Location: Sayles 253
Time: 4:00 pm
Present Mathias Bell, Rob Lamppa, Steve Spehn, Mark Krusemeyer, Mikaela Hagen, Alex Chohlas-Wood, Bessie Schwarz, Gary Wagenbach, Adam Smith, Elizabeth Webb,
Absent Mark Kanazawa
Secretary: Alex Chohlas-Wood
Subcommitees:
Waste (Mikaela):
• Recyclemania: we came roughly 55th out of 95, including savings from being on spring break. Without a long spring break we would have been 65th.
• Achievements – Recyclemania updates at board hall meetings, going over recycling with students.
Energy (Rob):
• Yesterday set a record for wind turbine electrical production!
Updates:
New Student Week (Bessie):
• Big overhaul of new student week program, a chance to include a green component to frosh orientation (a good time to teach Carleton’s values).
• Olaf does a green theme freshman orientation every three years… working with Olaf for inspiration.
• ResLife has been really receptive. Opening up to including green issues in their orientation program.
• Three components: Prearrival programmes, orientation, freshman “experience” after orientation.
o Prearrival:
• Target students as they make big purchases for dorm rooms.
• Purchasing list has been updated but there’s still work to do.
• Also, signing Sustainability Code of Conduct and filling out Environmental Values/Living Surveys.
o Orientation:
• Sustainability themed video – highlighting (in another format) sustainability from big picture to simple habits.
• Possibly a committed hour with freshman about sustainability.
• Roommate sustainability contract (already in place).
• Give away mugs and CFLs to students instead of pens and other trinkets.
• Overall: pre-frosh plans should be periodically reviewed and updated, dependent on technology.
Sustainability Code of Conduct (Eliza):
• Hoping to get out Sustainability Code of Conduct by the end of the year.
• Approval today means that College Council can approve it on Monday (they don’t meet for another month after Monday).
• Quick revisions made concerning use of “community”.
• Rob makes a motion, Bessie seconds it. Everyone votes yes, motion passes.
Utilities Presentation (Rob):
• Presentation on Carleton’s utilities first of it’s kind
o Concerns power consumption, fuel consumption, and budget… $2.2mil. spent per year on energy alone.
o Looking at ways to improve reliability of buildings.
o Carbon neutrality plan is essentially an energy plan: we need to be using efficiency, conservation, and credits to get 80% reduction.
o Arts Union complicates decisions – do we stay on a centralized system or not?
• At the present much is unknown – how many students, new buildings, etc? These are 20, 40, 50yr decisions that need to be made.
• This presentation is simply about prepping them for the issues that will be budgeted for 2009-10.
Earth Week (Adam, Tess):
• Dinners held Sunday through Thursday… one each night.
• Each interest house-hosted, led by professors on topics of their choice/expertise.
• During the week, more talks, tour of the turbine, organic food at dinner, etc.
• Hoping to get people involved who aren’t otherwise, get people excited.
Additional Wind Turbines Proposal (Noah):
• Continuing work of an ENTS Capstone last year to get another wind turbine…
• Cost/benefit analysis says that an investment will result in higher returns (22% on capital?) than the endowment averages.
• Problem is that the turbine is a high upfront cost.
• Electricity would come directly to college, and saved costs would be directly available to the college to spend elsewhere.
• Issues: There are definitely policy/financial issues to work out beyond the simple project, in terms of regulation and debt structuring, etc.
• Statement: We approve the effort to explore the feasibility of bringing more wind turbines to campus. Approved.
Bessie makes motion to pay for ticket for an environmentalist speaker coming to campus. All votes yes.