MU campus works to reach green goals for sustainability

Campus environmental groups push for sustainability coordinator

By Lakeisha Williams

Published Jan. 30, 2009

In a test to "go green," MU isn't making the grade.

Last semester, MU received a C on the College Sustainability Report Card issued by the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Sustainable Endowments Institute -- an indication that the university lags behind other college campuses in the push to reduce emissions and conserve energy. But several officials and organizations on campus are already working to increase the university's environmental friendliness.

Sustain Mizzou President Patrick Margherio said the university has made strides toward sustainability, with initiatives like the bookstore's ink cartridge recycling program and the maintenance staff's switch to eco-friendly rags that last longer. But the school still has far to go, he said.

"Sustain Mizzou is working on 14 projects this semester including educating, gardening, recycling and energy advocacy with administration," Margherio said.

Sustain Mizzou is one of seven environmental organizations on campus. But Margherio said efforts by such groups are hindered by the lack of a sustainability coordinator within the administration.

Missouri Students Association President Jordan Paul said the work to get a sustainability coordinator on campus is one of his main focuses in this area. It was also a platform issue of former MSA President Jim Kelley and Vice President Chelsea Johnson.

Paul said the student body will vote in February on an initiative that would add a $1 fee to allocate funds toward a sustainability coordinator. He said that because of other fee cuts, the new fee would not increase the total student activity fee.

Sustainability directors and committees are becoming increasingly prevalent at universities across the country. One of the schools that received an exceptional grade on the Sustainability Report Card, the University of Colorado, formed the Chancellor's Committee on Energy, Environment and Sustainability in 2007. The committee works to guide the campus toward a more eco-friendly existence, with the ultimate goal of having the campus produce zero greenhouse gas emissions.

In an e-mail, Colorado's Environmental Center Director Dave Newport said environmental successes on campus has been two-fold. His office works to coordinate student sustainability programs, but also has the administrative muscle to enact university-wide programs and policies.

Successes like these are why Samuel Urkov, the founder of Greeks Going Green at MU, would like to see a sustainability coordinator put in place in Columbia. The cost of a sustainability coordinator would save the school money in the long run, he said.

"While in the midst of budget cuts and a looming $100 million deficit facing the university, a sustainability coordinator could help us greatly reduce the amount of money spent on trash hauling as well as design new ways for the university to save money by being more sustainable and learning to live equally well using less energy," Urkov said.

Another way praised sustainability programs at other universities have distinguished themselves from MU is by making sustainability part of their core curriculum.

The University of Minnesota received a B+ on the sustainability report card. William Weber, a senior research fellow at Minnesota's Center for Sustainable Building Research, said environmental success on their campus comes from research and education with practical applications for the University.

"We are committed to ecological and environmental literacy education," Weber said. "In our research we compare economic and environmental goals, and integrate sustainability and architecture to meet those. Through research and educating others we have opened up immense doors for sustainability."

Dartmouth College received an A- on the report card and was named an endowment sustainability leader, scoring an A in six of the nine categories the institute evaluates.

Dartmouth Sustainability Manager Kathy Lambert said working with the entire campus community and coordinating preexisting programs was key.

"The A- grade from SEI is a great starting point," Lambert said. "In the coming year, I will focus on increasing the coordination of sustainability efforts across campus and work with students, faculty and staff to expand our energy, conservation, and transportation programs."

Although MU might lag behind Dartmouth and others according to the institute, people on campus are working together to improve the school's sustainability.

MU graduate student Adam Saunders said that to improve sustainability, student-driven initiatives and cooperation are essential.

Saunders created a composting program that works with Rollins Dining Hall to eliminate food and other forms of waste. Rollins produces approximately 100 pounds of waste every day, allowing Saunders to convert nine tons of waste into compost this semester.

"The university produces four to five thousand tons of waste per year so my program is only a small piece of the puzzle and there is a lot of room for improvement, but it is a step in the right direction," Saunders said. "There are still other compostable materials that are wasted every day from MU's research farms, food from other dining halls, paper towels, lawn waste and more."

Saunders' main motivation is to demonstrate that sustainability is a feasible task.

"By composting the materials gone to waste every day, we can significantly reduce our impact on the environment, reduce trash disposal costs and generate revenue by selling the compost or using it to improve our soils," he said.

In addition to student inspired initiatives and organizations, the administration is aiding in sustainability efforts.

MU lacks a full-fledged sustainability coordinator like many schools, but in 2007 an ad-hoc committee was formed to develop guidelines for sustainability at the institutional level.

"Unofficially we refer to ourselves as the sustainability task force," said MU spokesman Christian Basi, one of the committee members.

Basi said the committee's primary approach is to examine sustainability initiatives on campus and look for ways to expand upon them. One of these initiatives is MU's power plant, which burns tires, wood chips and corncobs to convert the useless waste into energy.

"The MU plant campus energy department has three primary programs that support sustainability, which include Energy Conservation, Utility Production Efficiency, and Renewable Biomass Fuels," power plant superintendent Greg Coffin said.

Through the energy conservation program, the energy being used per square foot of campus had decreased by 12 percent since 1990, while the space of campus has grown by 28 percent.