Location: Sayles 252

Time: 4:30 pm

Present Rob Lamppa, Steve Spehn, Nora Mahlberg, Mark Kanazawa, Mike Kowalewski, Katie Blanchard, Ray McGaughey, Amy Sillanpa, Chris Erickson

Absent Andy Clark

Secretary: Chris Erickson

Announcements:

  • Nora is official CSA-EAC liaison.
  • Pledge signees now up to 124.
  • Katie’s request to the Capital Funding Committee to expand the Carleton Farm has been approved.

Approval of 9/23 Minutes:

  • Approved
  • Chris Erickson will put the EAC minutes online in the EAC folder. And minutes from last year if possible?

Budget Update:

  • Not all clear where this money came from, a rare conundrum in these times.
  • Total budget: $17.629.00 (this accounts for the $400 that will be taken out for Katie and Vera’s trip to Italy).
  • Breakdown:
    • $3,500 student work (? The origin of this money is especially unclear)
    • $10,172 carry over
    • $2,140 supplies (both supplies and “other” and rather odd numbers)
    • $2,217 other
  • Discussion of the capital reserves fund that was decided upon last year.
    • Ray M.: Capital Reserves was about $6,000, Amy S. agrees.
    • Mike K.: Why do we want the capital reserves? Points out that other campus committees have been warned about using their funds or they would receive cuts in the following year.
    • Mark K.: The philosophy behind the capital reserves is that it will instill some fiscal responsibility, and prevent irresponsible spending.
  • Discussion of current and potential budget items:
    • Rob: AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) registration comes out of our budget.
    • Rob also points out that we are not a member of the USGBC (United States Green Building Coalition) but that we have been pursuing LEED projects certified by the USGBC. Some other schools are members some are not.

Update on Subcommittees:

  • Rob reminds subcommittee chairs that emails need to be sent out about meeting times for subcommittees.
  • Katie B. announces that over winter break Bon Appetit will be installing a pulper to reduce composting volume by 80% in Burton. Also notes that waste is being weighed every day at Carleton, and that trash is most expensive component of waste.
    • Karen Lawson would be the best informational contact about this.
  • Rob: Randi Johnson has joined the Green Purchasing Subcommittee.
  • Indentifying Tangible “Outputs” for the subcommittees:
    • What kind of information a committee wants to create, what priorities
    • Mark K.: Should we be thinking about primarily two types of projects and information?
      • Initiatives that require little analysis, e.g. going trayless
      • Projects that require more analysis and proof of economic feasibility and sustainable effectiveness.
      • →Mark sees the subcommittees being more useful with analysis-heavy projects.
    • Mike K.: Suggests the groups contact people around campus that might not necessarily be group members but could come to some meetings to give us ideas/be resources.

EAC Discussion Point – Topics:

  • Steve Spehn suggested during the last EAC Steering Committee meeting that we set aside EAC time for group discussions, topics could come from subcommittees or be more general.
  • Topic for today: One-Stream Recycling and Compost
    • Katie B.: This is a good thing to talk about at department meetings.
    • Eliza B.: Suggests we remake the big poster from last year that hung in Sayles and displayed all the compostable items from the Snack Bar. Much concurring.
    • Rob L.: At the same time Karen Lawson thinks contamination in the one-stream is down.
    • Rob L.: We need to think about how well we are getting to the dorms. We also need to think about how to continue moving the Pledge.
    • Mark K.: How much are we doing to reach students before they come to campus? Especially with regards to purchasing?
      • Katie B.: Bessie, Adam, and Katie B. put together a list for this year’s freshmen. They also got 10 questions on the freshmen survey that will be repeated when they are seniors. The questions regard environmental literacy.
    • Steve Spehn: They are going to bury time capsules in the new dorms. Sustainability capsules? The EAC would need to support this because no one else did –Steve.
    • Chris E.: I mentioned Fred Roger’s idea about displaying the parts of the new dorm as it goes up in stages.
    • Rob: With regards to the web site we have the OK to compile everything onto Sustainability site.
  • Future EAC Discussion. Ray M. proposes that one of our EAC discussions concern the hiring of a campus sustainability coordinator.