Environmental Coordinator Julie Rosenbach said, "Recycling is one of our biggest challenges, not just with the students, but throughout the college. Also, getting peoples' attention and engaging them on sustainability issues is a challenge. Students are bombarded with issues and wooed with trinkets so that it is becoming difficult to get their attention."

Rosenbach describes what is working: "Engaging small groups of students, faculty, and staff is working." However, she added, "We have made the world so convenient for people that many will not go the extra steps it might take to sort their trash and recycle. There are no immediate consequences for dumping it all into the nearest bin. We need to focus more attention on this issue."

Sustainability unites the generations, the faculty and the students, Rosenbach said, "although the approach taken by the faculty and the students is different. Students want big issues to take a stand on. Students more often want to see the result of their efforts - 100% or we're falling short. Faculty and staff take a more cerebral approach to issues and more often remain unseen." http://www.bates.edu/sustainable-bates.xml.

On the academic side, faculty are focusing course work on sustainability to help Colgate collect and organize certain data relevant to sustainability practices on campus. For example, a new senior seminar co-taught by physicist Beth Parks, and Ian Helfant, associate professor of Russian and chair of Colgate's Environmental Council, will focus on alternative energy options both as an academic topic and through research focused upon Colgate's energy needs and usage. In addition, students in Earth and Environmental Processes will be conducting an inventory of Colgate's greenhouse gas emissions.

Next month, the Environmental Council may recommend that the university hire an Environmental Sustainability Coordinator. Meanwhile, the group is considering costs vs. benefits, as well as qualifications and possible job description.

For more information, contact Barbara Brooks, director of public relations and marketing, Colgate University, 315/228-7416, bbrooks@colgate.edu. 

U.Va. is hosting the Greening Virginia Universities and Colleges Conference on October 26, which will feature presentations focusing on Sustainable Campus Policies and Planning, High Performance Buildings, Sustainable Facilities Operations, and College Campus Initiatives and the Community.

Conservation
The University is concerned about energy usage, both from the standpoint of the environment and the savings that result from reduced energy usage. We have several staff members working on these issues: Paul Crumpler, energy program manager; Libba Bowling, energy engineer; Bruce "Sonny" Beale , recycling director. http://utilities.fm.virginia.edu/energy/index.asp

U.Va. is also promoting conservation within the community through such efforts as Energy Day (October 12) that showcase conservation endeavors and feature displays and demonstrations from vendors selling conservation products and alternative energy.
http://www.fm.virginia.edu/EnergyDay/

Currently in a drought situation, U.Va. is also stressing water conservation. Water usage has dropped from 23,000 gallons per person to 13,000 gallons per person, despite increased numbers of people at the University. http://www.virginia.edu/drought/

Recycling
U.Va. Recycling just collected about 23 tons of cardboard during the two-week period when students were moving into their residence halls. Winning awards for its recycling program over the past 16 years, U.Va.’s success comes from partnering with student environmental groups, enlisting their help for special projects and by supporting the students in their efforts to get the recycling message out to students, particularly the first-year students.
http://recycle.virginia.edu/

Greenhouse Gas Inventory
As part of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), Oberlin College is currently conducting an inventory of all greenhouse gas emissions from electricity, heating, air travel and commuting using the Clean Air-Cool Planet Emissions Inventory Calculator.

Campus Resource Monitoring System
Oberlin College installed a feedback system on dorm use of water and electricity as part of an effort to create a more sustainable campus. The premise of the feedback system is that providing dormitory residents with easily interpretable real-time feedback on electricity and water consumption -- and on the financial and environmental impact of this consumption -- will motivate and allow students to conserve resources. Currently, electricity is monitored in 21 dormitories and student houses. Electricity consumption for 16 of them is displayed in real time on a custom-designed web site: http://www.oberlin.edu/dormenergy.

Campus Sustainability Course
Beginning this fall, the Environmental Studies Department is offering a campus sustainability course. The course complements the College’s larger sustainability efforts and includes lectures and discussion but will primarily engage students in various aspects of solving real problems. Themes will change from year to year as the process of implementation moves forward but this fall’s course is mainly concerned with technical matters of measurement standards and data analysis related to the greenhouse gas inventory. Students will also investigate technical options to improve efficiency and strategies to promote organizational learning relative to climate and environment. The course is offered in conjunction with the Office of Environmental Sustainability.

Wind Power Initiative
The Oberlin Wind Power Initiative, spearheaded by Professor John Scofield of the physics department and Mike Roth, OC ’06, is completing research into the feasibility of constructing a wind turbine in the Oberlin area. After compiling a year of data from their tower located just north of town, the group will assemble a business plan that will use a cost-benefit analysis to determine the most suitable level of production. If the data show the potential for effective wind production in Oberlin, the team will seek funding from the College, private investors and the city of Oberlin.
http://wind.oberlin.edu/wind/index.htm

Coming together: The college's many "green" groups, from a student-run Fair Trade organic coffee company to students working on the CC Farm, now meet four times a year at Green Roundtable summits. Students are very passionate about environmental issues. A Campus Sustainability Council merges the efforts of students, staff and faculty; and a new campus sustainability coordinator has been named.

Accountability: Colorado College will not sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment without having a long-term plan for campus sustainability in place first. The college is conducting a campus-wide environmental audit to determine the college's carbon footprint, and an action plan will lay out steps to reduce the footprint. The audit will be updated annually to measure the effect of new energy conservation projects.

Challenges: Meeting demands of students who want to see immediate change. Last academic year, students did their own cost analysis and convinced the administration and trustees to pursue LEED certification for the Cornerstone Arts Center, a $33 million building under construction on campus.

Macalester is now the proud owner of an EcoHouse. Environmental Studies Professor Christopher Wells was the lead faculty member on the project, the goals of which are to provide a place for students to live and think conscientiously about the environment, and to turn the house into a live-in lab. Macalester would make scientific data about the house available on the Internet to any students or non-profit groups.

The house renovation budget was $50,000. Renovations were made keeping convenience, usability, aesthetics, and functionality in mind, in addition to overall sustainability: Instead of using shingles, the EcoHouse roof was covered in metal sheets, which will last for at least 75 years and are recyclable. A ventilation system was also installed to cool the attic and new insulation was blown into the home. The panels on the roof are part of a water heating system, which uses sunlight to heat an anti-freeze type substance that runs to the water heater and heats the water without using much, if any, natural gas. Inside, all the appliances were selected for their high-energy efficiency rating.

The home of Macalester’s new Institute for Global Citizenship will have LEED Platinum certification. To date, only a handful of buildings worldwide have received a platinum rating, the highest possible.

Macalester College President Brian Rosenberg is also a member of Leadership Circle of the Presidents Climate Commitment.

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