note: below is a general , non-empirical update on the status of these recommendations as of April 1998, provided by Jennifer Hazen. The status is attached, in bold type, to the original Peak Committee document.
I. Environmental Mission Statement - Middlebury College should adopt and the President should sign an Environmental Mission Statement. This statement should be distributed throughout the College as a statement of the fundamental principles and objectives governing College policy pertaining to the environment. (Chapter II)
As far as we know this has not been accomplished.
II. Policy Formation - The President and senior Administration of the College should lead the institution in an effort to formulate in writing the environmental policies and procedures that should govern the various departments, programs, and activities of the College, using the Environmental Mission Statement as a general guide. (Chapter II)
As far as we know this has not been accomplished.
III. Environmental Audit - The College should conduct an audit of its environmental impacts on a regular basis (every two, three, or four years). The Environmental Council or another appropriate group in the College should undertake a report on the environmental state of the College, using this Report as a point of reference, during the year 1998-1999 so that the College can prepare to enter the twenty-first century with its environmental policies and programs in first-rate order. (Chapter II)
The Environmental Council is currently conducting an audit, entitled "The State of the Middlebury College Environment - 1998." This report was designed to be updated annually and includes many trackable statistics.
IV. Investment Policy - When making financial investments, the College should consider long-term as well as short-term environmental impacts, seeking to avoid investments in businesses and products that are inherently unhealthy for human beings or that threaten serious environmental harm. (Chapter II)
As far as we know, there has been no policy regarding environmental or social standards for investments of the endowment.
V. Recycled Paper and Printing Policy - (1) The College should adopt and circulate a formal policy of using recycled paper with a high percentage of post-consumer waste for all College offices, publications, and posters; and (2) the College should use soy-based ink, or an ink that is equally benign from an environmental point of view, in all its printing processes and publications. (Chapter II)
The College has not adopted a recycled paper policy, but the standard copy and printer paper we purchase all has recycled content of at least 20%. The majority of publications produced by External Affairs use recycled paper. Soy-based ink has not been adopted in the Reprographics department due to quality concerns.
VI. Environmental Council - The Environmental Council should become a standing College council whose chair is appointed by the President of the College. (Chapter III)
This has been accomplished, in 1996.
VII. Environmental Coordinator - The position of Recycling Coordinator should be renamed Environmental Coordinator and be established as a permanent position, and an Environmental Coordinator should be hired for the 1995-1996 year. (Chapter IV)
This has been accomplished, in 1995. The position has been significantly upgraded as of Summer 1998 to be strengthened and play a larger role in program development and education.
VIII. College Catalog - The Middlebury College Catalog should put greater emphasis in its first section on Middlebury's Environmental Studies Program and commitment to environmental awareness and responsibility. (Chapter V)
As far as we know this has not been accomplished.
IX. College Handbook - A new set of regulations on "Respect for the Environment" should be added to the Middlebury College Handbook in the section on "General Regulations" after the subsection on "Respect for College Property." (Chapter V)
The handbook contains a section on "Respect for the Natural Environment" which includes clauses related to protection of plants and wildlife, and participation in recycling and conservation programs.
X. Environmental Studies Program - The College should continue to support a strong Environmental Studies major. The College should support initiatives to increase environmental education across the curriculum, including staffing to allow for an Environmental Studies minor and courses for non-majors. The Faculty should also add the environment to its distribution requirements. (Chapter VI)
The E.S. program is continuing to run strongly. New positions across the curriculum have been implemented (in Environmental History, Environmental Ethics, Anthropology/Sociology, and Geology), but there is currently no E.S. minor. Some courses that are listed under E.S. fit into distribution requirements, but there is no specific E.S. distribution.
XI. New Student Orientation - The Dean of Students should include in the new student orientation program in September and February a 30-minute environmental awareness session to be conducted in the relevant residence halls by the Environmental Coordinator. Attendance at this environmental awareness session should be mandatory for all entering students. (Chapter VI)
The Environmental Coordinator and the Council have developed a 10 minute film and presentation which is run during orientation, where all new students are present. Other educational initiatives continue through the first few months of the first year experience.
XII. Environmental Monitors - The Residential Life Program, under the supervision of the Dean of Students, should take on full responsibility for appointing Environmental Monitors for all student residence halls and should ensure that monitors carry out their responsibilities. The job description of the Director of Residential Life, the RAs, and the JCs should include responsibility for promoting environmental awareness, conservation, and recycling. (Chapter VI)
This program has been renamed "Environmental Liaisons" and continues. The Residential Life program assists in identifying Liaisons in each academic building. They receive information on pertinent environmental topics, but as a whole, the program is underutilized.
XIII. Energy Conservation - An energy management policy for the 90s should be formulated, written down, formally adopted, and circulated. (Chapter VII)
This has not been accomplished, though piecemeal efforts to conserve energy and implement new technologies have been continuously implemented.
XIV. Energy Impact Study - An energy impact study and environmental impact assessment should be included as part of every College renovation and new construction project. Life cycle costing should be a primary element in design and equipment selection. The project budget should make provisions for all energy conservation measures that have a simple payback of five years or less. (Chapter VII)
This has not been accomplished at this time. The Council is currently working to formulate a Development Advisory Committee which will review new projects ideas and identify areas of environmental and energy related concerns which must be addressed.
XV. Environmentally Advanced Dormitory - The College should construct a dormitory that is state-of-the-art in energy/environmental technology as a learning center for students, faculty, and staff. (Chapter VII)
This has not yet been accomplished, but a proposal has been made and it is on the list of projects to be developed in the next few years.
XVI. Dining Services and Food - Dining Services should continue to (1) reduce and responsibly manage waste in all of its operations, (2) search for alternatives to disposable products, (3) support local and sustainable agriculture, and (4) increase awareness concerning organic and locally grown foods. (Chapter VIII)
Waste is well managed in dining halls. In most cases disposables are not used, but those that are often are chosen because of their compostability (paper vs. plastic.) Dining Services purchases many local products (dairy, produce, etc.) and promotes local agriculture through special events. Organics are at a minimum, but are likely to be incorporated in the new cash operation due to open in May 1998.
XVII. College Lands - (1) The College lands should be entered into a Geographic Information System (GIS) data base through a cooperative effort among College land administrators, the Geography Department, and other interested academic departments; and (2) the College should encourage organic and sustainable agriculture on its farmlands. (Chapter IX)
College campus lands are currently included in a GIS database. Other College lands have not yet been integrated into a GIS database. The College encourages minimal impact farming (no chemicals with long term residuals) on its leased farmlands, but does not specifically encourage organic or sustainable agriculture.
XVIII. Written Policies and Procedures for Toxics - With guidance from the College Safety Officer, current policies and procedures relating to toxics and pollutants should be clarified and written down. Uniform policies should be established for the campus, and appropriate procedures should be established where lacking. Middlebury College should be in conformity with state and federal regulations. (Chapter X)
It is unclear to what extent policies have been written. The College is in compliance with all state and federal regulations.
XIX. Toxics Inventory - Middlebury College should take an inventory of toxic materials to help in identifying areas where policies and procedures are needed, to document the need for a hazardous storage facility, and to comply with federal regulations concerning the quantity of hazardous waste produced and stored by hazardous waste generators. (Chapter X)
Inventories are kept of all hazardous materials.
XX. Toxics and Pollution Policy - Middlebury College should (1) prevent and reduce hazardous waste and pollution at its source whenever possible, (2) handle and recycle in an environmentally safe manner hazardous waste and other pollutants that cannot be prevented, and (3) dispose of in an environmentally safe manner hazardous waste and other pollutants that cannot be recycled. (Chapter X)
All hazardous waste is managed properly. Specific efforts to source reduce have not been made.
XXI. Waste Minimization - The College should increase efforts aimed at waste minimization by (1) putting a new emphasis on source reduction, (2) using purchasing as a waste reduction strategy, (3) establishing a formal recycling policy, (4) further developing the recycling and composting program, and (5) continuing community education. (Chapter XI)
Reduction efforts have not been successful; per capita trash and recycling are on the rise. Purchasing as a waste reduction strategy has not been implemented. The College has an established recycling and composting program and community education is ongoing.
XXII. Pedestrian Campus - The College should adopt and implement a plan that will minimize driving on campus by members of the community and create a pedestrian campus. This can be accomplished by (1) assigning all student, faculty, and staff cars to specific parking lots, (2) blocking specific roads on campus to create cul-de-sacs and reduce traffic, (3) working with the town to restrict parking and improve safety along College Street, and (4) increasing parking enforcement. (Chapter XII)
This has not been accomplished. In the summer of 1997, improvements were made to one major cross campus road (Rt. 125) which reduced the number of parking spaces and improved pedestrian crossings with neckdowns and better lighting. Parking enforcement is becoming more stringent.