April 27, 2004 ~ 4:30 p.m.
Le Chateau B
Attending: Nan Jenks-Jay (Co-Chair), Connie Leach Bisson (Vice Chair), David Stoll, Anne Knowles, Jeff Munroe, Diane Munroe, Charlotte Tate, Gail Smith, Ian Ausprey, JS Woodward, Andrea Hamre, Suzanne Nagi, Carolyn Bardwell
Missing: Steve Trombulak, Ashley Clark, Robin Dean, Mckalyn Garrity, Erika Holsman, Phil Aroneanu, Alysse Forest, Kristin Fraser
Guests: Franci Farnsworth, Erin Jensen, Sophie Esser, Jameson Henn, Alyssa Jumars, Emily Hayes, Chris Howell, Susannah Patty, Amy Seidl, Benjamin Davis, Lauren Throop, Ben Brouwer, Dalal Al-abdulrazzak
1. Announcements
Nan began the meeting by sharing the Steve Trombulak would not be able to attend the meeting and sent his regrets. Nan thanked Steve for co-Chairing the Environmental Council with her this semester and Chairing the EC during the fall semester.
Anne Knowles announced that her GIS class would be making a presentation on May 7th. They have requested that they not be public presentations but would welcome the co-Chair's attendance on behalf of the Environmental Council. BIH 104 at 2 p.m.
Charlotte Tate announced that Green Up Day is Saturday. Peg Martin is Middlebury's coordinator. Otter Creek Brewing was offering a light lunch from 1-3 for those who fill a garbage bag.
- Minutes
Charlotte noted that the College Lands section under the Environmental Grants update appeared to be included twice. Connie agreed that that was the case and would remove the first posting. The minutes of April 13, 2004 were unanimously approved with the noted correction.
- Paper Reduction
Ian and Andrea reviewed a draft Paper Reduction proposal noting that paper consumption is both an environmental and economic issue. The subcommittee assessed paper waste in public computer labs and reviewed quota systems at peer institutions, receiving information from 9 of the 17 institutions contacted. They provided education to the campus by creating informative posters to hang by the printers, and placing ads in The Campus and Also magazine.
Discussion of data
Looked at 4 possible quota options:
Current usage 775 pages/yr
11% decrease 680 pages/yr
Growth allowance 800 pages/year
Peer institutions 500-600 pages/semester
Next steps – Environmental Council should use subcommittee's quota system as a policy recommendation next fall. Ian spoke with Tom Corbin and the new technology being implemented to replace the Midd Card should already be able to embrace the quota system. More data – conduct a campus-wide paper inventory (the subcommittee only focused on paper use in computer labs)
- Dish Recovery
Ian shared that if Dining Services were to employ dining hall czars to ensure that dishes were not removed from the dining halls, the estimated labor costs would be $86,000; equivalent to the budget for cups and china. Ian reported that $2600 worth of dishes had been returned in 10 days. Dining will invest $11,500 in labor in the dish recovery program. The two strategies are economically similar based on data available to Ian. Both strategies allow for the dish removal behavior to continue, which is regrettable from Ian's point of view. It was noted that there is a policy in the Handbook with a $35 fine but there is no knowledge that this fine has ever been administered. It was mentioned that the CRAs do fire prevention checks and dishes could be another thing they look for when touring a room. Ian indicated that he would share his report about the Dish Recovery System with Dining Services.
- End of Year Summary
Nan thanked the Environmental Council for their hard work, noting that it had a year filled with administrative shifts requiring flexibility on everyone's part. She expressed gratitude for all the work accomplished in the committees.
Nan noted that appointments to the Environmental Council were done on an annual basis through the Faculty and Staff Councils and the Student Government Association. She asked that anyone wishing to serve again contact Connie or her. She expressed that it is great to have continuity.
Thinking ahead to next year, Nan commended the EC for their great brainstorming session on how to introduce the Environmental Council to the new President. Now that we know it will be Ron Liebowitz, and he mentioned the environment twice in his remarks at Mead Chapel, it will be important to help set the tone for the future.
Finally, Nan extended best wishes to the seniors: Erika, Mckalyn, Robin and Ian.
- Environmental Grant Presentations
Nan expressed thanks for the partnership with Atwater, Brainerd, and Cook Commons in committing funds to support the Environmental Grants program. She also extended her appreciation to the Environmental Grants committee for overseeing the entire process: applications, review, selection, mentoring, and program evaluation. Nan welcomed Franci Farnsworth, acknowledging that Franci's experience in grantwriting and grant reviewing has benefited the program and the subcommittees work.
Children's Garden- Sophie Esser and Erin Jensen
Sophie and Erin expressed their thanks for the Environmental Grant. The Children's Garden is their "service learning" thesis, involving elementary schools in Weybridge, Cornwall and Salisbury. They will be planting seeds in the classroom, working with afterschool programs in Cornwall and Weybridge, and Mary Johnson's summer morning day camp. They believe children are losing connection with the environment and food and the College has the ability to offer experiential learning. The project is also an opportunity for bridging the College and Addison County community. Their longer term goal is to see schools have their own gardens, incorporate food from the garden into the school lunch program, and create a network of community garden mentors. Sophie and Erin have also been compiling a comprehensive binder of garden curriculum and have linked up with Food Education Every Day (FEED).
Photographing Middlebury's Land Holdings – Ben Brouwer
Ben reported that he will be taking the majority of his photos in the next two weeks when the landscape is greener. He will be creating a portfolio of images across a variety of scales and subjects. ES, Geography, GIS Seminar, EA and Steve Weber (College Forester) have each indicated an interest in these photos. Ben will produce CDs of digital images. There is funding in the grant to enlarge, print, and frame several photographs. A question was asked whether one would be able to pinpoint from where the photograph was taken. It was suggested that Ben go out with GPS and he thought he could manage that.
Wind Turbine – Lauren Throop, Ben Davis, Amy Seidl
The grant has been developing a proposal for a 10 kW wind turbine on college lands and hope that it will be executed in the next few months. With the assistance of a local wind consultant, they have identified the best campus sites (Bread Loaf, Snow Bowl, golf course, ridgeline, recycling center) based on environmental critieria, economics and educational benefits. The VT Dept of Public Service is offering grants requiring a 50% match to educational institutions and farms for small scale wind projects. The problem with the Snow Bowl site is that there is not electricity and it will be expensive to install this. The grant looked at combining this project with LIS's need to improve technology and communications links at Bread Loaf but the timeline may prove incompatible.
The favored site at present is the Recycling Center. The wind turbine could provide 50% of the electrical needs. Tom Halnon (wind consultant) will draft the proposal. Some issues include the possibility of other uses for the land in that area, need for matching funds from the College ($20-25,000), concerns by neighbors. Based on a preliminary economic analysis, the breakeven point for an $18,500 investment by the College would occur in about 11 years. Wind turbines currently are considered to have a 30 year lifetime.
JS offered special recognition for Amy Seidl, applauding her on-going efforts to bring real world applications into the classroom, noting both the solar panels on Farrell House and now the wind turbine. He equated these initiatives to those of the Senior Seminar projects.
Fair Beans – Emily Hayes, Alyssa Jumars, Jameson Henn
One of the benefits of the Fair Trade Coffee initiative has been the education and enrichment within the group. Several members will be working with Fair Trade coffee cooperatives as a result of this experience. The grant assisted with the expenses of the Fair Trade Coffee Fiesta week in which they brought in speakers, a film, and held educational events. They will be meeting with the Trustees to discuss how to institutionalize Fair Trade coffee at Middlebury. They have also been working with Matthew Biette who put out a new contract bid in the spring. Six companies have indicated they will bid (Vermont Coffee, Cool Beans, Equal Exchange, Deans Beans, Green Mountain Coffee, and New England Coffee). Bids are due back on May 4th.
The group wants to continue the momentum in the fall with an emphasis on sustainability.
Slow the Plough (Middlebury College Organic Garden) – Susannah Patty, Chris Howell, Elissa Denton, Dalal Al-abdulrazzak
Chris and Susannah invited EC members to come to the garden on Saturdays. Peas and radishes are up, bees are buzzing around the hives. The garden is integrated into Middlebury College. Financially, academically—desire to make a link to what we eat. Posters about the garden, similar to the ones produced by the 401 class for other food producers used by the college will be created. They are also producing so reusable "Fresh from Middlebury College Organic Garden" cards to identify foods being served that were grown in the garden. They are also creating a flag and a traveling display that will be a tri-fold of the poster. Charlotte asked how community participation was solicited? Chris shared that he had made many community connections through the garden. They work closely with local farmers. Many community members have come out because they want to learn something and enjoy hands-on work.
Those interested in receiving regular garden updates should e-mail Susannah or Chris. Bennett is also hoping to launch a consortium on New England college gardens at the NOFA New England conference. More and more colleges are establishing gardens and it would be good to have a way to communicate and share ideas.
Closing remarks
Final environmental grant reports are due by May 30th. Nan asked that Connie disseminate these reports to the Environmental Council. Nan applauded the efforts of the grantees, noting that there had been an amazing amount of work accomplished in a short period of time with not much money. Erika noted that the seed money helped to transform some initiatives that had already begun into more successful projects.
The meeting adjourned at6 p.m.