in Maine, for example, is incorporating Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) principles into all new building design, and in doing so, is moving toward carbon neutrality. Constantly improving technologies are allowing building designs to be more efficient than ever. Pacific Lutheran University in Washington was able to create the Morken Center for Learning and Technology, a carbon-neutral building on campus that uses geothermal energy. With over 30,000 architecture students in the United States green building design has the potential to expand over the next several years, and the Campus Ecology program is working to advance these practices at NWF and beyond.

~ The networking function of the program is especially valuable so we can quickly find people who can provide advice and resources to help us make Middlebury College a more sustainable campus. It also has been a valuable method for other students and staff members to connect with people here on our campus to share our lessons learned from our initiatives. ~ Middlebury College

Campus CampusEcology EcologyYearbook Yearbook2006-2007 2006-2007--17th 17thEdition Edition

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Contacts Joseph Feely Supervisor of Special Projects/Architect Colby College 5006 Mayflower Hill Waterville, ME 04901 Phone: 207-859-5066 Email: [email protected] Russell Cole Director Environmental Studies Program Colby College 5728 Mayflower Hill Drive Waterville, ME 04901 Phone: 207-859-5728 Email: [email protected]

(C) Beth Kopp

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Colby College, which was founded in 1813 and is located in central Maine, is one of America’s outstanding colleges of liberal arts and sciences. The college enrolls approximately 1,800 undergraduate students and has 181 faculty members. As a residential, four-year college, Colby balances a tradition of innovation with a commitment to liberal learning. It is a national leader in research and project-based undergraduate learning. Colby’s Environmental Studies Program is one of the oldest in the nation. Colby has long been a leader in campus sustainability issues. Its campus greening initiatives were formalized in 2001 with the establishment of the Environmental Advisory Group (EAG). Colby is committed to nurturing environmental awareness through its academic program, as well as through its activities on campus and beyond. As a local and global environmental citizen, Colby adheres to the core values of respect for the environment and sustainable living. It seeks to lead by example and fosters morally responsible, environmental stewardship. Environmentally safe practices inform and guide campus strategic planning, decision making, and daily operations. We at Colby urge community members to recognize personal and institutional responsibilities for reducing the effect on the local and global environment. Finally, we recognize that achieving environmental sustainability will be an ongoing challenge that evolves as we become more aware and educated as a community.

Beth Kopp Coordinator, Environmental Studies Program Colby College 4846 Mayflower Hill Waterville, ME 04901-8848 Phone: 207-859-4856 Fax: 207-872-3474 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The Schair-Swenson-Watson Alumni Center was the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building that Colby has attempted to build. EAG saw an opportunity to have a major influence at the college when the administration announced that the alumni center was the first of four buildings on the horizon for Colby’s construction plan. EAG developed a document titled Principles and Guidelines for Green Construction or Renovation Projects. The college administration used those guidelines and the LEED criteria in planning the Alumni Center. The project’s goals included the following:


• Provide a contiguous space for college relations staff offices, as well as space for college and alumni functions. Spaces vacated by college relations staff mem21

bers will be reconfigured and renovated for faculty office and classroom use.

portation: Bicycle storage and changing rooms were included in the design of the Alumni Center to encourage employees to choose Zero CO2 Transportation by riding a bike to work rather than driving a car. Preferred parking spaces near the building are also available to encourage car pools. • Light pollution reducing poles: Lighting fixtures with full cutoffs eliminate light pollution by directing all light below the horizontal plain; no light shines directly into the sky. This design allows an area to be well illuminated while using lowerwattage bulbs, reducing energy use, and reducing light pollution.

• Create a pleasant work space with natural light and scenic views to promote the health and productivity of employees. • Reduce energy use and environmental impact during construction and throughout the life of the building. • Support industries that produce environmentally friendly products in environmentally friendly ways. Purchase materials locally to the greatest extent possible to minimize environmental impacts from transportation. • Become a leader in green design and construction, helping to pave the way for other institutions locally, regionally, and nationally. Demonstrate how to be a good steward of the environment in cost-effective ways. Build momentum for other anticipated construction projects on campus. Accomplishments To the naked eye, the Alumni Center may look like any other building on campus, brick walls, copper roof, and ivory trim. However, many features of this building make it sensitive to the local environment, conserve energy and natural resources, and the features create a healthy and pleasant environment for employees and visitors. In March, Colby received Silver LEED certification for the Alumni Center. Next is a selection of some of the most interesting green features incorporated into the Schair-Swenson-Watson Alumni Center grouped by the six LEED categories. Sustainable sites include: • Building site and orientation: Each site was selected to minimize any effect from the construction of the Alumni Center. In addition, erosion and sediment control procedures were used throughout the project. The building was oriented to capture maximum daylight and picturesque views of the campus.

Water efficiency includes: • Water efficient landscaping: Wastewater from the geothermal system will be used for landscape watering. No potable water will be used. • Innovative wastewater technology: Wastewater from the geothermal system will also be used to flush toilets in the Alumni Center, saving hundreds of gallons of potable water every year. Energy and atmosphere include: • Geothermal heating and cooling: Three geothermal wells, each six inches in diameter and 1,500 feet deep along, and 37 heat exchangers are the core components of a low-impact heating and cooling system. • Co-generation: Excess steam from the campus power plant spins a turbine that produces electricity for campus use. An average of 1,700,000 kilowatt hours of electricity are produced each year, roughly 12 percent of Colby’s annual electricity needs, thus saving the school more than $150,000 in power costs each year. Co-generated electricity will also help power the Alumni Center, with green electricity meeting the remaining demand. • Green electricity: Colby contracted to purchase electric power generated from renewable sources that meet the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e certification requirements.

• Zero carbon dioxide alternative transCampus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

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help maintain a safe and healthy working environment. • Sustainability education: An electronic kiosk featuring a touch screen was installed in the main lobby to teach visitors about the sustainability features of the building in an interactive manner. Additionally, periodic tours of the building for prospective students and returning alumni highlight the building’s sustainability enhancements.

• Sprayed foam insulation: Unlike conventional fiberglass insulation, foam insulation completely fills all seams, cracks, and crevices, thereby eliminating drafts and conserving energy. Other benefits of sprayed foam insulation include its resistance to water, mildew, fungus, and insects, which means less damage and fewer repairs in the future. • Recycled clapboard: Short scrap pieces of clapboard were pieced together using tongue and groove joints to create fulllength pieces that were used as siding for the two center’s wings. This practice not only diverted material from the waste stream but also reduced the total amount of raw material needed for siding the building. • Wallboard made from gypsum recycled from industrial smoke stacks: All of the wallboard in the building was manufactured using 95 percent gypsum extracted from industrial smoke stacks. Additionally, the paper covering on both sides of the wallboard was made from 100 percent recycled newspaper.

Challenges and Responses The main challenges and Colby’s responses are as follows: • One of the most important steps in constructing a green building is to appoint a leadership team that can establish project goals early in the process. Meeting regularly to assess progress toward the established goals was also very helpful for the leadership team.

Indoor environmental quality includes: • Indoor air quality management plan: Air quality management during the construction process and a minimum two-week building flush-out before occupancy worked to prevent the development of indoor air quality problems and to help ensure the comfort and well-being of the occupants. • Low-emitting materials: Low-emitting adhesives, sealants, paints, carpet, and composite wood were used throughout the building to reduce off gassing and to maximize indoor environmental quality. Innovation and design process includes: • Green cleaning: Non-hazardous, Green Seal-certified cleaning products will be used in the building. Those chemicals will be purchased in bulk, concentrated quantities to reduce packaging waste and will then be diluted in refillable bottles before use. This practice will greatly reduce the environmental impact of cleaning the Alumni Center and will Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

• The level or shade of greenness desired should be established well before any conceptual design begins, because this decision affects many other decisions that are made during the design and construction process. The budget for green design elements must be realistic and considered equally important when compared with issues of building size, program, and aesthetics. • It is important to select an architectural team, engineers, and contractors who are familiar with LEED projects and sustainable construction practices in general. Additionally, employing a LEED consulting architect was very helpful, because the consultant augmented the capabilities of the architectural design team, and provided independent reviews of the design and construction process relative to LEED criteria. • It is important to weigh different options and different aspects of the building design continually. We at Colby also found that the availability of competitively priced building materials meeting LEED standards may be poor locally or regionally, which results in few or only one manufacturer providing the desired 23

product at noncompetitive prices. Additionally, purchasing materials and products from such a manufacturer, especially if it is not a local company, can result in increased environmental impacts and costs. Evaluating the environmental impacts and cost effectiveness of purchasing locally versus non locally or purchasing more versus less environmentally responsible products are not easy tasks, but they are necessary factors to consider for green design projects to be successful. • Diligent gathering of necessary information and maintenance of accurate records during the construction process are important actions to document the building’s compliance with LEED requirements. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The design team from the architectural firm of Ann Beha Associates, members of Colby’s physical plant department and college relations department, senior college administrators, and EAG all played important roles during the planning, design, and construction phases of the Alumni Center project. Funding and Resources The projected initial costs were $8,978,000. The actual costs for construction, including architects’ fees and engineering work, were $6,128,000. Funding sources included three alumni who provided a naming gift of $4.3 million. Support from other alumni, friends of the college, and foundations completed the project’s funding. Other project costs included the establishment of an endowment of $2,850,000 for the operation, maintenance, and renewal of the center. Community Outreach and Education A case study describing the sustainability enhancements incorporated into the building is being produced and is available. An electronic kiosk featuring a touch screen was installed in the main lobby to teach visitors about the sustainability features of the building in an interactive manner. The success of this process has set the standard for construction on campus

and contributes to the greening of buildings on campuses nationwide. Additionally, periodic tours of the building are offered to highlight the building’s sustainability enhancements. Colby’s communications department has been promoting the project both internally and externally. Climate Change Colby’s administration is supporting a move toward carbon neutrality. The Alumni Center is the latest example of efforts to integrate the use of alternative energy. As described earlier, three geothermal wells are used to heat and cool the new building. Colby has recently signed a three-year contract with Constellation New Energy to deliver a new green energy mix composed of biomass, hydroelectric, and wind power. The resulting reductions in emissions, combined with the electricity savings achieved from our co-generated power from the steam plant, make Colby a better environmental steward and to reduce our college’s environmental footprint. Colby was among the first 50 organizations to sign on to the Maine Governor’s Challenge, an effort spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection to encourage participants to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The Campus Ecology Yearbook has been a useful guide to stay current with the activities of leaders in the campus sustainability movement. Colby has used examples of other schools from the yearbook to advocate for sustainable practices on campus. CLOSING COMMENT Campus sustainability is a core value of Colby. Green building practices are complemented by sustainable dining, recycling, green cleaning, and other initiatives. Those efforts are coordinated by the campus EAG, which is composed of students, faculty members, staff members, and administrators. Colby’s goal is to be a national leader in campus sustainability and resource conservation.


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state to be a pilot, and the details and results of our data will be published for the state’s future use.

Green Roof Pilot Project BACKGROUND Campus Profile Massachusetts College of Art is a four-year, public college of art and design located in the middle of Boston, Massachusetts on the Avenue of the Arts. The college has approximately 1,300 students from Massachusetts, other New England states and across the nation. The Majors include studio areas in design (animation, architecture, fashion, graphic design, illustration, and industrial design); and in the fine arts (sculpture including ceramics, glass, metals, and wood: painting and printmaking; studio for interrelated media; and photography). Students in architecture typically technical classes (drawing, modeling, materials, structures, and studio), as well as classes in the sculpture areas of materials fabrication and construction focusing on artistry. The architecture faculty is committed to developing courses that include projects students can both design and build. The college has initiated many college community partnerships that have supported both the local community and students through curriculum developed specifically in the interest of a project. The current green-roof pilot project, initiated through a grant for the class in sustainable architecture was taught in spring 2006. The course included a project for a green roof on campus. The students designed and then construct a green roof in summer 2006. It was proposed as a permanent structure on campus and went on an existing flat roof that is accessible from a large conference area, the Trustees Room, on the 11th floor of the Tower Building.

Our plan on campus is to demonstrate water retention, the reduction of storm water, into the city system and a reduction in the temperature ranges at the roof that will translate into savings in both winter (through increased insulation value) and summer (through decreased temperatures at the roof), with a noticeable reduction in interior cooling load under this roof. We believe that the planted roof, viewed from the Trustees Room and the President’s Gallery, and accessible from both locations, will add to the quality of this otherwise largely desolate black-rubber roof scape at which those areas now look. Our plan is also to demonstrate a range of plant species native to the landscape that would be replicated by the conditions of an 11th story roof garden facing southwest. Those conditions include extreme heat, cold, lack of wind protection, and high wind speeds. In working with sustainable materials and as one of the goals within the course, we project leaders have been trying to come up with a system of planting trays that the students could put together themselves and take to the 11th floor individually. This design will include using milk crates manufactured from recycled plastics and recycled steel frames. Trex, another recycled material, is being used for the walkway, in lieu of wood. Contacts

In working with recycled materials, as well as native planting, we on campus are proposing a 1,000 square-foot planted garden and a small walkway of approximately 250 square feet that will be accessed from both the Trustees Room and the President’s Gallery (this floor also houses the College President’s administrative offices). Our proposal was accepted by the Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

Patricia Seitz Professor in Architecture/ Project Advisor Department of Environmental Design Massachusetts College of Art 621 Huntington Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 Phone: 617-879-6779 Alternative Phone: 617-776-2233 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Gina Foglia Design Associate Project Consultant 33-1/2 Union Square Somerville, Massachusetts 02143 25

Phone: 617-628-8808 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The main long-term goals of the project include the following: • Demonstrate a reduction of runoff through the use of the garden in storm water management. • Reduce energy consumption in costs of heating and cooling of the floor area below the garden. • Create a demonstration for a native plant garden on campus that would be specifically designed for tall roofs in the Boston area. The project will test native planting material that can survive under similar climatic stresses, high wind, heat, drought, and high evapotranspiration. This combined information will be used to increase the knowledge of native plant landscaping and the environmental benefits to the college and urban communities. • Reduce maintenance of the garden through the use of native planting. • Build a project with recycled materials. • Create a model roof that anyone can build. • Provide the state with details, documentation, and monitoring (wind, indoor and outdoor air temperature, and survival of plant material) over the next year; create a database that can be easily used in other rooftop gardens on campus and statewide. Short-term goals include the following: • Create physical improvement of the roof scape that is visible from the president’s office spaces and the trustees’ meeting room used by administration, faculty, and visiting parties to the college. • Improve the climate within this space that typically has significant heat gain from the existing adjacent black roof. Such a change will not only mediate the heat in this room during the warm months but also create a roof scape that will visibly demonstrate the significant

emotional value of a rooftop garden in a high-rise building. We leaders of the project hope that this roof garden will lead to increased initiatives on campus, and the intended goal of the state pilot grant funding is to provide the state with a workable means to build rooftop gardens elsewhere in the state. As a college of art and design, Massachusetts College of Art holds a goal to have this garden be an art space, as well as a garden demonstrating native planting. To this end, we hope to hold a Call for Artists in our student community for other projects that would demonstrate the environmental conditions of the space, high winds and extreme heat and cold. Students and staff are already interested in designing small, wind-driven whirligigs to create small amounts of electricity that will power a small lighting system, and others are interested in designing an art piece to display the sound of wind through music. We the leaders of the project will provide documentation on the plant material and the details of the roof garden construction; produce a working document of the process of building the roof, including the plant material selected for this particularly harsh environment; and offer documentation of any of the art initiatives that will become part of our garden now that the base is complete. It is also important that the project gain recognition for this garden from the student government, the campus sustainability committee, and the administration and that is establishes a space that can be used for tours and be a role model in general for environmental efforts on campus and in the community. Accomplishments Work included designing the garden with the class and finding sources of material that could be donated or bought for a reasonable cost within a severely restricted budget. Project members created a 3-dimensional model of the site and the garden that was exhibited at the green roof conference on May 10-12th. A committee worked on the garden construction in June and had it completed by the end of June, with the plants established for the opening academic year in September 2006. Students from other departments volunteered to help


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plant and to place the crates during June, and the project proceeded at a rapid pace. Students sought donations of materials that had been identified through the design process. Ours is a project in which the students are the designers, the founders, and the builders and represent a great demonstration of the collaborative nature of a design and build project. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Cheryl Lowe, previously the Chief Horticulturist with the New England Wildflower Society, Cheryl is working with the class to develop a concept for plant material types from Boom Environmental, a supplier of geotextile fabric. That project was on display at the 4th Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards, and Trade Show, which was held at the Hynes Convention Center on May 10-12th. The college was one of the schools on the trade show floor. Funding and Resources We are the college received a $10,000 pilot grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, 250 square feet of Trex from the college, and geotextile fabric from Boom Environmental. We gained access to the space with permission from Kay Sloan, our college president and have the support of Howard LaRosee, our facilities manager, who also worked with us in building the project in June. Throughout the project, we have actively pursued donations for milk crates, soil medium, recycled steel, miscellaneous lumber for the deck framing, steel railings around the walking area, and the native plant species for the garden. Community Outreach and Education Our students managed a booth in the Academic Village of the Green Roof Conference in May 2006 in Boston. They showed the design process, the planted crate system, and the proposed design of the garden and walkways at this venue. We hope this will be the first of many venues in which our project will be published. Because of the innovative nature of the design detail and concept using recycled milk crates, we anticipate that our project will re-

ceive additional press coverage. Our goal for the upcoming year is to continue monitoring the roof performance for one year and to report to the state next summer (2007) on the results. We will also set up tours of the roof scape even though it is visible without leaving the building from two public spaces on campus. Climate Change Our project does not directly address the problem of climate change. It sets a standard for dealing with water and heating and cooling issues that will only increase in severity as issues of increased hurricanes, drought, or cold will affect the New England area through climate change. The problems of watershed retention on roofs within urban areas and the resultant loss of water recharge when that water is drained away from the site, as well as the reduction of energy for heating and cooling, remain significant environmental issues. If applied across the roof scape of the campus and the city in general, the project would significantly affect reduced costs to both the state and the campus. Currently, Boston has a combined storm sewer system. As a result, storm water is sent directly to the sewage treatment plant and eventually out to the ocean, in large storm events, the combined system overflows and bacterial growth rises in the rivers and beach fronts. In addition, the local urban aquifers are not recharged, and the chemicals added to the area rivers and watersheds are needlessly increased. Those problems, if addressed on even a third of the rooftops in the city (and if green roof tops were required for new construction as a matter of course) would save the state and the taxpayers significant money, improve health statewide, and provide a means for the environment to make use of rainwater rather than treat it as a waste product. It is clear that the insulation value of a green roof will save costs locally on campus and will provide the added benefit of a roof scape in replacement of a black rubber roof. CLOSING COMMENT Within our classrooms at the college, we have sought to have this roof be a demonstration for our community and an example of the value that such a roof garden can be in defining the


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goals of our community. At a college of art and design and at a department of architecture, faculty and students believe that part of our mission is to serve the community through visibly creating products, environments, and projects that will positively affect the environment for citizens of the state. We all believe that this project is one of those initiatives.

(C) Jennifer Wamboldt

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a comprehensive, liberal arts university located in suburban Parkland, Washington. PLU’s picturesque 126-acre campus, is truly representative of the natural grandeur of the Pacific Northwest. Mount Rainier and the Washington coast are within two hours of campus. The total enrollment is 3,643 students with a student to faculty ratio of 14 to 1. A dynamic academic program features five professional schools and selective graduate programs that maintain a strong liberal arts emphasis at their core. More than 40 percent of students spend time studying abroad. PLU cherishes its distinguished and distinctive academic program that emphasizes curricular integration and active learning.

percent prior to 2010. • Increase recycling to 75 percent by 2010. • Increase graduate eco-literacy rate to 50 percent by 2010. • Establish written management plans for organic food and for 50 percent postconsumer paper purchasing by 2010. Many construction projects have taken place on the PLU campus during the past several years. In summer 2001, Xavier Hall was renovated with water conservation systems including motion sensor toilets, urinals, faucets, and an automatic irrigation system. In August 2003, the Stuen Hall renovation included a plumbing retrofit: installation of low-flow toilets, 0.5 GPM faucet aerators, and permeable concrete. In August 2004, the Ordal Hall renovation also included a plumbing retrofit: installation of low-flow toilets, 0.5 GPM faucet aerators, and permeable concrete. In summer 2005, the Foss Hall renovation included a plumbing retrofit: low-flow toilets, 0.5GPM faucet aerators, and permeable concrete. In February 2006,the Morken Center for Learning and Technology, PLU’s most sustainable building, opened for the spring semester. In May 2006, PLU formally dedicated the Morken Center for Learning and Technology. The building is awaiting certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, and is expected to earn gold-level certification. Contacts

PLU’s mission is to educate people for lives of thoughtful inquiry, service, leadership, and care. PLU has committed to the following sustainability goals: • Reduce water consumption on campus by 25 percent by 2010. • Reduce energy consumption by 33 Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

Morken Center Architect Zimmer, Gunsul, Frasca Partnership Portland, Oregon Phone: 503-224-3860 Email: [email protected] Morken Center Contractor Sellen Construction Seattle, Washington Phone: 206-682-7770 Email: [email protected] Lorig & Associates Morken Center Project Manager Seattle, Washington Phone: 206-728-7660 Email: [email protected] 28

Sheri Tonn, PhD Vice President, Finance and Operations Phone: 253-535-7380 Email: [email protected] David Kohler PLU Director of Facilities Management Phone: 253-535-7380 Email: [email protected] Joel Zylstra Class of 2005 Email: [email protected] Amy Cockerham PLU Director of News & Information Phone: 253-535-7427 Email: [email protected] Jennifer Wamboldt Manager, Environmental Health and Safety Phone: 253-535-7233 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals PLU’s goal for the Morken Center for Learning and Technology was to make a carbon-neutral building that is durable, maximizes occupant comfort, and is easily maintained. Accomplishments May 5th marked the convocation and dedication of the Morken Center for Learning and Technology. The center is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most environmentally friendly university buildings. It is in the process of being certified by the U.S. Green Building Council under the organization’s LEED program and is expected to receive gold-level certification. Morken Center Sustainability features: • Flooring: Concrete is used in 65 percent of the building to reduce the amount of chemical cleaning products and wax needed to maintain the floors. In areas with carpeting, 60 percent of the carpet is made of recycled content. Carpet was also laid in tiles so small sections can be replaced rather than entire Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

rooms. • Paint and glue materials: Materials with low-odor volatile organic compounds were used to keep the air in the building clean and odor-free, even on the first day of occupation. • Glass: Low-energy glass was used because it means lower energy use for cooling in warm months. • Wheat board versus solid wood doors and cabinets: Wheat board, which is made with post industrial wheat chaff from commercial farms, is the composite material that fills the doors and makes up the cabinets. • Geothermal pump system: The building is heated and cooled through a system of 83 geothermal pumps, which are located 300 feet underground. It is a closed loop that uses water from underground wells to alter the temperature within the building depending on the season. The temperature of groundwater remains a constant 52 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit, so concentrated heat energy from the water can be used to warm the building in the winter. In the summer, when the air temperature is much warmer than the underground temperature, the water cools the building. The system uses less energy than traditional heating and cooling systems and is lower maintenance. The system also boasts the distinction of being 100 percent free of hydroflourocarbons, a greenhouse gas proven to deplete the ozone. The use of the geothermal system for heating and cooling means the center does not use fossil fuels. The building’s geothermal pump system is estimated to pay for itself within three to seven years. • Lighting: Lights in each room are controlled by motion sensors and shut off when no one is in the room. The light fixtures are 33 percent more efficient than standard lighting fixtures and provide 25 percent more light per fixture. • Wood: Wood on the main stairway in the atrium is made of bamboo, which is a rapidly renewable hardwood. Veneers of maple and fir elsewhere in the building were harvested from certified sustainable forests. The maple veneers have a wheat board core; the fir veneers 29

on the ceiling in the atrium are affixed to wheat board backing. • Steel: The building’s framing was done with steel that has a recycled content of 95 percent. • Construction waste: Ninety-three percent of all construction waste was recycled. Construction vehicles were fueled with biodiesel. • Landscaping: Landscape mulch came from recycled wood. Much of the remaining landscaping material consists of native plant species that are designed to require little water use. • Water: An underground cell captures rainwater and stores it, allowing it to gradually leech back into the ground rather than being deposited into storm drains that require treatment by the county. The building and its fixtures were designed to use little water, including waterless urinals in the men’s bathrooms, low-flow toilets, and metered faucet controls. • Natural light and passive solar energy: Excluding utility areas, every room in the building has access to natural light and a view of the outdoors. • Parking: The building’s parking lot includes carpool spaces and electric ports for electric cars. In the center’s lot 5 percent of all vehicle spaces will include electric plug-in stations. • Food Service Options: It is not by luck but by design that the Kelley Cafe exists in a LEED certified green building. Inspired by the principles of sustainability and the dedication of the individuals who made this building possible, PLU reclaimed computer boards for the design of the signage and found local suppliers and ingredients when creating the menu. • Local materials: More than 75 percent of the products used in the construction of the center originated within a 500mile radius. • Durability and maintenance: The building’s stainless steel roof tiles are heat neutral, and virtually indestructible. This quality is unlike high-maintenance blacktop roofs that create heat islands over the building because the roof’s absorption of heat energy.

Challenges and Responses It was challenging to evaluate first costs of construction versus payback in energy savings during operation. Another challenge has been having new types of energy systems on campus. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Leaders and supporters include the Board of Regents, President’s Council, facilities management department, School of Business, School of Natural Sciences, Sustainability Committee, students, and many donors. The concept of sustainability has evolved over many years at PLU. Beginning with the student group titled Bread for the World which was active in the early 1980s, to the construction of the Morken Center for Learning and Technology, many people over the years have contributed to the continual development of sustainability on the PLU campus. More recently, the past three years have served as a critical time for the university and its commitment to sustainability. In 2002, faculty members created a university faculty committee to support and drive sustainability projects and practices on campus. That committee has become the guiding force for sustainability throughout the campus, particularly with the help of the Russell Family Foundation grant, which has helped PLU address water sustainability needs on the campus. In addition, PLU President Loren Anderson’s commitment to sustainability by signing the Talloires Declaration has helped highlight the university’s commitment to sustainability through higher education. Funding and Resources In 2000, the Morken family stepped forward with an $8 million contribution to the Campaign for Pacific Lutheran University: The Next Bold Step, making that group the first to stand behind the planned Center for Learning and Technology. The Morken family was followed by several grants from family foundations such as Wiegand, Murdoch, Kresge, and Bill & Melinda Gates.


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Dr. Sheri Tonns, the university’s finance and operations vice president, made the following comments about the value of meeting LEED standards and the cost of maintaining the building. “College campuses and government buildings are where it makes the most sense to build to LEED standards,” she said. “You’re looking at buildings with a 100-year lifespan. I view (the cost of LEED standards) as really amortizing over the 100-year lifespan.” “During the whole process of this building, I was acutely aware of the cost of operating the building,” she continued “I wanted to minimize the longterm costs. If that meant spending more up front, okay. It’s important to look at first cost versus operating cost.” Community Outreach and Education Signage about the sustainable features of the building was developed by students and reviewed by the Sustainability Committee. The grand opening ceremony was itself an outreach and education effort. It was the largest building-opening event ever at PLU with alumni, donors, community members, students, faculty and staff members, and media invited to explore the building and to learn about its sustainable features. Climate Change The Morken Center for Learning and Technology has several building features that positively affect climate change. The geothermal heat pump system does not use fossil fuels and is also 100 percent free of hydroflourocarbons, a greenhouse gas proven to deplete the ozone. Other features include light fixtures that have motion sensors and are 33 percent more efficient than standard lighting fixtures, construction vehicles that were fueled with biodiesel, and a parking lot that includes carpool spaces and electric ports for electric cars. See Accomplishments for more climate-friendly building features. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program PLU joined National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program which provides a wealth of resources for campuses. The Campus Ecology Yearbook will give the PLU campus an opportunity to showcase PLU’s accomplishments.

CLOSING COMMENT PLU looks forward to future construction projects that will bring it closer to meeting its stated sustainability goals.

(C) Laura Madera

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of British Columbia (UBC) campus lies a few kilometers from downtown Vancouver. It is located on the tip of the Point Grey peninsula and is surrounded by 763 hectares of forested parkland that provide a green belt between the campus and the city. Incorporated by the British Columbia government in 1908, UBC has consistently ranked among the top 50 universities in the world. A research-intensive university with the province’s only medical school, UBC is home to more than 50,000 undergraduate, graduate, and international students and has an economic benefit of $4 billion for the local economy It has been only five years since UBC became Canada’s first university to implement a sustainable development policy, and already it is Canada’s leader in campus sustainability. In academia, UBC has been many years of nurturing world-class scholars, including Ecological Footprint theorist Bill Rees and green architecture genius Ray Cole. Campus think-tanks ranging from the Sustainable Development Research Institute to the Institute for Health Promotion Research are conducting cutting-edge work. Faculty members in schools such as Agricultural Sciences and the School of Community and


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Regional Planning have adopted sustainability as a core value. The university also offers an impressive array of more than 40 courses that are directly related to sustainability.

emitting materials. • Storm water management and construction techniques that include sediment control. • Central mechanical venting systems for improved air quality. • Dual-flush or low-flow toilets or both in some units.

Contacts Jorge Marques Manager, Energy and Green Building Phone: 604-822-9309 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goal of the project is the completion and implementation of UBC’s Residential Environmental Assessment Program (REAP). REAP is intended to provide a framework to encourage and measure sustainable building practices for market-based and for staff and faculty members, and student residential developments at UBC. The objective of establishing such a framework is to bring about the construction of multifamily residential projects at UBC, that are of a higher quality than those built using the standard practices within the British Columbia Lower Mainland. REAP is based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) rating system, which is a green building rating system, and REAP is in keeping with UBC’s sustainability policies. Accomplishments The project’s goals have been accomplished. We at UBC have designed a green-building rating system for UBC residential units. The system is currently used by developers on campus and ensures green-building design features in all of UBC’s new residential developments. Those features include the following: • High density and small lots. • Preserved green space because units are built on old parking lots that will not be replaced. • Bicycle storage and fewer parking spots for automobiles. • Energy-efficient lights and appliances plus electricity-use monitoring. • Less use of volatile-organic-compound-

For more information on the rating system, see UBC’s website at www.planning.ubc.ca/corebus/reap.html Challenges and Responses The major challenges and obstacles were encountered while trying to push forward the green building agenda, especially in the early days when the current groundswell was in its infancy. Little support existed for imposing green building standards on residential developments at the beginning, but in setting targets for this form of development UBC Properties Trust eventually acceded to project members’ tenacity and decided to take an active role in the process. In the future, building buy-in and coalition support earlier in the process would be more effective. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters This project was strictly a product of the sustainability office’s mandate to implement the sustainable development policy. UBC Properties Trust then came on board and started the process so that organization could be involved in developing the standards, rather than having something forced on. Therefore, some coalition building was required in this respect. The first drafts of the guidelines were developed by Professor Ray Cole in the School of Architecture, but his was not an academic exercise. Because he is a leading expert in the field of green buildings and helped to develop LEED Canada, he was hired on a consulting basis. Funding and Resources Total cost was about $50,000, mostly for consulting fees for development and review of the guidelines to ensure they were practical and useable, not including internal staff members’ costs. This effort was funded out of general operating expenses by UBC Properties Trust and the sustainability office. Support and resources were secured by arguing that some form of


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standards and an assessment method for residential development on campus were necessary if UBC was to live up to its sustainable development policy. Community Outreach and Education The first round of developer and designer training, orientation, and workshops has been successfully completed. Developers and designers now receive information in the bidding packages on how to participate, document, and report in accordance with REAP. Information about the program is available at the UBC website under green building, at www.sustain.ubc.ca as well as the UBC campus planning website at www. planning.ubc.ca/corebus/reap.html. Climate Change REAP directly addresses global climate change by ensuring the construction of buildings with low greenhouse gas emissions. REAP encourages the use of sustainable local building materials, alternative transportation choices, and efficient energy and water systems. To download specifics on REAP, see UBC’s website at www.planning.ubc.ca/corebus/pdfs/pdfdevelopment/REAP_Aug2005.pdf. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program Both the Ecodemia and enrollment reporting were helpful. The National Wildlife Federation name recognition was also useful. CLOSING COMMENT Working with the residential development industry is much different from working with typical institutional development because residential developers are much more focused on the financial aspects of development and because most are not familiar with sustainability or green buildings. Thus, it is very important to take a slow, steady, and incremental approach in that area rather than trying to make huge leaps in a short period, which just won’t work in this industry. The key is evolution, not revolution.


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From supporting local no-till farming to reducing plate and packaging waste, campus dining halls are a unique place to educate students and staff and promote sustainable food practices. One of the growing trends in dining halls across the country is incorporating organic, local food sources into the menu. Organic farming has been shown to increase soil carbon sequestration and in many cases is less energy intensive than traditional farming. NWF Campus Ecology members St. Olaf College and Lewis & Clark College both work with Bon Appetit, a campus food vendor, to ensure food options that are fresh, local, and organic. Another popular practice in dining halls is eliminating disposable plates and utensils. Dining halls are beginning to purchase sturdy, ceramic dishes, and encouraging diners to bring their mugs. And since dining halls are visited daily by students, faculty, and staff, they are indeed an ideal learning environment. Read on to find out how dining service practices can result in fewer pesticides trickling into our rivers and streams and less waste in our landfills, and can provide healthy food options for the campus community.

~ The monthly conference calls [climate action teleconference series] were very helpful regarding what other schools are doing. Also, the affiliation of National Wildlife Federation with the Campus Climate Challenge was extremely helpful in making this campaign a reality because of the strong network and the ability to obtain good ideas from other schools. And so with that, the Campus Ecology Yearbook and case studies online were helpful! ~ American University


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sustainable food systems, and improves the region’s quality of life by providing students with freshly harvested, nutritious food. By incorporating sustainability requirements into PSU’s food service contract, the university has made a commitment to move toward a sustainable food system for PSU and the overall sustainability of the region. The primary goals of PSU’s sustainable food program include the following: • Provide quality food and service to students, faculty and staff members, alumni, and visitors to PSU.

(C) Dresden Skees-Gregory

• Move incrementally toward the goal of environmental sustainability in the operation of all aspects of campus dining i.e., according to the minimum percentages referenced later.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Portland State University (PSU), Oregon’s largest university, is a four-year public university with more than 24,000 students and 3,000 faculty and staff members. Founded to serve the flood of GI Bill veterans in the aftermath of World War II, PSU grew steadily as an urban university that serves primarily nontraditional commuter students. Currently, PSU is a diverse campus comprising both traditional and nontraditional students. PSU strives to incorporate sustainability in both academic and operational endeavors with a learning laboratory approach as it offers graduate and undergraduate students research opportunities on sustainable technologies and practices that are implemented on campus. Contact Dresden Skees-Gregory Sustainability Coordinator Facilities and Planning, Sustainability Office PO Box 751 Portland, OR 97207 Phone: 503-725-8945 Fax: 503-725-4329 Email: [email protected] www.sustain.pdx.edu GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals PSU has embraced its role as a responsible citizen of the city, state, and region by fostering a food service program that economically supports local farms, promotes environmentally

• Encourage life-long, healthful living habits, particularly those related to nutritional education and menu selections. • Meet the dietary needs of its diverse population. • Maintain reasonable, competitive prices. • Continue to employ a diverse group of university students in the food services. • Participate in current and future campus recycling programs. The contract between Sodexho, PSU’s food service, and PSU includes sustainability goals for food purchasing and procurement, recycling and waste reduction, pre- and post-consumer food composting, and environmentally preferable cleaning products. Specific and quantifiable goals for sustainable food system practices include the use of Green Seal-certified cleaning products, the use of biodegradable, disposable containers; the elimination of Styrofoam products; and the submission of annual and quarterly reports to track the program’s progress and effectiveness. PSU chose to follow the guidelines established by the Food Alliance, a nonprofit organization that conducts a rigorous, third-party certifica-


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tion program for sustainably harvested products. In accordance with the Food Alliance guidelines, food products must be locally and sustainably produced according to the following minimum percentages: • 30 percent annual average of total cost of sales. • 30 percent annual average fruits and vegetables. • 50 percent flour. • 50 percent beef. • 15 percent poultry. • 30 percent pork. • 100 percent of salmon and tuna produced according to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium’s sustainable fisheries guide titled Seafood Watch. • 100 percent of all dairy products and eggs. In some cases, those minimum percentages call for regular annual increases; in others they specify increases as soon as economically possible. Accomplishments Sodexho has met and exceeded most of its goal requirements. Sodexho’s contract calls for publishing annual and quarterly reports so it can assist in tracking the quantifiable aspects of its activities on campus. The first annual report was just released, and the results are very encouraging. Sodexho’s general requirement was to procure at least 30 percent of all food purchases according to the Food Alliance guidelines, and PSU’s additional requirements. According to the recently released report, Sodexho met and exceeded this minimum, with total compliant purchases averaging 53 percent! A copy of the Food Service’s Request for Proposal (RFP), Exhibit E, the sustainability requirements included in Sodexho’s contract and in Sodexho’s quarterly reports, can be found on PSU’s website at www.sustain.pdx.edu/ci_ food_service.php. Challenges and Responses One of the major challenges in implementing this project was the low availability of local and sustainably produced pork and chicken products. Sodexho identified a source for pork and poultry located in Colorado: the Colman Natu-

ral Company. The sustainability team discussed the priority of procurement characteristics (i.e., local versus sustainably farmed). Regarding the Coleman Natural meat products, the farm uses sustainable farming practices that are equivalent to the Food Alliance, but it is not within the area defined as “local” according to the PSU contract. (PSU has defined local as products grown and processed in the Northwest with an emphasis on sources within 150 miles of the campus. The Northwest includes Idaho, Northern California, Oregon, and Washington). Because of the Pacific Northwest’s short growing season, another initial challenge to the program was securing enough sustainably harvested produce from within the local region. Sodexho overcame this barrier in several ways, in the case of berries and miscellaneous other fruits, it bought organic frozen produce. It also chose to supplement its annual average percentages by buying higher percentages locally in the summer and spring seasons. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The PSU sustainability office was the primary organizer and initiator of the sustainable foodservice movement on campus, but PSU students also expressed a high level of interest in expanding healthy and environmentally friendly food options on campus. The success of the student-run, organic, and vegetarian Food for Thought Café demonstrated that a significant number of people were already eager to support organic and locally produced food sources. Students were very involved and were invited to be on the review and selection process that led to the Sodexho contract being awarded. Funding and Resources Because this project occurred alongside PSU’s process to bid for a new food service contract, very few additional funds were needed to implement sustainability requirements into the RFP and contract process. A graduate assistant in the PSU sustainability office conducted research on regional food availability and, with significant assistance from the Food Alliance, drafted recommendations to be included in the RFP.


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Community Outreach and Education By purchasing local food, Sodexho is supporting local agriculture and economy. Purchasing food from local sources strengthens the regional economy and family farms as it helps preserve the natural environment and local landscape. Through the food service contract, we at PSU hope to strengthen ties between food consumers and producers while supporting a regional network of local farmers. PSU was recently awarded a Portland Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) award from the city of Portland for our efforts in sustainable food systems. In addition to local recognition, colleges and universities across the United States have contacted PSU seeking information about our food service contract, which we have gladly provided and have also posted on our website at www.sustain.pdx. edu/ci_food_service.php. Climate Change Food service at PSU addresses climate change by sourcing local food and shortening the distance traveled for many items, thus reducing transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, food waste from PSU is being composted, reducing the amount of organic materials sent to the landfill. CLOSING COMMENT Including sustainability requirements in PSU’s food service contract has been invaluable. It has greatly enhanced the university’s ability to track and monitor progress toward long-term goals of increasing the sustainability of food service and decreasing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.


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Colleges and universities collectively spend $18 billion on operations and energy each year (an average of $4.4 million per campus). Most energy is currently generated from burning oil, natural gas, or coal, but more and more, schools are turning to renewable forms of energy and energy-efficient practices. Using less fossil fuel energy means less greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere, which slows global warming. Renewable energy, from wind to solar power, coupled with energy-saving practices and education can greatly reduce campus energy consumption. Campus energy-saving tactics taking hold range from installing rooftop solar panels and improved heating and cooling systems for residence halls, to purchasing green tags to offset carbon emissions, to replacing old lighting fixtures with more energy efficient ones. Read on to learn how the State University of New York Purchase College decided to conserve energy by lowering the hot water temperature, and saved over $85,000 in the process! And students involved with Eco-Sense, a student environmental group at American University, were able to pass a referendum increasing student fees by $10 to purchase at least 50 percent renewable energy by 2012.

~ Conversations with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) staff provided morale boosts when our project got off to a slow start. NWF publications also provided useful ideas for future activities. Several additional resources provided by NWF were helpful, including State of the Campus Environment, Ecodemia, consultations with Staff and Peer matches, online case studies, Campus Ecology Yearbook, and the various events and workshops available. ~ Daemen College CampusEcology EcologyYearbook Yearbook2006-2007 2006-2007--17th 17thEdition Edition Campus

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GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

(C) Riley Neugebauer

BACKGROUND Campus Profile American University (AU) is a four-year, private, liberal arts school, with an enrollment of 11,300 students, 759 facilities, and 1,868 full-time and part-time staff members. AU provides chief majors in international relations and affairs, political science and government, business administration and management, and communication studies. AU is home to approximately 10,000 students equally divided between graduate and undergraduate students from all 50 states and more than 130 countries. The university offers 51 undergraduate majors and academic programs, including pre-med and pre-law programs. AU emphasizes a liberal arts education, using cutting-edge technology through an interdisciplinary curriculum in the arts and sciences, business, communication, international studies, and public affairs. Contacts Riley Neugebauer Environmental Coordinator Phone: 202-885-3757 Email: [email protected] Claire Roby, President Class of 2009 Student Environmental Club (EcoSense) Email: [email protected]

Goals The goals were to provide both the student group in the Global Environmental Policy program and the undergraduate group with information regarding renewable energy and to support them in a campaign to educate other students about renewables and about how much renewable energy the school already purchases, as well as a possible campaign to push for more renewable energy purchases by gathering student support. The long-term goal was to purchase more renewable energy, either through savings or through a student campaign. We also had a plan to install energy sub meters on three of AU’s residence halls on the main campus. The data gathered from the meters could then be used to argue for more programs by demonstrating the amount of savings that has come from energy efficiency, conservation, and technology. Accomplishments Eco-Sense, the student environmental group, ran a Campus Climate Challenge Campaign at AU in spring 2006. The ultimate goal was to hold a referendum at the end of the semester asking students to vote in favor of AU’s purchasing 50 percent renewable energy by 2012, meeting the Kyoto Protocol targets, and if necessary, raising money for those efforts through a fee increase of $10 per student. Of the students who voted, 70 percent was in favor of the referendum. Outreach to promote the vote included canvassing, tabling, hanging a banner, emailing, using Facebook groups, and announcing the vote in class. One creative tactic, replicated from a Tufts University campaign, involved a student dressed as a wind turbine and another as a coal smokestack. They staged a mock fight outside the student center to educate people about the campaign. Additionally, because the referendum was also a part of the student government elections, Eco-Sense was able to get the endorsements of several other candidates in student government. A supportive candidate did win the undergraduate student president position, as did the person who will lead the Residence Hall Association next year. Eco-Sense also held an information session on


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renewable energy with Josh Tulkin of Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Eco-Sense was the only group to hold a referendum within the past several years. More students turned out to vote in this election than ever before in a student government election. With assistance, students were able to better understand the feasibility of renewable purchases for the university, and several key stakeholders in facilities management were supportive of EcoSense’s campaign. Those stakeholders really enjoyed that the students took the cost factor into account by asking other students if they would support a fee raise in the vote. But the facilities staff members also felt that raising fees may not be necessary, because of wind and solar presentations they have seen that indicate that it may be cheaper to invest in renewables in the long run. A conversation is now going on across campus about renewable energy thanks to the students. Because the referendum was successful, renewable energy becomes a priority issue for next year’s incoming student government president as well. As for the other goal of having three energy sub meters installed on campus residence halls, their installation has occurred already, and plans exist to meter other buildings as well. The long-term plan is to incorporate visual displays into the dorms that show energy use as well and to combine that strategy with some dorm energy competitions. Challenges and Responses We had to educate the students about renewable energy and convince them that we were not building a turbine on campus. Also, a fairly small contingent of students in Eco-Sense did a large portion of the work for the campaign, and so we were stretched very thin, particularly President Claire Roby and the vice president Grenye O’Malley. Although, trying to get others involved in campaigning was quite difficult, such effort was successful in key times when people were needed for dorm canvassing. The solution was to realize that many in the group would not commit more than a couple hours a week to canvassing, and thus we had to find the pivotal events that we needed a lot of people for and to stress their involvement in those events. The other challenge was that the student government board of elections lacked regulations that applied to a campaign for a

referendum, because the board had regulations that applied only to individuals running for office, Eco-Sense was subject to spending caps and paper trail requirements that applied to a one-person campaign rather than to a group. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Eco-Sense was instrumental as the undergraduate student environmental group, as was Riley Neugebauer, who was the Environmental Coordinator and my connection to those in facilities who have knowledge about energy use and about purchasing at the university. As the president of Eco-Sense, Claire Roby was the key person on this campaign, and the vice president of Eco-Sense, Grenye O’Malley, was extremely important in providing additional help to Claire and the club. Additional club members who were really involved were Rose Davis, Jacqueline Christy, and Charles Kilby. The president of the undergraduate student government, Kyle Taylor, and the treasurer of student government, Joe Vidulich, were both extremely supportive as well. Funding and Resources The regulations from the student government board of elections limited the cost of the whole campaign to $250. Savings on paper came from using double-sided paper and quartersheet flyers. Eco-Sense also painted signs rather than having copies made and painted tshirts rather than having them screen-printed. Members obtained donations of paper, copies, and paint to save from paying out of pocket, although we still had to count the value of donations in our spending. Space for meetings was already reserved on campus each week, and additional space was reserved for tabling. Most of the time, input came from our president and vice president. Community Outreach and Education Chesapeake Climate Action Network was involved from the community. The Network and Claire plus Riley Neugebauer from Eco-Sense helped to alert the Campus Climate Challenge community about what we were doing. Additionally, during GreenDC Week, we held a youth environmental summit at Busboys and Poets Books in Washington, D.C. so that youth from all the schools in Washington, D.C. could


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come and talk about campaigns on which they were working. AU students presented information on the energy campaign and made clean energy campaign handouts to give to others in the city. Three students attended the Yale Climate Conference and were able to network with other students there. The AU students informed a local group of high school students about the wind turbine and smokestack costume tactic, and the high school students then staged a similar display in Montgomery County, Maryland. Climate Change Our project has directly addressed climate change through education about the importance of clean energy for the human race’s future and the future of the planet. It greatly improved the student body’s understanding of renewable energy and of the school’s opportunity to purchase more clean energy. We, of Eco-Sense, have not reduced the campus emissions through this campaign until we actually purchase the additional renewables (AU already buys 5 percent wind). The strong demand from the students cannot be denied by the AU administration. The subject has already come up at cabinet meetings and now in facilities management, especially as AU awaits proposals on wind and solar power for campus. Facilities administrators feel that AU can reach the 50 percent goal by 2012. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The monthly conference calls [climate action teleconference series] were very helpful regarding what other schools are doing. Also, the affiliation of National Wildlife Federation with the Campus Climate Challenge was extremely helpful in making this campaign a reality because of the strong network and the ability to obtain good ideas from other schools. And so with that, the Campus Ecology Yearbook and case studies online were helpful! CLOSING COMMENT All students should think about their role on campus and their power to make change. Students should not feel that their campus is obligated to give them the greenest lawn and the perfect temperature in all the buildings, with-

out concern for what kinds of problems that effort creates. Students should expect that an academic institution will make the world a better place through its curriculum and its operations, which includes purchasing renewable energy to address climate change. Students have a say in the campus policy, and they should use their time at school as an opportunity to understand democracy in action. They should meet with their facilities staff members and learn more about the operations of the school, and work with staff members rather than just being angry with the administration, to make the school a better place, build coalitions, and create policy changes. They should use existing networks like NWF’s Campus Ecology program, the Campus Climate Challenge, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, and the Energy Action Coalition. Most of the time, administrators are supportive of good ideas from students but need assistance with research and with building support on campus. And if your school does not have an environmental coordinator, work to get one because he or she can be a strong ally!

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Daemen College is a private, four-year, liberal arts college located in a suburb of Buffalo in western New York. The college has approximately 2,000 students enrolled in its liberal arts and professional programs. Daemen students and faculty members have an extensive record of service activities. However, most of those activities are community-based rather than campus centered. Efforts by the college’s faculty and its Center for Civic Engagement and Sustainable Communities have been increasing campus and community ecological awareness, and a student-led Environment Club was formed in 2006. Contacts Brenda Young Associate Professor


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Chair of Natural Sciences Phone: 716-839-8366 Email: [email protected] Jennifer Livergood Student Biology Major Email: [email protected] Kevin Kegler Associate Professor, Graphic Design Phone: 716-839-8288 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goal for 2005-2006 was to increase campus awareness of sustainable practices, particularly energy usage and the need for conservation. To increase awareness and to recommend changes, we in the club researched Daemen’s energy usage and practices. As part of the campus-wide education effort, we also wanted to promote the recycling program that we established last year. Accomplishments Students completed an energy audit of two buildings and prepared recommendations for energy conservation. Currently, the college uses energy-efficient lighting in its classrooms. However, lights are frequently left on when rooms are empty. During the winter months, the major energy use on campus is heating. Students recommended for energy savings such as requiring sleep- mode settings for computers, setting thermostats lower in the winter, and educating the campus on energy-related issues. Stickers were designed and posted near most light switches reminding users to turn off the lights. Emails were sent to the campus community with instructions for setting sleep modes on computers, and computer labs have adopted those practices. A campus recycling and energy-savings brochure was designed and will be given to all new students at orientation. Challenges and Responses To perform the energy audit, students needed access to records of gas and electric bills, as well as building-specific technical information

from our facilities staff. Students experienced some frustration in funding from the correct office from which to get the needed information. As part of the campus awareness program, club members administered electronic surveys to fellow students. However, because the response rate to the electronic survey was poor, paper surveys were then distributed in the dining hall. Getting the message to students, particularly commuters, is difficult because many students ignore email messages and do not read posters. Even the portion of the education campaign that involved placing stickers by all light switches suffered set backs, several of Daemen’s buildings have cinderblock construction. The labels do not adhere well to the cinderblock surfaces. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Most of the students conducting the audit took full responsibility for collecting and reporting specific data to the class for incorporation into the report. Funding and Resources Basic supplies for the audit were provided by the Natural Sciences Department as budgeted for a course. Printing of educational posters and stickers ($150) was funded through an account for recycling efforts on campus. That account was established through the previous activities conducted for the Campus Ecology Program of the National Wildlife Federation. Community Outreach and Education Educational signs for saving energy and for locating recycling containers were designed and then posted throughout campus. Emails were sent to the entire campus community informing everyone about the need to conserve energy and of tips for doing so. They also described the campus recycling program. Club members conducted their survey regarding student preferences for room temperature in residence halls and included information about saving energy. Students responded positively to survey information on heating and cooling in the residence hall. In the past, students opened their windows in an effort to regulate room temperature. We, club members, made them aware of how they could contact the facilities staff to change thermostat settings.


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Staff members have also commented that they now take responsibility for turning off lights in rooms as a result of the nearby stickers. Climate Change One project was to save energy through reduced use of electricity and natural gas. We, in the club, will be monitoring the college’s future consumption and comparing it to present and past usage to measure improvements in energy efficiency. Because educational efforts began in fall 2005, we compared electricity and gas usage for two campus buildings from December 2005 through May of 2006 with that from December 2004 through May 2005. Although thermostats were set to lower heating temperatures, gas usage was comparable between years because of an increased number of days that needed heating. Although, electricity usage was not substantially reduced in our monitored academic building, it was reduced by 12 percent in a residence hall. This savings of 8160 kilowatt hours in a six-month period is the equivalent of reducing Daemen’s carbon dioxide emissions by 3,509 kilograms for that residence hall. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program Conversations with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) staff provided morale boosts when our project got off to a slow start. NWF publications also provided useful ideas for future activities. Several additional resources provided by NWF were helpful, including State of the Campus Environment, Ecodemia, consultations with Staff and Peer matches, online case studies, Campus Ecology Yearbook, and the various events and workshops available.

case studies from other schools participating with NWF to learn from their efforts.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Founded in 1800, Middlebury College is a small, liberal arts college located in the Champlain Valley on the western side of central Vermont. It has approximately 2,350 undergraduate students and 1,200 staff members. Middlebury is renowned for its leadership in foreign language instruction and international studies, and its environmental studies program is nationally recognized. Middlebury has been a leader in campus sustainability with (a) annual waste stream diversion rates above 60 percent, (b) green building practices that include purchase of locally grown certified wood for millwork and furniture in new construction, (c) use of local foods in the dining halls (25 percent of the food budget in fiscal year 2005 was used to purchase goods grown or produced in Vermont), and (d) a carbon reduction commitment endorsed by its trustees and a portfolio of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction projects. Contacts Jack Byrne Campus Sustainability Coordinator 23 Adirondack View Middlebury College Middlebury, VT 05753 Phone: 802-443-5043 Email: [email protected]

CLOSING COMMENT Although Daemen has several old buildings on campus that lack energy efficiency, we at Daemen are optimistic that we can educate the campus community and reduce energy usage. Change on our campus occurs slowly. We will monitor future usage and will share news of our energy savings with members of the campus community to encourage them to continue their efforts. We will also continually review the Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

Bobby Levine Class of 2008 Middlebury College Middlebury, VT 05753 Phone: 802-443-2100 Email: [email protected] Jamie Henn Class of 2007 Box 3202 Middlebury College Middlebury, VT 05753 Phone: 802-443-3941 43

Email: [email protected] Emily Wheeler Class of 2007 Box 2788 Middlebury College Middlebury, VT 05753 Phone: 802-443-7481 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The college set a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent below its 1990 levels by 2012. Accomplishments Students and the faculty and staff members have responded to the college’s challenge. In 2003, a carbon reduction portfolio of projects was developed by a winter-term class taught by Jon Isham, professor of environmental economics. A Carbon Reduction Task Force of faculty and staff members and of students was established to begin implementation of priority projects. It was co-chaired by Bob Huth, the college treasurer, and Nan Jenks-Jay, director of environmental affairs, and more recently by Tom Corbin, assistant treasurer, and Mike Moser, assistant facilities director. Projects that have been implemented thus far include the following: • The college has switched its use of diesel fuel to B20 biodiesel (a blend of 20 percent vegetable oil and 80 percent diesel fuel) in 2005-2006. It now burns 175,000 gallons of biofuel a year in its maintenance vehicles and in 100 furnaces around campus. As a result, approximately 385 fewer tons of CO2 emitted per year. • In response to a student survey and awareness campaign, the college reduced the thermostat set point for all dormitories during the 2005-2006 heating season from 70 degrees Fahrenheit to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. This effort was Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

led by students Thomas Hand and Caitlin Matthews, with help from fellow Sunday Night Group students; Jack Byrne, sustainability coordinator; Mike McKenna, vice president for communications; Mike Moser, assistant director of facilities; and Tim Spears, dean of the college. As a result, 400 fewer tons of CO2 were emitted at a savings of approximately $50,000. • In 2006, with support from the college’s Environmental Council and from facilities staff members, a group students went dorm to dorm and exchanged nearly 1,800 compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) for incandescent bulbs. CFLs use 66 percent less energy than a comparable incandescent bulb. As a result, nine fewer tons of CO2 emitted per year at a savings of $9,100 per year. • In August 2005, through efforts by students and of faculty and staff members, and through a partnership with the Vermont Department of Public Service, a 10 kilowatt (10,000 watts) wind turbine was installed at the college’s recycling center on the west edge of the campus. The turbine demonstrates the value of renewable energy from wind by providing power to the recycling center. Data from the turbine’s operation are also used by the state to refine its wind resources maps. As a result, the wind turbine is providing approximately 15 percent of the monthly electricity used by the recycling center. • A special task group has been working on a plan to switch the college’s primary fuel source for our central heating and cooling plant from #6 fuel oil to woodchips, a carbon- neutral fuel. Because the trees from which the chips are made remove CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow, they emit no additional CO2 when burned, unlike fossil fuels which do. The result of this project would be approximately 12,000 fewer tons of CO2 emitted per year. • The college is putting in place a greenhouse gas (GHG) monitoring and report44

ing system through a cooperative effort of the environmental affairs department, the facilities department, the Environmental Council, and the Carbon Reduction Initiative Task Group. We on campus have joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Leaders program and are implementing their protocols for monitoring and reporting. This system will better enable the college to provide an annual report of its progress toward its GHG emission goals, to measure the effectiveness of CO2 reduction projects, and to provide an easily accessible database for campus energy research by students and faculty members. Challenges and Responses The major challenge of the college’s efforts has been to keep the momentum moving forward on multiple fronts. For example, the focus on the biomass and woodchip conversion project has required the time and effort of many of the Carbon Reduction Initiative Task Force members, thereby reducing the focus on implementing other elements of the reduction portfolio. This problem has been addressed by our working with the Environmental Council and the environmental affairs department to develop a strategy for beyond biomass, which has resulted in the effort to put a monitoring and reporting system in place and simultaneously to review and update the CO2 reduction portfolio. Those efforts have benefited from the CO2 reduction goals originating from the trustees and the executive leadership of the college, because the change reinforces the fact that this is a goal shared by all staff and faculty members, and by students. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The reduction of the thermostat set point during the 2005-2006 heating season was led by students Thomas Hand and Caitlin Matthews with help from Sunday Night Group students, Jack Byrne, sustainability coordinator, Mike McKenna, vice president for communications, Tim Spears, dean of the college, and Mike Moser, assistant director of facilities. In 2006, with support from the Environmen-

tal Council and from facilities staff members, a group of students went dorm to dorm and exchanged nearly 1,800 CFLs for incandescent bulbs. In August 2005, through efforts by students, and faculty and staff members, and through a partnership with the Vermont Department of Public Service, a 10 kilowatt (10,000 watts) wind turbine was installed at the college’s recycling center on the west edge of the campus. The college is putting in place a GHG monitoring and reporting system through a cooperative effort of the environmental affairs department, the facilities department, the Environmental Council, and the Carbon Reduction Initiative Task Group. The college also has joined the EPA’s Climate Leaders program and is implementing their protocols for monitoring and reporting. Funding and Resources Funding for the initiatives came from various departments and programs primarily in the form of staff members’ time and support on a proportional basis. The support occurred because there is an institution-wide commitment to GHG reduction and because, in general, many of the GHG reduction projects also result in cost savings resulting from reduced fuel or electricity usage. In addition, the Environmental Council provided grants to teams of students, and of staff and faculty members to carry out special tasks and projects that support the goal of reduced GHG emissions. Those grants were also used as incentives for matching support from other departments. For example, a group of students obtained funding from the Environmental Council, Treasurer’s Office, and Student Governance Association to help the local transit company purchase a small diesel bus that will burn biodiesel fuel and that will serve a route that runs from the Middlebury campus to around the town (and to the college ski area during the winter). Community Outreach and Education Students have reached out beyond the campus by adapting some of those projects for use by residents of Middlebury and other Vermont towns. The Environmental Seminar class also conducted a 72 Hours of Light campaign whereby they went door to door to households


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in Middlebury and offered residents energyefficient CFLs in exchange for less-efficient incandescent bulbs. Over the course of three days, the class distributed 7,000 CFLs and visited more than 800 homes in Middlebury and the surrounding area, helping residents save an estimated 1.4 million kilowatt hours of energy and $350,000 in electricity costs. Efficiency Vermont provided the CFLs, some donated and others at a reduced price, and both support and guidance in the planning of the event. Middlebury’s Aubuchon Hardware and Kinney Drugs were local community business partners that also helped distribute the CFLs to customers, with considerable help from the Middlebury Area Global Warming Coalition. Another student, Thomas Hand, conducted a similar program on his own initiative in his hometown of Manchester, Vermont, with support from its town officials and businesses. Climate Change The college switched its use of diesel fuel to B20 Biodiesel (a blend of 20 percent vegetable oil and 80 percent diesel fuel) in 2005-2006 reducing CO2 emissions per year by approximately 385 tons. In response to a student survey and awareness campaign, the college reduced the thermostat set point for all dormitories during the 20052006 heating season from 70 degrees Fahrenheit to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Federation (NWF) Campus Ecology program publications to gather ideas and examples and to learn who has experience that we at Middlebury can apply to the early stages of some of our initiatives. The networking function of the program is especially valuable so we can quickly find people who can provide advice and resources to help us make Middlebury College a more sustainable campus. It also has been a valuable method for other students and staff members to connect with people here on our campus to share our lessons learned from our initiatives. CLOSING COMMENT The best advice we at Middlebury College can give is to keep pursuing your dreams and aspirations for your campus. Using science and common sense, you can make the best case for the importance of reducing GHG emissions. Gather the support of faculty and staff members for your initiatives. Convince the college leadership and trustees to endorse a specific goal for reducing emissions. Put a portfolio of projects together, and show how they will pay back in dollars saved and emissions avoided. And have fun doing it! Even small steps are important, they create the needed change and show others how they can do it too.

In 2006, as mentioned earlier, a group of students went dorm to dorm and exchanged nearly 1,800 CFLs for incandescent bulbs. Also mentioned earlier, a special task group has been working on a plan to switch the college’s primary fuel source for its central heating and cooling plant from #6 fuel oil to woodchips, a carbon neutral fuel. And, the college is putting in place a GHG monitoring and reporting system through a cooperative effort of the environmental affairs department, the facilities department, the Environmental Council, and the Carbon Reduction Initiative Task Group. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The college uses many of National Wildlife

(C) George Kraemer

BACKGROUND Campus Profile As part of the State University of New York system, Purchase College is a four-year institution with an interdisciplinary atmosphere. Roughly 4,000 undergraduates are enrolled in programs in liberal arts, performing arts, and


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fine arts. Contacts George Kraemer Professor Email: [email protected] Lindsay Randall Class of 2007 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals This year’s goal was to reduce energy consumption on campus by lowering the hot water temperature for the campus academic buildings and dorms by 5 degrees Fahrenheit, with support from the Student Government Association and the college administration. Next year’s goals include converting to at least 10 percent green energy for campus electricity requirements. Accomplishments The hot water temperature on campus was lowered, and the college estimates that the decrease will save about $86,000 during the coming year. In addition, Lindsay Randall of Purchase College planned a series of events that was during Sustainable Living Week, and was co-sponsored by the college’s Purchase Environmental Activists (PEA). The events, occurring from Monday, April 4, through Friday, April 8, 2006, focused attention on raising student awareness of the ability to live sustainably. Students at Purchase College were asked to pledge to adhere to more environmentally benign activities. As an incentive to pledge to change their lifestyles, students received a canvas bag that included a roll of toilet paper made from 100 percent post-consumer material, several pieces of organic Bug-Bites chocolate, and a packet of information containing the schedule and background information for Sustainable Living Week. Although there were only 250 canvas bags, more than 350 people signed the pledge to live more sustainably for a week! ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters

PEA organized and conducted the Sustainability Week activities. Lindsay Randall, President of PEA, spearheaded the effort. Steve Dorso, director of Facilities Management, was helpful in providing energy information. Funding and Resources Sustainability Week cost roughly $400 in materials, and labor, was free). The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) supported the Sustainability Week. Community Outreach and Education Each day of Sustainability Week had a different theme that tied into energy conservation in some way: Monday was Reduce Meat Consumption Day, Tuesday was Electronics Consciousness Day, Wednesday was Challenging Consumerism Day, Thursday was Heating and Hot Water Usage Day, and Friday was Crazy Recycling Day. Three of the days had events that corresponded with the theme of the day: Reduce Meat Consumption Day featured a free, vegetarian, pot-luck dinner for all students; Challenging Consumerism Day included a showing of the NWF video titled The Cost of Cool, followed by a discussion; and Crazy Recycling Day featured an all-day collection of recyclable materials at two different campus locations. Climate Change Climate change was directly addressed by lowering the hot water temperature in academic buildings and dorms by 5 degrees Fahrenheit, resulting in a reduction of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The events during Sustainability Week focused on energy conservation and provided fun ways for students, faculty and staff members to learn to be more energy conscious.

National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program National Wildlife Federation’s video titled The Cost of Cool was shown on Challenging Consumerism Day. CLOSING COMMENT Sustainable Living Week was a great success, and as a result, the Purchase Environmental Activists intend to make it a yearly tradition!


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~ Bree Jambor, NWF Campus Ecology Fellow “This project would never have happened without the NWF’s Campus Ecology program.” ~


(C) Bree Jambor

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Sheldon Jackson College (SJ), the oldest educational institute in Alaska, is a private, fouryear liberal arts college located on Baranof Island in Sitka. SJ enrolls approximately 130 students, the majority of whom are Alaska Natives, although students come from all over the world. The most popular major is education, which prepares students to be teachers in rural Alaska. SJ is also well known for its unique environmental science and outdoor leadership programs. During the past few years, SJ has worked hard to make the campus greener. In the 2002-2003 school year, the maintenance department completed a $100,000 grant to install low energy lighting. In 2003, the studentrun Environmental Awareness Committee implemented a campus-wide recycling program. The campus has also participated in Sitka’s Earth Day events for the past four years. Contacts Bree Jambor NWF Campus Ecology Fellow Outdoor Leadership Major Class of 2007 Email: [email protected] Chris Bryner Grant Processor Dean of Students Phone: 907-747-5220 Email: [email protected]

Goals This project consists of two areas: education and energy efficiency. The education goals of the project are to increase awareness of global warming effects and related solutions and to provide students and others with the knowledge and tools needed to make a difference. Those educational goals will be carried out during two Earth Day symposia and through the project’s introduction to the entire community through various means. The energy efficiency goals are to reduce SJ’s diesel consumption, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and taking part in the fight against human-caused climate change. This goal will be researched by conducting a blower door test on a residence hall to find all leaks in the building. The leaks will then be sealed and the building better insulated to make it more efficient to heat, thereby requiring fewer diesels to be burned. This project will serve as an example for future building projects on campus and throughout Sitka. Accomplishments The 2006 Earth Day events were very successful. A symposium was held in which this project was presented to the community, and SJ’s chemistry professor gave a presentation about climate change and biodiesel. Several people enthusiastically offered their support to the project, including the president of the college and the Sitka Conservation Society. Sitka residents were excited to learn how they could make their own homes more energy efficient. They were also made told how global climate change is has become a serious problem. As a result, Sitkans formed a committee to address the problem in Sitka. The blower door has been built, and everything is almost ready for the blower door test.


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Challenges and Responses One challenge was building the blower door because of very limited directions. However, the maintenance department staff members very kindly took time out of a very busy schedule to help with construction. They provided the wood, squirrel cage fan, and other materials needed and demonstrated how to put everything together. They have also offered their time to help with the blower door test. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters I, Bree Jambor, National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Campus Ecology Fellow, am the leader of this project, with the help of the dean of students and the maintenance department. The project has the full support of student groups such as the Environmental Awareness Committee (EAC) and the Associated Student Body (ASB). Funding and Resources The NWF Campus Ecology Fellowship was the biggest source of funding for this project. EAC helped to fund the Earth Day symposium, and ASB offered funding for expenditures beyond the funding of the fellowship.

human-caused climate change. When the project is complete, SJ’s diesel consumption will be decreased by as much as 70 percent, greatly lowering the amount of carbon dioxide that is being released into the atmosphere from burning diesel. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program This project would never have happened without the NWF’s Campus Ecology program. Although I had many ideas for improving the campus, I did not know how to go about doing so until I found out about the fellowship opportunity. The project could not have been done without NWF’s financial support and its Campus Ecology recognition. CLOSING COMMENT My doing this project as an NWF Campus Ecology Fellow makes it seem much less daunting. I was very encouraged and inspired to know that college students all over the United States are making their campuses greener with the help of NWF.

The maintenance department generously offered the use of their equipment and tools. The department also donated plywood, a squirrel cage fan, and other materials for the blower door. Community Outreach and Education One goal of this project was to educate the community and to raise awareness of global climate change. The project was presented in an Earth Day symposium, and a science professor gave a presentation on global climate change and biodiesel. Another symposium will be held on the next Earth Day with more presentations, and the results of the residence hall project will be presented. The campus newsletter, The Neek printed an article about the project, and I will be appearing on a local television show, Splash, to talk about the project. Fliers were also posted throughout Sitka on how to make homes more energy efficient. Climate Change This project directly addresses the problem of

(C) Laura Madera

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of British Columbia (UBC) campus lies a few kilometers from downtown Vancouver. It is located on the tip of the Point Grey peninsula and is surrounded by 763 hectares of forested parkland that provide a green belt between the campus and the city.


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Incorporated by the British Columbia government in 1908, UBC has consistently ranked among the top 50 universities in the world. A research-intensive university with the province’s only medical school, UBC is home to more than 50,000 undergraduate, graduate and international students and has an economic benefit of $4 billion for the local economy It has been only five years since UBC became Canada’s first university to implement a sustainable development policy, and already it is Canada’s leader in campus sustainability. In academia, UBC has many years of nurturing world-class scholars, including Ecological Footprint theorist Bill Rees and green architecture genius Ray Cole. Campus think-tanks ranging from the Sustainable Development Research Institute to the Institute for Health Promotion Research are conducting cutting-edge work. Faculty members in schools such as Agricultural Sciences and the School of Community and Regional Planning have adopted sustainability as a core value. The university also offers an impressive array of more than 40 courses directly related to sustainability. Contact Jorge Marques Manager, Energy and Green Building Phone: 604-822-9309 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goal of this project is the completion of ECOTrek, UBC’s energy and water retrofit program. Designed to save an abundance of energy and water, this upgrade generates savings of approximately $3 million annually. While improving comfort for building occupants, the project reduces core energy use on campus by up to 30 percent annually. It also reduces carbon dioxide emissions by about 30,000 tonnes annually and water use in core facilities by up to 45 percent each year. Accomplishments The project’s goals have been accomplished. The largest energy and water infrastructure

upgrade ever to take place on a Canadian campus successfully concluded in March 2006. Like other public institutions across the country, UBC has a large deferred maintenance program. Currently, the university’s deferred maintenance bill is more than $300 million. ECOTrek, however, has reduced that tab by $12 million with no cost to taxpayers. In 2005-2006, ECOTrek highlights included these: • Upgrade the ventilation systems for more than 100 buildings. • Install electricity, steam, and water meters in more than 50 buildings. • Add automation. Challenges and Responses The project required a CDN $35 million internal university loan. The long payback period, about 17 years for the borrowed money, was a barrier to receiving the funding. Convincing the senior administration that the long payback was justifiable proved a challenge. Another challenge was the fact that to ensure the project is carried out effectively, the performance contract required a guarantee for the energy savings. This guarantee would not have been possible by using internal staff members for the construction. Because our campus is a unionized institution, we at UBC had to find a way to deal with this issue. We addressed both challenges by demonstrating the benefits of the project beyond the financial. UBC has a multimillion dollar deferred maintenance problem, which means a lot of the buildings are in disrepair. It was key that the university’s Board of Governors must understand the deferred maintenance problem first. Early in the process, the board received a presentation outlining the gravity of the deferred maintenance issue. Later, we showed how ECOTrek could help address the problem. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters This project was generated and administered by staff members. UBC’s sustainable development policy proved helpful in gaining campus support for the project. For more information on the policy, see UBC’s website at: www. policy.ubc.ca/policy5.htm.


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Funding and Resources The project is budgeted at CDN $35 million, which was secured from an internal loan and incentives from the local utility. The Associate Vice President of Land and Building Services championed the project, which proved instrumental. ECOTrek will save a minimum of CDN $2.5 million per year when the funding is repaid. Community Outreach and Education Outreach and education included employee training and orientation, workshops, lunches, and media releases of progress. The project has also been featured in local and national media. Climate Change Thanks to innovative projects like ECOTrek, UBC will reach its Kyoto Protocol targets ahead of schedule. We at UBC are addressing climate change by reducing the university’s carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent before Canada’s 2012 deadline, and saving money at the same time. ECOTrek annually reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 30,000 tonnes. To learn how ECOTrek does so, see its website at www. ecotrek.ubc.ca/index.html.

members, and 750 staff members live, study, or work on the college’s 450-acre campus and 2,800 outlying acres located in the Berkshires in Williamstown, Massachusetts, a city that is 135 miles from Boston and 165 miles from New York City. Williams is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges, and its faculty members are noted for the quality of their undergraduate teaching. Among the 33 majors offered at Williams, the most popular are economics, psychology, English, and political science. Earlier campus greening efforts included biological and meteorological research in the college’s 2,500-acre Hopkins Memorial Forest, the introduction of local and organic produce in the dining halls, and the installation of a cogeneration plant in 2002. Groups working on environmental issues at Williams include the student organization, GreenSense, and the student-faculty-staff Campus Environmental Advisory Committee (CEAC). Contacts Alison Davies Class of 2007 Chair of CEAC Phone: 503-201-6058 Email: [email protected] Sarah Gardner Associate Director Lecturer, Environmental Studies CEAC Member Phone: 413-597-4209 Email: [email protected] Irene Addison Associate Vice President for Facilities and Auxiliary Services CEAC member Phone: 413-597-2303 Email: [email protected]

National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program Both the Ecodemia and enrollment reporting were helpful. The National Wildlife Federation name recognition was also useful. CLOSING COMMENT As Freda Pagani, director of UBC Sustainability Office, says “Get on with it!”

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS BACKGROUND Campus Profile Established in 1793, Williams College is a fouryear, private, residential, liberal arts institution with graduate programs in the history of art and in development economics. Approximately 2,000 undergraduate students, 300 faculty

Goals For this academic year, CEAC established the goal of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of Williams College through energy conservation and investment in renewable energy. Achieving that goal was to include the implementation of a program that allowed students the option of purchasing green power for their


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campus dorm rooms and that encouraged the college to match student purchases. Regarding energy conservation, that goal would include the replacement of incandescent task lighting with energy-efficient, compact, fluorescent bulbs by the facilities department and a light bulb exchange in which students could trade in their personal incandescent bulbs for new compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL). We in CEAC also hoped that both of those components would help to increase community awareness of the issues surrounding climate change. For a long-term goal, we set our sights on a significant reduction of the college’s greenhouse gas emissions—particularly carbon dioxide—through the adoption and implementation of a Williams College climate initiative, which would establish target reductions to be achieved over the next several years and would include policies for purchasing and creating electricity from renewable sources, green building, and increased student awareness. Accomplishments Although we in CEAC did not achieve our first short-term goal, the implementation of a program that would allow students to purchase green power, we achieved all other goals related to climate change, including our long-term goal. A total of 1,100 faculty and staff members, and students signed a petition calling for reductions in the college’s carbon emissions. The administration formally signed the initiative on Earth Day. To read Williams College President Morton Schapiro’s letter to the campus on this subject, see the college’s website at www.williams.edu/resources/sustainability/ earth_week_letter.php. The acceptance of the initiative led to the formation of a student-faculty-staff Climate Action Committee, whose task is to determine by the end of the calendar year the percentage of reductions that will aim for and to investigate the most effective ways of reaching a target that is set. In effect, the achievement of this longterm goal precluded that of the first short-term goal this year, but student purchasing of green power is certain to be a part of the Climate Action Plan and is an issue that CEAC will continue to pursue along with the Climate Action Committee.

We in CEAC directly achieved our goal of promoting energy conservation by replacing incandescent lighting with CFLs. At our recommendation and with much research on its part, the facilities department enthusiastically replaced hundreds of bulbs in dorms and other buildings. The student exchange was fairly successful. We found that distributing CFLs in the freshman dorms during a weekly meeting was the most successful mode of managing the operation. Exchanges held at dining halls at meal times, did not work well because students had to remember to bring their personal bulbs to the dining hall, and then they either had to return the CFLs to their rooms or had to keep them while eating. We believe that the public nature of all of those events, particularly the visibility of the college president’s support, contributed to increasing student awareness of the issues of energy consumption and climate change. The concurrent development of a Williams Sustainability website, which includes real-time data about the college’s energy consumption, will likely be a valuable venue for increasing the community’s access to information on those and other issues regarding our effect on the environment. Challenges and Responses We in CEAC did not encounter any major challenges during the preliminary achievement of our goal of a Williams College climate initiative, but some minor issues arose along the way. One of those was the collection of signatures for the petition. At the outset, the sole mode of collecting signatures was through the student website, but faculty and staff members could not sign it there (although after several days, signing was enabled). Thus, we established a special email account and message to which faculty and staff members could respond to indicate their support. Signatures were also gathered in dining halls at meal times. Therefore, the signatures had to be aggregated somewhat tediously because of the variety of ways in which they were collected. Better streamlining of the signature collection from the start and strong publicizing of it would likely make this process easier for other groups trying to do the same. The drawbacks of the CFL exchange have already been discussed to some degree, but they


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include students’ lack of awareness of the benefits and quality of this efficient lighting, concurrent with, and perhaps in part because of the minimal publicizing of the event. Although, one message describing CFLs had been distributed in the college’s daily announcement email some months in advance, and one more was sent advertising the exchange, but those messages did not overcome the awkward timing and location of the exchange. Better execution of the project would involve earlier, clearer, and more wide spread publicizing of the event in different media on campus, as well as a different method of operation focusing on visiting dorms at a specified time rather than making students bring their bulbs to a central location. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters A handful of CEAC members were the chief organizers of the projects with the support and advice of the rest of the committee. Much of the work on the climate initiative was completed by one student, two faculty members, and the Associate Vice President for Facilities and Auxiliary Services. The latter was particularly crucial to the success of this project not only because she understands the college’s ability to respond to the demands of the climate petition, but because much of that response must come in the form of physical changes in the area of buildings and grounds. She was very enthusiastic about the project both for its environmental goals, and for the potential for savings on energy costs, which have risen dramatically at Williams in recent years. She was also key in communicating with the president and his office about those issues. Furthermore, in the end, the support of those individuals was absolutely critical to the achievement of our goal. Individuals in the facilities department were also responsible for the replacement of incandescent task lighting with CFLs, including the research required to determine the light quality, costs, and energy savings of the various types of bulbs. They also supplied CFLs for the student exchange, which was carried out by student members of CEAC. Funding and Resources At this point in implementing the climate initia-

tive, no financial support has been required. The project will certainly incur costs as particular strategies to reduce the college’s emissions are adopted, such as the replacement of inefficient equipment. Those costs will become evident over the next several years, during which time the college will be able to predict and confirm cost savings that result from those efforts. The funding for the CFLs that replaced incandescent lighting came from the facilities department budget. Community Outreach and Education CEAC garnered support for the climate initiative petition through email announcements and the petitions placement on the student website, while its public acceptance by the presi dent of the college in an email to the campus and the student newspaper’s coverage of the event informed the public of the climate initiative thereafter. Public events during this year’s climate change focused Earth Week, including a speech by Bill McKibben and a panel discussion on campus sustainability, provided other means of educating the community about this issue and the related progress at Williams. As the COOL (CO2 Lowering) committee was also prepared to announce a similar initiative for Williamstown, both the college’s projects and COOL’s projects were discussed in tandem at a public conference and were subsequently covered in local newspapers. Because the college’s behaviour constitutes much of the town’s, it makes sense that the two should work together on reducing emissions. Climate Change We do not need to say that our project directly addresses global climate change! CLOSING COMMENT Although, government regulations that work to reduce or slow global warming have yet to appear, communities such as Williams College can take the initiative to make changes on their own. Garnering support for such initiatives does not seem to be difficult if done with adequate education of the community, because climate change is a serious issue that affects us all. However, modifying the modus operandi of those whose decisions affect emissions and funding the necessary changes are likely to prove more challenging. During the next several years, we in CEAC hope that Williams Col


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lege will be able to share advice in those areas as its climate initiative takes effect, and we encourage all other institutions to join in those efforts.


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One of the best strategies to improve the environmental forecast is education and awareness. Environmental literacy programs and activities aim to instill a conservation ethic in members of the campus community and ensure that students graduate with the necessary skills and knowledge to make informed and sustainable choices throughout their lives. Colleges and universities are hosting Earth Day celebrations and days of action to promote environmental awareness on campus. Courses and degrees in environmental sustainability are becoming more widely available. And schools are hiring sustainability coordinators to organize environmental initiatives on campus. Environmental literacy is the gateway to educating the campus community using interdisciplinary methods and developing solutions ensuring that we protect wildlife, habitat and slow global warming. The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign’s environmental outreach efforts have made a difference on campus. In 2006, volunteers labeled more than 50 percent of the storm drains on campus to educate the community about storm water runoff.

~ The greatest contribution made by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) was the continued incentive it gives the school community to become part of its Campus Ecology Yearbook and potentially to gain Campus Ecology Recognition. Berkshire’s community is very excited about the prospect of again being recognized by such a highly respected organization that does so much for our environment. We at Berkshire want to be part of the solution, and the NWF’s Campus Ecology Recognition program makes us feel as though our work really has meaning. Other sources such as the monthly e-news and consultations with staff members continue to be very helpful as we troubleshoot problems throughout the year. ~ Berkshire School

Campus Campus Ecology Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

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BACKGROUND Campus Profile Ball State University (BSU), situated on 940 acres in Muncie, Indiana, serves approximately 19,000 students (45 percent male and 55 percent female). Seven academic colleges offer 120 undergraduate programs, 80 master’s programs, and 20 doctoral programs in 46 departments and schools. Approximately 750 faculty members, 550 professional staff and 1,500 support personnel comprise the employee base. Contacts Robert J. Koester Professor of Architecture Director, Center for Energy Research/Education/Service Phone: 765-285-1135 Fax: 765-285-5622 Email: [email protected] Dr. Stan Keil Associate Professor Department of Economics Phone: 765-285-5364 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals Host the sixth in a series of international conferences on Greening of the Campus. Accomplishments The conference was held September 15-17, 2005. Some 300 persons attended this sixth offering in the Greening of the Campus conference series. These attendees represented well over 106 universities as well as 20 private firms and 15 organizations from throughout North America and other parts of the world. The university continues to benefit tremendously from hosting this bi-annual gathering. This was by far the most successful of the conferences in this multi-year series. We again had an outstanding list of keynote presenters

and structured the meeting times to enable networking opportunities for attendees. The proceedings for this conference were the largest yet assembled and as before represented the full spectrum of issues facing colleges and universities as they embrace the greening of the campus movement. The conference included technical paper sessions, poster sessions, panel sessions, and workshops; we even hosted for the first time, the staging of a dance performance based on the conference theme. We continue to be fortunate in that our University’s Strategic Plan explicitly notes our desire to be “a national model for all who seek intellectual vitality in a learner centered and socially responsible academic community”. And as noted in our University Statement on Sustainability, we seek to foster a community that sustains ecological systems and educates for environmental awareness, local action, and global thinking. This conference embodied these statements of intent. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters We had the benefit of leadership by members of the same planning committee that has steered previous events. Our new President and Interim Provost worked to maintain the financial support and absorb some of the cost of this gathering. This enabled us to keep the registration fees to a modest level. Numerous articles on a daily basis were published in the local East Central Indiana newspaper; our own campus news bureau was very effective at posting news releases for distribution statewide. On occasion, these articles are picked up by communities throughout Indiana. Funding and Resources A combination of in-house resources and attendee conference fees. The Office of the Provost was the primary source of internal funds; Center for Energy/Research/Education/Service provided some supplement. Climate Change We had several workshops that discussed climate change including the Healthy Alternatives/Sustainability Choices interactive session, the Tufts Climate Initiative presentation, as well as the Energy Conservation Initiative session.


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We did not provide the offset purchase option to participants directly; we did offer a ride share option to lessen impacts; see the web page for the link to that program. The detailed listing of program content is available as a PDF file on our web page: http://www.bsu.edu/greening/materials/grn6schedule.pdf National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® program Reference to Campus Ecology publications such as Ecodemia and State of the Campus Environment, as well as the reports about other campus efforts in the Campus Ecology Yearbook continue to be touchstones in garnering support for the maintenance of this bi-annual conference offering. CLOSING COMMENT The strengths of this bi-annual gathering were reflected in the mix of those presenting papers, participating in workshops, and attending the keynote lectures. We again had members of the full constituency of university representation, including students, faculty, administrators, professional staff, and procurement offices and facilities managers. The next conference in scheduled for September 2007.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Set on 500 acres at the base of a mountain, Berkshire School offers a rigorous, college preparatory program in which students embrace the school’s motto: Learning, not just for school, but for life. A close rapport among faculty and students, coupled with the Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program (RKMP) and the Leadership and Character Development Program, emphasizes personal growth and a commitment to the community. The school is a rural campus of about 380 students located in Sheffield, Massa-

chusetts. Last year, Berkshire School received Campus Ecology Recognition for its waste management efforts; a comprehensive recycling program was institutionalized. Contacts Frank Barros Director of the Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program Phone: 413-229-1348 Email: [email protected] Ben Weil Class of 2006 Phone: 413-637-1204 Email: [email protected] Peter Kinne Environmental Science Teacher Phone: 413-229-1323 Email: [email protected] Spencer Noyes Class of 2006 Phone: 315-363-0692 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goals of the project were to determine what Berkshire School needs to address (a) to call itself a truly “green” campus, (b) to develop an administrative structure that will give employees specific responsibilities as part of their overall job description, and (c) to create a student group that participates in the continued greening of our campus. Next year, all freshmen will participate in an environmental awareness program. In two years, a junior and senior elective will be offered in which students are given the responsibility to manage the school’s conservation needs, and an environmental symposium of local and national speakers will be organized for the school’s centennial celebration. Accomplishments Administrators, faculty members, and students all contributed through several different venues in the creation of a conservation experience for incoming freshman. Throughout the year, eight class days will be dedicated solely to conservation awareness issues. The eight topics will be


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the following: recycling, the school’s natural history, energy, water, dining services, buildings and grounds, forestry and the mountain, and invasive species. Speakers, discussion groups, and experiential activities (mostly on the mountain) will be conducted on those eight days. Next year, RKMP will organize a student group that will continue the school’s waste reduction efforts and will set the foundation for the conservation elective. Seniors and juniors taking the elective will lead the community in its waste reduction program, energy and water conservation efforts, environmentally responsible purchasing practices, habitat restoration, and improvements in both dining services and transportation. The student group organized by RKMP will play a large role in making necessary contacts and setting the tone for the procedural changes that will begin the following year. Finally, the head of school is working with development to raise the additional funding needed for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification of new buildings. The school’s commitment to conservation is written in the master plan. The trustees are serious about following through with this commitment as decisions are made from building design through the construction stages. Challenges and Responses Logistically, finding the time needed to seriously talk about policy changes that would affect both the academic and the athletic schedules are very difficult. Many administrators, faculty members, and students need to be involved in those decisions. Berkshire School is a very traditional New England preparatory school, and it doesn’t want to change its identity. However, the school knows that it must become more environmentally responsible. In fact, it wants to emerge as an environmental leader in secondary education. The challenge is to attract and enroll the business leaders of tomorrow with the hope that Berkshire School can instill a sense of caring for our natural resources. First, the head of school supported the work of Berkshire School’s ad hoc Environmental Awareness Committee, and respected the decisions made by this committee. Second, with the financial support of members of the trustee

board, he organized a retreat for key members of the community to finalize plans for a form experience through which academic and athletic time would be sacrificed for education in environmental awareness. Decisions were made and schedules were created. The final results were presented to the Board of Trustees, faculty members, and students and were received with enthusiasm. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The Environmental Management Committee, organized by members of the school’s RKMP, is most responsible for the success of this project. RKMP encourages students to interact with natural resources, and it fosters interdependency between people and their natural surroundings. Members included the chair of RKMP, the director of physical plant, various science teachers, the director of academic affairs, and students from each grade. Of course, the entire conservation push would not be possible without the long-term commitment of the administration and the Board of Trustees, a commitment expressed very strongly in the school’s master plan. Funding and Resources Most of the resources needed to create the management structure were people. Thus, the major obstacle became time. However, one very significant contribution came from the head of school’s discretionary fund to organize the aforementioned retreat. This retreat cost the school just over $10,000, much of which went to the individual hired to facilitate the decision-making process. In addition, other costs were associated with the additional research done by our architects and engineers to have future construction projects become LEED certified. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The greatest contribution made by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) was the continued incentive it gives the school community to become part of its Campus Ecology Yearbook and potentially to gain Campus Ecology Recognition. Berkshire’s community is very excited about the prospect of again being recognized


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by such a highly respected organization that does so much for our environment. We at Berkshire want to be part of the solution, and the NWF’s Campus Ecology Recognition program makes us feel as though our work really has meaning. Other sources such as the monthly e-news and consultations with staff members continue to be very helpful as we troubleshoot problems throughout the year. CLOSING COMMENT Berkshire School is a very traditional New England boarding school that walks the gray line between economic growth and environmental sustainability. Programs that promote environmental conservation force traditional students out of their comfort zone and into thinking about consequences: several seniors have reported finding themselves in places such as New York, New York, with a can in their hand expecting to find a recycling bin. When the local land trust put a restriction last year on the construction of a new athletic field, because of its possible interference with the habitat of timber rattlesnakes, the debates were not one-sided. Teachers more and more are looking for ways to use our mountain as a classroom. The learning curve is still steep for our school, but we are enjoying the challenge. In any institution that values education and that understands the need to be environmentally responsible, going through a process such as this is invaluable.

(C) John Wear

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Catawba College is a private, four-year liberal arts institution that seeks to unite a diverse population of students, faculty members, and staff members, as active co-participants in scholarship and service. Its 970 traditional students and 350 evening and graduate school students pursue a variety of disciplines leading to bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees as well as the master of education degree. In recent years, Environmental Science and Studies has become one of the college’s flagship programs, and its Center for the Environment has earned a regional reputation as a leader in educating the public about environmental issues and in promoting sustainable solutions. Since its inception in 1996, the center has involved its students, its faculty members, and staff members, and its partners in all programs and activities. With the help of the center, students have spearheaded a Campus Greening Initiative that has netted significant changes in campus energy efficiency and in commitments to recycling, composting, and green building. Contact John Wear, PhD Director, Catawba College Center for the Environment Phone: 704-637-4727 Email: [email protected]


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energy conservation measures that will reduce air pollution.

Goals The Clean Air Initiative is a college and community effort that targets businesses, industry, and elected officials, as well as the college and community at large.

• The center worked with Gary Moll, vice president of American Forests’ Urban Forest Center, to launch a regional ecosystem analysis, which helps planning departments map the existing tree cover and project costs that would accompany any change in the tree canopy. This analysis clearly affects air quality because trees help to purify the air.

The primary goal of the Clean Air Initiative is to educate the college and the general public about air pollution and to foster programs to mitigate that pollution in Rowan County, North Carolina, and the surrounding counties. We at Catawba want to increase the level of public awareness in the business, industrial, and governmental sectors, as well as in the college community and general citizenry. We constantly stress the theme that economic prosperity, health, and quality of life are all inextricably intertwined with the environmental health of our region. Our Center for the Environment’s intent was to partner with Rowan County, its municipalities, health providers, and businesses, and with regional and national organizations, such as the Centralina Council of Governments’ Sustainable Environment for Quality of Life (SEQL) program and American Forests, to improve the quality of the air in Piedmont, North Carolina. Specifically, we pledged to launch a multifaceted educational campaign on ozone awareness and reduction measures that would include a Clean Air Lecture Series, a regional conference focusing on community strategies for action, brochures, press releases, speeches to community groups, a website, and guest columns submitted to newspapers. We also sought to translate the information provided by the experts into community action.

• The center coordinated the unveiling of the Rowan County Greenway Plan with a presentation by Chuck Flink, a nationally known greenways authority who guided the design of the project. The Salisbury Greenway, which is part of the master plan, travels through the Catawba campus. The center played a leadership role in its creation. • The center included developers on a panel accompanying a presentation by Nate Bowman. It also coordinated meetings between Bowman, who won the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2004 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement, and local developers to educate them about the importance of compact, mixed-use, walkable communities and other new urbanist principles. The center successfully partnered with many groups to educate students and the public and to effect positive change. Here are a few examples:

Accomplishments We at the center can point to a host of accomplishments that have emerged from our ongoing effort. Our center connected a number of speakers from our Clean Air Lecture Series with appropriate groups to effect sustainable solutions to the air pollution problem we face. Examples include these: • The center hosted meetings between Larry Shirley, director of the State Office of Energy, city, county, and Catawba College staff members to implement Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

• The center supported student efforts to launch a Campus Greening Initiative, which resulted in significant energy conservation measures on campus and other environmentally sound practices. • The Rowan Regional Medical Center ran a cover story on air quality and health, which featured the Clean Air Initiative, in its Healthy Living magazine. • Rowan Business magazine ran a cover story on “The Business of Breathing,” which included a guest column by John Wear, director of the center. 60

• The center championed the efforts of County Commissioner Leda Belk and the Centralina Council of Governments to electrify a nearby truck stop so truckers, who have stopped for the night, do not have to run their engines to power electronic devices. • The center worked with the transportation staff in the Rowan-Salisbury school system to promote the retrofitting of 100 school buses to reduce diesel emissions. The center staff members received two air quality awards: a 2005 Airkeeper Award from the Carolinas Clean Air Coalition and an award from the North Carolina Air Awareness Program for its contribution and dedication to improve the state’s air quality during the 2004 ozone season. The Community Strategies for Action conference in March 2006, which was originally intended for a statewide audience, actually drew participants from outside North Carolina. True to its commitment to involve diverse constituencies, the center designed the conference for local government employees, school system administrators, health care educators, teachers, Chamber of Commerce members, real estate professionals, developers, builders, and interested citizens. Challenges and Responses One of the primary challenges we at Catawba faced was helping elected officials understand (a) that a significant problem exists and (b) that what is good for the environment is also good for the local economy and quality of life that our citizens enjoy. The challenge was renewed with each election when a new set of officials took their places on the boards. A number of decision makers have attended our lectures and conferences and we have purposely included county and municipal staff members in meetings promoting changes that will affect our air quality. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The business community offered uncommon

financial support of the Clean Air Initiative; banks, corporations, foundations, and individuals funded all of our efforts. In addition, numerous organizations, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and N.C. Division of Air Quality to the city of Salisbury and Mecklenburg County Air Quality, partnered with us on specific projects. Our environmental students lent substantial support through their help with the lecture series and conference and through their efforts on campus to promote energy efficiency and other sustainable practices that affect air quality. The college also thoroughly endorsed both the effort and the countless hours the center director spent on the initiative. Funding and Resources The Clean Air Initiative is privately funded. The center received funds specifically for the effort from banks, businesses, corporations, and individuals. Through partnerships at Catawba we reached more people with pertinent information without incurring a cost to the center. Community Outreach and Education The entire Clean Air Initiative focused on community outreach and education. Specifics are provided under Goals and Accomplishments. In addition, the center’s Clean Air Initiative website provided helpful information to the students and the community, as did numerous newspaper columns by Center Director John Wear and news releases chronicling issues and events. The Salisbury Post has been a strong advocate of the effort through its editorials and its decisions to allot generous space for Clean Air Initiative stories. Attendance at lectures and informal responses to news stories indicated a keen interest on the part of diverse groups in the community. Climate Change Our efforts at Catawba to educate students and the public about ways to bring about sustainable solutions to air pollution have indirectly addressed global climate change. One lecture focused exclusively on the subject, specifically noting the effect of rising levels of carbon dioxide on the state of North Carolina and the world.


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Campus Ecology® Program General literature provided by the NWF’s Campus Ecology program stimulated interest in Catawba’s students about issues related to air quality and the environment. The students’ involvement in the effort offered invaluable hands-on experience in moving a community toward sustainable solutions and contact with leaders in fields related to air quality. CLOSING COMMENT One of the keys to our initiative’s success in the community is the involvement of diverse groups. When business people, government officials, doctors, bankers, architects, and real estate brokers all understand that environmental matters affect economic prosperity, the public health, and the very lifestyle they have come to enjoy, they are much more inclined to support an environmental initiative. We at Catawba believe strongly that to strengthen one element of our community, we must strengthen all. That mindset has made a big difference in the success of our effort. People who would formerly have spurned an environmental cause have become ardent supporters because we have invited them to the table and have worked diligently to demonstrate the interdependence of seemingly disparate interests. The result has been truly inspiring.

course of study geared to investigate, and ultimately improve, the relationships between human beings and their social and natural communities. Students at COA are both reflective and active. In 1972, COA’s first year, students were instrumental in getting Maine’s legislature to pass the returnable bottle bill. In 2004, COA contracted to have 100 percent of campus energy come from renewable sources. In 2005, COA held the nation’s first known zerowaste graduation, setting a standard for minimal waste at all college events. Other efforts include sustainable architecture, an organic kitchen garden ongoing since the college’s first year, sustainable purchasing for food and office materials, kitchen composting, and total campus recycling. Contacts David Hales President Phone: 207-288-5015, ext. 231 Donna Gold Director of Public Relations Phone: 207-288-5015 ext. 291 Sarah Short Earth Day Coordinator John Deans Sustainability Intern Craig ten Broeck Sustainability Director GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

(C) Liam Hollis

BACKGROUND Campus Profile College of the Atlantic (COA) is a small, fouryear, private college with one major: human ecology. Its 285 students design their own

Goals COA’s primary goal for this year’s Earth Day was to use the resources of its students, staff members, and faculty members to reach out to the community, creating a major celebration with numerous participants to clearly mark April 22 as a day to honor the Earth. The college hoped to bring families together in their concern for the environment by raising awareness of the natural history of the region, offering ecological solutions to household problems, and making such efforts fun. Ultimately, we at the college hoped the community would see COA as a resource for a wide variety of sustainable efforts. To that end, the college arranged for a large tent, inviting environmental


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organizations from around the state to come together and provide booths and activities inside the tent. Further goals were to make this level of Earth Day outreach a standard celebration on campus. Accomplishments We at COA were hoping for community support. What we received was community outpouring. More than 30 organizations from around the state came to campus to convey information. Those organizations ranged from the Maine Energy Investment Corporation to a group of spinners from around the county (list is available upon request). A grant to the college’s George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History from a local organization, Healthy Acadia, allowed the museum to purchase the supplies for building birdhouses to promote the viability of songbirds in the region. Another organization donated a life-size walk-through whale, National Wildlife Federation (NWF) donated backpacks to give to children, and we distributed 150 energy-efficient light bulbs to early Earth Day attendees thanks to a 50 percent discount from the Efficiency Maine program of the Public Utilities Commission. At least 500 people visited campus that day, spreading the effect of the many natural history and environmental organizations that came to campus. Challenges and Responses The Earth Day efforts were spearheaded by a first-year student. Even if she had been a professional with nothing else on her plate, all of us at COA would say she did an outstanding job. She successfully balanced the organizational work necessary for this large-scale effort with her schoolwork. Because this was the first time COA had attempted an Earth Day celebration of such scale, we had no idea how many people would come or what would interest them. Scheduling the speakers, being sensitive to sound bleed, and arranging for indoor space in case of rain are always challenges, even for seasoned organizers. Predicting interest and attendance at events throughout a day that began with a sunrise ceremony and ended with a post-sunset contra dance posed a further challenge. All who participated in the organization felt that these were minimal issues that could be amended next year. Our organizers also felt that the community interest in the

first year’s events meant that we could charge more to participating organizations next year. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Sarah Short, a first-year student from Oregon organized the day, involving staff members, faculty members, students, and the community. She worked with the college’s established Campus Sustainability Committee, especially with committee members: Jean Sylvia, our purchasing manager; Craig Ten Broeck, our sustainability director; and rising senior John Deans, who interns with Craig Ten Broeck. Those individuals, plus other members of the committee, invited a long list of environmental organizations to the celebration and helped to organize the day. Lynn Havsall, manager of the Dorr Museum of Natural History, marshaled the students working at the museum to bring out natural history displays and to assist with the building of the birdhouses. Senior Amy Hoffmaster involved the students in the educational studies program to organize a day’s worth of activities for children, from reading stories about Earth and the environment to creating a large paper maché globe. Accomplished dancers and musicians among our students offered performances and workshops. One student created an engaging poster, while another created a map of the events of the day, complete with off-campus parking locations. Still others priced items for a large tag sale that helped to finance the day’s efforts. A local restaurant provided food, donating its proceeds from the day to the local food bank. Funding and Resources The celebration cost about $1,900, most of which came from the college’s $1,500 budget line for Earth Day. Costs were kept low by careful planning and by the lucky happenstance that the college had ordered a tent for the following weekend, when a large celebration for our departing president, Dr. Steven K. Katona, was scheduled. Wilson Tents offered the tent a week early. A yard sale of items long stored at the college, a raffle, food, booth fees, and some solicited donations brought in nearly $800, leaving a credit for next year’s celebration.


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Community Outreach and Education This entire day was about community outreach. From the hotels surrounding campus that donated parking spaces, to the local restaurants that offered food and donated proceeds to the food bank, to the participating statewide organizations, to the hundreds of community members who came, this activity was about community engagement. We at COA hung posters around town, gave schedules and posters to all the local schools, and received wonderful publicity in local and statewide newspapers as well as on Web news outlets. Although it’s hard to assess specific benefits from this kind of effort, we know that individuals left campus feeling as if they were not alone, and that efforts to improve the environment were happening all around them, whether or not they saw a demonstration of biodeisel, listened to Lora Winslow of the Naked Truth Project talk about toxic chemicals that are present in everyday household products, or examined the lizards and beetles that live in the region. We at COA felt we would be pleased if 200 visitors showed up; more than twice that number attended. Climate Change Global climate change was directly addressed through the (a) the signing of Clean Air, Cool Planet’s Campus Climate Action challenge; (b) the distribution of 150 energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs; (c) the encouragement given to carpooling; (d) the information about reducing global warming presented by many organizations, such as the national student organization, SustainUS; (e) the assistance with bike maintenance by the Bar Harbor Bike Shop; (f) the presence of Blue Ocean Society for Maine Conservation, the college’s own Center for Applied Human Ecology, Downeast Audubon Society, Hydrogen Energy Center, Maine Energy Investment Corporation, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Mount Desert Island Biofuels, Mount Desert Island Water Quality Coalition, the Naked Truth Project, Purist Energy, Savory Bay (an environmental planning and project management group), and the Union River Watershed Coalition (based at the college), and (g) the ongoing discussion of various recycling, composting, and energyreducing items from green cones to the items sold at Maine’s Green Store. National Wildlife Federation’s

Campus Ecology® Program NWF kindly donated backpacks to give to children during the day. CLOSING COMMENT As the sun rose over the Atlantic Ocean horizon at about 5:30 a.m. on April 22, a handful of COA students and staff members joined college trustee Father James Gower at the shore. Together, they placed their hands in the water, spoke about the beauty of the Earth, and sang a quiet song. That moment of tranquility ushered in a day filled with activities, dance, ideas, music, and talks as some 500 attendees celebrated the many ways of living lightly and joyfully on this Earth. Children heard stories about the Earth, built houses to encourage bluebirds in the region, had their faces painted, and found themselves amazed and entranced by creatures in the world around them such as miniature insect larvae and spring peepers. Others heard the college’s then-president, Dr. Steven K. Katona, speak about the history of Earth Day and the power of experience with the natural world at a time when virtual reality is gaining control of so many of our lives. Most important, those who came took home a little bit of knowledge of the possibilities for living their lives in deeper harmony with the Earth. Visitors had the opportunity of speaking with people such as Tomlin Coggeshall of the Hydrogen Energy Center of Maine and of learning about pollution and toxins inside their homes through Ellie Daniels of Belfast’s Green Store and Lora Winslow of the Naked Truth Project. Some went away with compact fluorescent light bulbs, while others became fascinated with biodiesel. Equally important, probably, was the fun they had being around others who were similarly engaged in caring about the Earth and nature, whether through holding salamanders or starfish, going on a nature hike, or spending a moment beside the ocean savoring that fine spring day.


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BACKGROUND Campus Profile The past 10 years of Harvard University’s history have been a time of rapid change. The university recently purchased a large tract of land in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, effectively doubling the size of the Cambridge/Allston campus. At present, the university enrolls more than 19,700 students and has 11,500 faculty members. With Harvard’s plans for expansion, those numbers promise to increase. In tandem with this rapid expansion, Harvard’s greenhouse gas emissions have skyrocketed. According to Harvard’s Green Campus Initiative, the university’s emissions increased from 200,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 1992 to 300,000 metric tonnes of CO2 in 2003. Although this increase partially reflects Harvard’s continuing expansion, much of the increase stems from higher per capita greenhouse gas emissions. As Harvard begins constructing the Allston campus, the university’s effect on global warming promises to swell. In light of Yale University’s recent commitment to the Kyoto Protocol emissions reductions, Harvard can and should do its part to mitigate climate change through both institutional action and behavioral change. Contacts Scot Miller Undergraduate Student NWF Campus Ecology Fellow Email: [email protected] Allison Rogers Coordinator, Green Living Programs (former) Harvard Green Campus Initiative Email: [email protected] Leith Sharp Director, Harvard Green Campus Initiative Email: [email protected]

Goals The goal of a Harvard student project is to publish The Green Guide to Harvard which seeks to educate Harvard students and members of the surrounding community about how to live sustainably on the university’s campus and how to make personal lifestyle choices to mitigate one’s effect on global climate change. The guide consists of three components: a guide to sustainable and energy-efficient practices in the dormitories, a consumer guide to environmentally sustainable shops and businesses in Cambridge, and a guide to environmental and outdoor-related events in the Boston area. The goal of The Green Guide to Harvard is to engage Harvard students, Cambridge businesses, and surrounding community members in making sustainable choices and in lessening the university’s increasing CO2 emissions. For the 2006-2007 school year, The Green Guide to Harvard will be published on a CD-ROM and distributed to Harvard students, faculty members, staff members, and participating Cambridge businesses. Accomplishments Thus far in the project, the student group associated with The Green Guide to Harvard paired up with restaurants and office supply and photocopy businesses to conduct surveys of business sustainability practices. Those survey results are being developed into individual business reviews and a business sustainability awards program. The group is also midway through developing a prototype website with research on campus sustainability practices and on environmental and outdoor events in the Boston area. Challenges and Responses Convincing a majority of businesses to participate in the business sustainability guide is a continuing challenge. Mailings, follow-up calls, and personal visits are all effective ways of increasing business awareness of the program and of establishing collaborative relationships with business owners. Additionally, when The Green Guide to Harvard is first distributed on campus and gains more visibility among businesses, those businesses will be more enthused about participating in the business section of the guide.


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ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The Harvard Green Campus Initiative provides a great amount of support for the project, thereby assisting research on campus sustainability practices and environmental opportunities in the greater Boston area. In particular, Allison Rogers, coordinator of Harvard’s Green Living Programs, provides information and support to students working on the project. Stever Krieger and Sean Sheehan of the Center for a New American Dream, a national environmental advocacy group, will be providing help and advice in continuing the green business reviews. Funding and Resources The Green Guide to Harvard currently receives funding from both the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Campus Ecology Fellowship program and the Harvard Green Campus Initiative. The most significant cost of the guide is publication, publicity, and promotion. As the guide nears publication, the student group creating it expects to apply for funding from the Harvard Provost’s Grant for Interfaculty Collaboration, the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund, and the Harvard Undergraduate Council. Community Outreach and Education The first and integral part of community outreach and education occurs during the business sustainability process. The surveys allow guide organizers to talk one on one with local business owners about the topic of sustainability. Through those working relationships and through the guide itself, project members hope to convince business owners that sustainability is important to their customers and to get those business owners thinking about how to implement more sustainable practices. The second component of outreach involves publishing The Green Guide to Harvard. Through sustainability study breaks in the dormitories and through publicity in academic departments, the project organizers hope to get students and faculty members thinking not only about campus sustainability but also about community sustainability. Harvard’s Green Living Program and Campus Energy

Reduction Program educate and provide incentives to university students, staff members, and faculty members to reduce campus waste and energy usage. However, no program is available to give people on campus the tools to live sustainably in the broader Cambridge and Boston communities. Additionally, because Harvard’s environmental programs are so decentralized, The Green Guide to Harvard will be a useful education and outreach tool by compiling all of those university programs and educational tools into a single and easy-to-access resource. Climate Change Harvard University recently made an administrative commitment to reduce its effect on global climate change by investing $100,000 per year in a university wide renewable energy initiative. However, a true university commitment to mitigating climate change requires not only administrative action but also personal action from members of the university community. Behavioral change plays as important a part as administrative action. The Green Guide to Harvard tackles climate change by furthering this multifaceted approach. National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology® Program NWF has played a crucial role in this project to date in both its financial support and its logistical expertise. In particular, Kristy Jones, Julian Keniry, and Kristin Kranendonk have been crucial to the projects’ success. CLOSING COMMENT With Harvard’s plans to double the campus size, the university continues to increase its ecological and climate impact. The Green Guide to Harvard hopes to play an important role in sustainability both by fostering behavioral change and by involving broader community and business stakeholders in the dialogue of sustainability.


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(C) Fredrica Rudell

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Iona College, a four-year, private college founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1940, is located on a 35-acre campus in the Westchester suburb of New Rochelle, New York, just a few miles north of New York City. A diverse student population of approximately 3,000 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students pursues degrees in liberal arts and business programs. More information about the college and its programs are available at its website, www.iona.edu. Contacts Fredrica Rudell, PhD Associate Professor of Marketing Chair, Department of Marketing and International Business Chair, Environmental Concerns Committee Phone: 914-637-2748 Email: [email protected] ECC website: www.iona.edu/academic/ ecc/ Joseph Stabile, PhD Associate Professor of Biology Chair, Biology Department Iona College New Rochelle, NY 10801 Phone: 914-633-2253 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals As described on our website, www.iona.edu/ac-

ademic/ecc/, the goal of Iona’s Environmental Concerns Committee (ECC) is to raise awareness with respect to the state of the environment, primarily through sponsorship of educational programs and activities, promotion of recycling and conservation, and acquisition of educational resource materials. We at ECC plan to continue the Paper Conservation Campaign (see www.iona.edu/infotech/paper.htm) that we first launched in January 2002. As in previous years, we also hope to extend the culture of conservation to other areas (e.g., energy and water) so we promote more effective recycling of paper and other materials (e.g., cans, bottles, and ink cartridges) and close the loop by advocating purchase’s of paper and supplies with recycled content. Accomplishments Although ECC tried to organize task forces at the beginning of 2006 to address some of those conservation goals, most of its efforts during 2005-2006 were more in the nature of trying to raise visibility of environmental issues on campus. For instance, ECC donated a tree and accompanying plaque for the new Student Union building. The chair of ECC also sent a monthly environmental email newsletter to a distribution list of approximately 25 staff members, 16 faculty members, and 3 students who had expressed interest in environmental issues (a smaller number are able to be actively involved with ECC). On learning that the college had hired an engineer to recommend and implement low-cost energy-use reduction strategies, ECC tried to support his efforts by sponsoring a Greenforum where he explained his project to interested faculty and staff members, and to students. Held on May 4, ECC’s last formal activity of the academic year was a presentation or performance by visiting Australian environmental activist John Seed. For more details of the event, see the website at http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/deep-eco/ johnseed.htm. This year was one of outreach and greater involvement with the Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities (ECHVCU) (see www.environmentalconsortium.org), of which Iona College is a charter member. Some members of ECC participated in ECHVCU task forces, while others attended conferences and workshops sponsored by the


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consortium. In January 2006, ECC Chair Fredrica Rudell was selected to serve a three-year term on the ECHVCU Steering Committee. Challenges and Responses More institutional support, resources, interest, and time would always be welcome. Everything is done on a volunteer basis, and sometimes there are just too many competing demands. However, with a core group of dedicated members, and a larger coalition of supporters, ECC tries to maintain and gradually increase both awareness of environmental issues and attention to resource conservation. National attention to global warming (e.g., the movie An Inconvenient Truth) and efforts to address climate change issues on college campuses are helping to amplify our message. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters ECC, which is a subcommittee of Peace and Justice Education, is composed of faculty and staff members, students, and administrators from many different areas of the college and has grown into an interest group of approximately 45 members and supporters. ECC Chair Fredrica Rudell is well known on campus as the point person for all things environmental and she tries to provide information and facilitation whenever possible. Funding and Resources The costs of ECC projects can be calculated only in terms of the time and effort that various people take to meet, generate ideas, engage, in outreach and create promotional materials. ECC’s small Environmental Education Fund, created from a one-time corporate donation several years ago, is dwindling. It is time to seek additional funding for materials, events, resources, and conference-related (e.g., travel) expenses. Community Outreach and Education ECC’s programs and activities are publicized to the Iona community through the biweekly online newsletter, Inside Iona, and targeted emails and flyers. Information about environment-related events is also shared with other members of ECHVCU through the mailing list server and a calendar.

Climate Change Some ECC members attended a Campus Climate Change symposium co-sponsored by ECHVCU at Pace Law School in March 2006. Although Iona’s engagement of an engineer to implement energy reduction strategies was more than likely motivated chiefly by financial considerations, the environment will benefit as well, because such energy reduction practices will result in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The major role of the Campus Ecology program was in giving those of us at ECC the impetus to launch the Paper Conservation Campaign in 2001-2002 and in recognizing our efforts in 2002 and 2003. Annual reporting also keeps us on track, and some of use even participated in National Wildlife Federation teleconferences this year. CLOSING COMMENT ECC continues to educate, promote, and change behavior in an evolutionary, not revolutionary, way.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Ithaca College, with just fewer than 6,100 undergraduates and more than 310 graduate students, offers a diverse curriculum in more than 100 degree programs. As a comprehensive college, Ithaca values both professional preparation and liberal arts education. The college has a long history of campus greening efforts, beginning in 1991 with the work of the Resource and Environmental Management Program (REMP) within the physical plant. REMP promotes awareness of environmental concerns and has developed solid programs in resource management, recycling, and conservation. The scope of REMP’s resource management oversight has steadily increased from just recycling


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to include a nationally recognized composting program for dining hall food waste, a program of comprehensive energy conservation, and a number of source reduction education efforts. REMP also provides a critical networking function for faculty members and students who are interested in studying institutional operations. That REMP linkage is especially helpful in coordinating proposed campus-based, hands-on student projects with appropriate operational managers and staffers. Contacts David Saiia, PhD Assistant Professor Business Administration Ithaca College School of Business 401 Smiddy Hall Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: 607-274-1915 Email: [email protected] Marian M. Brown Special Assistant to the Provost Ithaca College Office of the Provost, VP for Academic Affairs Center for Health Sciences 214-1 350 Job Hall Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: 607-274-5774 Fax: 607-274-5774 Email: [email protected] James Rothenberg, PhD Associate Professor Department of Sociology Ithaca College 301 Muller Center Ithaca, NY 14850 GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The project was primarily campus based, although some hands-on course projects and formal service-learning activities that were developed through the All-College First Year program may have involved partnerships with local organizations. The project’s main goal is to use existing communication channels and to develop new channels to improve environmental (sustainability)

literacy. The short-term goals are to develop interdisciplinary courses featuring significant discussions and exploration of sustainability, and to increase the number of interdisciplinary courses with sustainability content. The long-term goals are to track the increase in the number of courses with significant sustainability content and to track the increase in enrollment in those courses. Accomplishments This year, Ithaca College successfully linked two very important programs: the All-College First Year Seminar experience and Positive Growth, the comprehensive college sustainability initiative. Shortly after his arrival at Ithaca College in 2002 as provost and vice president for academic affairs, Peter Bardaglio initiated plans for developing a first-year program for all incoming Ithaca College students. This directive arose from the college’s institutional plan, which has as one of its academic program development priorities the development of such a program. The so-called Ithaca Seminar academic program for first-year students began in fall 2004, using a model that encourages discussion, critical thinking, writing, and developing of research and information literacy skills, all leading to a disciplinary research, a servicelearning project, or both. The Ithaca Seminar experience culminates in a presentation and assessment of the project. Each three-credit Ithaca Seminar course is taken as a liberal arts-humanities requirement in sections comprising of students from all five schools of the college and taught by faculty members from across the college. Also beginning in 2002, a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded a program at Ithaca College, Applying Science to Sustainability, which involved providing financial support, mentoring, and training for sustainability curriculum development across disciplines. As part of that grant, a series of summer mini grants for sustainability curriculum development were awarded to support faculty members seeking to infuse considerations of sustainability into courses within their


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disciplines. Although the NSF grant has ended, the college recently incorporated interdisciplinary sustainability curriculum development as part of its annual budget, including support for the continuance of the summer mini grants. In summer 2005, Keri Lee, assistant professor of chemistry, received a summer mini grant to create curriculum modules for a new interdisciplinary Ithaca Seminar course Sustaining Our Worlds: Connecting People, Prosperity, and our Planet. The new interdisciplinary course was first taught in fall 2005 by Lee with David Saiia, assistant professor of business administration, and Jim Rothenberg and Susanne Morgan, associate professors of sociology. The course divided in four sections, attracted nearly 100 first-year students. This interdisciplinary course featured stimulating readings, engaging discussions, dynamic presentations, and handson student projects. The four sections of the course used the same syllabus, and the faculty jointly developed the planned activities. All course sections met at the same time, with Tuesday sessions usually set aside for project meetings of each course section and Thursday sessions bringing the congregate class together in a different location for a thought-provoking look at sustainability issues from a variety of academic disciplines. Among the lectures on sustainability presented by campus experts was one delivered by Dr. Jason Hamilton, a climate change biologist who has developed a highly provocative and informative presentation on climate change and the ways in which students can engage in the work of campus sustainability. Students wrote about the course material and their own reflections about it, and student groups devised and carried out projects. Each class carried out an original project about sustainability at Ithaca College. The projects were presented to the president, the provost, and other college officials in December 2005. Student teams conducted a wide variety of campus sustainability projects, including a survey of attitudes about recycling and energy conservation, a review of building energy use, and an exploration of sustainable foods in the dining program. Student teams in David Saiia’s class worked with the campus’s building maintenance group at the physical plant to collect

data on campus electrical and natural gas usage and on electricity usage per square foot for the four buildings on campus (Dillingham Center, Park School, Center for Natural Sciences, and Phillips Hall) that were upgraded during summer 2005 to install individual electrical meters. That data collection set the stage for comparisons of energy use of standard academic buildings with that of the high-performance sustainably designed facility currently under construction for the School of Business. Under Susanne Morgan’s guidance, a student team developed an attitudinal and awareness survey instrument, thus providing a useful tool that may be used to query new students in the future. The survey results offered instructive data about gaps in awareness and education to guide the development of educational and outreach programs. Each student also prepared a learning portfolio to represent his or her learning. In fall 2006, David Saiia and Jim Rothenberg will lead a new interdisciplinary team convened to again teach the class titled Sustaining Our World, and will be joined by Nancy Jacobsen, assistant professor of biology, and Kathryn Caldwell, lecturer in psychology. Challenges and Responses A significant number of different Ithaca Seminar courses are offered each fall, and first-year students may freely select from among those course’s a subject that piques their interest. During the summer orientation process, as academic advisors assist students with fall course selection and schedule preparation, one notable challenge has been to attract the attention of first-year students when they may be entering our academic community with little or no pre-existing awareness of sustainability. However, the response rate for enrollment in this introductory sustainability course was very encouraging. Equally heartening to hear is the anecdotal evidence of the number of students who enrolled in Sustaining Our World’s in fall 2005 and who subsequently sought out specific classes and faculty members in various disciplines to help them further explore sustainability themes. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters


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Leadership is shared, and broad and growing campus support exists for both the All-College First Year program and the Positive Growth campus sustainability initiative. Peter Bardaglio, the college’s provost and vice president for academic affairs has assumed a strong visionary and leadership position for the sustainability initiative on campus and has provided vocal support and encouragement for infusing considerations of sustainability within the college. A number of faculty members who have been leaders in advancing sustainability education in their disciplines have also accepted this new challenge of introducing the subject matter to the newest members of our campus academic community. Funding and Resources Some resources are already allocated to support the All-College First Year program in the form of release time for faculty members to teach those courses. As mentioned previously, the college has now funded the continuance of the summer mini grant program for the sustainability curriculum development. Additionally, in May 2005, Ithaca College offered its faculty members a free, half-day workshop session on sustainability curriculum development during the annual Summer Faculty Institute.

The online case studies and the Campus Ecology Yearbook have all had a positive effect by spurring campus action toward positive change and by highlighting topics for future applied research. CLOSING COMMENTS Infusing considerations of sustainability into course offerings across academic disciplines is a major focus of the Positive Growth campus sustainability initiative at Ithaca College. Because of the multifaceted, systems-level nature of sustainability, it is imperative that the subject be thoroughly explored from a variety of educational and intellectual perspectives. Linking such sustainability curriculum development efforts with early exposure to Ithaca’s students through the All-College First Year academic program has added benefits. Teaching students early in their academic career about sustainability and its myriad ramifications, by firing their imagination and channeling their energy, bodes favorably for student and faculty support that will further expand the sustainability initiative on campus. Moreover, the development of a clear sustainability focus among the leaders of tomorrow as they exit Ithaca and assume their place within the world community can be regarded as another sign of positive growth.

Community Outreach and Education The college’s sustainability initiative encourages free sharing and dissemination of information; thus all campus sustainability curriculum development workshops and presentations are open and widely advertised to the general public. Guidance for faculty members interested in developing All-College First-Year courses is available at the college’s website, http://www. ithaca.edu/provost/programproposals.htm. Climate Change Replication and expansion of some of the student projects developed through the AllCollege First Year program may have a demonstrated effect on climate change e.g., comparisons of building’s energy usage as new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) strategies are used. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program

(C) C. Eliana Brown

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a four-year, public, research, land-grant university located in the twin cities of Urbana and Champaign. The Boneyard Creek runs


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through the middle of campus. Total enrollment is 41,938 undergraduate and graduate students. Students can choose from more than 150 majors within 16 colleges and instructional units. Principal research facilities include the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, the Institute for Government and Public Affairs, and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Contacts Jack Dempsey Executive Director Facilities and Services Phone: 217-333-3655 Email: [email protected] C. Eliana Brown Coordinator Facilities and Services Environmental Compliance Phone: 217-265-0760 Email: [email protected]

cate campus members about storm water runoff. • Clean and beautify the campus and the portion of Boneyard Creek that runs through it. • Encourage student environmental stewardship by facilitating event participation. Accomplishments The university’s accomplishments include the following: • University representatives served on the Boneyard Community Day Organization Committee and helped organize the first annual event. • The University surpassed its goal; students labeled 74 percent of targeted drains two years ahead of schedule. The total number labeled was 256 of 345.

Karie Neukomm Facilities and Services Environmental Compliance Phone: 217-244-3222 Email: [email protected] David B. Wilcoxen Assistant Director Facilities and Services Environmental Compliance Phone : 217-333-3655 Email: [email protected]

• University students picked up trash in 12 campus areas and volunteers picked up two and a half truckloads, or approximately 2.5 cubic yards of trash. • The Illinois Student Senate selected Boneyard Community Day as the kickoff event for National Volunteer Week. The Senate recruited registered student organizations for the Day of Service Project through an online application and other media advertisements. Of the nearly 300 participants, approximately 100 were university students.

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goals of the university’s Boneyard Creek Community Day included the following: • Create an event where students can interact with community members and where each participant can feel that he or she has personally assisted in making the community a better place. • Achieve compliance with the university’s MS4 Storm water Management Program. One goal is to label 50 percent of targeted storm drains by 2008 with a storm water message, labeling storm drains helps edu-

• An unexpected accomplishment was the creation of the foundation for future interactions between the university, the cities of Champaign and Urbana, the campus volunteer groups, and the local environmental interest groups. Challenges and Responses The university’s storm drain labeling and trash pickup were not the only Boneyard Community Day activities. Both cities sponsored their own storm drain labeling and trash pickup. The Urbana Park District sponsored creek bed naturalization, where each activity had its own registration booth. To ensure that participants


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went to the correct activity, volunteers began at a main registration table, where organizers assigned them to other stations. This method was successful and enabled volunteers to receive supply kits and to get to work quickly. Ensuring participant safety was a challenge. Possible options included closing university streets during the event, which was not optimal, plus providing safety vests. Don Archer, representative for the city of Champaign, suggested providing orange t-shirts for the dual purpose of improving visibility and serving as a thank you gift for participants. He also suggested providing safety flags. J.B. Webb, assistant director of safety at the university, determined which streets posed the greatest safety concerns and should be avoided. Accordingly, volunteer maps did not include drains on those streets. Those measures improved safety with minimal disruption to the campus.

ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Prairie Rivers Network representative Kim Erndt and community member Joe Petry chaired the Boneyard Community Day Organization Committee. They did a great job of leading a diverse group that included the Champaign Park District, the Urbana Park District, the Rotary Club, the Urbana Middle School, the university, and the cities of Champaign and Urbana. The committee gathered support from the Illinois Student Senate, a local advertising agency, and several service organizations. For a complete list of sponsors, see the website at www.boneyardcreek.org. City of Champaign representative Don Archer selected high-quality storm drain marking materials and provided detailed instructions and signs. His contributions were essential to a successful day. Katie Dunne, Illinois Student Senate representative, and other Senate representatives did an excellent job of motivating student participation and of demonstrating proper labeling technique. Cooperation among the university groups was excellent. Chad Kuperschmid, of the university’s planning resources, deserves special men-

tion because he provided detailed storm drain maps. Several students commented that the maps were an excellent resource. Other notable contributors include Amy Sponsler from Volunteer Illini Projects, who recruited the Illinois Student Senate, and Keith Erickson of the university’s utilities division who lent his planning abilities to the event. Funding and Resources The university contributed approximately $2,100 for materials. It maximized cost savings by partnering with Champaign and Urbana. The university’s utilities division provided monetary funds, while administrative officials sanctioned the use of staff members’ time for the event. The Illinois Student Senate contributed funds for t-shirt and lunch costs. Community Outreach and Education The university’s effort was part of a larger event that facilitated interaction between the students and the community. The Boneyard Creek Community Day Marketing Subcommittee arranged a press release. Media coverage included the Internet, the radio, and the local and college newspapers. Climate Change The Boneyard Creek Community Day indirectly addressed climate change by sponsoring the clean up and restoring of a local habitat. Healthy habitats act as carbon sinks for harmful greenhouse gas. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The Prairie Rivers Network is the National Wildlife Federation state affiliate. Its direction was instrumental to program success. CLOSING COMMENT The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the surrounding communities were able to have a successful event because of the cooperation among organizers, the common goal of improving Boneyard Creek, the enthusiastic and motivated participants, and the overwhelming amount of support within the university. The organizers held a post-event critique during which everyone agreed to sponsor the event again next year.


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Phone: 904-620-3881 Email: [email protected] Ray Bowman, PhD Professor, Chemistry Director, Environmental Center Phone: 904-620-1918 Email: [email protected]

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of North Florida (UNF) is a state university located 7 miles west of the Atlantic Ocean and 12 miles southeast of the urban core of Jacksonville, Florida, on the St. Johns River. Established in 1972, UNF has grown to serve more than 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It is also home to a diverse range of plant and animal communities, including gopher tortoises and their commensals, which flourish in second-growth forests, recovering tree farms, and wetlands surrounding the academic campus. More than 500 acres of the larger campus are protected as a bird sanctuary. As part of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Recreation Trails system since 1977, this protected area features five miles of nature trails. In 2004, UNF founded the Environmental Center under Dr. Ray Bowman’s leadership with the mission of developing and fostering multidisciplinary environmental education and research and with an executive board representing all five of the university’s colleges. Besides sponsoring the Environmental Conflict Resolution Exercise, the Environmental Center is actively involved in creating and expanding degree programs, mapping and taking an inventory of natural areas at UNF and elsewhere in the region, facilitating multidisciplinary team-teaching projects, and funding seed grants and research on a broad range of environmental topics. Contacts Bart H. Welling, PhD ECRE Faculty Coordinator and Environmental Center Fellow Assistant Professor, English Phone: 904-620-1268 Email: [email protected] J. David Lambert, PhD Executive Board Environmental Center Assistant Professor, Building Construction Management

Abby Howard Murphy Executive Assistant, Environmental Center Environmental Center 4567 St. Johns Bluff Rd. South Jacksonville, FL 32224 Phone: 904-620-2662 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals I, Bart Welling, the faculty coordinator for the Environmental Conflict Resolution Exercise and assistant professor in English; Ray Bowman, professor of chemistry; David Lambert, assistant professor of building construction management; and Abby Howard Murphy, executive assistant for the Environmental Center, began working on the Environmental Conflict Resolution Exercise in April 2005 after the successful first run at UNF of a role-playing simulation, the International Crisis Management Exercise. That exercise entailed bringing together students from UNF and local high schools to play the roles of U.S. National Security Council members responding to a nuclear crisis in Iran. The participants responded to the simulation so enthusiastically that Dr. Bowman, Dr. Lambert, and I, Bart Welling, began discussing the possibility of designing a similar exercise for UNF students in environmental disciplines and beyond. Because environmental problems often take so much longer to emerge—and solve— than geopolitical emergencies, and because we did not have the resources to create a simulation of a headline-grabbing environmental crisis, such as an oil spill, we decided to adopt a different model in which students would play stakeholders in a public policy group working to resolve a contentious environmental conflict. We believed that this kind of simulation not only would bring environmental issues and debates to life in a way that lectures could not but also would help equip students for active, environmentally aware citizenship in a state


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undergoing profound changes because of explosive population growth and massive development. The topic for the trial run of the Environmental Conflict Resolution Exercise was suggested by UNF President John Delaney, a former two-term mayor of Jacksonville whose environmental credentials include presiding over the expansion of Jacksonville’s parklands into the largest urban parks system in the country. One of the most difficult problems that Delaney faced during his tenure as mayor was the toxic legacy left by municipal garbage incinerators that had operated in impoverished, predominantly African-American neighborhoods from the 1920s to the 1960s. Although the actual health effect of those incinerators has been hotly debated, it is universally acknowledged that the ash they spread over many of Jacksonville’s African-American communities contained what the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies now characterize as dangerously high levels of lead, cadmium, arsenic, and other toxins. Angered by what they saw as a clear case of environmental racism and governmental negligence, nearly 4,000 city residents banded together to file a class action lawsuit against the city in 2003. In September 2005, the city announced that it would settle the lawsuit for $75 million. Affected residents have each received between $500 and $16,170 of the settlement money (before attorney fees) to date, but cleanup work in the contaminated neighborhoods has yet to begin. Jacksonville’s toxic ash legacy struck us as an ideal topic for a number of reasons. First, it would help students understand the intergenerational nature of environmental problems, which was especially important because the majority of the students were going to come from Dr. Lambert’s class on environmental issues in land development and construction. As professional builders, those students will be in a position either to repeat or, as we hope, to avoid mistakes analogous to those made by the city of Jacksonville during the Jim Crow era. Second, learning about the roles played by race and class in environmental degradation would also help students achieve a form of environmental literacy, including an expanding

awareness of what constitutes the environment, which we believe to be crucial for 21st century citizens of the planet. Through site tours of contaminated neighborhoods that they would probably never visit on their own, students would begin to grasp some of the complex interrelationships of pollution, poverty, and crime in defining the urban ecology of a city like Jacksonville. They would also be forced to view the conflict by taking on the roles of randomly assigned perspectives, such as that of a member of the clergy or an environmental justice activist, that in most cases would differ dramatically from their personal viewpoints. In doing so, they would get a chance to practice the kinds of collaborative consensus-building skills that have eliminated the need for litigation in many similar conflicts. Our goal for the future is to keep expanding the Environmental Conflict Resolution Exercise to involve more students and faculty members from even more disciplines. As participation grows, we will compare student survey results from year to year to measure the effectiveness of different topics and simulation designs. In 2006-2007 we will switch the focus from Out of the Ashes to After the Storm, an imaginary scenario in which students will work to resolve environmental conflicts surrounding the devastation of Jacksonville by a hurricane of Katrina’s magnitude. By addressing timely topics of this nature, we hope to foster closer ties between UNF, the city of Jacksonville, and other organizations—ties that will benefit UNF’s students as they enter the job market but will also have the potential to make a positive contribution to the environmental health of our region. Accomplishments Drawing on our students’ comments and surveys and on their performances during the three-hour role-playing simulations in November 2005 and April 2006, we believe that the Environmental Conflict Resolution Exercise helped a significant number of students see environmental problems in a new and more productive way. Despite some issues with poor acoustics in November, which were solved in April through the use of megaphones, the site tours appeared to be a big success. One particularly memorable moment came in April, when we returned from a walking tour of a


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former incinerator site to learn more about the ash problem from neighborhood residents and community leaders in a meeting in the sanctuary of Pastor Elwyn Jenkins’s Tru-Way Church of the Risen Christ. After the site tours, students were able to begin preparing for the roles they would play in the simulation phase of the exercise by talking with contact people in the community and by teaming up with other students who had been assigned the same roles. (There were 12 roles in all, and roughly 50 students participated in the exercise during each of the two semesters.) Predictably, some of the students still failed to prepare adequately for the roles they were assigned, despite the fact that they knew from the beginning of the semester that their involvement with the exercise would count for a significant portion (15 percent or more) of their final grades. We also realized that working with a diverse student population (in terms of ethnicity and gender as well as field of study) can make a major difference in the outcomes achieved by the exercise. When grouped with like-minded individuals during the simulation, students tended to slip out of their roles and to work to achieve consensus (and thus get done with the assignment) more quickly. In a small group dominated by white male students majoring in the same subject, for instance, most of the students expressed a desire to leave race out of the discussion before a faculty facilitator convinced them of the impracticality of that idea. However, more diverse small groups produced more passionate debate and, by the same token, more well-rounded solutions to the ash problem. Some graduate students in English were excited at the end of the April exercise, for example, because they had persuaded Building Construction Management (BCM) majors to adopt a plan that included more community employment opportunities and green space than the construction students had at first been willing to consider. The English students had made some concessions based on the BCM students’ firsthand knowledge of their field. Both groups voiced the opinion that they had learned from each other. We believe that this positive experience as virtual stakeholders

will benefit our students in a number of ways as they leave UNF to become real stakeholders in the conflicts that will define our shared future. Challenges and Responses Our biggest challenges were time and diversity. I, Bart Welling, alleviated my time pressures to a large degree through a one-time UNF Office of Faculty Enhancement fellowship and an ongoing Environmental Center fellowship. Regular planning meetings and clear deadlines, thanks to Dr. Lambert’s leadership, were also key elements in keeping on schedule. Early planning enabled the posting of the site visit and the Saturday exercise dates in advance of syllabus printing. By using Blackboard, we could communicate to students in different classes, and they had access to selected website articles, and to contact information for representative stakeholders to interview. Blackboard was also a medium to communicate with other students whom they hadn’t met and to share their role. To enhance the diversity of the student population engaged in the 2006-2007 version of the exercise, we will encourage faculty members throughout the university to let students volunteer for the exercise. Student volunteers will be given credit equal to one major assignment (such as a paper or presentation) in their home classes. Students participating in After the Storm will also be allowed to choose their own roles, thus leading, we expect, to a greater sense of student ownership over the quality of the exercise. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters A great deal of collaboration between UNF students, community leaders, and government officials involved roles as stakeholders, perspective resources, presenters, facilitators, and participants in on-site visit tours and exercise assessments. During the first iteration of the exercise in November 2005, students were primarily drawn from Dr. Lambert’s BCM class and Dr. Bowman’s environmental chemistry class. In the second round, Dr. Lambert’s undergraduate students were joined by my English graduate students from a seminar called titled Place, Race, and Gender in American Environmental


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Writing. We all benefited from the involvement of John Delaney, UNF’s president, and Sharon Ashton, Director of media relations and events, who had served then-Mayor Delaney in a similar capacity at the height of the toxic ash controversy. Diane Kerr, Jacksonville community activist, was instrumental in helping us choose and become familiar with an appropriate site and also introduced us to several of the contact individuals who went on to assist students in preparing for their roles. Those individuals included Dave Jones of the Jacksonville Department of Health, who provided a succinct and witty overview of the toxic ash problem from the perspective of an environmental toxicologist. Joan Calcagno of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution and Tom Taylor of the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium offered timely help in our search for models upon which to base Out of the Ashes. Janice Fleischer (FLASH Resolutions, Miami), one of the conflict resolution experts recommended to us by Joan Calcagno, gave us an extremely useful crash course in conflict resolution skills and volunteered many great suggestions for the design of the exercise. Seasoned moderators played a big role in keeping students interested, informed, and on task during the role-playing portions of the exercise; we were fortunate to have the assistance of Jeannie Fewell, former head of city planning in Jacksonville, and Tom Patton, news director of public radio and TV station, WJCT, in November, and of Judge Russell Healey, Duval County Court, and Charles Closmann, a UNF assistant professor of environmental history, in April. Faculty and staff volunteers such as Henry Thomas, associate professor, political science, Shari Naman, a tutor with UNF’s Academic Center for Excellence, and Linda Howell, secretary in the history department, helped evaluate our students’ performances. Dr. Bowman, in his capacity as director of the Environmental Center, initiated the exercise, provided key financial assistance, and stayed actively involved throughout the process. The center’s executive assistant, Abby Howard Murphy, provided invaluable logistical support from her past work in marketing, and meeting planning and her experience with hazardous waste issues at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Funding and Resources Designing and conducting Out of the Ashes cost approximately $5,040 for both semesters, including my fellowships with the office of faculty enhancement and environmental center ($2,000 each), one megaphone, and the cost of renting space and catering a lunch for faculty members and students at UNF’s conference center. Students were responsible for their own transportation on the site tours because of insurance restrictions. Community Outreach and Education After the November session of Out of the Ashes we contacted Inside UNF, a newsletter distributed to all faculty and staff members. As a result, the exercise was covered in a full-page article by Julie Williams. As the exercise grows, we hope to spread information about it in Jacksonville through local newspapers and television news programs. Admittedly, it is difficult to gauge the actual environmental effect that the exercise has had and will continue to have. On the basis of community engagement in Out of the Ashes, however we believe that After the Storm will prove even more interesting to city leaders, and we hope to energize dialogue in the region on such issues as the crucial role played by wetlands in sheltering human populations from hurricanes. Climate Change Out of the Ashes did not address global warming directly, but in After the Storm we plan to discuss how global warming affects on hurricane intensity, rising sea levels, and so forth. Our students will be given multiple opportunities during the 2006-2007 exercise to rethink their assumptions about the environment and about the threat posed by global climate change. We at UNF have also considered devoting an entire exercise to global warming in the future. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program Although, UNF joined the Campus Ecology program just after completion of the first year of the Environmental Conflict Resolution Exercise, the staff and peer matches and the media and promotions experience and case studies in the Campus Ecology Yearbook will undoubtedly be important resources for years to come.


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CLOSING COMMENTS When I started designing the Environmental Conflict Resolution Exercise with Ray Bowman, Dave Lambert, and Abby Howard Murphy, the complexities of the project and the toxic ash problem seemed daunting. As a teacher of American literature, I had been trained either in environmental conflict resolution or in any of the relevant scientific fields. But it soon became clear that by keeping the rules and format of the exercise simple and by drawing on the expertise of others—including our students—the exercise could be not only a manageable project but also an excellent learning opportunity for everyone involved, regardless of academic background. Just as every region grapples with its own environmental conflicts, our experience so far has convinced us that every campus has the ability to design and conduct a successful Environmental Conflict Resolution Exercise tailored to its own needs, strengths, and challenges. Moreover, the use of authentic local situations and getting to know real people affected bring those topics alive in transformational learning for our students.

tion to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Lights program. USM has two solar-thermal water systems, has the state’s largest photo voltaic (PV) installation, and buys renewable energy credits to offset carbon emissions. USM offers nearly 100 courses that explore various environmental aspects of the biosphere. The newly revised outcomes of general education learning emphasize the interaction between human cultures and the natural world. USM made a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by joining the Governor’s Carbon Challenge. The challenge aims to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2010 and below 1990 levels by 2020, with an overall goal of a 75 percent to 80 percent decrease. Contact Nancy Artz, PhD Professor of Business Administration Phone: 207-780-4321 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals This project was linked to the Governor’s Carbon Challenge, and students taking the class were encouraged to apply the principles learned in the class at home. The project’s goals include the following: • Encourage faculty and staff members, and students to turn off unused electrical devices. • Reduce electricity use on campus and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions. • Foster environmental literacy among students.

(C) Nancy Artz

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of Southern Maine (USM), a four-year, public institution with enrollment of nearly 11,000 students, is one of the seven campuses of the University of Maine system. USM, a 2002 signatory of the Talloires Declaration, was one of the first schools in the na-

Accomplishments Eight students designed and implemented a social marketing campaign that reduced electricity use in one academic building and one dormitory. The campaign incorporated the social marketing tools of communication (fliers posted in bathrooms), prompts (stickers on light switches and computers reminding people to turn off those items), commitment (asking people - through email and in person,


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to pledge to turn off those items), and social norms (banners hung in lobbies with the names of people who made a commitment). Weekly observations of designated areas in the targeted academic building indicated that the social marketing campaign encouraged people to turn off unused lights and computers. After the campaign was launched, the number of unoccupied classrooms per floor with lights left on dropped from an average of 2 to 1.2 (40 percent decrease). The number of bathrooms per floor with lights left on dropped from 2 to .7 (65 percent decrease). The number of computers left on in computer classrooms dropped from 31.3 to 2.3 (93 percent decrease). In a four-desk administrative office, staff members were already turning off computers at the end of the day, but the campaign resulted in an 88 percent decrease in the number of monitors left on, a 94 percent decrease in speakers left on, and a 44 percent decrease in printers left on. In a follow-up survey of 44 people in the academic building and the dormitory targeted in the campaign, more than 65 percent said they had been more conscientious about turning off lights and unused equipment since the campaign began. Perhaps the most important result of the campaign was the change in awareness about greenhouse gas emissions and a commitment to energy conservation among the students who orchestrated the campaign. For example, one of those students found that her monthly electric bill dropped from about $190 to $150 or less. Data management problems precluded definitive conclusions about the electricity savings. Our best estimate is that about 2000 kilowatt hours of electricity were saved during the three-week campaign in the two buildings. This electricity amount represents a $300 savings and almost a ton of greenhouse gas. Challenges and Responses The first challenge was attracting students to enroll in a marketing practicum to orchestrate a campaign that focused on the social issue of greenhouse gas reduction. The course was almost cancelled because only 8 students enrolled, which is well below the required course minimum of 14 students. In contrast, a mar-

keting practicum addressing for-profit campaigns usually attracts at least 20 students. We at USM hope word-of-mouth recommendations from the students who took the course last semester will raise enrollment in the future. Although this student-directed project was a fabulous way for students to develop professional skills, it was not an efficient way to design, implement, and assess a campaign. To prevent waste of resources and errors in campaign materials in the future, we will require students to get permission before they expend money or print material to be seen by the public. It is important for students to narrow the focus of their campaign to something achievable in one semester. With hindsight, we wish that we had encouraged them to target one building rather than two. Is the course itself sustainable? A private donor funded the campaign. If the donor loses interest in the project, finding future operational funds could be challenge. One solution would be to write a grant request; another would be to ask the facilities department to fund the campaign on the basis of evidence of energy savings as a result of the campaign. A substantial amount of time was required by facilities personnel to educate the students about energy use on campus and to provide data on electricity consumption. To reduce the demand on staff members’ time, we will implement a policy that students must try to find information in public documents before asking staff members to provide it, and we will establish a priori limits on campaigns (e.g., students may target only buildings with electricity meters that they can access). Because the course was a first-time offering, it was relatively easy to provide external motivation for the students (e.g., getting their work featured in the region’s newspaper and having them orally present their results to the governor). I plan to challenge future students to create their own publicity as part of the course requirement. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Nancy Artz, a professor of business administration, designed the course and received permis-


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sion from the School of Business to offer it on an experimental basis as an upper-level elective. Official partners of the course included the university’s sustainability office and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the Governor’s Carbon Challenge. Funding and Resources Alfred Padula, Professor Emeritus, donated $500 to fund the students’ campaign. Community Outreach and Education The students’ work was featured in the state’s largest newspaper as an Earth Day story. The students presented their results during poster sessions at two conferences: the university’s annual student research conference and a statewide climate change conference attended by 250 people. The results were presented to interested members of the community, including the university’s president and Maine’s governor (who later mentioned the students’ work in his address to the state climate change conference and in his weekly press release). As a result of that presentation to the governor, the students have been invited to present their work to the utilities committee of the state legislature. Climate Change Data management problems precluded definitive conclusions about the electricity savings. Our best estimate is that about 2000 kilowatt hours of electricity was saved during the threeweek campaign in the two buildings. This electricity usage represents a $300 savings and almost a ton of greenhouse gas.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Established in 1793, Williams College is a fouryear, private, residential, liberal arts institution with graduate programs in the history of art and in development economics. Approximately 2,000 undergraduate students, 300 faculty members, and 750 staff members live, study, or work on the college’s 450-acre campus and 2,800 outlying acres located in the Berkshires in Williamstown, Massachusetts, a city that is 135 miles from Boston and 165 miles from New York city. Williams is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges, and its faculty members are noted for the quality of their undergraduate teaching. Among the 33 majors offered at Williams, the most popular are economics, psychology, English, and political science. Earlier campus greening efforts included research in the college’s 2,500acre Hopkins Memorial Forest, the introduction of local and organic produce in the dining halls, and the installation of a cogeneration plant in 2002. Groups working on environmental issues at Williams include the student organization, GreenSense, and the student-faculty-staff Campus Environmental Advisory Committee (CEAC). Contacts

National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program When students generated ideas for their campaign, one student was assigned to read Ecodemia and another to review the online Campus Ecology program case studies. CLOSING COMMENT Problem-based Service Learning (PBSL) is a fabulous learning opportunity for students and instructors alike. Instead of reinventing the wheel, you should attend a workshop or read a book on PBSL.


Alison Davies Class of 2007 Chair of CEAC Phone: 503-201-6058 [email protected] Sarah Gardner Associate Director Lecturer, Environmental Studies CEAC member Phone: 413-597-4209 Email: [email protected] Irene Addison Associate Vice President for Facilities and Auxiliary Services CEAC member 80

Phone: 413-597-2303 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals CEAC set the short-term goal of increasing environmental literacy on campus through two main projects. The first project, EnviTips, was to involve the weekly publication of environmental facts and suggestions for adopting environmentally friendly habits in the campus newspaper and announcement services, both printed and emailed, to reach students, faculty members, and community members. The second project, the Do It in the Dark Energy Saving Competition, was designed to reap short-term reductions in energy consumption, in addition to creating general environmental awareness that could promote further reductions. More specifically, Do It in the Dark would involve competition between individual residential houses to reduce their energy consumption during one month; the house that proportionally reduced its energy consumption the most when compared to the previous years’ levels would be rewarded with a free night at the local cinema or a similar prize. The long-term goal was to continue increasing environmental literacy as shown by the success or shortcomings of the two short-term projects, the knowledge of which would allow us CEAC members to replicate or modify those projects and similar efforts in the future. Accomplishments Although environmental literacy is a somewhat intangible goal when trying to measure the success of projects designed to promote it, we in CEAC did achieve our goal in that we executed both short-term projects as we planned and received some amount of feedback from both. The effectiveness of the EnviTips project is particularly difficult to gauge because we did not intend to solicit responses or to promote any readily measurable behavior. However, we did receive several expressions of thanks from community members for our efforts and suggestions for future EnviTips, indicating that we were able to successfully communicate with faculty members. The Do It in the Dark competition provided

more concrete results; it produced a decrease in energy consumption across all the dorms by 3 percent over the course of the same month from the previous year. One would predict that houses in which the sense of community is particularly strong, which is true for houses of first-year students at Williams College, would be able to compete more effectively. Ultimately, the winning house was a first-year dorm that cut its consumption by 40 percent. That figure implied that the competition generated enthusiasm and results and served as an encouragement to repeat the competition. The student environmental group on campus, GreenSense, did so in the spring and was able to improve figures from the initial effort, reaping a 13 percent decrease in energy consumption across all dorms. The second competition seemed to benefit from increased publicity, including the distribution of t-shirts with the competition’s slogan, and from the student body’s familiarity with the project. Challenges and Responses As with all projects designed to reach an audience, the greatest challenge confronted in the EnviTips project and the Do It in the Dark competition to save energy was the difficulty of determining how to most effectively communicate to the public and to generate interest in our message. Although we published the EnviTips in three different venues—the campus’s daily message email system, the student newspaper, and an announcement flyer distributed in dining halls—it is common for students not to read such media closely or at all because of the great amount of information distributed each day and because of a perceived lack of time or interest to sift through the venues of it. For most of the year, those venues were the only means of publishing the EnviTips without distributing hard copies in some form on our own. The use of paper (antithetical to the project’s goals) and time that would be required did not outweigh our concern that such an attempt might fail to increase the visibility of the EnviTips to students, because posters and flyers distributed to mailboxes are no less ubiquitous on campus than are email versions of notices. However, a new announcement section of the student website has recently been developed and could prove a useful venue for EnviTips in the future. We will use it and the email announcement distribution that successfully


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reached faculty members this year in future efforts along the lines of the EnviTips. Because the Do It in the Dark project was a one-time event rather than a weekly publication, and because student awareness of it was critical to its successful operation, we in CEAC distributed door hangers to all student rooms publicizing the competition and suggesting means of reducing energy consumption, in addition to the advertising methods used for the EnviTips. On the reverse side of the hangers, we included useful campus and community numbers and important dates so that students would be more likely to keep the door hanger rather than discard it immediately. Ultimately, the door hanger effort was an expensive and relatively time-consuming project that may have been unnecessary, but its effectiveness is impossible to determine. In any case, because the first competition familiarized students with the project, such hard-copy and widespread publicizing was not necessary for the second competition, although student organizers did distribute a small number of t-shirts to generate student interest. With this project, unlike the EnviTips, the challenge of reaching the public is not such an ongoing concern, because the competition is now a notable event—and one that we believe will become more so as it is integrated into a newly developed neighborhood residential system on campus. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters One member of CEAC spearheaded the EnviTips project, finding information to be used in the tips on the Internet, writing the tips, and organizing publication of tips each week. A small group of students from CEAC did the bulk of the organization of the first energy competition, including the conceptual development of the project; the design, ordering, and distribution of the door hangers and other methods of advertising; the analysis of the energy data; and the arrangement of the prizes. A few individuals in the facilities department involved in managing the college’s energy consumption were critical in providing information about the means of measuring energy consumption across campus, taking such measurements, and providing CEAC with previ-

ous years’ data. The second competition was run by the student environmental organization with the help of the facilities department once again. In the future, however it will likely be the domain of Eco-Reps, the student environmental liaisons in each of four neighborhoods (associated residences) on campus, with the continued support of the facilities department. Funding and Resources The bulk of the funding for this project came from the facilities department, according to the theory that the cost-savings generated by the competition would benefit that department’s budget. The money provided helped to purchase the door hangers ($500) and the prizes, which were donated in part by local organizations. Community Outreach and Education The EnviTips project was devoted essentially to outreach and education of the campus community. The energy competition also used those tools but did so to produce more tangible results. The project focused on the student residential sector of campus, but its suggestive name, if nothing else, certainly caught the attention of other community members, including visiting speaker Thomas Friedman, who mentioned the competition in his New York Times column. The response chiefly from fac ulty members to the first project and from the entire community to the second demonstrates their interest in our initiatives. Climate Change The EnviTips project indirectly addresses global climate change. If individuals take to heart the information we provide, the adjustment in their habits that should follow will, among other environmental benefits, lessen their contribution to climate change by reducing their emissions from energy use in the home and on the road. The Do It in the Dark competition addresses climate change in a more direct fashion, because the tangible reduction of energy consumption that it encouraged will result in reduced emissions of greenhouse gases. The competition produced a decrease in energy consumption across all the dorms by 3 percent over the course of the same month from the previous year. The student environmental group on campus, GreenSense, improved on the initial effort’s figures, reaping a 13 percent


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decrease in energy consumption across all dorms. CLOSING COMMENT Although gauging environmental literacy before or after making efforts to increase it may be difficult, those efforts are necessary if colleges and other communities are to address environmental problems. At Williams College, our EnviTips and Do It in the Dark projects demonstrate that different methods of communication may be more or less effective at reaching different parts of the community, and we encourage other schools to start investigating how best to reach their constituents.


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Being a “green” campus takes effective organizing. Environmental management systems are the framework for all greening facets, from the classroom to the President’s office. Management systems incorporate multiple strategies to expand the sustainability efforts of all aspects of campus life. Such strategies include setting goals, tracking progress, providing training and incentives, and even such considerations as coordinating effective communications and planning for Earth Day. According to NWF’s State of the Campus Environment, a survey of environmental performance and sustainability on college and university campuses, 18 percent of the 891 institutions that participated reported having environmental councils and tasks forces with student engagement, and 21 percent employ a full-time staff that manages environmental issues on campus. For example, the University of Missouri at Rolla’s Institute for Environmental Excellence serves as a valued national resource for environmental management issues and is ISO14001-certified. An environmental management system lends itself well to stepping up climate leadership on campus. To address climate change on campus, institutions can develop comprehensive plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Learn how Minnesota State University at Moorhead plans to reach its long-term goal of increasing energy conservation efforts on campus.

~ The online case studies and the Campus Ecology Yearbook have all had a positive effect by spurring campus action toward positive change and by highlighting topics for future applied research. ~ Ithaca College


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Paul Dustin Industrial Tech Major Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

(C) Paul Dustin

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Minnesota State University at Moorhead (MSUM) is a four-year, liberal arts college that currently employs approximately 325 full-time and 147 part-time faculty members, plus 317 staff members. Those employees serve an enrollment of more than 7,600 students. MSUM offers 130 majors, emphases, and options to students in 78 programs. It has two facility locations: a 120-acre main campus, which has 36 buildings, and the Regional Science Center, which is a 300-acre nature research center located adjacent to Buffalo River State Park. Contacts The Campus Ecology Team for MSUM comprises students, faculty and staff members, and administrators who serve on the university’s Sustainable Campus Committee. For current information and updates, see on the website at www.mnstate.edu/sci. Alan Breuer Director, Environmental Health and Safety Phone: 218-477-2998 Email: [email protected] Karen Branden Sociology and Criminal Justice Faculty Email: [email protected] Jessie Rock Geosciences Major Email: [email protected]

Goals The formation of the Sustainable Campus Committee’s structure was the short-term goal of this year’s group. The transition from a task force to a university committee was a learning process for everyone involved. We on the committee hoped that by the end of spring semester we would have all details worked out and would have a separate student organization that would become the driving force in the creation and implementation of sustainable projects. The long-term goals involve increasing MSUM’s energy conservation efforts, including creating a partnership with Moorhead Public Services (MPS). MPS is MSUM’s current energy provider and has expressed much interest in finding ways for MSUM to lessen its energy consumption. We in the committee are also investigating the different opportunities to increase MSUM’s use of wind energy. This research involves a comparison of the building of MSUM’s own wind tower with the purchase of green tags and a decision about which method best fits the university’s goals. A continuing project was the funding and management of the resident hall recycling program. Accomplishments We at MSUM did accomplish our goal of forming the committee structure, which was no easy task. Keeping focused on our goal was very difficult when so many other projects around campus could have been accomplished. All of us were eager to move on those projects, only because they were more appealing than working on committee structure. A set structure is now in place. We changed the name of the committee from Sustainable Campus Committee to the Sustainable Campus Initiative Committee (SCIC) to remove some confusion that the previous name had created. We also started forming a student activity group. We are currently creating an internship that


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will gather information on all the different aspects of wind energy. That information will help us determine what step the university should take next toward implementing wind energy. The biggest accomplishment on campus was the signing of the Talloires Declaration by MSUM President Dr. Roland E. Barden and Student Senate President James Cailao. Because the declaration states that the university is willing to incorporate sustainability in its teaching and business practices, we on the committee felt the students should also sign the declaration to state their willingness to learn those lessons. For that reason, we added a space for the student senate president’s signature to our document. We have added another successful year to our housing recycling program, our collections have been up, and we are continuing recycling into the summer sessions. Challenges and Responses The major challenge that the committee faced this year was time, or the lack thereof. At the beginning of the school year, the untimely death of a student delayed the start up of several university programs by a few months. Thus, committee meetings could not officially start until October. When we were able to meet officially, we worked hard to make up for lost time. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Aside from the signing of the Talloires Declaration, a few notable items surrounding environmental efforts occurred on campus. The first is a change to the liberal arts requirements with the addition of competency areas, including a section on sustainability. Starting this year, all freshmen will have to complete Dragon Core requirements, which are “signature curriculum providing a broad foundation of skills, information, and knowledge that goes beyond a students’ chosen academic field.” Students will be required to fulfill the section titled “People and the Environment.” The goal of that section is “To develop students’ understanding of the concept of sustainability and the challenges we face in responding to environmental variables and resolving environmental problems.

Students will examine how societies and the natural environment are intimately related. A thorough understanding of ecosystems and the ways in which different groups interact with their environments is the foundation of an environmentally literate individual.” Following completion of that course, a student should have a greater understanding of sustainability and should better understand the ecosystem. The second item was a class project that was completed by a group of industrial technology students for their project management class. Their project assessed the current recycling program in the academic buildings on the MSUM campus. The students analyzed data such as student numbers per building, traffic flows, and type of products collected. In the end, they recommended new locations of containers, expansion of the program to include outdoor containers, and ways to increase involvement. Funding and Resources The only source of funding continues to be the $3 fee added to every student’s tuition for spring and fall semesters. In 2004, the college was persuaded to add this fee by a group of students who were interested in making MSUM more environmentally sustainable. Currently, the only project that requires funding is the housing recycling program. MSUM has been averaging $5,000 in payment to its collectors, who average about 10 hours a week in collecting activity. We are developing a funding program for other MSUM student organizations that are interested in doing environmentally sustainable projects. To receive funding, those groups would be required to meet certain conditions before, during, and after their project. Community Outreach and Education The main outreach effort was the Earth Day events. On that day, MSUM held the signing of the Talloires Declaration, grilled a few hundred buffalo and veggie burgers, and served organic soft drinks. MSUM President Dr. Roland E. Barden, Student Senate President James Cailao, and Sustainable Campus Committee Co-Chair Dr. Karen Branden gave speeches regarding sustainability and the university. Two videos were shown as well. The first, Koyaan-


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isqatsi, is a nonverbal movie about our world and the changes that it is going through. The second, Case Study on Interface and Corporate Social Responsibility, is an online video of Interface Chief Executive Officer Ray Anderson giving a speech to attendees of the Corporate Social Responsibility Summit in 2005, which was held in Sydney, Australia. We on the committee estimated that 400 people attended those events, with the majority attending the signing of the declaration. We also handed out surveys that collected us much information about attitudes toward sustainability and suggestions for future projects. Climate Change Because the focus was on getting organized this past year, the campus had no direct reduction in CO2 emissions. Indirectly, MSUM’s Earth Day event showed our commitment for such reductions. With the signing of the Talloires Declaration, MSUM pledged to become more environmentally sustainable, including reducing carbon dioxide emissions. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program Currently, the only components MSUM take advantage of are the monthly e-news, the online case studies, and the enrollment reporting. As we grow, we envision increasing our usage of other components of the Campus Ecology program. CLOSING COMMENT It has been a long process for us at MSUM in developing our program; those who helped instigate this idea have gone on with their lives and left it up to those of us still here. It is now our turn to continue the work, thus ensuring the survival of their efforts, along with our own. The future is up to us and those who follow our lead.

the environment.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The state’s land-grant research university, Washington State University (WSU), was founded in Pullman in 1890. Today, it has campuses in Pullman and Spokane with additional campuses in the Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick) and in Vancouver. Regional Learning Centers and the Distance Degree Programs offer access to the WSU degrees statewide. WSU has more than 23,000 students and 1,300 instructional faculty members throughout the state. Considered one of the leading public research universities in America, WSU has 10 colleges and a nationally recognized graduate school. Contacts John Glass Director Materials and Resources Management Coordinator WSU Sustainability Initiative Phone: 509-335-4586 Email: [email protected] Dwight Hagihara Director Environmental Health and Safety Phone: 509-335-3051 Email: [email protected]

Even though those who started the Sustainable Campus Initiative Committee were not able to partake in the fruits of their labor, they understood the importance of it all. We on the committee must continue to go by their lead, even though we may not see the results during our time here at MSUM or in our lifetime. It is still important to make those changes to protect Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

Cathy Perillo Assistant Professor Crop/Soil Sciences Phone: 509-335-2851 Email: [email protected] Kyle Smith Student Representative Phone: 509-432-9302 Email: [email protected] Darin Saul Grant Writer/Coordinator Materials and Resources 87

Management Phone: 509-332-2793 Email: [email protected] Tanyalee Erwin Research Associate WSU- Puyallup Phone: 253-445-4504 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals We at WSU wanted to develop a policy document to reflect the growing interest and need for campus sustainability. Our goal was to get the initiative accepted and publicized as a formal WSU policy statement. In the next two to three years, the growing sustainability task force on campus will continue to conduct annual sustainability conferences and workshops; to develop and distribute sustainability curriculum information; and to host student, faculty, and administrator workgroups. Accomplishments We in the project achieved our goal, and the following WSU Sustainability Initiative became Executive Policy #24 on November 15, 2005: ~ The National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program served as a strong foundation on which to build this initiative and provided many useful models for management and campus sustainability activities. ~ WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE VISION Washington State University seeks to provide an exemplary teaching, research, and outreach environment that fosters the conservation of natural resources, supports and enhances social responsibility, addresses community and economic development, and follows environmental, social, and economic practices. POLICY Washington State University is committed to improve its performance in sustainability in all areas of operations to meet the needs of current generations without impairCampus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

ing the ability to meet the needs of future generations. Washington State University will develop appropriate systems for managing environmental, social, and economic sustainability programs with specific goals, objectives, priorities, and processes. In addition, Washington State University will continue to support the present Environmental Management System and its principles to manage environmental challenges on the Pullman Campus and extend them to other WSU campuses and locations. This policy will help Washington State University meet its responsibility to prepare students, staff, and faculty to proactively deal with the environmental, social, and economic challenges facing humanity. SUSTAINABILITY AND UNIVERSITY GOALS Washington State University seeks to continually improve and increase its capacity to teach, and conduct research and outreach in sustainability and is committed to practice sustainability and environmental management system principles to support the following WSU Strategic Plan goals: 1. Offer the best undergraduate experience in a research university by providing curriculum content and choices to incorporate the teaching of environmental, social, and economic sustainability. 2. Nurture a world-class environment for research, scholarship, graduate education, the arts, and engagement by becoming an active member of the global sustainability community. 3. Create an environment of trust and respect in all we do with a concerted effort to understand, enact, and promote sustainability principles. 4. Develop a culture of shared commitment to quality in all of our activities through the implementation of sustainability and environmental management system practices. PRINCIPLES The incorporation of sustainability principles will increase awareness of environmental, social and economic sustainability; create an institutional culture of sustainability; educate for environmentally, so88

cially, and economically responsible citizenship; foster sustainability literacy for all; practice institutional ecology; develop interdisciplinary collaborations; involve all stakeholders; and support the goals and objectives of Governor’s Executive Order 05-01. Environmental management system principles will be implemented through the University’s operations and facilities; be utilized to plan, design, construct, and operate WSU facilities; provide a framework to monitor progress and continual improvement to meet environmental regulations; be utilized to meet sustainability and pollution prevention goals which follow the hierarchy of prevention, recycling/reuse, treatment and disposal; and be documented, implemented, maintained, and communicated to its employees and the public. IMPLEMENTATION To realize the maximum potential to Washington State University, administrators, faculty, staff, students, and other stakeholders will form a collaborative team to develop the sustainability programs. The Sustainability/Environmental Management System Sub-Committee of the University Health and Safety Committee, along with the Sustainability Initiative Coordinator and Environmental Management System Coordinator, will provide the leadership and guidance in the planning, development, organization, and implementation of the programs supporting the Washington State University Sustainability Initiative.

hoc group, worked on this initiative to bring it into a printed document. John Glass served as chief coordinator and motivator to keep the process moving forward. Funding and Resources No costs were incurred. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program served as a strong foundation on which to build this initiative and provided many useful models for management and campus sustainability activities. CLOSING COMMENT This policy document is a first step that creates a platform on which to build campus sustainability activities at Washington State University. It serves to create a printed policy that can be referenced in groups, classrooms, and conversations about sustainability on the WSU campus. This is a great impact project that can be initiated and supported by even a small group of committed individuals.

To view Executive Policy #24, see the WSU website at: www.wsu.edu/~forms/HTML/ EPM/EP24_WSU_Sustainability_Initiative. htm. Challenges and Responses No significant challenges were encountered because there is widespread support across the university for the sustainability initiative. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The Sustainability/EMS subcommittee, an ad

(C) Christopher Noonan

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Worcester State College is a state-sponsored institution of higher learning located in Worcester, Massachusetts. The college offers traditional majors in the arts and sciences complemented by professional programs in teacher education, business and management, and the


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health sciences. The College supports the educational goals of approximately 6,000 full-time students. It sits on 58 acres of land and has a large commuter population. It is a member of the Worcester Consortium, which shares the resources of 13 colleges and universities in and around Worcester. Worcester State College was named the best New England College by the Princeton Review in 2004 and again in 2005. Dr. Janelle Ashley, The Worcester State College President actualizes her strong commitment to the environment and has set environmental stewardship as a top priority for the institution. The college employs a full-time environmental health and safety officer who is very committed to and active in promoting environmental health and quality. Robert Daniels lent his full assistance to this project and is a strong advocate for incorporating environmental awareness in all aspects of college infrastructure management. In addition to an Environmental Health and Safety officer, the college now endorses a student-run Environmental Advocacy Group. The group is working in close relation with the faculty to expand the college’s recycling program and to strengthen environmental literacy among students. Contacts Christopher Noonan Campus Ecology Fellow Environmental Studies Major Email: [email protected] William Hansen, PhD Fellowship Project Advisor Geography Department Email: [email protected] Robert Daniels Fellowship Project Verifier Environmental Health and Safety Officer Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goal of completing the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Campus Ecology Fellowship project is to measure and alleviate environmental degradation resulting from the college process while fostering student growth through

environmental advocacy and awareness. Campus greening allows for a holistic approach to diminish the scope of environmental hazards by focusing on three fundamental aspects related to the institution and the environment: first, education through awareness campaigns, student/faculty involvement, and advocacy; second, energy through encompassing conservation, efficiency, and sustainable infrastructure; and third, waste through encompassing source reduction and recycling. Accomplishments Greening the campus will complement a campus wide effort to become a leader in environmental innovation and an example to other schools throughout the state and country. Greening the campus supports a national greening movement through correspondence with state and local environmental groups, Internet communications, and nationwide alliances to share ideas and information. A result of this project will be a reduction of the college’s environmental impact. This change will be accomplished through the Fellowship by providing a roadmap to environmentally preferable practices. By providing the roadmap, the college will be able to chart its progress toward a sustainable future and to measure results each step of the way. The NWF Campus Ecology Fellowship has given credence and motivation to the unfolding environmental achievements at Worcester State College. Since January 2005, many measures have been taken throughout the college to move closer toward a goal of creating a green campus. More than 20 meetings between students, faculty members, and the administration have taken place to create a unified and cohesive plan for becoming as environmentally friendly as technologies and economies will allow. I, Christopher Noonan, 2006 NWF Campus Ecology Fellow, am involved in promoting student learning through engagement in environmental advocacy on campus. A response to this goal was realized and brought to fruition by the founding of an Environmental Advocacy Group. In late April 2006, the student government officially recognized the Environmental Advocacy Group charter, and the group was


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welcomed as a new special interest group on campus.

improve students’ understanding of their connection to the natural environment.

The group started with an active membership of more than five students and is working to recruit more members in the fall. The Environmental Advocacy Group’s mission statement is to strengthen the college and community environmental ethic through environmental advocacy and education.

Energy. According to the Worcester State College Sustainability Plan, the college currently consumes approximately 37 million cubic feet of natural gas annually to provide a majority of the heat and hot water to the campus. During winter months, an additional boiler burns 100,000 gallons of number #4 fuel oil. The campus-wide fuel usage resulted in 4.5 tons of nitrous oxide emissions, 9 tons of sulfur oxide emissions, .6 ton of carbon monoxide, and 6,500 tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions for fiscal year 2005. In comparison with the nine area state colleges reporting carbon dioxide emissions per square foot of building space, Worcester State College reported the second lowest emission rates.

We in the group actualized this mission statement during a planned Earth Day celebration. On Friday before Earth Day, 10 members of the college gathered for a meeting to explore the possibility of installing solar panels on a building at the college. Students, faculty members, and administrators offered their thoughts and ideas about how to make solar paneling a reality for Worcester State College. The meeting was concluded with the scheduling of several follow-up appointments and an increased commitment to make progress toward converting to renewable energy. With the help of the Geography Honors Society, Gamma Theta Upsilon, two other successful Earth Day 2006 events were held on Saturday, April 22, several students and the college’s environmental health and safety officer gathered for a campus-wide cleanup. After the clean up, nesting boxes were placed throughout the campus. Students also helped plant a crabapple tree in a sunny location just outside the college library. The following Saturday, Worcester State College students gathered at a location within the city of Worcester and joined other community volunteers to clean up an urban area. After a cookout, everyone assisted in constructing five large planting boxes. With the help of the neighborhood children, we painted the boxes and planted a variety of flowers. Plans are under way to host a speaker series during Geography Awareness Week, November 13-17. In addition to a speaker series, the Environmental Advocacy Group has plans to travel to a state forest as part of an effort to increase environmental awareness and literacy. The group will also be participating in several student-sponsored surveys and educational campaigns that are designed to measure and

The college has plans that are already in motion to further reduce the amount of energy usage on campus. It is a member of the Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Environmental Affairs State Sustainability Program, which sets state agencies’ goals and strategies toward “integrating environmentally sustainable practices” according to Executive Order Number 438. In addition to the State Sustainability Program, the college is reviewing options for implementing green building design throughout the scheduled renovation of the Administrative Building. The college is also home to an Energy Awareness Group, which, in conjunction with the Environmental Advocacy Group, is advocating for the incorporation of renewable energy purchases. Waste Reduction. Currently, the campus has a recycling program in place. According to a 2003 audit by Draper/Lennon, Inc., “Worcester State College enjoys a fairly sophisticated and successful recycling program. WSC recycles all of its major fiber streams mixed paper, newspapers and magazines, and cardboard, which are mingled in a single fiber stream and processed on-campus in a compactor. Scrap metal is collected once or twice a year. Computers and electronic equipment, universal wastes, and batteries are all recycled effectively.” It is estimated that between 300 and 350 tons of waste are generated annually and that ap-


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Restoring campus habitats, planting gardens, installing green roofs, or even transforming paths on campus from bare concrete to green havens can not only improve the overall look of a campus but can also improve the health of soils, provide habitat for wildlife, and reduce the use of water and other resources. Restoring green spaces on campus also protects biological diversity and provides an important connection to nature for students, faculty, and staff. Habitats such as forests are also carbon sequesters, reducing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere thus slowing global warming. All trees consume carbon dioxide as they grow; over its lifetime the average tree absorbs about a ton of carbon dioxide. Sixty colleges and universities in the United States have received NWF habitat certification, protecting habitat for wildlife and providing food, shelter, cover, and a place to raise young. In 2006, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee transformed a habitat in the middle of an urban metropolitan area. Discover what these students accomplished in this unique habitat and find out how these students learned about the environment while they helped improve the overall look of their campus.

~ If not for the support of the NWF Campus Ecology program, this survey would not have been as successful and would not have covered as much area. Not only did NWF fund the project, but also its name and reputation opened doors and lent a high level of legitimacy and integrity to the project. The knowledge that an organization such as NWF is willing to help support herpetofauna conservation locally and globally encourages younger students to pursue their interest in the study of amphibians and reptiles and dispels fears that herpetology is too specialized a field for others to appreciate. ~ Edi Sonntag, NWF Fellow, Michigan State University

Campus Ecology Ecology Yearbook Yearbook 2006-2007 2006-2007 -- 17th 17th Edition Edition Campus

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proximately 12 percent to 15 percent is recycled. This rate is set to drastically increase because of current recycling expansion plans that are in place to begin in fall 2006. Hightraffic areas, such as cafeterias, dormitories and classrooms, will have recycling bins available. The goal is to reach a 50 percent recycling rate by 2010.

Plans to expand community environmental outreach are being discussed.

Leaders and Supporters The primary support for this project has come from Robert Daniels, the project verifier, who is the college’s environmental health and safety officer, and from Dr. William Hansen, the project advisor, from the geography department. The project has also been supported by Christopher Noonan, the project manager, student, and NWF Campus Ecology Fellow. The Geography Honors Society President Christine Hamm has lent support in addition to Professor Timothy Hagopian, Energy Awareness Group advisor. Professor Glenn D’Alessio has provided support for campus energy policy. Students and members of the Environmental Advocacy Group, Chelsey Caron, Chris Johnson, Krista Laude, and Maria Markopoulos have been important to the project development.

CLOSING COMMENT

Climate Change Because the measurable reductions in energy use, Worcester State College can proudly claim that it has taken steps to address global warming.

Worcester State College’s current course is to be applauded for efforts to bring together a diversity of individuals to build a more sustainable campus. Ensuring that all involved stakeholders are allowed to contribute has been an important step in the unfolding progress toward a green campus. Building around the current and planned environmental achievements of the college will ensure a campus that is as environmentally neutral as possible. This approach may be helpful to your campus as you explore ways to alleviate the environmental effects of your educational experience.

Funding and Resources The NWF Campus Ecology Fellowship grant provided valuable seed money to help boost interest in environmental infrastructure at the college. Additional money for solar paneling is being sought. The college has contributed funds toward expanding recycling and funding the Environmental Advocacy Group. Worcester State College has begun construction of a major parking garage, which will open up large areas of green space on campus. Community Outreach and Education Worcester State College is a state-sponsored school and is in communication with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The college also has contacts with the Regional Environmental Council and the 13 other colleges and universities in and around Worcester. Earth Day was a successful community outreach event. A planned speaker series in November will include the greater Worcester area and the colleges of the Worcester Consortium.

(C) Edythe Sonntag

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Michigan State University (MSU) began as an agricultural land-grant college in 1855 and has grown to become the highly regarded institution that it is today. MSU is among the top 100 universities in the world in science according to The Times Higher Education Supplement and


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supports 200 programs of study with 14 degree-granting colleges and a law college. More than 45,000 students were enrolled in the fall 2005 semester, representing a diverse array of backgrounds both socially and ethnically. The 5,200-acre campus contains 660 buildings, and a large portion of the campus has agricultural and natural areas. Many programs at MSU are focused on local, regional, and global environmental issues. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Natural Science both support students studying biodiversity and conservation of a wide array of organisms and ecosystems throughout the world. Various campus organizations promote additional educational opportunities for students and others in environmental issues such as sustainability, conservation, and anthropogenic ecological effects. Contacts Edythe Sonntag PhD Candidate NWF Campus Ecology Fellow Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Email: [email protected]

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The natural areas on campus are valuable teaching tools for a variety of courses available through MSU. A multitude of wooded, riparian, and wetland habitats exist throughout the campus and are used by local wildlife. The wildlife within those diverse habitats acts as a living laboratory for students, and those field experiences encourage students to preserve and protect the ecosystem in which they live. Though books contain a wealth of facts, only through direct contact with the natural world can a student become truly invested in the future of this planet and begin to make decisions that can show positive effects on a global level. The campus at MSU supports such experiences. Before this project, a comprehensive survey of the herpetofauna inhabiting the campus’s natural areas had not been attempted. Without such a survey, it was impossible to know what species live the campus and, therefore, which

areas would require protection or management to maintain sufficient habitat and to sustain populations. However, the value of this survey information is not limited to MSU’s campus. These data fill in informational gaps on the local and regional scale as to the status of reptile and amphibians in mid-Michigan. When I, Edythe Sonntag, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Campus Ecology Fellow , came to MSU in the fall semester of 2005 I noted the lack of a campus organization involving herpetology. Therefore, I created the Michigan State University Herp Club. Its main goal is to educate people on the value of reptiles and amphibians and on methods of conserving local species. We in the Herp Club use an annual herpetological survey of the campus as an educational opportunity for people interested in learning more about reptiles and amphibians in their natural habitat. We encourage responsible field techniques and focus on the preservation of habitat, and encourage support for other conservation efforts. Though the annual survey focuses on only a small portion of the total complement of living organisms in the local natural areas, its data provide an opportunity to understand and promote understanding of the forms and functions of diverse ecosystems. Our main goal is to help people better understand amphibians and reptiles, their role in the ecosystem, and their value to everyone. If we can increase the possibility that people will protect habitat where they have heard frog calls or have seen turtles, then we will be successful, regardless of the species list we create. Accomplishments The annual survey has been successful in creating a species list for the MSU campus’s natural areas, where such important information was lacking before. Thanks to the dedication of a team of students willing to go the extra mile, we now have baseline data for the campus and can make future recommendations regarding development and management. Future survey years will allow for comparison and identification of declines and populations in trouble. That data can also be used by students on campus wishing to start research locally. These goals are important, and we are all proud of the success of this program.


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More important, we have now increased the number of people in the area interested in studying and protecting local herpetofauna. Through the training provided to all participants, we have expanded the knowledge base of those involved and have better prepared the people for surveying the area and doing future fieldwork. Furthermore, through the involvement of local volunteers in addition to students, we have increased the chances of the local herpetofauna being preserved after the current students move on. We have referred to this survey as the first annual herp survey because we believe that the MSU campus contains students at all academic levels who have the dedication to ensure that the project continues and that the benefits of this program continue as well. Challenges and Responses As with any event, we had to overcome a few challenges. The biggest challenge was paperwork and ensuring that all bases were covered to obtain permission from the various campus departments. By searching and asking a multitude of sources we were able to determine what was needed, even if no comprehensive list was available, The most difficult area was submitting an Animal Use Form (AUF) for the survey and getting approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC). For the AUF, all members of the main survey committee and the sector leader had to complete three types of trainings in addition to our actual survey training. We also faced a balancing act with the choice of survey dates. In Michigan, the prime times to survey for amphibians and reptiles involve a span, not a date. That span of times was bisected by graduation and the end of the semester. Therefore, we chose a date that seemed most likely to allow volunteers to see the species of interest and that had the best chance of involving the most people. Unfortunately, many students were unable to participate because of attending graduation or having to move out of the dorms that weekend. Next year, we may move the event to an earlier date and hope the weather cooperates. We faced the challenge of drawing the media to the event to highlight our efforts and cause.

We were concerned that too much advertising would result in attendance higher than desired and that large groups would affect the habitat we were trying to protect. Because of our other concerns that some people might exploit the information and use the natural areas to illegally collect herpetofauna, we were also less aggressive in seeking media coverage. In the future, we will pursue advertisement in the campus paper and coverage on multiple survey days to bring in more of the local community. Our successful completion of one survey has given us the confidence to deal with larger groups and a more diverse crowd. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The MSU Herp Club was the main force behind this project. James Harding, our organization’s faculty advisor, Tom Burton, my academic advisor, were valuable sources of support and information. We in the Herp Club formed a survey committee, which was chaired by Andrew Myers, a highly skilled and ambitious undergraduate student and future star herpetologist. The committee was composed of individuals who led a campus sector in the survey, as well as others interested in assisting with the survey. With this dedicated group of individuals, the planning of the survey went smoothly from the beginning, and many challenges were recognized before they become problems. We are also thankful for the support of all the university’s departments that assisted us with ensuring that all required documentation was filed and that all policies were followed. A multitude of people across campus were patient and willing to answer questions. Special thanks must be given to the MSU catering department and to the Pepsi-Cola for the donation of soft drinks, juice, and water for the main survey day. And, of course, we must thank the volunteers who helped with the survey during the whole season. Funding and Resources The generous support of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Campus Ecology Fellowship made this project possible. With that financial support, we achieved volunteer recognition through the distribution of t-shirts and lunch for the survey day. We were able to purchase


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those items necessary for the actual survey (e.g., snake hooks, flagging tape, etc.) that were not donated. Though we initially listed such items on the budget, we received donations of cover boards, aerials, and funnel traps from individuals on campus, thereby allowing us to buy t-shirts for the upcoming second survey year. We underestimated the interest level during the first year and, therefore the budget for volunteer incentives for the total project. The generous donation of the soft drinks, juice, and water for the event from the MSU catering department, and the Pepsi-Cola, significantly decreased the amount of money we needed to spend on the event. Community Outreach and Education Our club advertised the survey throughout the school through email postings. We collaborated with the Fish and Wildlife Club and the Zoology Students Organization to advertise special training dates and survey times to encourage student involvement outside the MSU Herp Club. We also announced the event at a meeting of prominent Michigan herpetologists at the Detroit Zoo to encourage local expert involvement. To decrease the amount of paper used, we spread as much information as possible through word of mouth to friends and family, requested email reservation, and received an excellent level of response to a blog that was established before the survey that included event information and survey updates. A press release was developed and sent to all area radio and television stations to solicit event coverage and advertisement. A local television station attended the survey and did a short segment on the local evening news. A diverse group of people attended the main survey day, including seasoned herpetologists, novices, adults and children. We organized groups to exploit this variety of experience levels and interests so that everyone had the chance to learn something new. Those people unable to attend the main survey day were able to engage in earlier survey work with the sector team leaders or during one of the training sessions, as well as learn about field herpetology.

Climate Change Though our project did not directly address the causes of climate change, we did encounter the effects. Changes in habitat and fragmentation have left a scattered landscape of disjointed herpetofauna populations. When we are better able to understand how those populations survive in an altered landscape like a college campus, we will be able to better manage those unnatural sites to protect biodiversity. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program If not for the support of the NWF Campus Ecology program, this survey would not have been as successful and would not have covered as much area. Not only did NWF fund the project, but also its name and reputation opened doors and lent a high level of legitimacy and integrity to the project. The knowledge that an organization such as NWF is willing to help support herpetofauna conservation locally and globally encourages younger students to pursue their interest in the study of amphibians and reptiles and dispels fears that herpetology is too specialized a field for others to appreciate. CLOSING COMMENT Though the project involved a lot of hard work, many hours, and some frustration, I as the NWF Campus Ecology Fellow feel that this project and ones like it are of immeasurable value to the students and surrounding community. This project presented an opportunity to connect with nature, to enjoy it, and learn about it. In this technology-based age, we humans have lost our connection with the natural world. We must do whatever is necessary to connect people to nature, or we can never expect them to care about and protect nature.


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(C) Melissa Fries

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The Ohio State University (OSU) is a four-year, public research institution located in Columbus, Ohio. Approximately 50,000 students attend OSU each year, making it one of the largest colleges in the United States. More than 170 degree programs are offered 29 schools and colleges, including the highly ranked Fisher College of Business, the Moritz College of Law, the OSU College of Engineering, and the College of Medicine. OSU also provides an incredible amount of research opportunities in each school. Campus greening efforts have increased significantly in recent years, in both the administration and the student body. Hundreds upon hundreds of student organizations are at OSU, and a significant percentage of them focus on environmental issues. Clubs such as the Sierra Student Coalition, Students for Recycling, Free the Planet, and TerrAqua work together to promote sustainability and green living. The Sierra Student Coalition is planning a campuswide Green Fair in October 2006 to reach out to students and to faculty and staff members, as well as a Green Banquet in the winter to reward faculty and staff members who have shown dedication to sustainability on campus. The administration has begun to show more interest in greening efforts. As a well-known university that often makes headlines in sports and research, OSU has the unique opportunity to set an example for colleges across the nation. One of the most exciting, recent develop-

ments is the plan to create an office of energy services and sustainability within the facilities and operations development department. The office will be charged with improving waste management, producing community education, completing energy audits for campus buildings, and developing a steam and electric metering system. Finally, plans to build Ohio’s first green building were unveiled to OSU students just this year. This Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building will be the new home of Ohio’s 4H center, and it will be a huge step forward in demonstrating the benefits of sustainable practices not only to the entire university but also to all of Ohio. Contacts Virginie Bouchard, PhD Associate Professor of Natural Sciences Email: [email protected] Eugene Braig Assistant Director, Ohio Sea Grant Email: [email protected] Melissa Fries Coordinator of Vernal Pools Education and Conservation Project Class of 2008 2006 NWF Campus Ecology Fellow Email: [email protected] The TerrAqua Student Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society Student Organization at OSU Melissa Fries, President

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The vernal pools education and conservation project has several overall goals. The first goal is to educate the OSU community and the general public on the importance and significance of vernal pools. The second goal is to locate vernal pools that exist on private property and to work with the landowners to examine and preserve those areas. The third goal is to establish this project as a permanent part of the TerrAqua student organization. The project’s short term goals include making


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contacts with local high schools and presenting information to classes, holding monthly seminars on vernal pool topics, and encouraging landowners to preserve vernal pools on their property. Accomplishments Although our project is just beginning, we have already accomplished several of our short-term goals. We visited a local high school, gave a presentation on vernal pools to seven different science classes, hosted three public seminars on different vernal pool or wetland issues, and attended training sessions on how to monitor and study pools. We also spoke about vernal pools and our project at several events, including naturalist trainings and OSU field days. Public education through meetings, lectures, and school visits is one of our primary focuses, and we will continue all of our efforts in the upcoming school year. We have begun plans to host vernal-pool training sessions next year. Those programs will be a very important part of our effort to engage and educate the community, and we hope to have participants from all over the state as well as the local campus community. Training sessions often target biologists or naturalists who are already familiar with vernal pool ecosystems. Although, we will advertise to and invite all professionals in the field, we hope to attract students and the general public to those events. To accomplish this goal, we will attempt to give each training session a different focus, from detailed monitoring techniques and habitat descriptions to general information for the participants who are not familiar with this type of ecosystem. One of our greatest accomplishments has been our ability to spread the word around campus and the community that our project is under way. One student who is involved in our club will be attending the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) annual meeting this July. At the conference, he will attend poster sessions to present our work and what we hope to accomplish. We have made many contacts through programs such as this, and we have been asked to participate in several projects because of our involvement in vernal pool conservation. This recognition has created many opportunities for public education, and we hope

it will continue to be a source of opportunities in the future. Challenges and Responses One of the goals outlined at the beginning of the project was to locate unmarked and unidentified vernal pools and to work to preserve them. That goal has become one of our biggest challenges. Because the pools are typically dry throughout winter, summer, and fall, spring is not just the optimal time, but is virtually the only possible time to locate vernal pools during the year. That condition leaves a small amount of time for our group to work on this part of the project. Unfortunately, we were not successful in our efforts this spring. We have worked on improving our efforts in locating the pools and have developed another plan. We would like to use detailed landscape maps to locate potential vernal pool sites in the area and then contact landowners on the basis of the locations. We hope this information will provide us with more consistent opportunities to reach private landowners. Another significant challenge that we have encountered in the past few months is generating interest in students. This project has several different components, each requiring a large amount of work and effort. We have pursued many different goals because our group composes several very dedicated students who are able to divide up the work. Originally, we had planned on recruiting several more students to make the workload more manageable. However, our efforts have not been very successful. Although many students are interested in the project, they soon decide that they are unable to make a real commitment. We have dealt with this challenge by planning for events far in advance and by being as efficient as possible at business meetings. We will continue to recruit students next fall, but we plan to emphasize the educational and networking opportunities that our club can provide. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters This project was initiated by the student organization TerrAqua. As the president, I, Melissa Fries, am a 2006 National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Campus Ecology Fellow and the leader of the program. Other members of the


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group, Kyle Chambers, Rich Ciotola, Gwen Dubelko, and Robert Millspaugh, assist in all activities, including planning events, speaking at schools, and visiting vernal pools. The advisors of the club, Dr. Virginie Bouchard and Eugene Braig, provide advice, guidance, and assistance with all aspects of the project. They attend all events and have been very helpful in advertising the project to students and faculty members in the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR). Deni Porej, director of Conservation Science at the Ohio Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, has been crucial to our project by connecting us with other professionals in the field, as well as by helping us increase our knowledge about vernal pools, about the wildlife that will use the pools, and about what needs to be done to protect them. Funding and Resources The estimated cost of this project was originally $3,000 to $3,500. That amount will vary throughout the coming year pm the basis of the number of attendants at seminars and trainings. We at OSU received $2,000 from an NWF Campus Ecology Fellowship. We also secured funds each academic quarter from the OSU student organization office. Although, that amount is not fixed, it is decided before each quarter on the basis of the type of programs planned. Space for meetings and lectures is reserved through SENR at no cost. Speakers for meetings are able to volunteer their time and are therefore free of cost. Community Outreach and Education We in the project have been working continuously to involve the entire community. A significant portion of our project is dedicated to community education through lectures, trips into the field, trainings, and school visits. All of our events are advertised to local park naturalists, members of the SWCS Ohio Chapter, to students, and to faculty and staff members. Although we have seen a fair amount of interest from the community, we hope to increase their involvement in the coming year. A large amount of support is needed to ensure that this project will continue to be successful long after the fellowship period ends. Climate Change This project deals with global climate change indirectly. We in the project are hoping to

educate the community on the value of vernal pools and wildlife. At each seminar and meeting, we focus on the importance and benefits of preserving natural areas. Education may not reduce carbon dioxide emissions or slow global warming immediately, but we believe it is an important first step. Without at least some knowledge of the natural world and the need for conservation, one has difficulty understanding and appreciating the negative effects of global climate change. We also hope to address global warming by preserving the natural vernal pools found in the surrounding landscape. Vernal pools require some type of natural buffer zone, typically forest, to maintain wildlife populations. Protecting those areas from development will help to increase the amount of forested area and wildlife habitat in a city that grows more and more every day. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program NWF provided TerrAqua with a $2,000 Campus Ecology fellowship to fund our project. As a NWF Campus Ecology Fellow, I traveled to New Orleans this past spring to attend NWF’s annual meeting. While at the meeting, I had the opportunity to hear about other student projects being funded across the country, to network with professionals, and to develop creative ways to solve problems that may arise throughout the project. I have also begun reading the Campus Ecology Yearbook and monthly e-news. Those resources are invaluable to TerrAqua and my project. As students, we are bound to encounter problems, both expected and unexpected. NWF staff members have provided wonderful advice and counseling about the problems, and I am sure there is much more to come in the future. CLOSING COMMENT I would like to encourage anyone who has considered initiating a campus or community greening project to go for it. Although there is work involved, the endless benefits and recognition that you will receive make it well worth the time and effort. Do not be afraid that your project may not succeed in the way that you hope. There will always be roadblocks along the way, but the learning experience will be in-


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valuable and will help to ensure the success of any future projects. Be sure to advertise your project to other students, as well as to faculty and staff members. Having support is necessary, and, you may be surprised by how many people are willing to lend a hand. Finally, do not forget the reason you began the project. It is easy to get wrapped up in the details and stressful situations that may arise, but your passion will see you through the rough patches and will help you achieve your goals.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of Vermont (UVM) is a landgrant institution with just over 10,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and 1,200 faculty members. The school was originally a private college and then became public when it joined with the State Agricultural College. In addition to a strong natural-resource component, UVM also offers programs in liberal arts and medical science. From its days as an agricultural school to its current extension programs, UVM is committed to strengthening its ties to the community by sharing resources and information with everyone from the residents of Burlington to the farmers in rural Vermont to others in the Northern Forest region of the United States. UVM is involved with environmental issues at the local, national, and global levels and prides itself on striving to be a green campus. Currently in place are programs for recycling, energy conservation, and reduction of toxic chemicals and many collaborative efforts to minimize the university’s footprint. A recent report by Cornell University lists UVM as a top institution for campus greening. That leadership role establishes UVM as a model demonstrating how institutions can operate in a more sustainable manner. As an institution in Vermont, the university is committed to the communities and the citizens it serves.

Presently, the school is embarking on a number of construction projects with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification as a minimum. Those projects include student housing focused on an environmental living experience, a new plant science building, and an initiative termed The Greening of Aiken, referring to the building that houses the Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources. A new project started in June 2005 was also created to develop a community-based forestry program. The Green Forestry Education Initiative (GFEI) plans to demonstrate sustainable community-based forestry at the university’s Jericho Research Forest (JRF). That forest is located in the Green Mountains on 493 acres of reclaimed farmland consisting of mixed hardwoods and softwoods and plantations. A few buildings are on the land, including the original farmhouse constructed in 1802 (which is under review for historical restoration). The school uses this forest for education, research, and demonstration. It is also open to the public for a variety of recreational uses. Contacts David Brynn Director, Green Forestry Education Initiative Phone: 802-656-0719 Email: [email protected] John Shane Chair, Forestry Department Phone: 802-656-2907 Email: [email protected] David Giuliani NWF Campus Ecology Fellow Graduate Student, Class of 2007 The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Aiken Center University of Vermont Burlington, Vermont 050405 Phone: 802-272-6009 Email: [email protected] Don Tobi Lab Research Technician Phone: 802-656-5434 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS


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sions for interested parties.

Goals The effects of this project are intended to last long after the grant period. During the next year, the following measures will be in place: • Creation of a Timber Portfolio of JRF Compartment 3 with sustained yield, including an inventory addressing soil, water, carbon, forest vitality, and biodiversity. • Establishment of Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) plots within the stand. CFI plots are used to monitor the forest’s sustained yield, to calculate the harvest levels, and to track the effects of silvicultural treatments. • Marking for a tally by species, volume, quality, and number of trees. The Compartment 3 inventory, plan, and implementation will use the Vermont Family Forests certification template as a basis. To view that template, see the website at www.familyforests.org. • Prescription of a suitable silvicultural system with forest health as the top priority. • Presentations of the Timber Portfolio to university managers and planners. There will also be demonstrations to non industrial private landowners, communities, and schools; development of partnerships with organizations promoting sustainability; and design of a website for outreach to more distant audiences. The success of this project relies on a multidisciplinary approach to community-based forestry and the participation of students of all ages and interests. The objective of that coalition is to promote awareness of this project and other associated proceedings to the general public, so participants can illustrate thoughtful and efficient management of natural resources to non-industrial, private forest owners. Longterm goals include the following: • Development of JRF into a leading demonstration forest and an important source of community education. • Continual presentations and training ses-

• Access to a green-certified forest product for implementation in building projects. • Reduction of the school’s ecological footprint by using its own natural resources and not relying on products of unknown origin. Involvement of individuals, communities, and organizations with a dedication to sustainability is a critical component. Those connections will aid in support and publicity for JRF. This project will serve as an example, to the public and to all parties involved, of the benefits of needbased harvesting. Accomplishments Still in its earlier stages, this project has yet to produce any measurable outcomes. With the aid of an undergraduate intern, monitoring plots will be set up and an inventory of the forest resources in the designated compartment will be conducted this summer. Once analyzed, those data will provide the necessary information to develop a management plan and to create a portfolio of available resources. In the past few months, the project has been presented and discussed at various venues to gain support. In May, I, NWF Campus Ecology Fellow David Giuliani, attended a forestry workshop in New Hampshire and a conference on the Adirondack Park in New York, where I gave a poster presentation and learned other useful tools. I have also continued spreading the word about the project at community gatherings on campus and at the research forest. Challenges and Responses The greatest challenge has been making sense of all the literature on this subject and narrowing the focus. It is too easy to veer away from the original goal. It is also useful to outline, in clear detail, exactly what is going to be accomplished. That approach prevents one from taking on more issues than can be handled and from going off on tangents. Monitoring is one such area that has become a roadblock. Because there are so many methods by which to monitor the plots, it has been difficult to begin field work. It was helpful to


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list the indicators necessary to measure sustainability and, from that, to decide the best approach. The need for continuing the monitoring and, for making it easily replicated by others was also considered. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Throughout this process, I have been working for GFEI. The initiative is a new approach to forestry that the school has embraced. Last year, David Brynn, the director, began changing the face of the school’s program by integrating other disciplines and members of the community and by engaging those members in how they think about stewardship. The hope is that by forming a land ethic, people will realize their effect on the ecosystem when they use the forest and its resources. In my classes, I have received valuable lessons on forest ecology and dendrology from John Shane; forest management and ecosystem dynamics from Bill Keeton; and silviculture and pathology from Dale Bergdahl. Funding and Resources This project is funded by an NWF Campus Ecology Fellowship, the University of Vermont Environmental Council, and GFEI. I have been able to conduct my field work easily and at practically no cost because of available resources at the research forest (paint, flagging materials, etc). I have also been hired to work part time as an assistant caretaker at the forest, which has provided me some additional income and availability. Hourly wages, supplies, and travel costs should not amount to more than $2,500.

is to develop new ways of sequestering carbon through management. Recent silvicultural techniques are being researched that focus on creating an old growth structure that takes up and stores more carbon. This project and others by GFEI also look at ways in which various forest products can be used to sequester more carbon. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program NWF’s Campus Ecology program has been a great help to me. After meeting the other Fellows at the annual meeting and discussing their progress, I have learned a number of techniques for garnering support and advertising and for being more effective in my approach. I am able to re-visit those and other issues with conference calls. Being associated with the NWF has been wonderful, and I value the many benefits I have gained. CLOSING COMMENT The possibilities for making a difference on your campus are endless. Staying focused and being motivated within such a short period have been the most important aspect for me. There are numerous avenues to follow in achieving your goals. Being affiliated with an organization as renowned as NWF is a valuable tool. I suggest that anyone interested in bringing change to his or her school should access the information made available by NWF on its website and in its publications.

Community Outreach and Education There has been an unbelievable amount of participation by the school and local community. In addition to workshops, conferences, and presentations, we in the project are presently trying to come up with new ways to apply those concepts so that undergraduates from a range of backgrounds can be involved. There have also been efforts to present this project to building managers and individuals in charge of procurement. Climate Change One of the major components of this project Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

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Project. • Continue to implement a natural disturbance regime (fire) to approximately 17 acres of abandoned permanent pasture area on campus. • Collect and purchase locally the seed for native prairie plants for introduction into the restoration area. • Establish 10 new circular study plots, each approximately 22.5 meters in diameter. (C) Douglas A. Wymer

• Evaluate the plant productivity across several treatment levels compared with an un-manipulated control area.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public, four-year university with an enrollment of approximately 2,000 students. The campus comprises roughly 600 acres and includes a 55-acre lake and an extensive network of nature trails. UWA is currently in the early stages of a campus-wide greenways project that is unrelated to the Blackland Prairie Restoration Project. Contacts Douglas A. Wymer, PhD Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences UWA Station 07 Livingston, AL 35470 Phone: 205-652-3862 Email: [email protected]

• Study tick abundance in the burned and unburned areas to evaluate the effects, if any, of fire on tick populations. Accomplishments The project accomplished the following: • Seeds were collected for species that were readily available, and seeds were purchased when necessary with funds secured from the Alabama Wildflower Society, the Sumter County Nature Trust, the Tombigbee Resource Conservation and Development Board, the Alabama Onsite Wastewater Association, and the University of West Alabama. (see goal 3).

Roger R. Limerick Manager, UWA Lake and Prairie P.O. Box 1182 Livingston, AL 35470 Phone: 205-652-9266 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goals of the project are as follows: • Cultivate the interest of students at UWA, at other local colleges, and in the local community about ecological restoration through the Blackland Prairie Restoration Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

• In January 2006, 17 acres of the restoration area were burned using a crew composed of UWA students, faculty and staff volunteers, along with students and faculty members from East Central Community College in Decatur, Mississippi (see goal 1 and 2). • In spring 2006, a group of student volunteers established 10 study plots and introduced seeds into those study plots (see goal 4). • In summer 2006, one student enrolled in a summer-directed study course to examine prairie plant community productivity (see goals 1 and 5). • In summer 2006, one student enrolled in 103

a summer-directed study course to examine the effects of fire on tick populations (see goals 1 and 6). Challenges and Responses The project’s main challenge this year was the continuing presence of exotic grasses, but observations indicate that the continued prescribed burning had a dramatic and beneficial effect on the restoration plots. The other issue we struggled with was the time needed to manage the project. Dr. Wymer’s teaching load and other duties left little time for the project. The continued involvement of Roger Limerick, the student who conducted the pilot study in the 2004-2005 academic year, has been of great benefit to the project. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters In spring 2006, The Blackland Prairie Restoration Project was started in Dr. Wymer’s ecological restoration class. Dr. Wymer and Roger Limerick continue to lead the project, but many of the student, faculty, and staff volunteers really own a piece of the project through their efforts. Funding and Resources The major expense in the project was the purchase of seed. Other expenses included safety gear for the student volunteers involved in the prescribed burn (gloves and safety glasses) and field equipment for summer researchers. Costs of the project are reduced through the support of UWA’s administration. Many tasks are performed by Roger Limerick through his position as manager of the project. Some supplies and the use of equipment are donated to the project by UWA. Brett Horne, one of the summer 2006 student researchers, was awarded a competitive grant through the Alabama Wildflower Society so he could pursue the project. Dr. Richard Holland, president of UWA, is president of the Sumter County Nature Trust and was able to secure additional project funding through the trust. Additionally, Dr. Wymer submitted a proposal for a UWA research grant that was funded for research during the 2005-2006 academic year. Community Outreach and Education

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) of Alabama is working toward establishing a Blackland Prairie Heritage area in west Alabama on a much larger scale than our project. The knowledge we in the project gain through our efforts will be valuable to TNC when its restoration work is started. Recently, the Alabama Chapter of The Wildlife Society held its annual meeting on the UWA campus. The meeting involved a detailed presentation and a tour of the restoration area and other prairie remnants near campus. Comments received about the project have been overwhelmingly positive. UWA and the city of Livingston, Alabama, are in the early stages of forming a Black Belt Regional Museum focusing on the cultural and natural history of the area. The prairie restoration project will feature prominently in the museum’s natural history programs. Climate Change The project replaces a habitat dominated by exotic grasses with one dominated by native species. Although there is no likely net effect on greenhouse gases, green spaces do consume carbon dioxide. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program Publicity received from the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program has raised awareness of the project, which was featured in one of the monthly e-newsletters last year. The project earned Campus Ecology Recognition last year, which resulted in a front-page article and photo in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, newspaper. Consultation with staff members and peer matches should be used more as the project grows in popularity and complexity. CLOSING COMMENT We in the project are exceptionally lucky to have the enthusiastic support of UWA’s administration. One point to remember in a restoration project is that you cannot undo in one growing season the changes in an ecosystem resulting from years or decades under a different management regime. There is neither overnight success nor a discrete end point of ecological restoration, it is an ongoing process focused on increasing the education of everyone and the integrity of damaged systems.


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ing presentations and networking sessions, joined the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Campus Ecology Program, applied and received grants for storm water master planning and best management practices, supported environmentally related student organizations, established Share the Earth programs in the Student Union, and established a service learning program in our introduction to conservation and environmental science course. We in the council have been busy, but we still have work to do!

(C) Joel Springsteen

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee (UWM) strives to be Wisconsin’s premier urban campus. We at UWM are proud to educate more than 27,000 multicultural students in 152 degree programs at our 11 schools and colleges; to host an outreach program that serves 47,000 people each year; to contribute to academic research, earning research standing in the top 102 public universities in the nation; and to cheer our National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion teams. Those numbers do not paint a complete picture. UWM students connect to the people and natural resources of our region through hundreds of service-learning, internship, and research partnerships. Our campus-wide initiative, The Milwaukee Idea, is enriching, and being enriched by, the people, places, and natural resources of southeastern Wisconsin. Inspired by its motto “Learn More,” UWM students, along with faculty and staff, have initiated a campus greening initiative to do more for the environment. In spring 2003, UWM hosted the first UW System Green Campus Symposium and successfully assembled approximately 40 campus planners, facilities managers, and faculty members from around the state, as well as six representatives of the Division of State Facilities. During 2003 and 2004, members of our faculty and staff, and our students networked, shared ideas, collaborated on recycling projects, and established the UWM Environmental Council. During the 2004-2005 academic year, the council hosted lunch-time campus green-

Contacts Joel Springsteen Ecotone Officer Environmental Council Member Biological Sciences Major 2505 S. 9th St. Milwaukee, WI 53215 Phone: 414-241-7286 Email: [email protected] or ecotone@uwm. edu Laurie Statz Ecotone Officer Environmental Council Member Conservation and Environmental Science Major 14925 W. Olivia Lane. New Berlin, WI 53151 Phone: 262-993-1422 Email: [email protected] or ecotone@uwm. edu Christina Buffington Coordinator and Sustainability Educator Conservation and Environmental Science Program College of Letters and Science CES Program, Biological Science Department PO Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413 Phone: 414-229-6170 Fax: 414-229-3926 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The habitat restoration of Downer Woods and the newly installed prairie garden adjacent to the School of Architecture and the Urban Plan-


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ning Building involved community members, the off-campus Field Station, students, and faculty and staff members. The three goals we in the project submitted at the beginning of our membership focused on water, waste management, and energy. We made significant progress in each of those areas, that will culminate in summer 2006 and during the 2006-2007 academic year. During 2005-2006, Ecotone, the student environmental organization, focused on habitat restoration projects. Ecotone recognizes the UWM campus’s significant ecological footprint in the community and seeks to engage UWM and the surrounding community in improving its ecological health. Ecotone’s habitat restoration efforts focused on two sites on the UWM Campus: Downer Woods, an 11-acre natural area, and a recently established prairie garden surrounding part of the Architecture and Urban Planning (AUP) Building. Our long-term goal for Downer Woods is to re-establish the pre-settlement vegetation. Our long-term goal for the AUP prairie garden is to increase appreciation and acceptance of native plantings in urban spaces. The specific short-term goals for both habitat restoration projects included the following: • Assessment: Survey Downer Woods for native and nonnative invasive plant communities, mammals, and birds. Identify desirable and undesirable plants in the AUP prairie garden. • Education: Host an Environmental Council brownbag forum focused on Downer Woods and the AUP prairie garden. During biweekly Ecotone meetings and work days, educate members of Ecotone, volunteers, and service learning students enrolled in the course, titled Introduction to Conservation and Environmental Science. • Action: Remove 3 to 6 acres of invasive species in Downer Woods, maintain the AUP prairie garden, and plant native prairie plants. • Policy: Draft a campus-wide environmental policy statement for submission to members of UWM’s administration, faculty, staff, and student governance.

Accomplishments With respect to assessment, Joel Springsteen, officer of Ecotone and UWM Field Station employee, worked 620 hours in Downer Woods, identifying native plants, clearing buckthorn (an invasive shrub), and identifying birds and mammals. Unexpectedly, he found a large population of white-footed mice. Raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, and the occasional white-tailed deer also use the woods. The woods are an island of green in a sea of urbanized, impervious surfaces. However, not all of the green is good; Downer Woods is infested with two types of buckthorn, as well as invasive honeysuckle, burdock, and garlic mustard. He completed literature reviews that confirmed the increased predation of songbirds in invasive honeysuckle and buckthorn versus native shrubs. He also identified 29 bird species that use Downer Woods for breeding and feeding or as a stop over site during migration. Additionally, Jen Arschem, a graduate student in biological sciences, studied the effects of buckthorn on woody and herbaceous cover in Downer Woods. Her master’s thesis results confirm that buckthorn decreases native species’ richness and diversity. As for education, we in the project educated people about native plant restoration at UWM Environmental Council presentations, environmental science service-learning courses, and Ecotone meetings and work days. As evidence of the positive effect of education, a service- learning student working with Ecotone in Downer Woods wrote, “The introduction of buckthorn has threatened the existence of the following native shrubs: chokecherry, red twigged dogwood, maple leaf viburnum, raisin bush-viburnum, arrow leaf viburnum, and gooseberry. The introduction of garlic mustard has threatened the following native herbaceous plants: wild geranium, jack-in-the-pulpit, trillium, trout lily, blue lobelia, Michigan lily, Canada columbine, and wild ginger. By eradicating buckthorn and garlic mustard from Downer Woods, Ecotone has made it possible for the aforementioned native plants to flourish again. This change will significantly increase the biodiversity of Downer Woods” [written permission for quote granted, student name withheld]. This student was shocked that invasive buckthorn plants are still legally sold and planted as


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ornamentals in the United States. With respect to action, more than 30 students completed their 10-hour service-learning requirement with Ecotone, working in the AUP prairie garden and Downer Woods, organizing Earth Day events, or collecting petitions for UWM to adopt an environmental policy statement. Students spent 300 hours restoring Downer Woods alone; together, they cleared more than four acres filled with litter and with Buckthorn and other invasive plants such as garlic mustard! Students also cleared weeds and planted shooting stars in the AUP prairie garden and collected more than 300 signatures in support of an environmental policy. With respect to policy, students and many faculty and staff members were unaware of the immeasurable value of Downer Woods and the AUP prairie garden before the project. Some referred to the prairie garden as a weed patch and thought of those woods as a dangerous place. Students, as well as faculty and staff members, who appreciate the prairie garden and Downer Woods were motivated to instigate an environmental policy statement, which the UWM administration will review in the 20062007 academic year. The policy statement simply states the following: EARTH Week 2006-Sponsored by the UWM E-Council: We the undersigned have read and enthusiastically support the Talloires Declaration to promote responsible environmental stewardship and sustainable practices. We ask UWM to adopt the 10-Point Action Plan as part of University policy. The Talloires Declaration can be found at the website for University Leaders for a Sustainable Future at www.ulsf.org/programs_talloires_td.html. Challenges and Responses An impediment to eliminating invasive plant species in Downer Woods is the unmanaged wooded areas on campus outside of the Downer Woods fence line, as well as areas on and off- campus where nonnative honeysuckle and buckthorn are maintained as ornamentals. Without a campus-wide commitment to environmental education and policy, those nonnative species will continue to be a seed source

that spreads to our woods. Currently, only a handful of highly dedicated members organize and implement the projects of Ecotone and the UWM Environmental Council. Many people express interest but are too busy to volunteer much of their time. Some service-learning students work on habitat restoration to complete their course requirements, rather than by choice. The project leaders have been accessible to such students and have strived to make the projects fun and interactive. In future projects, we hope to recruit more active members and future officers of Ecotone, to train them in natural history and restoration techniques, and to honor them through recognition with the UWM Center for Volunteerism and Student Leadership. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Laurie Statz and Joel Springsteen, both of Ecotone, are the leaders of the habitat restoration projects. Jim Reinartz, director of UWM’s field station, supported the Downer Woods restoration project through training, education of natural history, and supervision. Christina Buffington, instructor of a service-learning course and a founding member of the UWM Environmental Council, supported both projects by implementing service-learning and by providing connections to members of the administration, faculty, and staff. Students who were enrolled in the course titled Introduction to Conservation and Environmental Science, CES 210, co-taught by Christina Buffington and Dr. Mary Gruhl, worked with environmental organizations, such as Ecotone, in the Milwaukee area to complete the 10-hour service-learning requirement. Through their service hours, interviews with Ecotone officers, attendance at Ecotone meetings and work days, research about invasive species, and presentation to their peers, CES 210 students gained a deeper understanding of course content along with a greater awareness of societal needs and civic responsibility. Funding and Resources The UWM main campus provides funds to maintain and protect Downer Woods, while the off- campus UWM Field Station manages the woods and supervises student labor. Ecotone paid for supplies for service learning-students,


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using its funding from the Student Appropriations Committee through the UWM Student Association. The budget for invasive species maintenance for the 11-acre Downer Woods site included $6,000 to $8,000 for labor (more than 600 paid student-labor hours) and $60 for supplies. Volunteer service-learning students provided an additional 300 hours, at a cost savings of $2,700. The 2005-2006 academic year marked the second year of the AUP prairie garden. Ecotone used its Student Association funding to buy seed and transplants at the following times: spring 2004 ($250 for seed and $400 for sand), fall 2004 ($250 for seed), spring 2005 ($400 for transplants and mostly shooting stars), and fall 2005 ($600 for transplants of diverse species). Wild Ones, a nonprofit organization promoting the use of native plants, donated leaf mulch and transplants during the first year. Also in the first year, Riverwest Currents newspaper donated surplus newsprint for suppressing turf grass.

NWF’s Campus Ecology program motivated the UWM Environmental Council to set goals and to gain support for campus greening projects at on and off-campus locations. The most useful resources from the Campus Ecology program were State of the Campus Environment and the Greenscapes resource packet providing data, ideas, and examples to motivate us project members to implement our various projects. CLOSING COMMENT Service-learning students, plus faculty and staff members, worked with Ecotone and were struck most by the passion and commitment of student members volunteering their time and by the environmental ethic embedded in Ecotone’s organizational principles. To view those principles, see the Ecotone website at: www. uwm.edu/StudentOrg/ecotone/pages/index. htm. Ecotone’s organizational principles are as follows:

Community Outreach and Education The UWM Environmental Council lunch-time presentation about Downer Woods included attendance by 30 or more students; neighbors, and members of the faculty, staff, and administration. Jim Reinartz described the natural history of Downer Woods, including the vegetative communities and the human communities that lived at the site. Downer Woods was once a Native American settlement; the oak trees present today have their origins from Native Americans. In the past decades, several hundred community members have worked to protect Downer Woods from development. Those neighbors are happy to see renewed student interest in and ownership of Downer Woods and the new AUP prairie garden.

Foremost intermediacy, work toward University of Wisconsin campuses’ cooperation with natural systems and local-regional economies in utilizing environmentally and socially restorative practices in agriculture, building, trade, and other critical resources.

Climate Change Downer Woods sequesters carbon through its mature stand of trees. Both graduate or undergraduate student research projects may analyze vine growth in Downer Woods as a result of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration.

Always democracy, examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the [whole] community (Aldo Leopold - Sand County Almanac) (Source: Ecotone Student Organization, UW-Milwaukee).

National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program

Second responsiveness, achieve clear goals in noticeable projects on and around UW campus, thereby bringing more students to an ecological awareness if not literacy. Third diversity engage students, faculty, administrators, and local land custodians alike to adequately distribute resources for a widerange of projects supportive of sustainable efforts.


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BACKGROUND Campus Profile Washington State University (WSU) is one of the top 50 public research universities in the United States, with its flagship campus in Pullman; three urban campuses in Spokane, the Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick), and Vancouver; and 10 regional learning centers throughout Washington state. WSU offers more then 250 fields of study in 10 colleges, including a nationally recognized University Honors College and a large graduate school. Founded in Pullman in 1890, WSU is the state’s land-grant research university enrolling more than 18,000 students at the Pullman campus, with more than 21,000 students statewide, including growing numbers in distance education programs. Set among the rolling hills of the former Palouse Prairie, WSU is one of the largest residential campuses west of the Mississippi River. About half of the student body lives on the 620-acre Pullman campus, which is situated against the nearby backdrop of Moscow Mountain and the wooded foothills of the northern Rockies bioregion. Students interested in conservation biology, wildlife ecology, endangered species conservation, environmental science, and natural resources find ample opportunity for education and field studies with more than 1,300 faculty members by using the extensive on-campus research facilities and nearby outdoor ecological laboratories, including a Palouse Prairie ecological preserve system. Contacts Rod Sayler, PhD Associate Professor Conservation Biologist Phone: 509-335-6167 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals Following an Earth Day celebration in 2005, WSU purchased and protected a remnant of

Palouse Prairie from encroaching urban development and has embarked on a collaborative effort with local citizen groups and university students to conserve and restore native prairie habitats. Magpie Forest, a natural area that is long valued by university researchers and the public, is the local name given to a unique 33-acre land parcel on the edge of Pullman. Rapidly expanding housing developments threatened to destroy Magpie Forest as one of the few remaining remnants of native Palouse Prairie, a highly endangered grassland ecosystem, of which 99 percent has been destroyed. At the urging of faculty members and community groups, WSU stepped in and purchased that land with the goal of creating an outdoor ecological laboratory and nature preserve for use by researchers and the public. The site harbors hawthorn thickets, quaking aspen trees, and a wide variety of native shrubs, grasses, and flowering herbaceous plants, including two rare Palouse wildflowers: the ladyslipper orchid (Cypripedium montanum) and the Palouse milk-vetch (Astragalus arrectus – state status: sensitive). In spring, the site is thickly covered with yellow glacier lilies (Erythronium gradiflorum), which produce corms that were once used as food by Native Americans. Magpie Forest is near another Palouse Prairie remnant conserved by WSU, the Smoot Hill Ecological Reserve, on which the giant Palouse earthworm (Driloleirus americanus) was rediscovered in 2005 by researchers. Capable of growing to nearly three feet in length, the white colored giant Palouse earthworm is reported to emit a scent of lilies and was noted by the Lewis and Clark expedition. Not one of those worms has been seen since the 1980s and scientists had begun to wonder if they were extinct. Thus, Magpie Forest and other Palouse Prairie sites may harbor the last few members or populations of this unique and mysterious species. Accomplishments WSU has launched Adopt Magpie Forest as a public campaign to enlist the help of both university students and community volunteers in establishing and patrolling trails, placing interpretive signs and markers to guide public use, and keeping the forest clean of debris. Magpie


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Forest is now being used by various university classes, including students undertaking botany and plant systematic studies, as well as restoration ecology courses. Trees, shrubs, and flowers to be used in habitat restoration activities are being grown in a campus native-plant nursery. Challenges and Responses One of the biggest challenges facing the immediate future of Magpie Forest is to make a broader segment of the public aware that paintballing, camp fires, wood-cutting, and similar uses are no longer allowed that the area has now been purchased to become a nature preserve and university research site ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT

Climate Change The restoration of Magpie Forest does not directly address climate change. However, healthy forests can act as carbon sinks, thus reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. CLOSING COMMENT The initial campaign to raise awareness of the unique value of this Palouse Prairie remnant and to develop community partnerships has been met with enthusiasm. The potential to protect and restore this prairie site makes it a valuable and practical part of WSU’s educational mission and our commitment to sustainability practices.

Leaders and Supporters Magpie Forest has long been valued as an important natural history resource by scientists at WSU, the nearby University of Idaho, and members of the local conservation community because of its historic ecological and conservation value. It is unique in being one of the few undeveloped and unfarmed natural areas close to the growing cities of Pullman, Washington, and Moscow, Idaho. The Pullman Environmental Quality Commission identified Magpie Forest as one of the city’s most important and endangered critical areas, assuming that it would eventually become part of Pullman. Community Outreach and Education The location of Magpie Forest on the city’s edge presents a unique conservation challenge to WSU and the local community. The two must design and implement a habitat restoration plan to protect biological resources in an urban nature preserve. WSU is working closely with the Pullman Civic Trust, Pullman Chamber of Commerce, Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute, Palouse Prairie Foundation, the city of Pullman, and Whitman County to develop future management plans, which will include restoration of farmland around the forest. WSU has also launched Adopt Magpie Forest as a public campaign to enlist the help of both university students and community volunteers in establishing and patrolling trails, placing interpretive signs and markers to guide public use, and keeping the forest clean of debris. Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

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As the gateway to goods and services on campus, purchasing offers a key opportunity to promote sustainable manufacturing, packaging, transportation, and recyclability of goods. With the purchasing power on campuses being around $317 billion a year, college and university campuses can help drive markets for more sustainable goods, such as energy-efficient office equipment, environmentally preferable paper, recycled furniture, office supplies, organic food for the dining hall, and even renewable energy from local wind farms to power campus buildings. According to State of the Campus Environment, an NWF report surveying 891 higher education institutions on environmental performance, 47 percent have set goals to improve purchasing environmentally sound goods; however, only 7 percent have a green purchasing coordinator. In 2006, NWF Campus Ecology Fellows decided to tackle various purchasing habits on campuses across the country. Hannah Riches worked to ensure The New School purchases recycled paper for all its computer labs. And Jessica Clement from Ball State University worked with the Barnes & Noble-owned bookstore on campus to get environmentally preferable products on the shelves. Environmentally conscious purchasing can result in less waste, energy conservation resulting in positive climate change, and an overall awareness on campus of the necessity to conserve and reduce.

~ “The support and guidance offered by NWF was vital to the success of our project. The resources offered and the contacts established through the NWF Campus Ecology program proved to be especially helpful” ~ Hannah Riches, NWF Fellow, The New School

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• Active recycling of the solid-waste stream, including day-to-day paper, plastic, and glass; landscape maintenance cuttings; construction debris; expendable furnishings; and hazardous waste. • Use of recycled content materials and eco-friendly maintenance supplies in dayto-day operations.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Ball State University (BSU) is situated on 940 acres in Muncie, Indiana, and serves approximately 19,000 students (45 percent male and 55 percent female). Seven academic colleges offer 120 undergraduate programs, 80 master’s programs and 20 doctoral programs in 46 departments and schools. Approximately 750 faculty members, 550 professional staff members, and 1,500 support personnel compose the employee base.

• Use of specialized state appropriations to replace the coal-fired central heating plant with a more environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, fluidized bed combustion technology. • Educational opportunities through student involvement, such as the clustered academic minors in environmentally sustainable practices.

BSU has a long-standing history of sustainability that received recognition for the past three consecutive years by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). BSU’s commitment to sustainability include the following: • Founder and host of, and international leader in the Greening of Campus Conference Series. • Signatory to the Talloires Declaration supporting commitment to environmental stewardship and acknowledgment of universities’ responsibility to meet the needs of society and to educate future generations. • Founder of the Council on the Environment (COTE), which serves as a clearing house for the development of sustainability practices and programs campus wide and uses the Center for Energy Research, Education, and Service (CERES) as its Secretariat.

• Courses such as the Introduction to Sustainability and the architecture graduate studio on Design for Sustainability, which was recently recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment Eco-Literacy Project. • Campus units such as the Procurement Office, organizations such as Students for a Sustainable Campus, and events such as the Earth Week activities of the Natural Resource that are further examples of BSU’s existing efforts. Contacts Jessica Clement National Wildlife Federation Fellow Graduate Student, Master of Landscape Architecture

• The first state-supported university in Indiana to pursue the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification on two capital projects. • Incorporation of biodiesel fuel and hybrid electric vehicles in our university service fleet. Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

Class of 2007 Phone: 406-544-9372 Email: [email protected] Mr. Robert Koester Chair, BSU Council on the Environment Director, Center for Energy Research, Education, and Services Professor Architecture College of Architecture and Planning Phone: 765-285-1135 Email: [email protected] 112

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The aim of this campus ecology special initiative is to partner with the Barnes and Noble managed BSU campus bookstore to carry, promote, and sell more environmentally and socially preferable products, including recycled paper, thereby approaching a goal of sustainability by promoting practices that reduce paper consumption, conserve natural resources, and help protect endangered forests. The initiative will allow BSU to promote awareness of the differences between products of service that can be cycled back through the product stream rather than consuming products that become part of the ever-growing landfills. The greening of BSU’s bookstore is a priority because it will set an example; influence attitudes; and educate the campus, community, and future generations. BSU is in a unique position to be a voice for this cause and to achieve greater success in the movement toward sustainability. A strong combination of students, faculty members, and staff members who have already demonstrated a commitment to conservation efforts is already in place within the campus community. Short-Term Goals A coalition consisting of Ron Sorrell, the BSU bookstore manager; Dena Shelly, the Center for Energy Research, Education, and Service partner and co-coordinator; and Jessica Clement, the NWF Campus Ecology Fellow, will create a plan of action that explores available products offered by the bookstore’s vendor and that facilitates making those products available to customers.

teristics that contribute to a sustainable lifestyle. An additional result will be the expanded consciousness on the part of the store personnel and management, which could have a corporate effect. This effect will, in turn, save resources that provide ecosystem services and will reduce the amount of waste being dumped into landfills. Accomplishments Ron Sorrell, Dena Shelly, and Jessica Clement have received approval from BSU to move forward with the project and are currently working on a plan of action that explores available products offered by the bookstore’s vendor. Mr. Sorrell is working with corporate-level managers on the display set-up and is ordering higher recycled-content paper products and environmentally responsible products that will be available to customers before the start of the fall semester. Challenges and Responses Originally, Mr. Sorrell had permission from his corporate-level manger to design the bookstore’s display layout. Recently, however Barnes and Noble informed him that the layout must be designed at the corporate level. That new turn of events has temporarily stalled making the selected products available to customers. We at BSU are optimistic that there is adequate time to fix the problem so we can offer the products for the high-volume sales at the start of the school year. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Leaders and supporters include the following:

The bookstore’s manager has already expressed a willingness and ability to purchase products with certifiable recycled content, that have reduced environmental impact, or both. He will also track the sales of the sustainable goods to determine interest in and success of the program. Long-Term Goals The project will produce a heightened awareness of and enthusiasm for the purchase of items with recycled content and other characCampus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

• CERES will fund Dena Shelly as an additional student partner so she can assist in the success of this project. • Members of the Students for a Sustainable Campus will provide marketing support to generate peer group enthusiasm. • The departmental and collegiate academic and administrative units represented by the COTE membership will distribute to students, faculty members, and the staff members carefully designed informational fliers about this program. 113

• In addition, the university’s Green Initiatives Coordinator will serve as faculty advisor to the project. The coordinator has several years of experience supporting sustainability projects within the BSU community and regularly distributes to students and others emails to which information regarding environmentally preferable purchasing can be added. • The entire campaign will be monitored by the COTE membership in its monthly meetings. Funding and Resources The fellowship is co-sponsored by the Center for a New American Dream, an organization dedicated to creating consumer-conscious purchasing. Other funding is provided by CERES to cover the cost of wages for a student partner. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program

school (Milano), and a liberal arts college (Eugene Lang College). Currently, 9,300 students are enrolled to receive a degree, and another 25,000 students are enrolled in the university’s continuing education program. NS is a central feature of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, and it is known especially well around the city for supporting progressive education and for fostering activism. The university’s urban location, high visibility, and involved student body and faculty members have proven to be a great starting ground for progressive environmental change in New York city. Contacts Nevin Cohen Visiting Assistant Professor Urban Studies Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts 64 West 11th Street Room 111 New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212-229-5100 x 2271 Email: [email protected]

NWF’s support in this cause provides a unique chance to encourage better purchasing habits while using the reputation of NWF, BSU, and Barnes and Noble.

Hannah Riches NWF Campus Ecology Fellow Class of 2007 The New School 249 Clifton Place Brooklyn, NY 11216 Phone: 917-346-7930 Email: [email protected]

CLOSING COMMENT As the current NWF Campus Ecology Fellow, I look forward to working toward the success of this project over the course of the next year and to pursuing the opportunity to directly affect the consumption of recycled paper and other environmentally preferable products.

Ed Verdi Purchasing Manager Controller’s Office The New School 80 5th Ave. Room 803 New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212-229-5323 x 3677 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

BACKGROUND Campus Profile In 1919, The New School (NS) was founded as a progressive institution by a group of independent-minded scholars. NS has since grown into eight distinct schools, including a design school (Parsons), a management and urban policy

Goals The biggest environmental issue facing future generations is climate change. The production of paper pulp from virgin wood pulp is a major contributor to this problem. To produce virgin paper, forests are clear cut, which reduces a critical carbon sink, in addition to destroying natural habitat, destabilizing local economies, and causing localized pollution. Moreover, the


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production of paper from virgin wood pulp is significantly more energy intensive than producing paper from recycled waste, thereby releasing more carbon dioxide (CO2) per pound of product into the atmosphere than does recycled paper mills. According to purchasing data for 2004, NS currently consumes approximately 2,500 trees’ worth of virgin copy and printing paper each year. Our NS project aims to get the school to switch to post-consumer recycled (PCR) content paper and to reduce overall consumption of paper, thereby stemming the environmentally destructive harvest of trees and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We expect that our dual approach to reducing paper consumption at NS while switching to recycled content paper will allow the school to reduce by more than 30 percent the number of trees felled to supply the paper it uses per year. Accomplishments News of a National Wildlife Federation (NWF) grant quickly spread through various media outlets in New York city and on NS’s campus, thus helping to generate enthusiasm and support. Accordingly, Ed Verdi, NS’s purchasing manager, came across this news, and we quickly established a close working relationship with him. He has offered a great deal of support and has taken the time to negotiate pricing on recycled paper with various distributors. Through that work, we were able to select a few brands of recycled paper that fit the needs of the school. From there, we distributed samples of the numerous brands to offices throughout the campus and, through surveys, were able to choose the brand that performed most adequately. To tackle the conservation aspect of our project, we have set up various events and created information packets for students. For instance, during the week of orientation, we will be participating in three events, during which we will inform incoming students about the advantages of reducing paper consumption and will offer them creative ways to do this. We will also design a flyer to put in all orientation folders distributed to incoming students. Additionally, to conserve paper, we have been meeting with Chris Ebinheart, the manager of

NS’s computer labs, and he has agreed to reset the printers to a double-sided default, which will greatly reduce the paper usage at the university. He is also looking into other possible ways to conserve paper, such as creating paper accounts so that each student can print only a certain amount before having to pay. ~ Hannah Riches, NWF Campus Ecology Fellow “The support and guidance offered by NWF was vital to the success of our project. The resources offered and the contacts established through the NWF Campus Ecology program proved to be especially helpful.” ~ Challenges and Responses The greatest challenge to the project is managing to work with the eight schools that make up The New School. Because we current National Wildlife Federation (NWF) students are from the smallest division, Eugene Lang College, we were unfamiliar with staff and faculty members at other divisions. Initially, it was difficult finding times to meet that would suit both our schedules and those of the people with whom we were meeting. However, after contacting various individuals, we have managed to establish good relationships and have received a great deal of encouragement and support. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Ed Verdi, the purchasing manager at the school, offered us a great deal of support and proved to be a valuable resource for information concerning the university’s budget and paper usage at the various divisions. Nevin Cohen, our professor, also provided a great deal of support and helped provide further resources. Chris Ebinheart, manager of the university’s computer labs, also helped by being extremely receptive to our suggestions on how the computer department could do its part to help reduce paper consumption. Funding and Resources In addition to the grant provided by NWF, Eugene Lang College also awarded us a grant to help finance our project. The majority of that


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grant will go toward the events that will take place in the fall and the various leaflets, stickers, and other sources of information that will be printed and distributed. Community Outreach and Education The outreach aspect of our campus project will take place throughout the upcoming school year. Most of our student outreach will occur in the fall during orientation, while our work with faculty and staff members will occur later in the school year. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The support and guidance offered by NWF was vital to the success of our project. The resources offered and the contacts established through the NWF Campus Ecology program proved to be especially helpful. Most important, perhaps, were the ideas and suggestions offered by our fellow NWF-grant recipients at the annual conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana; their input and enthusiasm was much appreciated and extremely motivating. CLOSING COMMENT The New School has recognized the threat of global climate change and has accepted an institution with a progressive reputation, it has certain responsibilities to help limit its effect on global warming. That responsibility has been realized through our project, and with help from other university groups, NS is in the process of taking considerable steps toward becoming a greener university. We hope the changes taken on by our campus will help to spark greater change throughout New York city.

(C) Joshua Brown

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of Vermont, UVM for Universitas Viridis Montis, the Latin for “university of the green mountains” has eight colleges and schools, a graduate college, a medical college, and a continuing education division. Its population includes 7,500 undergraduate students, 1,050 graduate students, and 380 medical students, plus 1,000 faculty and 1,800 staff members. Located overlooking Lake Champlain in Burlington (population 40,000), which is Vermont’s largest city, UVM has nearly 300 buildings on its 425-acre main campus. Environment is a major focus of this land-grant institution, along with liberal arts and health. About 9 percent of undergraduates major in environmentally related areas, including natural resources, sustainable agriculture, environmental engineering, environmental science, and environmental studies. More than 250 environmentally related courses are offered across campus, and students participate in dozens of environmental projects on and off campus as volunteers, interns, and researchers. UVM’s Environmental Council, created in 1996, has a full-time coordinator who is responsible for tracking environmental performance, recommending environmentally responsible practices, working with students and with faculty and staff members on environmental projects, and connecting with the Burlington and Vermont communities. The council’s small grants program gives $500-1,500 to collaborative projects involving the faculty, staff, and students.


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Contacts Gioia Thompson Environmental Coordinator University of Vermont 284 East Avenue Room 201 Burlington, VT 05405 Natalia Fajardo Class of 2006 Council Intern Email: [email protected] Phone: 802-656-3803 Email: [email protected] Taylor Lalemand Class of 2908 Council Intern Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The recycled paper goal for this year’s interns with the Environmental Council was to update the 1998 paper-purchasing policy to mandate use of 100 percent post-consumer, recycled copier paper. During the fall, the interns, environmental coordinator, procurement director, and manager of the Print and Mail Center (P&M) met to plan the year’s activities. The following procedure was used: 1. Estimate of adherence to current paper contract. Using both Office Max records and IKON copier contract records, we in the project estimated that less than 16 percent of total sheets of paper used in 2004 were not bought through the copier paper contract. 2. Identification of departments with largest use. From UVM’s Office Max records, we compiled a list of the largest users of copier paper by recycled content category (virgin, 30 percent, and 100 percent). We provided some of those users with sample reams of 100 percent recycled paper for them to test. 3. Interview and cost analysis for largest users. We interviewed staff members at the College of Engineering and Mathematics and the College of Medicine and conducted a cost analysis of the paper Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

switch by interviewing budget managers. That cost was found to be $3,600 in addition to the $9,200 spent in 2004 for virgin paper for the College of Engineering and Mathematics, and $8,000 in addition to the $18,000 spent in 2004 for The College of Medicine. 4. Cost analysis for entire university switch. We conducted an overall cost analysis for the entire university using both Office Max records and IKON copier contract records. We found that 24 percent of copier paper being purchased was 100 percent recycled, 34 percent was 30 percent recycled, and 42 percent was virgin. The cost difference to switch to 200 percent recycled was found to be between $21,000 and $33,000 per year for the whole university, depending whether a bulk 10 percent discount could be obtained. 5. Print and Mail Center (P&M). In conjunction with key staff members, we analyzed the special case of P&M, which uses about 3 million sheets per year, corresponding to about 5.2 million clicks. For its high-speed copying, P&M used Multicopy for about 2.5 years. That paper is a virgin, totally chlorine free paper, that is made from wood considered to be harvested sustainably under the European standard. We believe that supporting recycling should be the first priority in paper purchasing. After conversations with staff members, Office Max provided the center with 10 cases of 30 percent recycled paper and 10 cases of 100 percent recycled paper. Both papers worked well. P&M has since switched to using 100 percent recycled paper in the customer copiers and 30 percent recycled in the high-speed copiers. The goal is to use 100 percent recycled paper throughout. 6. Paper reduction and discount strategies. We explored strategies to absorb the extra cost, such as paper use reduction and possible price discount. Although many departments are double-siding their documents, other strategies can be used more widely, such as emailing and electronic filing. We developed a brochure explaining the switch and describing paper reduction; it will be included in all paper orders in the first six 117

months, with greater detail available on the procurement office’s website. We also learned about one creative strategy from the School of Business Administration, which installed Sunbelt software to cap the printing allowance for students.

vironmental Council to work with the procurement office and P&M to enforce the mandate and to educate the campus about paper reduction strategies sp we can reduce the institution’s ecological footprint and the financial effect of the policy.

There is also a possibility of a discount negotiated by the procurement office. David Martin is exploring how to get mill prices. 7. Recommendation of action and drafting of a revised policy. After consulting with various departments, including those more greatly affected financially by the switch, the Environmental Council recommended that the university mandate the use of 100 percent recycled, chlorine-free copier paper for routine copying and printing. The vice president for finance and administration agreed to make the announcement on Earth Day. The interns worked with staff members to draft the announcement and news release. The only remaining task is to update the actual language of the official policy; that revision was postponed because the overall structure of policies at the university is being evaluated, and the procurement director suggested waiting until a decision has been made about format and organization of policies. Accomplishments Because of the tireless work of the interns, all of the goals were fully met, including the mandate to use 100 percent recycled, chlorine-free copier paper. We announced the change on Earth Day, except the official policy change, mentioned earlier.. For a news release on the project, see the UVM website at: www.uvm.edu/news/ ?Page=News&storyID=8127, and for a story on the project, see the UVM website at www.uvm. edu/theview/article.php?id=2027. For a description of the change, see the procurement office’s website at www.uvm.edu/ ~procure/?Page=contracts.htm, and to read the brochure. See the website at: www.uvm.edu/~procure/buying_copier_paper_at_uvm.pdf. The goal for the next two years is for the En-

~ The implicit backing of the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program, as evidenced by a previous Fellow’s work and by case studies at other institutions, helped the interns to gain the attention of the president and other administrators and to remember that this issue was relevant to the larger campus greening community. ~ Challenges and Responses This project came to life after many years of work on recycled paper at UVM, including a Campus Ecology Fellowship, an environmental studies thesis, and the work of several interns on education and data collection. This year the challenges were much lighter than previous years because of much greater support by the upper administration for the concept of environmental responsibility, an interest in changing the culture of decentralized purchasing, and a commitment by the procurement director to be actively involved in the project. Only the usual challenges remained: getting people to respond to inquiries, making judgments about the estimated quantities of paper purchased, and convincing key departments to buy in. At the beginning of the year, the procurement director and the environmental coordinator decided that students would be most effective in making the recommendations and having the ear of the upper administration. After developing a plan, the students worked with the president’s office to make the switch to 100 percent recycled, chlorine-free paper. After conducting the research outlined earlier during the fall and January, those students took advantage of an open forum with President Fogel in February to outline the idea of mandating recycled paper and making an Earth Day announcement. He had several questions, but overall he embraced the idea and charged the vice president for finance and administration with following up. The interns’ fearless and pleasant persistence, their relationship with the president’s office, their excellent teamwork, and their scientific


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approach to research overcame many obstacles that had stymied past attempts. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The Environmental Council provided the necessary structure for students to be hired as interns, to meet weekly with the environmental coordinator, to present progress to the council twice during the year for feedback, and to provide documents and the institutional memory to understand why previous attempts to mandate had failed. The procurement office provided vital support for the notion of mandating, a concept that is not well supported in this decentralized institution. That office also pressured reluctant sales people and university staff members to provide the needed information and to work with the students. As described earlier, the president and his office staff members were very important to this project, as was the vice president for finance and administration. They all lent their credibility to the notion of mandating. Funding and Resources This project was conducted with existing resources: work-study funding for the interns, office and computer resources from the Environmental Council, donations of paper from the procurement office, and time contributions by university staff members. The project built upon previous work, as described earlier, including a NWF Campus Ecology Fellowship. Community Outreach and Education The announcement about the mandate was sent as a campus-wide email from the vice president for finance and administration, and was written up both as a news release for UVM’s website and as a story in the on-campus electronic newsletter. The email was forwarded extensively around the Vermont community, resulting in numerous requests for information from officials, high school students, and other citizens. Climate Change Using a government calculator as part of our project, we calculated the estimated green-

house gas emissions that had been avoided from making the switch to recycled paper. However, we found that there was little interest in relating recycled paper to climate change. In fact, people did not seem to be in doubt that making the switch was the right thing to do for the environment, whether our reason was to save energy or water or trees or landfill space. The questions were as follows: which departments would suffer the greatest financial hardship and what would be the likelihood of compliance with a mandate. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The implicit backing of the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program, as evidenced by a previous Fellow’s work and by case studies at other institutions, helped the interns to gain the attention of the president and other administrators and to remember that this issue was relevant to the larger campus greening community. CLOSING COMMENT We learned that it makes a difference to get the president’s attention and that students can do so quite easily, while staff professionals apparently cannot. First, however, you must know what you’re talking about, which comes from doing many hours of research, seeking out and gaining the backing of cooperative staff members, and honestly addressing difficult questions, all steps that require perseverance. Busy staff members do not necessarily return phone calls or emails from students until learning that the students are serious and that they won’t just go away after the semester is over. (We deliberately matched a senior with a first-year student on this project to allow the project to continue next year, and we let people know this was the case.) Nevertheless, sometimes you have to know when to ask for help. At times, the interns asked the environmental coordinator and procurement director to step in and remind the relevant people that they needed to respond, that the president wanted this research to be conducted. It did not seem necessary to explain that these same students were the spark behind the president’s interest.


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Transportation on college and university campuses is always a topic of discussion. The need for more parking spaces, safer bike paths, more bike racks, and campus shuttles with extended routes are only a few of the suggestions heard frequently from students, faculty, and staff. Transportation is also detrimental to the environment. Fuel use contributes to global warming by pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and threatening air and water quality. And new parking spaces not only can cost up to $25,000 per space according to Green Investment, Green Return but campus habitat is usually cleared for new parking lots and garages. Campuses are developing creative ways to reduce traffic congestion and avoid the shortage of parking spaces, such as teleworking opportunities, parking pass lotteries, bicycle rentals, carpooling, and more. Colleges and universities are also approaching transportation on campus as a way to confront global warming and reduce emissions on campus by implementing bicycle plans, providing walking paths, developing no-idle policies, and fueling campus shuttle fleets with cleaner fuel. Read on to learn how Rice University processed waste cooling oil collected from on-campus dining facilities as a feedstock to produce biodiesel and NWF 2006 Campus Ecology Fellow Anita Yip implemented a community bike program while also educating the student body at Wellesley College.

~ The National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program assisted this project through a teleconference showcasing other campus recycling programs. Those case studies provided clear examples of other small schools doing excellent waste diversion, thereby raising the bar for CSM’s own program. ~ Colorado School of Mines


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BACKGROUND Campus Profile Colorado School of Mines (CSM) is a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science related to resources. CSM has a unique mission in energy, mineral, and material sciences and engineering and in associated engineering and science fields (see Colorado Revised Statutes, Section 23-41-105). In 2000, the scope of the university’s role in balancing resource needs with environmental protection was more clearly defined: “The Colorado School of Mines is consequently committed to serving the people of Colorado, the nation, and the global community by promoting stewardship of the Earth upon which all life and development depend.” (Colorado School of Mines Board of Trustees 2000). To honor this commitment, students, faculty members, staff members and local community members have created a Presidential Sustainability Committee, sanctioned by CSM President John Trefny in the spring of 2006. The committee is charged with bringing sustainable ideas into action, both globally and locally. Also on campus are two student environmental organizations; Earthworks and the Student Council on Sustainability. This, year those organizations supported a number of student projects covering topics such as biodiesel, recycling, and transportation. In addition, those organizations put on the annual Earth Day celebration at CSM. Contacts Ravi Malhoutra Executive Director International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology Phone: 303-273-3044 Email: [email protected] Jonathan Meuser Ph.D. Candidate Spring 2008 Student Council on Sustainability President Phone: 303-384-2118 Email: [email protected]

Goals The process of biodiesel production is often explained as the trans-etherification of vegetable oil into biodiesel by a mix of methanol and a strong base. The appleseed reactor is a do-it-yourself biodiesel reactor, which is commonly made from a water heater, black pipe, and a water pump and is used by at-home biodiesel producers that are interested in becoming more energy independent. However, many novice biodiesel advocates are unaware of the other subsystems needed for the complete transformation of waste vegetable oil into a useable fuel. The goal of the project was to develop a complete and safe processing system that is small enough to demonstrate the entire method of biodiesel production on a portable trailer. Berkeley Almand, Pete Gronewoller, and Dan Pyziak, three CSM mechanical engineering seniors, developed three major subsystems, respectively, to accomplish that task: waste oil filtration and drying, methoxide mixing, and methanol recovery. Accomplishments This campus project resulted in the completion of a small-scale, portable biodiesel processor. Already, the student-built processor provides fuel from local restaurants’ waste to community biodiesel cooperative members. Moreover, the processor is regularly used for educational workshops and demonstrations throughout Colorado. Challenges and Responses A number of challenges were encountered during design and construction. Beyond the normal constraints of the biodiesel production process, additional planning was necessary to meet the needs of making the processor portable. For example, plan the processor layout was planned with consideration given to weight and balance constraints. Material compatibility was a major difficulty. Although, biodiesel is nontoxic, it is a strong solvent. Likewise, methoxide is a strong base with highly corrosive properties. A great deal of time was spent researching materials’ compatibility for construction of the processor, and when data could not be found elsewhere, we performed our own


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tests. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters This project was supported by the CSM Student Council on Sustainability and was led by Jonathan Meuser. Other campus support was provided by the engineering department and plant facilities. John Bush of Boulder Biodiesel provided additional help. Funding and Resources The International Center of Appropriate and Sustainable Technology graciously provided $2,500 in support of this project. Community Outreach and Education In July, the student-built mobile biodiesel processor was displayed at the Local Biodiesel Co-Op Conference, which was organized by the CSM Student Council on Sustainability. The conference was an opportunity for networking and for educating 130 small-scale biodiesel producers and biodiesel advocates from around the world. The design improvements of the small-scale reactor were openly shared and discussed. Also, since its completion, the mobile processor has been actively used in monthly biodiesel workshops by the Boulder Biodiesel Cooperative throughout Colorado. Climate Change Most of the carbon dioxide released from biodiesel combustion originates from recent biological carbon sequestration, greatly decreasing its carbon impact over petroleum fuels. Though the current domestic feedstock of used oil cannot displace every car in the United States, biodiesel could supplant a significant fraction of current demand and could help to decrease the disproportionate climate impact of U.S. pollution on the Earth. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has assisted this project both directly and indirectly. NWF publications, including Ecodemia, State of the Campus Environment, and Green Investment, Green Return, have provided the real-world results of other campus sustainability initiatives. Those data provided a rationale

for both the formation of the campus Student Council on Sustainability and this project. NWF has directly affected the biodiesel project through the Campus Ecology Teleconference on biodiesel. CLOSING COMMENT This project represents a significant contribution to the grass-roots biodiesel community by providing a working example of a complete biodiesel production system. By overcoming a number of complex constraints, the entire process from restaurant to fuel tank has been reduced to an economic, portable system for co-operative fuel production and education.

(C) Jeff Fitlow

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Rice University is a private, independent university dedicated to the advancement of letters, science, and art, and is one of the nation’s top teaching and research universities. Occupying a distinctive, shady, nearly 300acre campus only a few miles from downtown Houston, Texas, Rice hosts an undergraduate student population of about 3,000 and a graduate student population of about 2,000. The university boasts a student-to-faculty ratio of five to one and employs about 1,500 fulltime staff members. Rice is a national leader in nanotechnology research. In 2004, the Rice University Board of Trustees adopted a sustainability policy for the university, and Rice has undertaken a series of initiatives focused at making the university sustainable and reducing the campus’ ecological footprint.


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Contact Richard Johnson Campus Sustainability Planner Phone: 713-348-5003 Email: [email protected]

• It tested small batches of biodiesel in lawn equipment owned by the facilities engineering and planning department. • RUBI established a location for a pilot plant with space donated by Rice’s housing and dining department and with renovations of that space overseen by a project manager from the university’s facilities engineering and planning (FE&P) department.

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The Rice University Biodiesel Initiative (RUBI) is a group of students, faculty and staff members who are interested in promoting sustainability and in using clean alternative fuels. RUBI was formed in summer 2005. The group’s goal for its first year was to launch a pilot project to process waste cooling oil that was collected from on-campus dining facilities as a feedstock to produce biodiesel. By the end of the academic year, RUBI hoped to establish and equip a space for its operations, construct a pilot plant with a 70-gallon reactor, and begin the testing and production of biodiesel that met all applicable ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) standards. It intended that those goals would also be supported through the establishment of course credit tied to the project. Looking ahead to the 2006-2007 academic year and beyond, RUBI hopes to optimize its process, automate procedures where possible, reach production volumes of 50-100 gallons per week or more, develop a business plan, and supply biodiesel to campus fleet vehicles including buses and vans. Accomplishments RUBI met and exceeded its goals in its first academic year of operation. The group accomplished the following: • RUBI obtained grant funding from the Center for the Study of the Environment and Society, Shell Center for Sustainability, and Leadership Rice. • It identified a faculty sponsor who provided oversight and independent study course credit in support of the project • It developed a small test facility in the undergraduate lab of the chemical and biomolecular engineering department.

• It constructed, tested, and commenced operations of the pilot plant, including a 70-gallon stainless steel reactor. • It publicized the biodiesel project and biodiesel’s potential as an alternative fuel source, including use of a feature that appeared on the evening news of Houston’s CBS affiliate, KHOU-TV Channel 11. Challenges and Responses The biggest obstacle for RUBI was finding space for its pilot plant. There are many competing needs for space at Rice. One challenge was identifying locations suitable for a biodiesel pilot plant that would meet the appropriate safety criteria, that had access to the necessary utilities, and that would not cause any infringement neighboring users. Decisions concerning the use of space are not always made quickly on a university campus, and they often involve multiple stakeholders. RUBI members became frustrated at times by what they felt was an overly bureaucratic process. That issue was resolved when management from the housing and dining department generously offered the use of a large storage closet behind one of their campus kitchens, which proved to be an ideal location because it is close to the supply of feedstock (waste cooking oil). A key lesson from this experience was that future project teams should not underestimate the amount of time and effort that can be needed to request and prepare space to establish operations. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The following organizations, departments, classees and people were instrumental in RUBI’s success:


• RUBI student leadership included: Lizzi 123

Clark, Guyton Durnin, and Matt Yarrison. • The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering included undergraduate research provided through CHBE 500, oversight provided by Professor Kyriacos Zygourakis, and shop assistance provided by Dick Chronister. • The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering included M.E.E. and M.E.S. Special Study and Research provided through CEVE 590, and oversight provided by Robert Dawson and Professor Pedro Alvarez. • The Housing and Dining Department provided space with permission from Mark Ditman, associate vice president of housing and dining, and Angela Riggs, college food service manager. • The Facilities Engineering and Planning (FE&P) supplied project management and planning, as well as project management for space identification and build-out which was provided by Joujou Zebdaoui. • FE&P also supplied a campus sustainability planner, Richard Johnson who helped to launch RUBI and assisted at many points along the way. • The Grounds department provided Ed Galindo, Roy Perez, and Ron Smith, who handled testing of biodiesel in FE&P equipment. The permission for testing was granted by Russell Price, assistant vice president of facilities. • The Center for the Study of Environment and Society included a contact provided by Professor Paul Harcombe. • The Shell Center for Sustainability and Leadership Rice were both valuable to success. Funding and Resources RUBI received grants from the Center for the Study of Environment and Society ($1,000), the Shell Center for Sustainability ($3,000), and the Leadership Rice Envision Grant pro-

gram ($1,028). That money was used to pay for the preparation of the RUBI space, and to purchase materials to construct the pilot plant. FE&P donated the time of a project manager to assist with site identification and preparation for RUBI. The housing and dining department donated the space, as well as the waste cooking oil, that served as the feedstock for creating biodiesel. When RUBI reaches production volumes of 50-100 gallons per week in the fall of 2006, cost savings will be realized by the housing and dining department through reduced cooking oil disposal fees and by FE&P through reduced fuel costs. Community Outreach and Education RUBI publicized its activities with the assistance of Rice University’s public affairs office. Houston’s CBS affiliate, KHOU-TV Channel 11, ran a feature on RUBI during its 6 p.m. newscast on May 11, 2006. The RUBI project also received media inquiries from several newspapers and a radio station. RUBI members presented their work to other students in Sustainability: Rice into the Future, a campus sustainability course led by Professor Paul Harcombe and Richard Johnson with assistance by Elizabeth Stephens. RUBI has several environmental advantages. Its process uses a waste product, cooking oil, and converts it into biodiesel fuel that meets ASTM standards and that can be used in diesel engines. Tailpipe emissions from biodiesel are considerably reduced in most categories of pollutants versus regular diesel fuel. Only nitrogen oxide emissions are possibly increased, and that increases is only slightly, if at all. Biodiesel also smells better than diesel when it burned, and it is safer to handle. RUBI’s process also has a smaller environmental footprint than diesel fuel that is purchased for use in campus diesel engines. Climate Change RUBI directly addresses global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in all categories of biodiesel except possibly one (nitrogen oxide) when compared with regular diesel fuel. RUBI is also an example of an alternative fuel that is locally sourced, produced using inexpensive inputs in an inexpensive reactor, and consumed close to its production site. The greenhouse gas emissions related to the deliv-


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ery of the fuel are virtually eliminated. CLOSING COMMENT RUBI is a great example of how students can achieve great things if you provide them with a little bit of seed funding and some space to operate. RUBI is somewhat unusual on the Rice University campus because it is a partnership between graduate and undergraduate students. That group has served as a model and inspiration for developing similar projects on campus. For example, in the fall semester of 2006, chemical engineering students will be tasked with capturing some of the waste food stream on campus and with developing a reactor to convert the waste into a usable product. During RUBI’s first year, a network of faculty and staff members mobilized to help the project because they saw that the RUBI student leaders were dedicated and that the project itself represented a step toward both a more sustainable future and a more sustainable campus.

mitted to serving the people of Colorado, the nation, and the global community by promoting stewardship of the Earth upon which all life and development depend.” (Colorado School of Mines Board of Trustees 2000) To honor this commitment, students, faculty members, staff members, and local community members have created a Presidential Sustainability Committee, sanctioned by CSM President John Trefny in the spring of 2006. The committee is charged with bringing sustainable ideas into action, both globally and locally. Also on campus are two student environmental organizations: Earthworks and the Student Council on Sustainability. This year, those organizations supported a number of student projects covering topics such as biodiesel, recycling, and transportation. In addition, those organizations put on the annual Earth Day celebration at CSM. Contacts Paul Leef American Institute of Architects (AIA) Campus Architect Manager of Planning and Construction Colorado School of Mines Phone: 303-273-3568 Email: [email protected] Alexandra Harker Class of 2007 Campus Architect 2006 NWF Campus Ecology Fellow University of Colorado at Boulder Phone: 831-295-2435 Email: [email protected]

(C) Alexandra Harker

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Colorado School of Mines (CSM) is a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science related to resources. CSM has a unique mission in energy, mineral, and material sciences and engineering and in associated engineering and science fields ( see Colorado Revised Statutes, Section 23-41-105). In 2000, the scope of the university’s role in balancing resource needs with environmental protection was more clearly defined: “The Colorado School of Mines is consequently com-

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals Currently, CSM follows a master plan that anticipates student population growth. As a means of providing for an increase in transportation demand, several parking structures have been included on the master plan. The situation is analogous to challenges that other schools are facing in regard to providing the infrastructure to meet student transportation needs. By looking at other potential solutions and comparing their costs to that of a parking structure, CSM can find a potentially more


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elegant solution. An appealingly alternate solution can also support an underlying goal of the master plan, which is to promote bicycling and walking over driving. For this reason, I, Alexandra Harker, made it a goal of the first phase of my project to research a series of alternative options. Those options range from implementing a circulator shuttle to getting students and other users to pay for the full cost of a parking structure. The idea is that because the CSM master plan is a living document, university leaders seeking to fine-tune that plan can use my research work as a resource. I aimed to inform my suggestions to CSM through a process of collecting relevant data. I researched the successful transit demand management programs at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU Boulder) because the cities Boulder and Golden are in the same region and because many of the options that Boulder has explored have potential to work at CSM as well. For instance, both areas are within the realm of the Regional Transportation District (RTD) that is based in Denver. Another shared government entity that provided transportation funding for a circulator in Boulder is the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG). I wanted to compile graphic data about the site as well, primarily through aerials photographs. My plan was to add to those aerial photos the groupings where students are living, thereby creating a tool not only for the school but also for the eventual formation of a bus route. Another goal was to develop a working relationship with the recently formed CSM Sustainability Committee, so that it could participate in my project and ultimately carry on the role of informing sustainable transportation decisions on campus. Accomplishments I have finished my preliminary research report. Through site analysis, as well as an analysis of the current dilemma, I completed a general 20-year cost analysis for three potential development solutions, referred to as Options A, B, and C. I focused those scenarios around one specific site on the campus, comparing my hypothetical scenarios with the current cost estimates for the parking structure proposed for that site and also comparing the anticipated vehicle miles traveled per day with the proposed structure. The cost projections for the

hypothetical scenarios were all informed by my research. Old records at the RTD offices in Denver and from the CU Environmental Center proved to be particularly helpful in gauging these numbers. My paper also explained in depth the case studies and literary reviews that support or criticize aspects of potential scenarios. The case studies in the paper also describe possible ways to obtain funding for the projects. Option A would consist of following the current CSM master plan and building a four-story, 490-space parking structure on the site. Option B would be the creation of a small, mixed-use development on the site. It would be complemented by modest surface parking, perhaps about 60 parking spaces. Crucial to this option would be the integration of a major transit-demand management effort to reduce up to 500 vehicle trips to campus per day. Option C would be a smaller parking structure wrapped in retail. It could be two or three stories and contain anywhere from 245 to 367 parking spaces. Similar to Option B, a transit-demand management effort would also be needed to reduce up to about 250 vehicle trips to campus per day. Challenges and Responses I spend a lot of time figuring out how to obtain aerial photography of the site. Although resources offer aerial photography, getting a decent resolution image of the area for a reasonable price proved difficult. Ultimately, I just hiked up to the mesa above Golden and took my own photos, which worked well. However, even after I obtained the photos I still needed to visually show the densities of where students are living. After talking with the registrar at CSM, I obtained the location of student residences within the city of Golden in a manner that left the students anonymous. This was quite a relief because I had anticipated that I would have to solicit each student’s permission to gain access to such information. I then began plotting out the anonymous points using a trial version of Google Earth Pro. The most discouraging obstacle to my project occurred in April. When the vote for the student bus pass at CSM lost by seven votes. Considering that at least a thousand students


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voted, I think the loss margin was a pretty miniscule. I was so preoccupied with doing research that I didn’t work on the media aspect of my project, which would have encouraged more students to vote for the bus pass. Fortunately, I will be working on this project for another year and will consequently have the opportunity to put a lot of effort in making it successful in the next round of voting. As I enter this new phase of my project, I hope that media attention will be able to bring transportation issues into the students’ focus. My other challenge for the upcoming year will be speaking with decision-making individuals at CSM, as well as with Golden City Council members, and incorporating their comments into my proposals so that they might adopt my suggestions into the campus master plan. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters I am pursuing this project as an independent study, under the guidance of Dr. Diana Shannon, my advisor. She is a faculty member in the College of Architecture and Planning at CU Boulder. She brings to my project her expertise in transportation planning, as demonstrated by her doctoral research on transportation planning decisions. Also from the College of Architecture and Planning is Professor Emeritus Spenser Havlick. He is the co-author of the book Transportation and Sustainable Campus Communities. Paul Leef, the campus architect and the manager of planning and construction at CSM, supports my research through his expert knowledge on campus matters. Beyond my immediate advisors, countless individuals have donated their time and knowledge toward the project by conversing with me. Those people include, but are not limited to, Nan Braddock, an employee of CSM’s Public Safety department; David Cook, the Permits and Transportation Manager at CU Boulder; Cris Jones, the manager of the HOP (a small circulator shuttle in Boulder); Robert Rynerson, a Senior Lead Service Planner at the Regional Transportation District; and Jeremiah Simpson, in charge of Planning and Financial Studies at Walker Parking Consultants. Funding and Resources As a NWF Campus Ecology Fellow, I received

funding from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) to make my project a reality. My goal is to keep project expenses as low as possible by working in an efficient manner. My actual cost to date has been substantially less than my projected project expenses for specific line items. I spent no money where I had originally anticipated needing $350 to produce and print a survey and persuade students to fill it out. The survey was to gather data about locations of student residences. I assumed that only students themselves could volunteer that information because of privacy issues. Instead, I was able to cooperate with the CSM registrar to obtain that information in a manner that left students anonymous and that gave the locations in the form of little dots on a map. I compiled that information, more than 2,200 addresses, by using the free, week-long trial version of Google Earth Pro. If I had been unable to meet that one-week time frame, then I would have needed to pay $400 for a one-year membership. Seeking out resources in my area also aided me in keeping costs down. I was delightfully surprised by two speakers the City of Boulder brought Jan Gehl, a famous planner from Copenhagen, Denmark, and the City of Boulder and CU Boulder brought Donald Shoup, an expert on the hidden cost of parking. Instead of purchasing a book by Donald Shoup for $60 as I had originally intended, I was able to see him in person and hear about his most recent research. However, I also invested money in the project on items I did not originally anticipate buying. For instance, I purchased a license for SketchUp, a 3D modeling computer program that I have been using to play around with ideas and to illustrate my hypothetical scenarios. The price for the license was lower because I could use my student status to obtain an educational version. SketchUp is Community Outreach and Education At this point of my project, community outreach has taken the form of encouraging communication between the CSM community and other communities. Because I might talk to both the CSM campus architect and the route planner at RTD with a week’s time, I am able to bridge communication between the two


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entities. Another valuable connection gaining strength is between the CU Environmental Center and the CSM Sustainability Committee. Although, the center has been able to guide me with campus transportation issues, this established group can guide the newly formed committee in many ways. Climate Change Because my project falls under the topic of transportation, it addresses climate change most directly by reducing carbon dioxide through the goal of decreasing vehicle miles traveled per day to the CSM campus. Options B and C, in particular, aim to reduce vehicle emissions by integrating alternative means of transportation into the campus master plan. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program As a NWF Campus Ecology Fellow, I found that the NWF name gave my project the credibility it needs to succeed. Recognition by NWF shows that I take my work seriously, and others, in turn, take me seriously. I also benefited from the inspiration of past and current Campus Ecology Fellows. I like knowing that I am part of a larger movement and that the other Campus Ecology Fellows are always willing to discuss dilemmas. Additionally, my participation in bimonthly conference calls helps to keep my project on track and gives me an opportunity for feedback. CLOSING COMMENT Don’t assume that, as a student, you are the only person fighting your battle. Talk with as many members of your community as possible, and ask for their opinions and insight. When it comes to campus projects in particular, chances are that people may have already formulated their own ideas about particular campus improvements they believe should take place; it is better to ask for people’s thoughts before you step on their toes. At the same time, it’s also important to realize that everyone else might not have the same mentality as you. I naively assumed that the student bus pass, by virtue of being on the ballot, would get enough votes to win. Even though I believe a bus pass seems like the obvious choice, clearly many students believe otherwise. Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

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collaborate on developing education materials on bike safety.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Wellesley College is a liberal arts college whose mission is to provide an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Located in suburban Wellesley, Massachusetts, 12 miles west of Boston, it is home to approximately 2,300 students. Contacts Elizabeth DeSombre Fellow Advisor Frost Professor of Environmental Studies Associate Professor of Political Science Phone: 781-283-2168 Email: [email protected] Anita Yip Class of 2007 NWF Campus Ecology Fellow Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals To establish a community bike program on campus, the immediate goals are not only to secure funding to purchase bikes and bike accessories and to hire a bike mechanic who can certify that the bikes are safe to ride, but also to set up a way to implement and administer the community bike program. Additionally, we at Wellesley need to instate measures to protect the program or the college from being sued. At present, we aim to launch the community bike program in fall 2006. Accomplishments I, Anita Yip, 2006 National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Fellow, met with various members of the administration to ensure that our idea for implementing and administering of the community bike program is feasible. The members involved in Risk Management agreed to draft a liability waiver, and the office of environmental health and safety was eager to

After garnering more student and faculty interest in establishing the community bike program, I made a proposal to the Student Organizations and Appointments Committee (SOAC) to establish a student organization called the Community Bike Initiative (CBI). CBI’s purpose is threefold: (1) to promote and support the well-being of the campus community through, and to foster an appreciation for, bicycling; (2) to organize events on bike-related issues to raise awareness of and to educate the campus about bicycling; and (3) to coordinate and maintain a community bike program on campus. SOAC later approved and officially constituted CBI as a student organization. As the president of CBI, I organized two events during Earth Week. The first event was named the Fun Ride, whereby cyclists in the community were invited to bike around campus with campus police. In collaboration with Wellesley Energy and Environmental Defense (WEED), we in CBI raised enough money to hold a second event titled Bike Stop: Tune Up and Repair. At that event, Olin’s Bike Shop visited campus to fix and repair bikes for free for the entire Wellesley College community. Those events stirred up excitement about the forthcoming community bike program. Challenges and Responses In the original plan, some community bikes would be solely for on-campus use; anyone could ride and then leave the bike on designated bike racks. Some community bikes would need to be checked out at the sports center for off-campus use. However, we in CBI were concerned about how to round up the bikes for the bike mechanic to check out and also about the issue of theft or vandalism. As for having the bikes in the sports center, unfortunately, the sports center will not allow for bikes to be stored within that building. After our discussion with the staff members at the sports center, they suggested keeping the bikes in an alcove near the sports center or in an empty open space in the campus’s parking facility. We also hoped that the sports center would help administer the program at its front desk, but the tasks involved are to labor-intensive; furthermore, the workers are union members, which


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complicates the situation. At present, we are looking into having the student activities office and the library administer the program. After informing the community about how we envisioned the community bike program would work, we at CBI held a meeting where students gave feedback about our proposal. Some students expressed their concern about having to pay for a bike in case of damage from an accident. Because it will not cost anything for a person to borrow a community bike, we fear it will be hard to raise funds and earn enough revenue, to replace bikes that may be wrecked in an accident. Students must also understand that if they choose to ride a community bike, then they are also being held responsible for it. Moreover, CBI started out with a president and treasurer. After carrying out my duties as president, however, I knew that future presidents would not have time to maintain the community bike program in addition to furthering the mission of the club. Therefore, CBI created the position of a community bike program coordinator, whose sole purpose is to maintain the community bike program by checking to ensure the bikes are in good working condition and, if not, to have a bike mechanic check then. I have volunteered to take on this position for the next academic year, and I hope to apply for funding to make it a paying job in the future. I originally planned to have the community bike program operating by fall 2006 after a semester’s worth of planning. However, I have found that establishing a reliable and sustainable community bike program requires more time and planning. My current plan is to launch the community bike program in spring 2007. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Beth Desombre, my fellowship advisor, and William Coleman, my independent study advisor, have been a constant source of support and guidance throughout the project. Leadership for the project was provided by several student leaders in CBI, including Megan Mitchell, President of Coalition for American Progress; Samantha Tackeff, President of WEED; Relena Ribbons, CBI’s Treasurer. As club ad-

visors, George Caplan, professor of physics, and Karen Doherty, resident director of Dower Residence Hall, also helped manage and guide the club. Additionally, the campus police, Environmental Studies Program, Keohane Sports Center, Physical Plant, Student Activities Office, Sustainability Advisory Committee, Transportation Advisory Committee and Transportation Department support CBI’s efforts to establish a community bike program on campus. Funding and Resources In addition to the $1,800 provided by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the Center for Work and Service at Wellesley College granted $750, the maximum amount of seed money, to the program. The office of environmental health and safety also agreed to provide the funding to print out educational materials about bike safety. Next semester, CBI will be able to apply for funding from the Student Organization Funding Committee. CBI will also continue to request donations, as we did successfully this semester, so we can hold our events. Community Outreach and Education Arlie Corday from the office for public information at Wellesley College has been instrumental in generating press coverage for the community bike program and NWF’s grant. On campus, the community bike program was featured in The Wellesley News, our campus newspaper, and in the WellesleyWeek, the weekly campus newsletter. I then presented the community bike program proposal to College Government and asked the campus community for feedback. I also made a presentation about the community bike program at the Ruhlman Conference, where student work is showcased and celebrated. In March, The Sampan, Boston Chinatown’s only Chinese-English newspaper, also published an article. Even better, The Boston Globe published a blurb in the Wellesley local news section and an article in its Sunday magazine. Furthermore, a television show titled Girl TV on Boston Neighborhood Network Channel 9 invited me to talk about the community bike program and the NWF Fellowship. International magazine Positive Teens also wrote a feature about the program in its June 2006 issue.


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Climate Change The community bicycle program directly addressed climate change by increasing bicycle use and decreasing Wellesley’s reliance on automobiles. The program will result in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions while providing a healthy alternative for local transportation. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program Without NWF’s Campus Ecology program, this project would never have come to fruition because a project of this magnitude requires a lot of start-up money. The training and support provided at NWF’s annual meeting and the extensive network of NWF Fellows have also been a tremendous help. Additionally, the Campus Ecology Yearbook gave me some insight about how others have approached establishing a community bike program on their own campuses. CLOSING COMMENT You will never know if someone has something to contribute if you do not tell people about your project. While I was talking to others about my project, I was surprised to learn that a member from my lion dance troupe was also involved in establishing a community bike program on her own campus. So let everyone know about your projects because there is always a chance that someone has an idea to contribute, will ask a question that you may not have thought of before, or knows someone who can help you!


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An unfortunate fact of campus life is that schools produce waste. Dorms, labs, academic buildings, and dining halls all generate daily waste. There is solid waste, liquid waste, sludge, and hazardous waste. And all of it contributes to the overall environmental impact of a school. One advantage to working on waste reduction is that there are plenty of small-scale improvements to be achieved, and most people on campus are happy to do their part to help. Recycling is one way to reduce waste on campus. And using recycled products lessens the demand to make, distribute, and dispose of those products, thus decreasing the need to manufacture virgin materials and clear land for landfills. Buying paper products made from recycled materials and then recycling them again not only conserves energy but also saves trees that sequester carbon. According to Earth 911, a ton of recycled paper equals or saves 17 trees in paper production. Reduce, reuse, and recycle is the best mantra to use when it comes to reducing waste on campus. NWF partners with the Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise Program encouraging campus members to participate in RecycleMania, a friendly competition among college and university recycling programs in the United States. NWF also partners with Access Computer Products. Access offers free recycling of ink cartridges and electronic waste to campuses.

~ National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Presenters at workshops, as well as the teleconference, were very useful. Ecodemia is always inspiring, and NWF is always a cheerleader. ~ University of Massachusetts at Boston


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• Lower the waste generated at BSU by reducing, reusing, and recycling materials. • Organize the event successfully so that it can be repeated and expanded in future years.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Ball State University (BSU) is situated on 940 acres in Muncie, Indiana, and serves approximately 19,000 students (45 percent male and 55 percent female). Seven academic colleges offer 120 undergraduate programs, 80 master’s programs, and 20 doctoral programs in 46 departments and schools. Approximately, 750 faculty members, 550 professional staff members, and 1,500 support personnel compose the employee base. Contacts Robert J. Koester, Professor of Architecture Director, Center for Energy Research/Education/Service Phone: 765-285-1135 Email: [email protected] Joel Grant Undergraduate Student Fax: 765-285-5622 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goal is to participate in the national Recyclemania Program, thus competing with other schools to see “who can collect the largest amount of recyclables from residence halls, on-campus apartments, and dining halls in 10 weeks.” More specifically, a fair and friendly recycling competition will accomplish the following: • Increase recycling participation by (oncampus) students and staff members. • Heighten awareness of the school’s waste management and recycling programs. • Expand economic opportunities while addressing environmental issues in a positive way.

Accomplishments The BSU team placed eighth among 93 universities participating in this year’s competition. That ranking is based on a 35.24 percent overall recycling rate. Challenges and Responses A total of 93 universities in 33 states participated in the competition, which was structured to identify strata of achievement. Those strata included the Per Capita Classic category (most recyclables per person by mass), the Waste Minimization category (lowest waste per person including recyclables and trash), the Grand Champion category (highest overall recycling rate from recyclables and trash), and the Targeted Materials category (highest recycling rate for a particular waste product). The questions at hand involved building motivation by (a) narrowing the scope of the competition to students living within campus residence halls, and (b) encouraging hall leaders through working with Residence Hall Association (RHA) representatives in Housing and Residence Life to distribute information up the dormitory tree to residence assistants and students by using creative publications such as informative flyers, advertisements in the campus paper, Daily News, and related articles. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The primary backing organization for this initiative was the Students for a Sustainable Campus. Other assistance came from members of the Environmental Action Team, who sponsored and helped coordinate the inter-dormitory competition; the Housing and Residence Life group, which aided the promotion of the event by helping to distribute information and materials; the Facilities Planning and Management staff members, who reported weekly waste-stream figures from the contracted campus waste hauler; and finally, the RHA without


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whose commitment this project would not have been possible. Funding and Resources Modest costs were associated with the implementation of the program, including reproduction of flyers and publications. Those costs were absorbed in departmental budgets. Community Outreach and Education A PowerPoint show summarizing the structure of approach was prepared and shared with the members of the Council on the Environment. It is now posted on the council’s website for use in promoting this initiative during the coming academic year. Climate Change This effort has an effect on global climate change in that recycling technical nutrients reduces both the net energy investment and the resulting carbon load from processing materials in the source stream. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program General reference to various Campus Ecology publications was helpful in establishing the importance of this initiative. Most important, BSU’s ongoing membership in NWF’s Campus Ecology program and the routine interaction with NWF staff members were essential as we at BSU developed ideas for motivating campus participants. CLOSING COMMENT We at BSU will continue to share our initiative in public presentations; we hope citation in the NWF Campus Ecology Yearbook will bring additional interest from colleagues and collaborators in higher education. Certainly, publication of the work through the RecycleMania network will have a lasting benefit. Because BSU participated for the first time, placing eighth nationally was considered a significant achievement.

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Colorado School of Mines (CSM) is a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science related to resources. The CSM has a unique mission in energy, mineral, and material sciences and engineering and in associated engineering and science fields. (Colorado Revised Statutes, Section 23-41-105). In 2000, the scope of the university’s role in balancing resource needs with environmental protection was more clearly defined: “The Colorado School of Mines is consequently committed to serving the people of Colorado, the nation, and the global community by promoting stewardship of the Earth upon which all life and development depend.” (Colorado School of Mines Board of Trustees 2000) To honor this commitment, CSM’s students, its faculty and staff members, and local community members have created a Presidential Sustainability Committee, sanctioned by CSM President John Trefny in the spring of 2006. The committee is charged with bringing sustainable ideas into action, both globally and locally. Also on campus are two student environmental organizations, Earthworks and the Student Council on Sustainability. This year, those organizations supported a number of student projects, covering topics such as biodiesel, recycling, and transportation. In addition, those organizations put on the annual Earth Day celebration at CSM. Contacts Ravi Malhoutra Executive Director International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology Phone: 303-273-3044 Email: [email protected] Jonathan Meuser Ph.D. Candidate, Spring 2008 Student Council on Sustainability President Phone: 303-384-2118


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Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals Currently, CSM recycles aluminum cans, cardboard, newspaper, and office paper in designated collection areas within academic buildings. The other on-campus organization that provides recycling services, Student Life, provides co-mingled container and paper recycling in the student activities center and in on-campus housing. The goal of this project run by senior design engineering students Hannah Davey, Kimberly James, and Phillip Zelenak was to create an efficient, self-sustaining recycling infrastructure with low initial cost and higher waste diversion than CSM’s current recycling program(s). Accomplishments To make reasonable recommendations, we first assessed the existing waste diversion program at CSM. The first accomplishment was the creation of a process-design block diagram that illustrates the current recycling at CSM with representation of the source, transport, processing, and fate of waste. From that analysis, we found that eight vendors service the two organizations responsible for recycling at CSM. To gather data about the effectiveness of CSM’s current waste diversion program, Student volunteers conducted two campus waste audits. The first audit assessed the weight of recyclable waste from the trash of three academic buildings on campus. The results were clear: of the waste analyzed, 47.9 percent was recyclable. Of the recyclable waste, about half was paper (one fourth of total waste measured). However, on the basis of the waste audit, it was determined that approximately 20 percent of the recyclable waste could not be recovered by the existing campus waste-diversion program. The second audit focused on compostables for the CMS dining hall, the Slate Café. The results were quite successful. Students placed signs next to various trash receptacles and alerted patrons of the receptacles’ whereabouts. In general, most patrons complied with the signs, and waste was successfully separated into different categories. Overall, 92 percent of the waste generated by the cafeteria could be composted. Only small modifications to cur-

rent cafeteria operations, such as using compostable food containers and instructing staff members to correctly deal with the compostables will be required to institute a composting program at CSM. On the basis of the assessment of the existing approach to recycling at CSM, it was recommended that the two current recycling programs be combined under a single Recycle America contract to accomplish diversion of all recyclable containers, including plastic and glass. It was also determined that Student Life could save money by contracting with a local composting facility, AI Organics, in Golden, to divert the compostable waste from the campus dining hall. Using those recommendations, Student Life worked with Aramark dining services to begin composting in fall 2006. Beyond infrastructure, the academic building waste audit showed that paper waste was not being properly placed into available office waste recycling bins. To encourage use of the existing paper recycling system, a campus marketing program was initiated to encourage re-use and recycling. This marketing program involved the branding of the CSM sustainability logo, the providing of intermediate office-waste recycling containers for offices and classrooms, and the purchasing of re-useable drink containers to be given to entering freshmen for discounted drinks. Challenges and Responses The greatest challenge in this project was convincing the campus administration that the project’s recommendations were reasonable, in both affordability and ease when compared with the current waste management system. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters This project was managed by the CSM Student Council on Sustainability and by the Senior Design program of the engineering department. Funding and Resources The project was funded by a $2,500 grant from the International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology and by a generous $9,000 grant from Lockheed Martin for co-mingled containers. Community Outreach and Education


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Education involved branding the CSM sustainability logo and handing out re-useable drink containers to incoming freshmen for discounted drinks. Recycling containers were also placed in offices and classrooms. Climate Change Climate change was indirectly affected by encouraging the campus community to recycle more thus reducing the need to manufacture virgin materials. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program assisted this project through a teleconference showcasing other campus recycling programs. Those case studies provided clear examples of other small schools doing excellent waste diversion, thereby raising the bar for CSM’s own program.

gul Oprah Winfrey and Olympic gold medalist Wilma Rudolph. Contacts David A. Padgett, PhD Faculty Advisor Associate Professor of Geography 3500 John Merritt Boulevard Tennessee State University Box 9538 Nashville, TN 37209 Phone: 615-963-5508 Email: [email protected] Briana Davis Undergraduate Environmental Trainee 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd. P.O. Box 0629 Nashville, TN 37209 Phone: 615-429-4449 Email: [email protected]

CLOSING COMMENT

Chris Norwood Undergraduate Environmental Trainee 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd. 3404C New Residence Center Nashville, TN 37209 Phone: 216-851-6342 or 615-963-2052 Email: [email protected]

Campus recycling projects require close cooperation between existing programs. After being involved in this project, we highly recommend making the campus administration an active member of the project from the beginning.


BACKGROUND Campus Profile Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University (TSU) is one of about 118 historically black colleges and universities. The current enrollment of 9,200 is approximately 75 percent African American. There are two urban campuses in Nashville, one located downtown and the other (main campus) in North Nashville, which is one of the city’s oldest black communities. Many degrees, including bachelor’s and doctoral degrees, are offered in a variety of programs. TSU ranks among the highest producers of engineering degrees for African Americans. Programs in women’s studies and public health were recently added. Among TSU’s esteemed alumni are television mo-

Goals The primary, long-term goal of the pilot project, a Community-University Sustainable Recycling Program, is the establishment of a successfully functioning program for recycling solid waste on TSU’s campus. An additional component is the establishment of an environmental education center housed at TSU. By working cooperatively with North Nashville’s many neighborhood organizations, the project hopes to accomplish its ultimate goal of increasing North Nashville’s participation in recycling. With the cooperation of TSU’s administration, the campus’s recycling pilot project will spread campus-wide. The proceeds earned by selling the recyclable materials will be used to support scholarships. Accomplishments The pilot project has been very successful. Many faculty members, staff members, and students are participating. The main campus


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has 10 recycling bins that hold 96 gallons each. The bins and the labor required to empty them are supplied free of charge by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Office of Environmental Assistance. At this point, however, we in the project are far short of producing the five tons of recyclable material per month required to earn a profit. Thus, we plan to create a new student environmental organization, which will ultimately gain the attention and cooperation of TSU’s administration and office of facilities management. The spark has been lit. Only time will tell of our success. This project began with only five 96-gallon bins, which have now matured to the ten bins. Over the past seven months, this recycling project has been conducted on the basis of trial and error. Locations of the bins have been changed periodically to see where the most paper waste is accumulated on TSU’s campus. We hope to have the whole campus involved in this recycling project, so that we may meet our goal of recycling five tons (10,000 pounds) of paper each month. As of August 2006, we have recycled 11,100 pounds of paper, which is the product after seven months. As you can see, we are not meeting our goal, but we hope to reach it in the future. The local recycling company in this Nashville area, Curb Side Recycling, has also been apart of our evaluation. We are curious to know why the participation in neighboring communities is low. At first, we hypothesized that it was because the relocation of recycling centers, but after evaluating the demographics of the Curb Side route, we believe that appears to not be the case. Instead, low participation could be a result of the lack of knowledge about benefits of recycling for the community. We hope to spread the importance of recycling and to see an increase in the number of items recycled. The map in screen cap 1 is en enlargement of to the North Nashville location of Davidson County. The darker the shaded area, the more populated it is with African Americans. The yellow dots on this map show where recycling centers were once housed in 2003, and the single red dot shows where one location is housed as of 2006. We hypothesized that one reason for scarce recycling participation in the African-American community was the removal

of recycling centers from the predominately African-American neighborhoods, but we were later proved wrong. Screen cap 2 shows a number of things. Once again the map is an enlargement of the North Nashville area of Davidson County. The shaded areas show the participation levels of recycling in the Curb Side Recycling program: the darker the shade, the higher the participation rate. The purple dots signify the African-American population in increments of 100, and the orange dots signify the white population in increments of 100. As shown some predominantly African-American areas have a high participation rate in recycling and some mixed areas do as well. Screen cap 3 shows the recycling activity on TSU’s campus for July 2006. A total of 2,870 pounds of paper waste was collected on the August pick-up date. Table 1 is an attribute table to show the amount of paper waste collected at each location along with the monitors’ contact information. From November 2005 through August 2006, we collected 11,420 pounds of paper waste on TSU’s campus. Challenges and Responses The primary challenge we in the project continue to face is lack of cooperation from TSU’s administration. Also, because the pilot project is run primarily by students, there is a lack of continuity in the labor pool from semester to semester, especially over the summer. An additional challenge is the fact that Nashville as a community does not have an especially long or successful history in recycling. The city’s Curb Side Recycling program is only two or three years old, but it is slowly making progress. All of Nashville’s solid waste is exported to landfills in rural areas. A few “voices in the wilderness” in town are trying to raise awareness, but they are in the significant minority. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Briana Davis from the Environmental Careers Organization (ECO), a Community Intern for summer 2006, worked diligently on this project in the TSU Geographic Information System lab.


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As a part of her daily routine, she evaluated Davidson County’s curbside recycling maps and its demographics, and she monitored recycling activity on TSU’s campus, using a hand-held Global Positioning Systems unit and ArcGIS software. With the help of Christopher Norwood, the 96- gallon bins were maneuvered around campus as needed.

community, we have also had limited success. However, we at least have the ball rolling in terms of getting recycling on the agenda.

Funding and Resources Funding was provided by the Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation and ECO. The project began with $500 from the alliance, and ended with $5,900 from ECO, for a total of $6,900 from the project’s beginning to ending date. Community Outreach and Education The project is partnered with the African American Cultural Alliance, a nonprofit organization, to spread awareness in the surrounding community. Climate Change Waste disposal practices have many negative environmental effects, including the release of dangerous greenhouse gases such as methane and the increased need to clear forests for landfill space. Recycling efforts on campus and in the community help to reduce those environmental effects by diverting material, decreasing the need for more landfills, protecting of wildlife and habitat, and keeping our natural resources cleaner. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program has provided much guidance. NWF’s website has been a very useful resource. We in the project used the site to make note of similar campus projects. We also kept up with ongoing NWF activities and communicated with staff members. CLOSING COMMENT In terms of campus recycling, an effort must be made to get a buy-in from the institutional administration. We attempted to do so, unsuccessfully, during the early stages of the pilot project. In terms of building bridges with the


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reduce by more than 100,000 pounds the waste that was being generated from the type of polystyrene dinnerware in use and, in the long run, would mesh with the campus’s current comprehensive recycling and composting program. BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of Massachusetts at Boston (UMB) is a doctoral-granting, research university of 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students and serves a commuter student body. It is one of five campuses in the University of Massachusetts system. UMB has a historically strong commitment to environmental sustainability. It is unique in being the only public university in Massachusetts to sign the international Talloires Declaration, committing to environmental sustainability in all campus operations and academics. The campus recycling and sustainability program, UMBe Green, encompasses four goals in moving toward sustainability: Recycling, Education, Sustainability, and Practice, a collaborative approach with operational and academic campus departments. Nationally, it is one of a few programs that have both a recycling and a sustainability program integrated into one. UMB’s sustainability program and campus-wide sustainability efforts were recently awarded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the University Sustainability and Environmental Purchasing Award. Contact Office of Recycling & Sustainability University of Massachusetts Boston 100 Morrissey Blvd. Boston, Massachusetts 02125 Email: [email protected]. GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goal of this project was to introduce compostable dinnerware in dining halls all over campus, moving toward zero-waste dining, maximized recycling, and composting. UMB’s campus community and UMBe Green had long desired to eliminate dinnerware made from plastics that were hard to recycle and that were made from nonrenewable resources. Eliminating such dinnerware would significantly

Accomplishments In fall 2005 and spring 2006, the polystyrenefree dinnerware program was introduced and met with resounding success! Not only did it accomplish what UMB and its students had desired for years, but the design of the project and the resulting front-of-the-house compostables were a clean sort, which delighted the vendors helping with the compost haul. It was a very significant milestone when paper dinnerware was introduced in UMB’s 800-person capacity food court and in its five smaller satellite food locations on campus. Challenges and Responses Although the campus and UMBe Green supported this change, the food service vendor (contract vendor) had difficulty absorbing the somewhat higher costs. However, the benefits of improved customer perceptions, a change in management leadership, and avoided costs to the campus made it worthwhile. Another challenge was determining if the signage asking food services users to cooperate would result in clean and effective sort. The well-designed and graphic signage was quite successful and aesthetically pleasing. Clean sorts were achieved from the first month of introducing this program. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Given the recent strides made in campus sustainability in other areas, the lack of recycling dinnerware was a let down for members of the campus community for years, and they were vocal about the lack of it. The presence of senior leadership, top management, and an office of recycling and sustainability plus the change in food services management were all helpful. Funding and Resources Because of strong administrative leadership emphasizing dedication to service excellence in dining services, UBM fulfilled its mission of environmental stewardship. The Massachusetts State Sustainability Program also provided some pilot funding for compostable bags,


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which are critical in the compost collection process. Community Outreach and Education More than six events and outreach efforts were conducted on opening day of the program and they continue to date. To learn about the project’s green efforts, see UMB’s website at: www. umb.edu, and scroll to Quicklinks: Recycling & Sustainability. UMBe Green’s efforts were lauded in the campus newspaper, and showed its appreciation in emails from students, and staff and faculty members to the sustainability program. On a weekly basis, table tents provide information that explains and celebrates the compostable dinnerware theme. More campus awareness events will be provided on Earth Day and America Recycles Day. Climate Change The use of renewable materials derived from paper, rather than fossil fuels, increased recycling and waste reduction by not sending those materials to landfills or incineration, which positively affected climate change. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Presenters at workshops, as well as the teleconference, were very useful. Ecodemia is always inspiring, and NWF is always a cheerleader. CLOSING COMMENT Materials and costs are not a significant barrier, and the benefits to health, the environment, and campus greening are huge.

(C) Kathy Boutin-Pasterz

BACKGROUND Campus Profile The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) is a public, four-year, applied research and public service university located on the northern end of Charlotte, which is a major business and banking hub of North Carolina. Despite the university’s relatively young status, it was founded in 1968, UNCC is enjoying a period of profound growth and expansion. During the 2005-2006 school year alone, it brought eight new buildings into use. UNCC has nearly 20,000 students (45 percent male and 55 percent female) supported by 879 full-time faculty members. Many students are drawn to UNCC by its excellent business, nursing, architecture, and education departments. It offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, 58 master’s degrees, and 12 doctoral degrees. The university has focused on greening the campus since the 2002 North Carolina Energy Savings Initiative. UNCC’s office of waste reduction and recycling has been in operation since 1990. During those 16 years, the office’s program has been expanding and growing every year. We at UNCC currently have 13 full-time staff positions and between five and seven student workers. The program collects and sends out more than 30 items to be recycled and remanufactured. The Earth Tubs Composting Program, currently in its sixth year, has also been very successful. Contacts Kathy Boutin-Pasterz Recycling Coordinator Phone: 704-687-2137


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Devin Hatley Environmental Educator Phone: 704-687-4283 Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling UNC Charlotte 9201 University City Blvd. Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 Fax: 704-687-2676 Website: http://facilities.uncc.edu/Recycling GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The Take It or Leave It Tour grew out of the popular FREE STUFF table that is used during UNCC’s Welcome Week and America Recycles Day. Students eagerly take the gently used notebooks, file folders, page protectors, and binders that the recycling crew collects during its recycling routes on campus. Generally in recycling, we give away 200 pounds of materials at these events. We initiated the Leave It component at the 2005 America Recycles Day event. We invited students to bring items to the table that they no longer need but are still useful. Students leave it for an other student to take as needed and for free. The tour idea grew from that initial event, resulting in the program touring each lobby of every residential hall on campus. Some of the used items that were passed on to other students included hats, books, jewelry, CDs, posters, folders, notebooks, clocks, and pens. The initial goal for the Take It or Leave It Tour was to simply reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills during the 2006 spring semester. This program was also designed to educate students on alternative recycling and re-use opportunities, in addition to promoting recycling on campus and the upcoming Move-Out for Charity program at the end of the semester. The program ran for eight weeks, from January 11 to March 1, 2006, on each Wednesday from 1pm to 3pm. We in the program plan to hold it more often in 2006. Our long-term goal is to increase the education for students on the many recycling and re-use opportunities that surround them on a daily basis. Accomplishments

After completion of the first Take It or Leave It Tour, our group had collected and given away more than 122 pounds of materials, with 633 students’ participation. This was a very good start for our program, and our plan is to expand it further by promoting the program throughout campus and offering it more frequently throughout the year. Challenges and Responses We in the program are always looking for more ways to increase student participation on campus in waste reduction and recycling. Finding an event that incorporates an action on their part and that is also fun is always a challenge. Student apathy is also a challenge. This was our first Take It or Leave It Tour. In an effort to confront student apathy head on and to make sure we got the word out to the students and created a buzz, we fostered a more active partnership with the resident coordinators of UNCC’s housing and residence life departments. Together, we promoted this program with flyers, posters, and even advertisements on the campus movie channel. Because of the additional promotional work for the program by our residence life workers, more than 600 students participated in the tour. Another challenge was finding proper tabling sites. Working with the residence life division’s resident coordinators, we were able to set up our exhibit, signs, and tables in the front lobby of each residential hall. On clear, sunny, warm days, which occur in NC in February, we set up our tables and exhibits just outside the front entrance of the halls. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The office of waste reduction and recycling worked with resident advisors and student volunteers to initiate and carry out this program. Funding and Resources This program focused on cost avoidance. UNCC’s recycling department was instrumental in collecting binders, notebooks, folders, pencils, and so forth from the recycling collection sites across campus throughout the school year. Those supplies provided the our starting point for offering free items to students. Time


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and labor costs were absorbed into the program. Community Outreach and Education In addition to the purpose outlined earlier, the Take It or Leave It Tour served as a lead to our Move-Out for Charity program. By instituting the Take It or Leave It Tour, we in the program were able to get students thinking about recycling or re-use in preparation of Move-Out for Charity. We promoted the Take It or Leave It Tour with posters in the residence halls and in the common areas around campus. Resident coordinator and resident advisors were given information about the event and reminded their residents about the tour. Student volunteers also handed out FREE STUFF cards, with a piece of candy attached, as reminders to students the day before the tour was to visit their residential hall. We also advertised in the Events section of the UNCC website and received coverage in the local campus newsletter. Climate Change The project indirectly addressed global climate change. By redirecting all of the would-be waste and by sending it to be reused by our student body, we in the program helped save energy and natural resources. Energy usage is directly linked to greenhouse gas emissions, mainly carbon dioxide. Thus, by saving the energy it would require to build new materials, we are helping to reduce the greenhouse gases released into our atmosphere.

This particular project is quickly becoming one of the student’s favorites. With it being our first attempt at this program, we in the program were pleasantly surprised by the participation of students. The active participation of 633 students gave us an opportunity to promote recycling and re-use. We know that this program will help not only the environment but also the people of our local community. If you start your own Take It or Leave It Tour, please be sure to begin with available goods for giveaway. We in the program began by using file folders, pencils, notebooks, and other miscellaneous items collected by our recycling department during its normal recycling collection routes (we routinely collect office supplies for reuse). Set up your tour in a clearly visible area during a high traffic time, and be consistent with your day and time each week. Be certain that your sites are protected from the elements so that you do not risk having items damaged by rain. Finally, get in contact with your housing and residence life departments, and seek permission for and assistance with promotion. Those department members can play a vital role in ensuring high student participation, which is the key to a program success.

National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program We at UNCC have been members of the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program since March 2005. Although swap programs exist on other college campuses, we did not see another program that toured the campus as our does. We used NWF’s Campus Ecology Yearbook for ideas for our program. As members of the Carolina Recycling Association, we networked and brainstormed ideas with other members, both collegiate and community based. We also researched online case studies before beginning any new project to see what had worked well in other areas. CLOSING COMMENT

(C) Karyn Kaplan

BACKGROUND ~ The most valuable National Wildlife Federation resource was past submissions in the Campus Ecology Yearbook. They were a great stepping stone to form new ideas for educational campaigns. It was also useful to see the difficulties that were


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associated with other schools’ projects so we could plan ahead with our own campaign. ~

• Create and distribute refillables t-shirts. • Put a biweekly ad in the student paper.

Campus Profile The University of Oregon is a four-year, public university comprising more than over 20,000 students and nearly 4,400 members of the faculty, staff, and administration. The university has many different colleges, including architecture and allied arts, arts and science, business, education, journalism and communication, law, and music and dance. It has been historically active in campus greening and sustainability, with recent examples including students voting to use funds from student fees to switch from electricity to wind power in the student union, participating in Recyclemania 2005, and offering composting services at various university functions.

• During the Earth Day celebration, give away approximately 1,000 mugs. • Dress students in costumes and trade people’s disposable drinks for refillable mugs. • Collect all disposables that were traded for refillable mugs and make an impressive pile of trash (a pile was started from collection before the Earth Day celebration). • Create and display several visual aids, including a paper cup pyramid of 365 disposables topped with a refillable mug and a sign that read One refillable replaces 1000s of disposables.

Contacts Karyn Kaplan Environmental Resource and Recycling Manager Phone: 541-346-1545 Email: [email protected] John Costello Erb Memorial Union Food Service Director Phone: 541-346-3719 Email: [email protected] Heather Canapary Class of 2007 Campus Recycling Education Coordinator Phone: 541-346-2354 Email: [email protected] GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The goals of the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign were to reduce campus waste by specifically targeting disposable coffee and soft drinks and to promote awareness of refillable mugs. Compliance was measured by tracking the percentage of beverages sold in refillable mugs at seven on-campus coffee outlets. The Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign involved several components:

• Create a tracking mechanism to measure campus refillable mug use. • Write a press release that led to coverage in a student newspaper and a television interview. • Work with business students to create a survey to be administered before the Earth Day celebration. • Survey other community (non campus) outlets and promote discounts on refillables at in-town locations. To determine the effect of the educational campaign, data from the week after the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign during the 2006 Earth Week was compared with data from the same week in 2005 that was not accompanied by this educational blitz. The data showed that the percentage of refillable mugs used went up about 19 percent after the 2006 campaign. For this project, 75 hours were spent on the educational portion of the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign. For the next two years, the goal is to continue promoting refillables and to increase the minimum rate of refillable mug use on campus to 25 percent. Since the Earth Week campaign,


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which was followed by newspaper advertising, the rate of refillable mug use through campus food service outlets has generally been fluctuating between 11 and17 percent, with a maximum recorded rate of 32 percent use of refillables. Accomplishments Because the university had little pre-existing data to initially form quantitative goals, assessing the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign’s success, is challenging. However, the increase of refillable mug use at the seven on-campus coffee shops averaged 19 percent from 2005 to 2006 for the week following the campaign. Since the inception of the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign, the Erb Memorial Union (EMU) Food Services and Campus Recycling developed a system to track refillable mug use. Over the course of the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign, Campus Recycling accomplished the following: • Develop a method to track campus refillable mug use. • Increase the refillable mug use rate by 19 percent since the week following the 2005 Earth Week campaign. • Develop advertisements and informational material to continue promoting refillables. • Gain community attention by appearing on the local news. • Educate the campus and the general public that many cups are not recyclable, and that many cups have been causing contamination problems (are expensive and downgrade recycling), and generally highlight the fact that people did not know cups were not recyclable. • Though we on campus have not been able to quantify it, Campus Recyclers has noticed a dramatic decrease in the amount of cups contaminating the campus recycled paper collection. Challenges and Responses A major challenge was getting students to

realize that individual actions have a notable effect. Even after looking at visual aids that displayed the amount of trash produced by one person’s consuming one disposable cup a day, people responded that they were reluctant to carry a refillable mug because it was inconvenient. In response to this complaint, emphasis was placed on how a refillable mug reduces waste and how easy it is to carry. In the future, some sort of mug clip or carabiner, so students can clip their mugs directly to their book bags would facilitate transport. Another challenge was assembling and maintaining visual aids. Often, displays are most effective when they are shocking. What better way is there to discuss the amount of trash generated by a week’s worth of coffee drinkers than to make a huge pile of used coffee cups in front of the student union. However, to make a huge pile of used coffee cups, the cups must be collected and stored over a period of time. It is best to collect cups no more than two weeks before the event, which minimizes the storing time and potential rodent or odor issues. The campus also had difficulty maintaining the level of education needed. This issue is endless, and there needs to be on-going promotion and education from all fronts. Vendors must provide information that is highly visible so that customers know discounts are available for using refillable mugs, not throw away cups. However, even with discounts being offered and use of disposables being reduced, a discount is only a token effort. To reduce the need for continuing education on this issue and to acclimate society to recycling, vendors should charge money for cups. Make conservation the rule not the exception. When possible, use refillable plastic mugs, not toss cups. Also try and get reduced prices for refills. A few students also complained that there are no places on campus to rinse out refillable mugs. WE AGREE! We have all but stood on our heads while trying to convince the Student Union to install a cup-wash-area when the eatery area was remodeled, but we had no luck. Though the Student Union is supportive of refillables, we hope awareness will grow to


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demonstrate the need for a wash station. ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters The Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign was sponsored by the University of Oregon Campus Recycling. It came about when Campus Recycling noticed that many single cups were found in the recycling containers It was also noted that most people on campus were drinking out of disposable cups. The merger of those two observations spawned the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign. The debut of this project occurred during the campus-sponsored Earth Week (April 17- 21). The campaign will continue to be promoted throughout the course of this and the following school years. The project was run by Heather Canapary, education coordinator of campus recycling, and Karyn Kaplan, manager of Environmental Resource and Recycling. John Costello, director of EMU Food Services, provided the data on refillable mug usage in all seven of the campusrun coffee shops. He also secured funding from Allan Brothers Coffee and from Pepsi-Cola to aid in the purchase of 400 stainless steel mugs that were handed out on Earth Day at campus food service locations. Rosie Sweetman, environmental coordinator for the ASUO (student government), contributed many ideas in the brainstorming stage and helped conduct Earth Day and Earth Week. Funding and Resources This project was funded by Campus Recycling and EMU Food Services. To purchase t-shirts, Campus Recycling contributed $1000 from an American Forest and Paper Association award. Those shirts were handed out to students and staff members to promote the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign. Campus Recycling also contributed $500 of student funds, which was allocated to waste reduction, to purchase print advertising for the campaign and to purchase refillable mugs to distribute to the campus community. John Costello, director of EMU Food Services, received funding of $1000 from both Allan Brothers Coffee and Pepsi-Cola. He then purchased an additional 400 mugs to hand out to campus coffee shop patrons. With respect to workspace and labor, Campus

Recycling already had established areas that could be used as work or storage space. Campus Recycling also has a large base of employees and volunteers who helped develop and conduct the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign. Some of the cost-saving effects of the Reduce Reuse Refill Campaign include funds saved on campus trash disposal and money saved on Campus Recycling labor. This project reduces waste on campus, thus lessening costs for trash removal. Also, because of the misconception that disposable cups are recyclable, such cups are often found in the recycling containers. When processing material, Campus Recycling employees have to remove and dispose of those cups and any soiled paper. By educating campus members that disposable cups are trash, fewer cups are disposed of in the recycling containers, saving Campus Recycling time and money. Community Outreach and Education To engage the campus, we ran a variety of print ads in the university newspaper. Students participated when they agreed to swap their disposable cup for a refillable mug. Students dressed as Recycling Trees walked around campus and rewarded students already using refillable mugs with Reduce Reuse Refill t-shirts. There was also a pile of used coffee cups and a pyramid constructed from cups to display various statistics associated with consumption. In addition, a local newscaster produced a 5-minute segment on the project, which was broadcast on two different news programs. This year, the project was primarily concerned with campus coffee shops. However, in the future, there is a desire to partner with coffee shops off campus to institute a discount for refill usage and to promote increased use of refillable mugs. Climate Change Climate change is addressed by the reduction of disposable goods and of waste generated at the landfill. If refillable mugs are used in place of disposable cups, less energy and resources and less landfill space will be needed, and less leachate and emissions will be generated, thereby helping to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. If everyone at the University of Oregon used just one refillable mug a day instead of a disposable cup, then there would be a


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potential savings of 25,000 disposable cups per day, 175,000 cups per week, and 9.1 million disposable cups per year (and whatever that translates into for landfill space, greenhouse gasses, etc.)

years of promoting Reduce Reuse Refill, we hope that percentage can be reduced to fewer than 10 percent and can come closer and closer to zero.

National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program The most valuable National Wildlife Federation resource was past submissions in the Campus Ecology Yearbook. They were a great stepping stone to form new ideas for educational campaigns. It was also useful to see the difficulties that were associated with other schools’ projects so we could plan ahead with our own campaign. CLOSING COMMENT Challenging people’s consumption habits is not easy. Often the best strategy was appealing to students’ pocketbooks or wallets instead of their values of nature. When asked about disposable cups, many students thought that onetime-use cups could be recycled. When they heard that the cups were not recyclable, they looked shocked, but few were willing to commit to a refillable mug. Even though refillable mugs reduce waste, they are too inconvenient for many students to carry. The best results came when the students were informed that campus coffee shops offer a 25-cent discount with refillable mugs. As a precursor to the institution of a campaign similar to Reduce, Reuse Refill, you should perform a waste audit of your campus. It is important to determine the percentage of trash that is composed of disposable cups. It is also crucial to establish a reliable way of tracking refillable mug use. Furthermore, you should secure funding from an on campus or an offcampus group to aid in the purchase of refillable mugs and mug clips (i.e., carabiners) to hand out to students. Despite all the challenges, this project is worthwhile because promoting the use of refillables is one of the simplest actions a campus can take to reduce its volume of waste. Disposable cups make up 25 percent of the volume of the waste stream at the University of Oregon’s student union food service. After a few more Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

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Of all the water on Earth, only about 3 percent of it is freshwater. And of that 3 percent, only about .03 percent comes from lakes and rivers, which is our main source of portable, drinkable water. Freshwater is in short supply, but there are many water-intensive industries. Each year, 400 million gallons of water alone are used just to dilute laundry detergent. Water conservation and education is a vital part of campus ecology. As this section illustrates, colleges and universities are starting to pay attention to inefficient shower heads, decorative fountains, and water main leaks. 2006 NWF Campus Ecology Fellow Andrew Lee from Claremont McKenna College worked to transform the landscaping on his campus to greatly improve water efficiency. Find out how Andrew worked with the Facilities Department and the Board of Trustees to greatly improve Claremont’s water consumption. College and university campuses have the power to educate and lead water conservation initiatives to ensure that clean, drinkable water is available and abundant, and that local watersheds are clean and healthy for wildlife and habitat restoration.

~ NWF’s Campus Ecology program motivated the UWM Environmental Council to set goals and to gain support for campus greening projects at on and off-campus locations ~ University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee


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Andrew Lee NWF Campus Ecology Fellow 2006 Class of 2007 Email: [email protected] Jose Huezo Associate Director Facilities and Campus Services Story House 742 N. Amherst Ave. Claremont, CA 91711-6430 Phone: 909-607- 2885 Fax: 909-621-8542 Email: [email protected]

BACKGROUND Campus Profile Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is a coeducational, residential, undergraduate, liberal arts college, and is ranked 10th in the nation. CMC’s curricular emphasis is on economics, government, and public affairs. As part of the Claremont University Consortium (including Claremont Graduate School, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Pomona College, and Scripps College) in the city of Claremont, California, CMC’s 1,100 students are part of a total 6,000 students in the community. In addition to the emphasized majors, CMC also offers students a major in environment, economics, and politics (EEP), which is closely associated with the Roberts Environmental Center at CMC. The center analyzes environmental transparency and performance of global corporations and issues a Pacific Sustainability Index that rates large corporations. CMC is home to the headquarters of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government, which has student researchers present training programs for state and local officials in environmental policies. In addition to its institutes, CMC will be constructing a new dormitory and academic building, while neighboring Pitzer College will be constructing dormitories with the hopes of being the first college to achieve the Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard.

GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Goals The proposed project intends to conserve water at CMC and to promote water conservation awareness in the Claremont area colleges and beyond. We at CMC will install moisture sensors to decrease landscape irrigation across our total 57-acre campus and will create a system to report malfunctioning sprinklers. From those structural changes, we hope to cause greater campus greening in a new academic and dormitory building that is being constructed on our campus. We will convey the message that southern California should adopt water conservation practices and that colleges should adopt greening techniques because such efforts are not only environmentally friendly but also economical. Although CMC students work on real-world public policy analysis, they often forget about their individual effect on their communities. The projected short-term results of this project include the following:

Contacts Marsha Tudor Assistant Director Facilities and Campus Services Story House 742 N. Amherst Ave. Claremont, CA 91711-6430 Phone: 909-621-8500 Fax: 909-621-8542 Email: marsha.tudor@claremontmckenna. edu Campus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

• Show a measurable improvement in water conservation (by installing moisture sensors and by testing whether to switch to native plants), and create further discussion about conservation in the new dormitory and academic building. • Educate students on the values of water conservation in southern California and on the issue of water infrastructure development in the world. 153

• Establish a coalition of student organizations, faculty members, and administration members who will advocate for implementing environmentally friendly best practices. The projected long-term results of this project include the following: • Provide publicity for Pitzer College in its efforts to secure funding for its new dormitories by showing that neighboring colleges are now making efforts to become environmentally friendly. • Educate students and other communities in southern California (especially college campuses) to address water scarcity and its relation to environmental damage to sources such as the Colorado River and decrease the storm water runoff that flows toward the ocean. Overall, the project hopes to generate awareness of Claremont campus greening (especially in our new buildings) and to address water conservation at the community level and water infrastructure development at the world level. Accomplishments The project is still under way. In conjunction with the Community Service Office, students held a water awareness week on campus. Students were able to buy Ethos Water (a brand that helps alleviate water scarcity in developing nations), and they received information on campus greening and water conservation. In addition to our education effort, we at CMC have installed almost all of our moisture sensors on particular areas of the campus and will be monitoring their effectiveness throughout the rest of the year. In addition, CMC has deferred construction on the new dormitory building, but we have received assurances that the dormitory will include indoor conservation (low-flush toilets, etc.), natural solar heating, solar panels, and a possible thermal cycle that will keep the dormitory working at a particular level. Before those assurances and with help from the Roberts Environmental Center, student representatives on trustee committees had been discussing the improvements. Because of those student efforts and ours in promoting campus greening, CMC is now dedi-

cated to providing “green means green” (profit savings also mean environmental savings). Through our installation of moisture sensors, and our subsequent greening implementation in CMC’s new building, we will show the wide portfolio of water conservation techniques on campus. We hope to see our efforts implemented in the construction of the new dormitory building, a completed report on water conservation efforts at CMC, and a handbook for local communities to learn more about how to conserve water (moisture sensors being one possible solution) in arid southern California. Challenges and Responses As students interested in seeing changes effected by the administration, our main challenge has been getting administration support. Initially, the administration did not want to deal with students on construction issues, fearing that we were going to make outlandish demands. Nevertheless, because discussion was pragmatic and the cost demands facing the administration were understood, we were able to begin a productive dialog. Additionally, once we received funding and support from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the administration saw a need to begin more collaboration on construction issues. Although, the architects had presented a wide variety of plans, including some that incorporated greening, the increase in student awareness helped make the greening plan more prominent. Eventually, those aspects were incorporated in the school. An additional challenge was finding matching funds on campus for installing of moisture sensors. Through the generous donation of the Roberts Environmental Center, the project received matching funds to both install the moisture sensors and conduct an evaluation of water conservation practices (including native vegetation) in the southern California region. Installing moisture sensors also required the facilities and campus services to carve up existing concrete. Although that process increased the initial pricing, we either came up with funds or, in some cases, focused our efforts on areas that waste the most water.


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ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Leadership for the project was provided by Jose Huezo, Associate Director, Andrew Lee, the 2007 NWF Campus Ecology Fellow, Jorge Ronchi, Groundskeeping Supervisor, Vice President Torrey Sun, Dean of Students, and Marsha Tudor, Assistant Director. Student support included Robert Heilmayr 2006, Sara Vink 2006, Meredith Holt 2007, Jenny Miller 2007, and Elliot Vanderkolk 2008. Special recognition goes to J. Emil Morhardt, Director, of the Roberts Environmental Center, for the center’s generous donation of matching funds to promote on-campus conservation. Many other student volunteers (not mentioned by name) also helped with Water Awareness Week and with the spread of information about campus greening in CMC’s new facilities. Funding and Resources The project cost (excluding labor), which was initially scheduled to be approximately $2,500, was met with the generous support of both NWF and the Roberts Environmental Center. Because of the NWF funding, our facilities and campus services donated their staff members’ hours and expertise to install moisture sensors across the campus. We also received generous administrative support from the community service office at CMC in our outreach efforts. When changing design plans for our new academic and dormitory buildings, CMC paid for the extra cost. Community Outreach and Education Our initial efforts have included outreach through college Internet news outlets, table tents, and sponsorship of a Friday waterawareness party where students could learn more about water conservation and also buy Ethos Water. We are moving into our next phase of creating a document dedicated to providing a water management portfolio for other university and college campuses. The local community at the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in Claremont showed initial interest and was willing to provide extra brochures to help promote water conservation.

city. Estimates of increased water scarcity have been made because climate change causes increased desertification in the Western United States. Promoting water conservation provides techniques for the people of the Western United States to avoid using up remaining water resources, and it focuses attention on the potentially larger ramifications (e.g., increased water scarcity) if climate change continues. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology® Program NWF’s Campus Ecology program provided support through financial resources from the Campus Ecology Fellowship and through resources such as the Campus Ecology Yearbook, the Campus Ecology network, media training, online case studies, email, and phone consultation. The Yearbook also provides a way to share our accomplishments with other campuses in southern California. We at CMC are proud to be included among the ranks of other campuses that are environmentally conscious. CLOSING COMMENT Our project helps to support the national campus greening movement by showing the economic and social benefits of campus greening. We hope to promote water conservation awareness to many of our college alumni who work for industry, government (including current members of Congress), and other fields of leadership across the world. Through our installation of moisture sensors, we will show one possibility from a portfolio of water conservation techniques on southern California campuses. Because almost a third of southern California’s water use occurs in irrigation, the example of moisture sensors is the best tool. Those sensors convey how simple economic measures that can reduce water consumption are both environmentally friendly and not prohibitively expensive. Suggestions for working on future projects include the following:

Climate Change Our CMC team indirectly addressed global climate change through its effects on water scarCampus Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition

• Be cordial with your administration; explain your goal in terms of the bottom line. • Seek out new opportunities; work with your administration to find ways to insert yourself as a NWF Campus Ecology Fellow or to make campus greening successful. We would not have affected green campus building unless we knew about the opportunity. 155

• Promote conservation through incremental changes. Try to change both attitudes and the inputs for those attitudes (for us, that effort included indoor conservation such as low-flush toilets and low-flow showerheads). Ultimately, all of those changes make a large difference.


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On behalf of National Wildlife Federation, great appreciation is extended to the Campus Ecology campus team members of committed students, faculty, staff, and administrators that provided the substantive case studies for this compendium. This annual publication highlights the conservation achievements and future goals for the member campuses. We would like to recognize and sincerely thank the contributing NWF Campus Ecology college and university members. American University Ball State University Berkshire School Catawba College Claremont McKenna College Colby College College of the Atlantic Colorado School of Mines Daemen College Franklin Pierce College Harvard University Iona College Ithaca College Massachusetts College of Art Michigan State University Middlebury College Minnesota State University at Moorhead Pacific Lutheran University Portland State University Purchase College State University of New York Rice University Sheldon Jackson College Tennessee State University The New School The Ohio State University University of British Columbia University of Colorado at Boulder University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign University of Massachusetts at Boston University of North Carolina at Charlotte

University of North Florida University of Oregon University of Southern Maine University of Vermont University of West Alabama University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Washington State University Wellesley College Williams College Worcester State College National Wildlife Federation Kevin Coyle Mary Dalheim Jennifer Fournelle Kristy Jones Julian Keniry Kristin Kranendonk Lisa Madry Eliza Russell

Campus Ecology Ecology Yearbook 2006-2007 - 17th Edition Campus

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References (Print and Electronic) The information in each of the college and university case studies was provided by the individual campuses. Other: Aquila. (See also: http://www.aquila.com/) Campus Ecology Program, National Wildlife Federation. Reston, Virginia. (See also: http:// www.nwf.org/campusecology) Coyle, Kevin and Tom Gonzales. 2007. Community Colleges and Global Climate Change Power point presentation. Eagan, David and Julian Keniry. 1998. Green Investment, Green Return: How Practical Conservation Projects Save Millions on America’s Campuses. National Wildlife Federation (See also http://www.nwf.org/campusecology)

Transportation and Sustainable Campus Communities. 2004. Island Press. (See also: http://www.islandpress.org/books) Tree Folks. Austin, Texas. (See also: http:// www.treefolks.org/) Union for Concerned Scientists (see also: http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/catalyst/ fa04-catalyst-forest-carbon-sequestration. html) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Website. Washington, D.C. (See also: http:// www.epa.gov/) U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). (See also: http://www.usgbc.org) WasteWise RecycleMania, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Washington, D.C. (See also: http://www.recyclemaniacs.org)

Eagan, David and Julian Keniry. 2007. A Case for Climate Action on Campus Power point presentation. Earth 911. Scottsdale, Arizona (See also: http://www.earth911.org/master.asp) EPA Global Warming Action Steps. Washington, D.C. (see also: http://yosemite.epa.gov/OAR/globalwarming. nsf/content/ActionsIndividualActionSteps.html) Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2004. EPA. Washington, D.C. (See also: http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/UniqueKeyLookup/RAMR6MBLP3/ $File/06Energy.pdf) Inside the Greenhouse. EPA. Washington, D.C. (See also: http://www.epa.gov) Keniry, Julian. 2000. Campus Environmental Management Systems. Reston, Virginia. National Wildlife Federation. (See also: http:// www.nwf.org/campusecology) State of the Campus Environment. 2001. Reston, Virginia. National Wildlife Federation. (See also: http://www.nwf.org/campusecology)


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American University Ball State University Berkshire School Catawba College Claremont McKenna College Colby College College of the Atlantic Colorado School of Mines Daemen College Franklin Pierce College Harvard University Iona College Ithaca College Massachusetts College of Art Michigan State University Middlebury College Minnesota State University at Moorhead Pacific Lutheran University Portland State University Purchase College State University of New York Rice University Sheldon Jackson College Tennessee State University The New School The Ohio State University University of British Columbia University of Colorado at Boulder University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Massachusetts at Boston University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of North Florida University of Oregon University of Southern Maine University of Vermont University of West Alabama University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Washington State University Wellesley College Williams College Worcester State College

Campus Campus Ecology Ecology Yearbook Yearbook 2006-2007 2006-2007 -- 17th 17th Edition Edition

39 56, 112, 134 57 59 153 21 62 121, 135 41 15 65 67 68 25 93 43 85 28 35 46 122 48 137 114 97 17, 31, 49 125 71 144 145 74 147 78 100, 116 103 105 87, 109 130 51, 80 89

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Editors Kristy Jones, Manager, Campus Climate Education and Action, National Wildlife Federation Kristy is a manager in National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Campus Ecology Program. She manages campus memberships, partnerships, events, resources, distance learning courses and the coordination of fellowships and internships. While at NWF, Kristy has served as a panelist in a 2004 Society for College and University Planning Audiocast, “2004 Report to the Academy: The State of Sustainability on Campus”, offered workshops on sustainability and launched several outreach campaigns. Before joining the staff of NWF, Kristy worked at the Foundation for Environmental Security and Sustainability as an office/research coordinator focusing on environmental threats that lead to conflict. Kristy also spent six years working for the Center for Field Studies at George Mason University. One of her largest projects at George Mason was managing The Bahamas Environmental Research Center on Andros Island, The Bahamas. Kristy has led several field studies to The Bahamas and Costa Rica. Kristy has a B.A. in Anthropology and a Master’s in Environmental Studies from George Mason University Kristin Kranendonk, National Coordinator, Campus Climate Education and Action, National Wildlife Federation Kristin is a national coordinator in National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Campus Ecology Program. She coordinates Campus Ecology’s fellowship, internship, and alumni programs as well as works on the Campus Climate Challenge, a multi-organizational campaign to reverse global warming at colleges and universities. Before joining NWF, Kristin lived in Juneau, Alaska where she did media work with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD), outreach for KTOO-FM&TV, the local NPR/PBS station, and served as the state coordinator for The Ocean Conservancy’s annual International Coastal Cleanup event. Kristin holds a B.A in journalism from University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Erika Grasmick, Summer Intern, 2006, Campus Ecology Program, National Wildlife Federation Erika worked as an intern during the summer of 2006 in the Campus Ecology Program at NWF in Reston, Virginia. Erika coordinated several major projects including the 2006 Campus Ecology Yearbook by contacting all Campus Ecology members, collecting project case studies, images, and image permission forms. Erika is currently a student at the University of Denver in Colorado pursuing a degree in photography.


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Contributors Kevin Coyle, Vice President, Education, National Wildlife Federation Kevin is the vice president for Education at the National Wildlife Federation. Kevin coordinates its citizen habitat and education programs, volunteer programs and award-winning children’s publications. Before that he was President of the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF), a Congressionallyauthorized NGO and recognized leader in education program design, legislation and policy development. Coyle is the principal founder of National Environmental Education Week and presided over the creation of NEETF’s green business and climate programs, health practitioners’ education and an innovative approach to environmental education through television weather-casting. He also co-authored NEETF’s influential annual Roper Report Card on Environmental Knowledge and is a leader in documenting the effectiveness of environmental education in America and abroad. Prior to NEETF, Kevin was President and program director of American Rivers, the nation’s principal river conservation organization where he oversaw campaigns that protected 20,000 miles of outstanding rivers, five million acres of riverside land and made significant national policy reforms in water resource and hydropower development. He was also a founding board member and vice president of River Network and co-founder and president of the American Land Resource Association, publisher of the award-winning journal American Land Forum. He worked for ten years with the U.S. Department of the Interior managing the Wild and Scenic Rivers planning Program and Land and Water Conservation Fund Grants for the Northeast Region. He has been honored by Paddler Magazine (1998) on the list of “top ten river conservationists of all time,” River Conservationist of the Year by the U.S. Canoe Association (1992) and the Interior Department’s Meritorious Service Award (1980). He also shared in the White House’s “Reinventing Government” award (2000) for developing National Public Lands Day. Kevin has a Juris Doctor degree from Temple University and studied social work at LaSalle in Philadelphia.

Julian Keniry, Senior Director, Campus and Communities, National Wildlife Federation Julian is the senior director of the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF’s) Campus and Communities Programs and co-founded Campus Ecology. Since 1989, she and her team have consulted with thousands of university and other groups, developed a large toolkit of resources, held over 100 networking forums, and mentored dozens of interns and students who have gone on to assume leadership roles within and beyond NWF. Julian is frequently a featured lecturer. For example, in 2004, she delivered the commencement address at CSUMonterrey Bay and the Edmund Teale lecture at the University of Connecticut on climate change and the role of universities. She has written, co-authored or contributed to several recognized books and journals in the field, including Ecodemia: Campus Environmental Stewardship at the Turn of the 21st Century (NWF, 1995), Green Investment, Green Return (1998), State of the Campus Environment (2001) and Planning for Higher Education (spring 2003). Julian serves on the board of the Institute for Conservation Leadership, volunteers with a solar PAC, is a member of an ad hoc sustainability committee of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and several other higher education working groups. She graduated from Agnes Scott College with degrees in international relations and German and earned a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from Johns Hopkins University. Lisa Madry, Campus Field Director, National Wildlife Federation Lisa is the campus field director for National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Campus Ecology Program. Lisa works with champion campuses committed to reducing net emissions. She has been with NWF for four years, transitioning to Campus Ecology from another regional representative position within the organization where she worked with affiliates such as the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and the Conservation Federation of Missouri on national conservation issues. Lisa has worked in the public service arena for the last 15 years. She cofounded and directed SCALE (Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education), a national organization mobilizing student involvement in literacy efforts, for which she won President


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Bush’s Point of Light Award in 1990. She also served as a representative for the Industrial Areas Foundation, an organization working with churches and schools to train and empower community leaders to improve services for their communities. Lisa holds a degree in public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Jennifer Fournelle, Research and Events Assistant, Campus Ecology Program, National Wildlife Federation Jen is a research and events assistant in National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Campus Ecology Program. Jen supports the campus team in engaging members in the Campus Climate Challenge. She also works on the Cool-It! project, NWF’s effort to reduce its emissions. Previously, Jen worked for Wildlife Encounters in New Hampshire and the Leesburg Animal Park in Virginia where she taught about wildlife and the environment. During college, Jen conducted research on frogs and spectacled bears on a semester abroad to Ecuador. She earned her B.S. in wildlife management from the University of New Hampshire in 2005.


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National Wildlife Federation inspires American’s to protect wildlife for our children’s future. National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program helps colleges and universities confront global warming by supporting and recognizing greener practices and cultivating long-term leaders on campus and beyond. The National Wildlife Federation has been a leader in conservation and environmental education for 70 years. For more information about the National Wildlife Federation and its Campus Ecology or other education programs, please visit www.nwf.org or contact: National Wildlife Federation 11100 Wildlife Center Drive Reston, VA 20190-5362 Email: [email protected] Phone: 703-438-6000 or 800-822-9919 NWF Executive and Project Staff: President and CEO Larry Schweiger General Council Cynthia Lewin Chief Operating Officer Jaime Matyas Sr. Vice President Affiliate and Volunteer Leadership Dan Chu Sr. Vice President Conservation Programs Jim Lyon Vice President Education Programs Kevin Coyle

National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Program Staff Senior Director, Campus and Community Leadership Julian Keniry Campus Field Director, Campus and Community Leadership Lisa Madry Manager, Campus Climate Education and Action Kristy Jones National Coordinator, Campus Climate Education and Action Kristin Kranendonk Field Coordinator, Campus and Community Leadership Justin Schott Field Coordinator Campus and Community Leadership Praween Dayananda Research and Events Assistant Campus and Community Leadership Jennifer Fournelle Special Thanks to NWF Campus Ecology Sponsors: Educational Foundation of America Campus Climate Challenge Kendeda Sustainability Fund of the Tides Foundation Nathan Cummings Foundation Town Creek Foundation Member Campuses


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© National Wildlife Federation All Rights Reserved No part of this report may be reproduced without the permission of the National Wildlife Federation. Content by National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program and contributing college and university campus team members. Design by Marlena Jones If you chose to print this document, please print double-sided, using chlorine-free, high postconsumer content paper (30% or higher) if possible. Please reuse and recycle the printed document and recycle all print toner cartridges. Gratitude is extended to the Kendeda Sustainability Fund of the Tides Foundation for generous support of this report.


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