Rocky Mountain Institute evaluates sustainability practices at MU

The Institute had a positive impression about MU's green practices.

By Greg Young

Published Feb. 19, 2009

The Rocky Mountain Institute spoke with members of Sustain Mizzou on Tuesday to share their findings about MU after investigating campus for two days.

The group was impressed with MU and the Sustain Mizzou organization.

MU was investigated for its sustainability practices by RMI, a nonprofit organization that encourages the use of sustainable resources and practices.

RMI chose to investigate MU and 11 other schools, including Yale and Tufts universities, along with some smaller schools, including Luther College in Iowa and Richland College in Texas. Overall, the group, which included consulting fellow Sally DeLeon, had a very positive impression not only with MU's sustainability practices, but also with Sustain Mizzou.

"I think the student organization at Sustain Mizzou is probably one of the most sophisticated, diplomatic organizations that has learned to work within the system," DeLeon said.

MU was the 11th of 12 schools that the group has investigated. After they are finished with their research, RMI will organize a workshop in Colorado in either April or May that will host representatives from each of the 12 universities they investigated. At the conference, Sustain Mizzou will be able to present a sustainability project that could receive up to $50,000 in funding from the group.

During the two days, the representatives from RMI talked to a variety of people about Missouri's sustainability practices, including Chancellor Brady Deaton, various vice-chancellors. RMI also talked to the energy management at the school.

Sustain Mizzou Adviser Ben Datema and President Patrick Margherio guided the representatives during their visit. The representatives from RMI allowed Datema and Margherio to sit in on their meetings.

"It was really just throwing as much as we could at them," Margherio said.

After their two-day investigation, the representatives held a meeting in which they sought to gather student input about the sustainability practices around campus and various ways that it can be improved. During the meeting, the representatives talked only minimally, electing to have the students present their ideas in a relatively open forum.

"It's great to see them take into account what we think should happen because we do see things a lot differently from the campus staff and faculty," Margherio said.

At the meeting, both personal sustainability practices and community education of the importance of being sustainable were large topics. Greeks Going Green President Lauren Hasler said she was excited that MU was one of the better schools the group looked at but emphasized the importance of education to increase sustainability.

"It all starts off with education," Hasler said. "I think a lot of people on campus aren't really getting it in the classroom."

Margherio believes that if RMI does highlight the university's sustainability practices, the university should be emphasizing that to students.

"Hopefully it has shown campus administration to be able to recognize that this is something we should be touting from the hills," Margherio said.