IU pledges not to use products from old growth forests

Sarah Uhlemann, a senior, has spent the last eight months developing a policy that prevents IU from purchasing products from old growth forests.\nIt looks like her work has paid off.\nEarlier this month, IU became the first major university to prohibit the purchase of products derived from old growth forests, according to a Bloomington Environmental Center press release. Students and administrators announced the new policy at a meeting of the Board of Trustees. Both students and administrators had been working on the policy's development since 1999.\nThough the campaign had been delayed for more than a year, meetings between students and administrators resumed in December. Uhlemann said initial talks broke down when administrators failed to see the policy as cost-effective and did not want to put effort toward the necessary research about old growth forests.\n"This is a tremendous step toward creating a more environmentally sensitive campus," Uhlemann said. "It's great that the University is willing to take a lead in being an environmentally accountable institution," Uhlemann said.\nAs a member of IU's Student Environmental Action Coalition, Uhlemann worked for months to develop the wording and research the material that would later compose the policy for old growth forests. She said she and graduate student Joshua Martin got a lot of help indirectly through research that Rainforest Action Network had done. Through RAN's research, Uhlemann and Martin were able to develop the language for the policy. \nThe remaining old-growth forests possess trees that have reached (or nearly reached) their maximum age. Some of these trees are more than 250 years old. Included in the old growth forests, as defined by the policy, are all tropical forests and temperate rainforests. The policy, which affects all seven IU campuses, will be regulated through IU's purchasing requirements. Prior to the inception of the policy, IU used various materials that were taken from old growth forests. \nVice President for Administration Terry Clapacs said both SEAC and University officials identified a number of products IU was using that were derived from old growth forests.\n"We had purchased teak benches (derived from rain forests); we will no longer do that," Clapacs said. "There was also some plywood that actually contained mahogany particle ... Mahogany that was probably logged somewhere out of the Middle East."\nUhlemann said many of the products once used have now been replaced by supplemental alternatives that are both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Martin said the ideal impact of the policy would be a "trickle-down" effect, in which suppliers would be made aware that no one is purchasing material from old growth forests, and in turn it will reach loggers in these forests.\nThough Martin is unsure of how long the "trickle-down" process will take, he is confident the University has taken the right steps toward insuring itself as an "institution of higher learning committed to being good stewards of natural environments."\nIU joins a number of small private schools and dozens of large corporations who have made similar purchasing commitments. Home Depot, Microsoft and Kinkos are among several corporations who have made pledges to not purchase old growth products.\nMartin said IU has taken on a role as a leader in environmental awareness. He said he hopes other Big Ten schools will follow in IU's direction.\n"I think this is something we need to celebrate," Martin said. "It shows that IU is a frontrunner and has made progressive steps towards insuring itself as an environmentally aware institution"