Environmental Council Meeting
Minutes of November 13, 2001
Le Chateau B
Connie Leach Bisson, Vice-Chair
Present: Jon Isham, Charlie Sargent, Caitlin Hicks, Oren Frey, Katy Saunders, Ben Brouwer, Lori DelNegro, Ben Wessler, Charlotte Tate, Mike Moser, Valerie Benka, Erika Holsman, Dane Springmeyer, Andrea Hamre, Connie Leach Bisson
Absent: Stephen Switzer, Abiezer Miranda, Kaitlin Gregg, Nan Jenks-Jay, Mandy Helwig, Erin Jensen, Sarah Herrup, Bryan Costa, Tim McCahill
Environmental Fair Update
Charlie Sargent provided an update on local foods that will be part of the Thanksgiving Dinner and students requested that the meal be served by candlelight. Oren reported that there would be many campus and local groups represented including the College Store, Career Services, Recycling, Facilities Management, Blue Mitts Bike Society, EQ, Otter Creek Journal, Middlebury Initiative for Sustainable Development, Weybridge House, and the Electric Truck. Off-campus groups will include the Vermont Book Shop, Middlebury Area Land Trust, compact fluorescent lightbulb samples, Institute for Social Ecology, Forest Watch, Spirit in Nature, and Retroworks.
Several student members of the EC created banners for the event – one to hang at both Proctor and FIC. Table tents were used in the dining halls, and the event was listed in the weekly calendar.
Meeting with President McCardell
Connie will invite President McCardell to meet with the EC during January. Student members will make presentations summarizing the work of the various committees of the Council: Carbon Neutral, Energy/Education, Environmental Grants, Events.
January Term
Katy Saunders suggested that J-term meetings include guests such as special J-term teachers (Chris Shaw, Chris Wood). Connie will extend invitations. Late afternoon was discussed as the preferred meeting time. A schedule will be set at the next meeting.
Committee Updates
Carbon Neutral
Kaitlin Gregg is drafting a proposal to request Student Travel Funds for the College Climate Response meeting that will be held at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon in February. This proposal will be used as the template for the proposal due December 15th at Lewis & Clark. Middlebury College hopes to send a team of faculty, staff and students to the meeting. So far Kaitlin Gregg, Doug Dagan, Charlotte Tate, Jon Isham, and Connie Leach Bisson have all indicated an interest in attending. Lori DelNegro expressed her interest but was not sure that she could be away during the first week of classes.
The committee discussed when to present the Carbon Neutral concept to President McCardell and felt it would be better to discuss this goal with him after the emissions data is completed.
Several committee members discussed their ideas about a Carbon Neutral Panel that would take place sometime in the spring or next fall. One possibility is to offer a Saturday half-day retreat where the campus community could learn about the concept, or holding a town meeting type of event at McCullough. In the fall, they would like to bring in a speaker such as Eban Goodstein, Associate Professor of Economics at Lewis & Clark. (Jon Isham mentioned that he uses Eban's book in one of his economics classes.)
Energy
Several student members of the energy committee are working with SGA's Facilities committee. Their current project involves an analysis of energy use at Hepburn with a specific focus on lighting. Students have been working with Mike Moser from Facilities Management to analyze the brightness of the light as well as overall energy use of the building by regularly reading the electric meter. Over the next few weeks, they will test several different hall lighting scenarios such as every other light off, every third light off, etc. They will compare energy readings for the building and interview students about their preference. The committee is seeking other opportunities for reducing energy use in this building and will then create educational materials to provide to the residence of Hepburn. The committee would then like to expand their research to other buildings on campus.
Cup/Dish Return System
Student members requested additional discussion on how to assist in establishing a system for ensuring cup returns to the dining hall. Charlie Sargent mentioned that Dining Services used to use glass cups and these were rarely borrowed. Dining Services switched to plastic to reduce loss from breakage. Students suggested such things as creating peg board storage points in the dining hall where students could leave their mugs. Connie noted that there would be an update on the issue in The Middlebury Campus this week. Oren, Andrea and Ben offered to follow up with Matt Biette.
As part of this discussion, the disposable take out containers in The Grille were mentioned. The students meeting with Matt were encouraged to discuss this item as well.
Paper Reduction
The Council discussed encouraging the purchase of printers capable of printing double-sided, increasing the campus community's knowledge of using this feature, and the cost of retrofitting existing printers with this feature. The idea of developing a paper saving policy for the handbook was suggested. This would include a definition of acceptable forms in which a Formal Paper may be submitted (double sided, electronic, etc.) Such a policy will be drafted and then students will ask several faculty to review the policy. A Paper Reduction Committee was established consisting of Caitlin, Dane, Katy, Ben, Valerie and Oren.
Next Meeting
No EC meeting will be scheduled for November 27th so that members may attend Prof. Rich Wolfson's lecture: "Like a Work of Shakespeare: Reality and Metaphor in Modern Physics" in BiHall 216 at 4:30.
Committees should try to meet two times before the EC's final meeting of the semester on Tuesday, December 4th at 4:15 in Le Chateau D.