Students meet to promote sustainable future for IU

Serving meals without trays in dining halls, instituting an optional energy fee with tuition and establishing an environmental-learning community in Eigenmann were among the ideas and plans thrown around at Tuesday’s sustainability panel.

A discussion panel spoke to students about sustainability and how IU will move toward a more sustainable future.

A group of about 25 students gathered at Starbucks in the Indiana Memorial Union to hear a panel sponsored by the IU Student Association, Volunteers in Sustainability and the Indiana Memorial Union Board.

Nathan Bower-Bir, a junior with Volunteers in Sustainability and moderator of the panel, began the discussion by presenting a definition of sustainability:

“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” he said.

Discussion then turned to what projects the future might hold for IU on an administrative level, now that the search for a director of Campus Sustainability has begun.

“There are some new initiatives for teaching, new courses and new degree programs related to sustainability, and some new initiatives related to research in sustainability-related issues,” said Michael Hamburger, associate dean of the faculties and professor of geological sciences.

Concern over the University’s College Sustainability Report Card was also discussed. IU’s current standing is a C+, the lowest grade in the Big Ten.

IU is at a slight disadvantage because it does not have engineering schools or agricultural schools, said Mike Steinhoff, a sustainability research assistant.

Without the resources that come with having such schools, IU does not have as many opportunities for research and sustainability initiatives.

However, IU is implementing changes.

“We have been switching over numerous products that we clean the entire Union with to green products,” said Gary Chrzastowski, assistant director of facility services for the IMU. “The Union has over half a million square feet in this one particular building.
We can go through quite a bit of chemicals, and we have in the past.”

The panel members talked about student participation in both the past and the present to make IU more sustainable, and said they hoped students would get involved, since the administration is just getting started on forming its sustainability department.
The Collins Center dining hall is serving food without trays for the month of October.

“They did this at a smaller school in Maine and they saved 288,000 gallons of water and $57,000 a year just by doing this program,” said Kevin Pozzi, a senior who worked with the IU Sustainability Task Force. “It saves chemicals in washing the trays, and it also stops people wasting food because most of the time you’re not going to eat more than you can actually carry, so by having many different plates, you’re probably not going to be eating all the food.”

Foster Quad is also starting a community garden and compost, and there are plans to start an environmental learning community in Eigenmann Hall next year.

In addition, the Student Alliance is planning to help off-campus apartments start to recycle, a task made difficult since certain buildings have different preferences.
They are also looking to alumni for support to get the University involved with the Presidents Climate Commitment, an initiative aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Another IUSA project is to look into starting an optional green energy fee that students can sign up for when they register for classes next semester, as a “pilot project for adding in a green energy fee into our actual tuition,” said Abby Schwimmer, director of sustainability for IUSA and a columnist for the Indiana Daily Student.

“Really, what we’re doing this year is dependent on the input we get,” Schwimmer said. “We’d like to serve as a conduit for any student concerns relating to sustainability, and we’d like to also be a clearinghouse. If you don’t know where to go with a project idea, or if you don’t know where to get support for it, we can help you out with that.”

Students interested in getting involved can visit the Task Force’s Web site at www.indiana.edu/~sustain for internship opportunities and a list of environmental groups on campus and in the community.