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Stumble It!The environment is always on Dena Hart’s mind. Hart, a sophomore from Buffalo Grove, Ill., was one of 11 students who received a Sustainability Award on Oct. 24 for her efforts to promote sustainability in the Lawrence community. She hopes that the University of Kansas will develop a more environmentally friendly campus, but this decision lies in the hands of the Board of Regents.
Unfortunately, Hart will have to wait quite some time to find out if the Board of Regents will approve a $1.50 addition to tuition fees to pay for the expensive sustainability changes. In the 2007 student elections, 90 percent of the student voters voted in favor of the referendum. The Renewable Energy and Sustainability fee will go toward sustainable projects on campus.
“It goes into a pot,” Studie Red Corn, student senator, said. “Nobody in particular owns it. You have people that will oversee it, and people that will approve projects out of it, but for the most part, it’s going to be there for student ideas to become a reality.”
Tips for a more sustainable lifestyle.
Although the students have already approved of the fee, the Board of Regents has yet to discuss the referendum. Red Corn said that in the meantime, student senators are currently working on a business plan to present to the board. The board will not discuss the sustainability fee until summer, which means student voters will not see the end result of their decision until the next school year.
KU’s Center for Sustainability opened its doors in the spring of 2007 with the mission to facilitate research, learning opportunities, policies and practices that address environmental, economic and social responsibility. Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. “Going green” is a trend growing on college campuses across the nation. At the University of Kansas, students, faculty and administrators are hard at work planting the seeds of change.
“I think people are realizing that, you know, the smaller things that we are doing in life are really having the largest effect on our environment and our world,” Hart said. “I think people are inspired to an extent to make those small changes and those small steps to go green.”
The investment is a large one. The Center for Sustainability has worked with students and faculty to create a long list of projects, including increasing the use of renewable energy on campus. A few of the proposed projects are: installing solar panels on roof of Wescoe Hall, providing KU Dining Services with locally-grown organic food and revamping Gertrude Sellards-Pearson Hall to meet green certification standards.
Click on the map to find out more about sustainability projects and recycling on the KU campus. The solar panels alone would cost $2.5 million, and a “green” building costs about 17 percent more than a regular building, according to environmental finance reports. Many projects have been put on hold, but the University is doing some of the small things. For example, the Kansas Memorial Union is the second largest building on campus, but ranks 15th in terms of energy consumption, according to information compiled by the center. This reduction has been achieved through several initiatives, including installing T8 energy efficient lighting and controlling indoor climate of its many rooms based on occupancy. KU Dining Services is now donating its waste cooking oil to the biodiesel generation project and giving students takeout bags that are 100 percent recyclable. Facilities and Operations is replacing traditional cleaning products with more environmentally-friendly products and has started recycling metals, cell phones, cardboard, computers, car batteries, used motor oil and antifreeze.
Ultimately, Severin hopes the University will be a model for the community and surrounding areas.
Conservation results from
Chevron Energy Solutions
“We’re kind of at a unique position to serve at a leadership role in terms of not just on our campus, but showing the region how we need to operate more sustainability,” he said.
The Center held its first community event on Oct. 24 when it hosted Sustainability Day, which included presentations about environmental issues and the presentation of Sustainability Awards to students and staff for their leadership and creativity in addressing issues related to sustainability.
“This is your world that we’re trying to change,” Provost Richard Lariviere told the crowd. “Keep after this. You’re going to make a difference.”
The Center for Sustainability invites all members of the KU community to help make that difference by serving as ambassadors and helping identify opportunities for research and campus projects.
Poll: Sustainability
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