Tree planting ceremony at St. Norbert in honor of the Presidents Climate Commitment.
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Summer 2008
The SNC Green Movement
by Stacy Szczepanski
Efforts to make St. Norbert College more environmentally friendly have been taking place for many years. Recently the commitment to “go green” has picked up pace with departments and groups across campus focused on efforts to reduce their environmental impact.
Here is a quick glance at recent efforts:
Presidents Climate Commitment
In September 2007, the College made a commitment to neutralize campus greenhouse gas emissions over time by signing the
American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). St. Norbert College is one of 557 signatories out of approximately 4200 U.S. colleges and universities. The Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee (ESAC), consisting of faculty, staff and student representatives, began working in April 2008 to attain the goals of the ACUPCC. By September 2009, the committee must set a target date and interim milestones for becoming climate neutral.
ESAC members are currently collecting data to conduct a baseline inventory of campus greenhouse gas emissions from areas such as purchased electricity, transportation, commuter habits and solid waste. This inventory will be released in September.
Copy Center
In spring 2008, the Copy Center began providing departments the option of using Xerox's paper that uses 50 percent fewer trees than average bond paper. The wood pulp is created through mechanical rather than chemical processes and thus requires fewer chemicals and less bleaching. It reduces the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent through the use of hydroelectricity during manufacturing.
Dining Services
Dining Services began going trayless in June to reduce landfill waste, cleaning chemicals and water usage, food waste, electricity and sewage costs. Students and staff have been pleased with this change.
Facilities
All fertilizer purchased in 2008-09 will be organic. Dean Kumbalek, manager of grounds and vehicles, is looking forward to using the fertilizer. He notes that the main benefit of using organic fertilizer is the nitrogen is time released and adds micronutrients to the soil.
Lew Pullen, manager of mechanical systems, has been busy for years reducing fuel and electricity use by continually making college buildings more efficient.
Library
The Miriam B. and James J. Mulva Library will meet as many Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification standards as possible. The library is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009.
Technology Support Services
The college began purchasing desktop computer models in 2007 that are rated gold, the highest environmental rating by Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool.
More information can be found at the
SNC Green web site.
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