January 31, 2003
It's Not Easy Being
Green ... But Student Groups Are Making Strides
Have you heard the buzz around campus? Changes are being made?
Environmental changes! We’re becoming greener! Campuses across the country
are lessening their environmental impacts and Colgate is among them.
Over twenty students came back to campus a week early to join faculty,
staff, and administrators to participate in the first ever Green Summit; working
together to create a shared vision for Colgate’s environmental future.
Associate Professor of Anthropology, Nancy Ries, summed up the overall focus
when she said, “There is nothing more important right now than for the
most powerful, wealthy people on the planet- the people of the U.S.- becoming
more mindful of the impact that our lifestyle choices have on the planet.”
Molly Baker, co-director of Outdoor Education, originally formulated
the idea for the summit. The Green Summit was a two day “think tank”
(as opposed to conference) that brought students, faculty, staff, and
administrators together with the goal of creating a Green Print. The Green
Print is a “strategic plan that will outline prioritized initiatives to be
implemented.” The goal of the Green Print is to reduce Colgate’s
environmental impacts at the university, site specific, and individual levels.
The Green Print is comprised of potential Green Strides or Green
Initiatives. The initiatives may be short term (for example, double sided
printing in the library) or long term (example: a pedestrian campus); and each
was rated based on feasibility and importance. Individuals, departments,
offices, and organizations across campus have taken the responsibility of
implementing specific initiatives. The number of people who enthusiastically
volunteered to take ownership of an initiative was outstanding and is just one
example of the success of the summit.
The Custodial Operations
Department will be focusing on the recycling of personal batteries, the
purchasing of more green cleaning products, building recycling sites and
improvements in the recycling system. Sophomore Avery Woods is heading the
initiative for municipal bikes, which would hypothetically reduce the number of
cars on campus. Woods has already begun research on other universities and
cities where municipal bike systems have been implemented. The Environmental
Studies 480 class will take topics discussed at the summit – including
transportation issues – and focus on them during this semester’s
continuation of the Campus Environmental Audit, which started this fall.
Once an initiative is implemented it becomes a Green Stride. Many Green
Strides have already been made on campus prior to the summit. Some current
strides include: the shuttle buses which are equipped with EPA- approved
low-emission diesel engines, the use of eighty percent organic fertilizer for
campus fertilization, and the daily availability of fair trade coffee.
A wide array of groups, programs, and administrative services were
represented at the conference. The Loj, Green Earth Gang, Students for
Environmental Action (SEA), and the Student Government Association (SGA) are
just a few of the groups represented. The Campus Ecology Group was one of the
best represented groups. Students, faculty, administrators, and staff members
represented the group, which has focused on addressing Colgate’s
environmental impact since it formed in 1997. The Campus Ecology Group was also
the sounding board in planning of the summit, and is expected to play an
important role in the progress of implementing Green Initiatives.
Programs represented were the COVE, Environmental Studies (ENST),
Outdoor Education, and Peace Studies. Administrative services included
admissions, buildings and grounds, environmental health and safety, food
services, printing, and purchasing, along with several other departments.
Alumni, David Borton (class of 1965), attended the Green Summit based
on personal interest. Borton, who now teaches at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, witnessed the failure of RPI’s attempt to develop an
environmental program such as the Green Summit and wondered “how Colgate
was doing.” He seemed pleased after the summit when he said, “more
came of the summit than I ever expected.” Borton also said, “Alumni
can play a part in greening Colgate by participating in the discussion and
providing ideas and money for worthwhile ends.”
Lorraine
Coulter ‘03, became interested in the Green Summit after her Environmental
Ethics class last semester. She felt that the summit would give her the
opportunity to “really take the things we’d been poring over in
classes on environmental awareness and the problems facing us today, and put
words and ideas into action in a very concrete, pragmatic, and meaningful
way.”
Environmental Health and Safety Officer, Jennifer Martin,
works “to ensure Colgate’s compliance with all the applicable
federal statues (Clean Air, Clean Water, etc.).” However, the summit gave
her the opportunity to work on different projects that she may not have
entertained otherwise.
The summit took place on January 14 and 15 and
was held in the Commons, the Edge, and Merrill House. How people lived at the
summit was part of the experiential nature of the event. All paper was re-used.
Recycling, composting, and the use of thermo mugs were also stressed.
The summit began with an overview of the goals, followed by an
experiential get-to-know-you activity where participants shared their favorite
part of campus and moved to the representative spot in the room. Next was a
celebration of current green strides, complete with noise makers, hats, and
masks. Homemade “medals” were given to those who played an active
role in bettering Colgate’s environmental impacts in the past. The
celebration was followed by two brainstorming sessions and then after lunch two
periods of assessment. Lists of potential strides were created and then
implementation strategies were discussed. The strides were assessed based on
feasibility and importance.
The second day of the summit began with a
short address by President Chopp. She finished by asking questions of the summit
participants to get a better understanding of the goals and progress already
made. President Chopp was very supportive of the Green Summit and of making
environmental changes on campus. After a summary of day one, the first of two
strategic planning sessions began. Roadblocks, costs, and timelines for
implementation were outlined. Participants then had the opportunity to take
ownership of specific strides. Following the lunch, catered by Curtain Call,
another strategic planning session took place and the summit ended with a
brainstorm entitled: Ensuring Momentum.
The summit was designed to be
experiential. Activities got the participants out of the chairs, moving around
the room, discussing, and learning about issues other then their particular
focus. One activity “How Invested Are You?” involved each
participant dividing fifty cents worth of pennies into jars representing
specific strides. The number of pennies per jar/stride was then tallied and a
rough estimate of interest was shown. And then there was the visit from Samuel
Payne, founder of Hamilton. Everyone laughed then listened as Baker told
Payne’s story in full custom, beard and all.
After just two
days the sixty plus people who attended the summit had formed the Green Print
and Green Stride Mission Statement. The participants are eager to start
implementing initiatives and seem dedicated to each cause. Jennifer Martin said,
“The people took the task of committing to the implementation of
[Potential] Green Strides very seriously.”
The success of the
summit would not have been possible without the hard work of the host crew. The
host crew consisted of Baker, Emily Boyd - Environmental Studies (ENST) intern,
Adam Dale - Outdoor Education (OE) program assistant, Milt Geiger (ENST 480
student), Kat Longfield (OE), and Bill Sadlon (ENST 480 student). The host crew
worked “to form an original framework for discussing environmental
issues” according to Geiger. He also said that it was their
responsibility to do “any little thing that needed to be done to ensure
success during the summit
Green Summit participants praised the
organization of the summit and tone that was set early on by the host crew. In
fact the organization of the summit was what most impressed Bob Pils, Assistant
Director of Custodial Operations. He said, “the ground work was laid for
open, honest discussions without specific personal agendas taking over the
summit.” The host crew emphasized that point early on the first morning of
the summit when laying out expectations. Among the expectations were positive
attitude, compromise, and efficiency. The tone was set and the participants
followed with great enthusiasm.
The role that ENST 480 students played
was of key importance. Geiger and Sadlon worked especially hard on creating the
packet that was sent out prior to the summit. The informational packet was the
true start of the summit. It encouraged thought and inspired new ideas. The
research done in the ENST 480 class had large significance in the summit. Their
audit highlighted what Colgate is doing right, but it also highlighted what
needed to be changed. When the summit was over Geiger said, “The Green
Summit was the most productive and rewarding two days of my academic
career.”
The Green Summit was not only productive; it was a fun and
educational experience for those who attended. The Green Strides made will
affect the campus as a whole even though some may go unnoticed. Becoming more
environmentally friendly will ultimately result in a healthier campus that has a
lower impact on the earth. The whole university can take pride in and celebrate
the Green Strides made on campus.
Green Stride Mission Statement:
Colgate University and members of its community recognize not only the need to
engage in dialogue about our environmental future, but more importantly our
responsibility to take active steps towards improving it. Through Green
Strides, an ongoing, University-wide effort, Colgate is committed to promoting
environmental citizenship and reducing its environmental impact. To this end,
students, faculty, staff and administrators have created a shared vision for the
environmental future of Colgate – the Green Print, a dynamic document of
initiatives adaptive to both current and future environmental concerns of the
University.
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