'Green report card' shows improvement
Only one category at MU, shareholder engagement, earned an F.
Published Oct. 29, 2010
For 2011, MU received a B on the annual College Sustainability Report Card. This is an increase from a B- last year, due to the efforts of different sustainability projects and organizations on campus.
To calculate the campus grade, the report card compiles different aspects of campus sustainability, such as administration, climate change and energy, green building, student involvement, food and recycling, transportation, endowment transparency and shareholder engagement.
“It’s not about what’s on the report card,” Sustainability Coordinator Steve Burdic said. “It’s about changing people's attitudes and modeling behavior.”
The different components of the report card are reported through a survey completed by the Sustainability Office, Campus Dining Services, students and the financial department.
“We’re paying a lot closer attention to these things from the top down,” Burdic said. “We’ve got our administration ducks lined up.”
Administration improved with help from Chancellor Brady Deaton, Burdic said. He has created a sustainability policy and has employed Burdic as the full-time coordinator.
Burdic said the university has been constructing buildings to the highest energy standards for the past 20 years.
The new orthopedic institute on Stadium Boulevard meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design criteria, but is not yet certified.
“We’re looking real seriously at the buildings we build in the future to be LEED certified,” Burdic said.
Burdic also said one of his top priorities for this year is to try and get more composting.
CDS also wants to implement composting in conjunction with Bradford Farms. It purchased 10 to 12 percent of its produce locally last fall and 15 percent of its beef, which has helped its sustainability rating.
“Our reason for doing it isn’t to look good on the survey, but to make students happy,” Executive Chef Eric Cartwright said.
Whether students recognize it our not, CDS has a warm and cold cycle menu that partially coordinates with the seasons.
“It’s capturing seasonality and gives the culinary team opportunity for creativity,” Cartwright said.
Burdic said he hopes to improve paper recycling. The Sustainability Office employs a few students but is also looking for volunteers to move paper recycling carts and make them more accessible and therefore more utilized.
“That’s the whole message really,” Burdic said. “Every little bit helps.”
Burdic said CDS is getting paid for recyclables and it's giving that back to the community for helping it recycle on campus.
Student involvement is a large part of sustainability on campus and the number of organizations focused on sustainability is increasing.
Sustain Mizzou President Tina Casagrand said she was glad Sustain Mizzou was recognized in the report card and received an A for student involvement.
“I’d like to see other organizations adapt the idea of sustainability into the things they do,” Casagrand said. “Anybody can apply it.”
Burdic said it is important to access the students because it will help them develop habits that will stay with them their whole life.
Burdic said all the categories received an A or B grade, except for endowment transparency and shareholder engagement, mainly because these are separate systems and not run by campus.