Environmental Council
Minutes of October 7, 2003
Old Chapel Room 401
Members Present: Steve Trombulak (co-Chair), Nan Jenks-Jay (co-Chair), Connie Leach Bisson (Vice Chair), Anne Knowles, Jeff Munroe, David Stoll, Diane Munroe, Gail M. Smith, Philip Aroneanu, Carolyn Barnwell, McKaylyn Garrity, Andrea Hamre, Erika Holsman, Suzanne Nagi, J.S. Woodward, Ashley Clark, Robin Dean, Alyse Forrest, Kristin Fraser, Asher Burns-Burg
Members Absent: Charlotte Tate
Guests: Carol Peddie, Andi Lloyd, Mike Romankiewicz
The meeting began at 4:35
1. Introductions
Steve gave a special welcome to the newly appointed students to the Environmental Council, thanking Asher Burns-Burg for his work with the SGA in completing the appointment process. Each person provided a short introduction.
2. Announcements
Sustainability Telecast via satellite directly to Dana Auditorium on Thursday, October 9 from 12-2. Bring your lunch. Several national speakers will be sharing their visions about the role of sustainability in higher education.
Vermont Campus Greening Conference, co-sponsored by Middlebury College, will be held on October 23-24 at UVM. www.uvm.edu/greening/conference On Thursday evening, some of the members of the "BioBus" will share their travel experiences followed by Ross Gelbspan, highly recognized journalist will provide a keynote on Climate Change. Friday will be workshops, including presentations from Nan Jenks-Jay, Tom McGinn, Matt Biette, Linda Ross, Missy Paquette, and Connie Leach Bisson. There is a registration fee and students may apply for financial support through the Student Travel Fund [Connie can help coordinate carpooling.]
Public meeting on International Paper's plan to burn tires at its Ticonderoga NY Paper Mill plant (just across Lake Champlain from Addison County) on Wednesday, October 15 at Middlebury High School at 7 pm.
Sustainable Foods Conference at Yale on November 14th. Bill McKibben will incorporate some of the leadership from Middlebury Dining in his keynote at the conference dinner. http://www.vitalcommunities.org/Calendar/Calevent.cfm?ID=239
3. Minutes Approval Process
Steve described the process the Environmental Council will use to approve meeting minutes. After each meeting, Connie will send via e-mail a draft of the minutes. Comments, clarifications, edits and additions should be sent back to Connie. If substantive changes are needed, Connie will make such changes and send the revised draft back out prior to the next meeting. Otherwise, the Council will be asked to approve the initial draft as an action item on the next meeting's agenda.
Diane Munroe motioned and Anne Knowles seconded that the minutes of September 23, 2003 be approved as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
4. Meeting with President McCardell
Connie announced that members of the Environmental Council were invited to meeting with President McCardell on Tuesday, October 14th (one week from today). Nan suggested that we create a few bullet points to help organize the discussion. Steve, Nan and Connie will draft this and circulate it to members for comments. Anyone wishing to attend this meeting should let Connie know by Wednesday, (October 8) so that she can secure a bigger meeting room if necessary. Anne Knowles asked the potential length of the meeting and the thought was that it would be no more than 30 minutes. [Currently, those who are planning to attend include Steve, Nan, Connie, Charlotte and J.S.]
5. Subcommittees
Steve introduced several non-council members who had generously agreed to head up or serve on the subcommittees:
Andi Lloyd – Biology professor and EC member from last year who had chaired the Land Use subcommittee and was returning to continue in this leadership role
Nick Benjamin '05 – A member of the Environmental Council and Land Use subcommittee in 02-03 who will continue to work with the Land Use subcommittee
Carol Peddie—LIS budget director whose job responsibilities include the purchase of equipment for the library and technology center. Carol has been interested in reducing paper consumption on campus for several years and will co-Chair the Paper Reduction and Purchasing subcommittee with Gail Smith
Joanna Shipley – coordinator of the Biology Department who has been pro-active in reducing paper use in the Biology department, and procuring 100% post consumer content paper for this department
Becky Gould-- Faculty member from Religion and ES who has had a longstanding interest in the Earth Charter and will co-Chair this subcommittee with JS
Connie outlined the day's task for each subcommittee:
a. Appoint someone to record minutes. Send a copy of minutes from each subcommittee meeting to Steve and Connie.
b. Set a regular meeting time for the subcommittee. In the past, some groups had found it productive and convenient to meet at lunchtime, reserving a room at FIC to eat and work. Contact Connie if you would like a room reserved for your subcommittee. Others had used the alternate week Tuesday time of the Env. Council meeting.
c. Discuss work tasks for the semester and tentative outputs.
d. Determine who will briefly report back to the full group at 5:30.
Nan requested that each group note if they plan to recommend a new policy or make a policy change recommendation as we need to be careful not to overload the Executive Council and Trustees. It is likely that the Carbon Reduction Initiative Working Group will also be bringing a plan before the Executive Council and Trustees this year.
Subcommittees met in different rooms and hallway alcoves in Old Chapel for about 30 minutes
6. Subcommittee Brief Reports
Environmental Assessment – Diane Munroe reported that there was discussion on whether the group would recommend an environmental assessment or broadening to sustainability to include more analysis of economic and social factors in conjunction with environmental. The subcommittee will spend much of the semester looking at what has been done elsewhere and developing a recommendation for the Environmental Council on the goals and content of the assessment. They would like to begin data collection and January and complete some portion of the assessment by the end of the academic year. If the full assessment cannot be completed, the subcommittee would develop a framework for the additional pieces that might be completed as summer research work for a student.
Land Use – Andi Lloyd shared that the subcommittee last year produced a draft of a set of Guiding Principles for Land Stewardship that was currently circulating for comment within the Administration. This year, the subcommittee will revise this draft based on comments received, collect data to make the case why such a policy is good for the institution and develop a map of college lands. They hope to bring the policy to the President's Executive Council. Steve asked whether other schools had implemented some kind of land use planning. Suzanne had done a search for model policies last year and found little -- usually a plan for managing an arboretum—so Middlebury will be providing leadership to others in developing these guidelines.
Paper Reduction – Andrea Hamre reported that the subcommittee had the overarching goal of reducing paper consumption and they would focus on four areas:
1. Educate faculty/staff/students about paper consumption
2. Collect data about paper consumption on campus and publish information
3. Recommend the purchase of 100% post consumer fiber copier paper [with supporting documentation]
4. Create a website providing guidelines for reducing paper consumption
The subcommittee also wondered whether it would be appropriate to discuss with President McCardell the issue of charging students for printing.
Nan asked if they had considered bringing any other partners to the discussion and they are planning to invite Reprographics in particular.
Earth Charter – JS reported that the subcommittee's main goal is to have the College endorse the Earth Charter. They will research what has occurred at the nine colleges and universities who have endorsed the Earth Charter – what problems they encountered during or after endorsement. They will also contact other schools where a program has endorsed the Earth Charter to learn of the impediments to securing an endorsement from the full institution. The subcommittee also plans to talk with key people on the Middlebury campus about potential barriers or concerns that would obstruct an endorsement.
It was noted in conclusion of the subcommittee reports that Land Use and the Earth Charter groups would likely be developing policy, and the Paper Reduction group may involve a policy implication as they proceed with discussions on "pay for print".
7. Other business
Nan suggested that we look to partner with the Commons in hosting the Environmental Fair. Connie thought this was an excellent idea and would explore that with the Commons Environmental Liaisons.
The meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m.