Editorial:

Sustainability offers more economic, greener campus

Published Feb. 5, 2009

In Monday's Missouri Students Association student fee referendum, students will have the option to add a $1 sustainability fee to their university bills. The proposed fee is an initiative that's gotten on the ballot thanks to the dedication of students, which we think is awesome.

The dollar being added to the ballot won't even raise total student -- in fact, they are being lowered overall.

Sustainability is a hot topic right now, as it should be with a suffering planet and a suffering economy. It's important to construct a focused group of people to identify issues where sustainability can be improved or implemented and really communicate these issues with administration and help to carry out current and future plans surrounding this issue.

The money for the sustainable measures that should be implemented will not only create a greener campus, but also a more cost-effective one.

It's important the university administration realize students have gone to all this work to save the school money and make it a better environment.

Once the university's finances are more stable, we'd like to see the university kicking some funds into this project. Students will, in essence, be paying a dollar in an effort to save the university some cash. Maybe later on, the university could consider matching the student funds to keep sustainable innovation going strong.