Location: Facilities Conference Room

Time: 12:00 pm

Present Dan Hernandez, Mark Kanazawa, Martha Larson, Rhys Lindmark, Ray McGaughey, Chris Remley, Steve Spehn, George Vrtis, Sydney Wedemyer

Absent Fadi Hakim, Nina Whitney, Kim Smith, Ryan Noe

Secretary: Martha Larson

 

               I.         Meeting Minute Approval

Minutes from the November 11, 2010 EAC meeting were approved. 

 

 

              II.         Climate Action Plan Update    

 

Martha Larson summarized the draft Carleton Climate Action Plan (CAP) including baseline greenhouse gas inventory, mitigations strategies evaluated by the CAP Steering Committee, quantitative comparison and recommended actions.  Ms. Larson noted that the plan serves not only to reduce Carleton’s greenhouse gas inventory but also to provide a framework for campus-wide sustainability efforts.  The plan also supports integration of sustainability into education / outreach initiatives.  The Committee reviewed upcoming Climate Action Plan presentation dates and was asked to suggest other appropriate campus groups or forums which might provide an opportunity to gain additional feedback on the draft plan.  The draft will be presented to the Board of Trustees at their February 2011 meetings for review and feedback.  Edits will be incorporated into a final plan for presentation and approval in May 2011.  Upon approval, the plan will be publically posted on the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) website and the Carleton sustainability website.

 

 

            III.         EAC budget allocation sub-committee   

 

Martha Larson presented the current EAC budget summary which includes a cumulative carry-over of unused funds from prior years.  Ms. Larson asked for volunteers to participate in an EAC budget sub-committee to evaluate the budget categories, suggest revisions as needed, and develop recommended uses for the budget carry-over funds.  Mark Kanazawa and Ray McGaughey volunteered to participate in the budget sub-committee efforts.

 


 

            IV.         Winter Term Events  

 

                                      i.     Power shift 2011 conference – Ray McGaughey provided a description of the Power Shift conference, noting that he and other Carleton students have attended this event in the past.  Mr. McGaughey noted that it is a worthwhile conference and that the EAC should consider allocating a portion of the budget to sponsor student participation in the 2011 conference.

 

                                    ii.     ACORE webinar on renewable energy – Martha Larson noted that Carleton registered for an American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) webinar entitled “Renewable Energy in the New Politics of Common Ground.”  The webinar will be shown in the Facilities Conference Room on January 19 (12:00 p.m.) for anyone on campus who is interested.

 

                                   iii.     Youth Energy Summit (YES) Winter Workshop – Alex Lai noted that in November 2010, Carleton sustainability assistants met with Becca Bell, the YES coordinator for southern Minnesota.  At that time, Ms. Bell invited Carleton students to attend the 2011 YES Winter Workshop, emphasizing the value of having college student participation to serve as role models for middle school and high school conference participants.  The conference will take place on January 19 at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center in Lamberton, MN.  Interested Carleton students should contact Martha Larson to arrange travel.  Ms. Lai noted that YES is also interested in knowing if Carleton would be willing to donate the earth tub to their program if it is no longer being used at Carleton.  This item will be taken up at a future EAC discussion.

 

                                  iv.     MN Waste Wise – Martha Larson noted that Carleton has renewed its annual membership to Minnesota Waste Wise, which is funded within the waste management budget.  MN Waste Wise is a program through the Minnesota Department of Commerce which facilitates educational workshops, performs waste audits and assists member institutions with consulting services related to waste management.  Carleton’s membership comes with a complimentary waste audit which will be scheduled by the sustainability assistants for late winter term or early spring term.  We hope to focus these efforts on improving the accuracy of the waste portion of Carleton’s annual greenhouse gas inventory efforts.  Anyone interested in participating in the waste audit or learning more about MN Waste Wise should contact Martha Larson for information.

 

 


 

 

             V.         Dorm Wars / Green Wars Planning Committee  

 

Libby Nachman provided an update of planning efforts for 2011 Green Wars.  The Green Wars planning committee has decided to concentrate the events during a one-week period in an effort to increase the impact relative to past Green Wars events which have spanned a month-long period.  The 2011 Green Wars events will take place during February but specific dates are still being confirmed.  Stay tuned for further updates.

 

 

            VI.         STA Project Updates  

 

Trayless Dining – Michelle Hesterberg and Alex Lai are organizing efforts to conduct a Trayless Dining student opinion survey during fourth week.  The survey is intended to gather feedback through random sampling and will be structured such that results can be tabulated along a continuum rather than simply a “yes” or “no” indication of support.  Anyone interested in volunteering to assist with the survey efforts should contact Ms. Hesterberg or Ms. Lai.

Composting in Residence Hall Bathrooms – Michelle Hesterberg and Alex Lai – in coordination with the Carleton Custodial Department – conducted a two-week pilot program during November 2010 to implement composting in Myers residence hall bathrooms.  The program achieved a100% successful as determined by a record of zero contamination in the compost bags with non-compostable items.  The next step is to roll out bathroom composting in additional residence halls.  Ms. Lai and Ms. Hesterberg will conduct announcements at Sunday Study Breaks in each dorm and the custodial department will replace all tall trash bags with tall compost bags the following Monday.  A small trash can will be added to each bathroom and signage will be posted to educate users on which receptacle is for compost.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory – Martha Larson reported on behalf of Nina Whitney (not present) who is conducting the 2009 and 2010 GHG inventories.  It was noted that official GHG procedures require colleges to only report long-distance travel that is paid for by the college.  Most of Carleton’s study abroad students buy their own tickets, so under literal interpretation of these rules that travel would not be counted in Carleton’s GHG inventory.  Consensus from the committee was that Carleton should still track this activity so the college remains aware of how much study abroad trips contribute to GHG emissions due to activities related to the college.    

 

 

          VII.         Open Forum – The Residential Life Sustainability Committee is organizing efforts to roll out a plan to eliminate the sale or use of individual water bottles on campus entitled “Take Back the Tap.”  Stay tuned for further details on this initiative 

 

END OF MINUTES