Environmental Council
Minutes of November 4, 2003
Old Chapel 401 ~ 4:30
Attending: Steve Trombulak (Co-Chair), Connie Leach Bisson (Vice Chair), Asher Burns-Burg, Kristin Fraser, Alyse Forrest, Robin Dean, Ashley Clark, J.S. Woodward, Suzanne Nagi, Erika Holsman, Andrea Hamre, McKalyn Garrity, Carolyn Barnwell, Philip Aroneanu, Charlotte Tate, Gail M. Smith, David Stoll, Anne Knowles
Missing: Nan Jenks-Jay (Co-Chair), Diane Munroe, Jeff Munroe
Guests: Ian Ausprey, Carol Peddie, Mike Romankiewicz
Subcommittees met in separate rooms from 4:30-5:20.
The Environmental Council meeting was called to order at 5:25 p.m.
1. Minutes of October 21, 2003
Charlotte had minor corrections to the minutes. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved that the minutes as amended be accepted.
2. Announcements
Steve reported that as a result of the Environmental Council's discussions at the October 21st meeting, the co-Chairs had sent a letter to Matthew Biette encouraging Dining Services to convene a meeting with representatives of key campus constituencies to address the significant dish removal problem. Similarly, a letter was sent to Sam Rodriguez, President of the SGA, encouraging him to develop a proposal describing the network printer initiative, so that the Environmental Council could discuss the project in a more informed manner. Carol Peddie shared that she had sent a similar letter from LIS.
[Both letters are attached.]
Asher and Ian shared that the dish recovery system is likely to receive funding from the SGA so the process is moving forward. Dining has indicated that they will come to specific locations to service the bins. They also reported that Sam Rodriguez would like to come to meet with the Environmental Council. The initiative is not moving as quickly as previously reported as the funding is not in place.
Charlotte added that she was concerned that the dish removal problem will likely continue as more suites will be coming on-line with the completion of Atwater. There was discussion about encouraging a used dish sale, having the College store stock inexpensive dishes and students making use of the reuse trailer at the Recycling Center. Connie will send a note to Matt Biette and Facilities Planning raising this concern. Members also felt it was important at key contact points (Room Draw, Move In) to convey that the responsibility of "furnishing" the kitchen suite is that of the residents and not the college. Making this expectation more clear may reduce some of the pilfering.
3. Committee Reports
Earth Charter – The subcommittee will be sending a letter to institutions who have formerly adopted the Earth Charter to learn more about what problems or challenges they encountered, and where the motivation for the adoption came from. Steve requested that they also draft a letter to schools who have not signed the Earth Charter asking for feedback on whether they have considered this document, and if so and then chose not to sign it, would they contact J.S. Steve would like to put this discussion out on the Northeast Environmental Studies listserve for discussion.
Land Use – Anne Knowles shared that the geography department has tried to create a campus GIS several times before but has always run aground due to lack of GIS expertise or an understanding by the Administration of the technology and time needs to undertake this magnitude of a project. Questions such as "who is going to build and maintain it, and how will it be used" need to be defined in order to move forward with developing a GIS for the campus. Anne realized the GIS would be useful for her spring GIS/Cartography class and they will initiate a prototype design that will provide a test case for the Administration of the content and utility of having this information available for the campus. Pending their progress during the spring, the work could be presented to the Administration in May or in the fall.
Steve shared that the subcommittee was still waiting for comments from Provost Ron Liebowitz on the Land Use Stewardship policy draft developed last spring. He and Andi will follow up with the Provost as without his feedback it is difficult for the subcommittee to proceed to the next steps in the process.
Environmental Assessment – Connie reported that the Assessment subcommittee was recommending that this year's assessment be based on the "State of the Environment Report" completed in 1998. The group will use these data and questions as a framework for building this year's assessment, recognizing that they will likely add additional reference points for future benchmarking. They are comparing the information collected in the State of the Environment Report with that recently reported by UVM in "Tracking UVM" and assessments completed by the University of Florida and University of Buffalo. In addition, they are aware of work going on at the national level that could establish a framework designed specifically for institutions of higher learning on sustainability indicators. As that develops, the subcommittee feels it should consider expanding the environmental assessment to include the broader sustainability analysis. One part of the work of the committee will be the development of a survey for students to gain their feedback on environmental awareness and satisfaction with Middlebury's environmental ethic.
Paper Reduction – This subcommittee is focusing on three areas:
collecting data on the paper used in labs and the data on paper recycling. They will be collecting new data during the week prior to Thanksgiving.
development of a college policy to conserve paper, providing guideline for paper use throughout campus
- gaining a better understanding of the quota system and software that is available that requires an additional approval before a document is actually printed.
They also plan to develop materials for a web page on tips for paper reduction and would like to hold an open meeting in about two weeks to obtain ideas for a draft paper reduction policy that will involve faculty, staff and students. The subcommittee could use help with the paper sort of the computer labs' paper waste stream. Phil will let Connie know dates so that she can relay this to EC members. Connie also mentioned that if the data were available, it would be great to have it available for the Environmental Fair on November 20th. Asher shared that he thought the Faculty Council was also looking at the issue of paper reduction. Steve said he would verify if this is the case.
The meeting adjourned at 5:48 p.m.
Attachments:
Letter to Sam Rodriguez, Student Government Association
Letter to Matthew Biette, Dining Services
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT 05753
(802) 443-5043
Environmental Affairs
Farrell House
December 12, 2003
Matthew Biette
Dining Services Associate Director
FIC Hamlin
Matt:
Based on your request, the Environmental Council included a discussion at its October 21st meeting of the multi-year, on-going problem of significant quantities of dishes, cups and cutlery being removed from the dining halls by students. Ian Ausprey '04, one of the two SGA Environmental Affairs Directors, provided data of the fiscal impact of these irresponsible actions. We believe there would be significant environmental impact were Dining to shift to disposable cups, cutlery and take out containers for use in the dining halls, yet we also feel the issue is broader than simply that and would benefit from a community dialogue that, at a minimum, includes the Student Government Association, the Dean of Student Affairs and someone involved in the fiscal management of the College along with the Environmental Council and Dining.
We believe that the College needs to take a strong stand on this issue as the current patterns and actions are not sustainable and ought not be solved simply by switching to disposable products. The Environmental Council is willing to actively participate with others in developing a responsible solution for the College to what is currently becoming a real "Tragedy of the Commons". We encourage you to move forward in convening this dialogue so that Dining receives the help it needs to address this serious issue through many voices and institutional perspectives.
Attached is a copy of the minutes from the Environmental Council's meeting on October 21st to provide you with additional background on our discussion since you were unable to attend the meeting.
Sincerely,
Nan Jenks-Jay
Steve Trombulak
Environmental Council Co-Chairs
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT 05753
(802) 443-5043
Environmental Affairs
Farrell House
December 12, 2003
Mr. Sam Rodriguez, President
Student Government Association
McCullough Student Center
Dear Sam:
Two weeks ago, Ian Ausprey, one of SGA's Directors of Environmental Affairs and Connie Leach Bisson, Vice Chair of the Environmental Council, met to discuss several projects. In that meeting, Ian shared with Connie a brief description of the initiative by the SGA that is focusing on installing network printers in the residential buildings on campus. Connie encouraged Ian to involve the Environmental Council's Paper Reduction subcommittee in development of this initiative as the increased availability of printers within the residential halls could lead to greater levels of paper consumption on campus.
As co-Chairs, we felt this was an appropriate discussion for the full Environmental Council and included it on our October 21st agenda, encouraging both Ian and Asher to invite other members of the SGA to join us at this meeting if desired. Ian and Asher were both at the Environmental Council meeting but were unable to provide much information about the initiative, indicating that an SGA meeting scheduled for later that evening would likely enable them to gather more details.
The Environmental Council feels it has a strong working relationship with the SGA and has found the addition of the cabinet level Director of Environmental Affairs position to be very beneficial in furthering the communication and collaboration between our two bodies. It is our recommendation that you develop a written description of your network printer initiative so that we might be able to discuss this with you in an informed manner. We feel that such a description will enable the Environmental Council to fulfill one of its charges of providing advice to the College community on ways to minimize potentially negative environmental impacts of new initiatives.
Thank you for your consideration of this recommendation.
Sincerely,
Nan Jenks-Jay Steve Trombulak
Environmental Council Co-Chair Environmental Council Co-Chair
Cc: Ian Ausprey '04
Asher Burns-Burg '05
Ann Hanson, Dean of Student Affairs
Carol Peddie, Paper Reduction Co-Chair
Gail M. Smith, Paper Reduction Co-Chair