Savage's Bill Demands 'Green' Practices

Author: Peter Simon

The Student Government Association (SGA) unanimously passed a resolution on Sunday encouraging Middlebury College to remain at the forefront of environmentally conscious colleges and universities. The bill, authored by SGA Director of Facilities Planning Andrew Savage '03.5 and sponsored by senators Simon Isaacs '03 and Kevin Sullivan '04.5, focuses on the College's building and recycling practices.

The bill commends the College for its already "progressive building practices," and suggests that it takes these practices a step further. "I would describe the bill as a call for Middlebury to stay at the top of the list of environmentally responsible schools," said Savage.

Savage cited the rapid growth of the campus over the next few years, including the construction of a new library, two Atwater Commons residence halls and a dining hall as potentially raising environmental concerns. "While the College is aggressive in its growth and planning, we hope to keep moving forward environmentally as well," said Savage.

The bill is composed of two parts. The first, which focuses on building practices, states that "the College is encouraged to pursue architects committed to and experienced in environmental design and is encouraged to work with student and faculty organizations currently working to incorporate environmental building practices and carbon neutrality into the College's planning."

Carbon neutrality refers to the goal of eliminating carbon dioxide emissions that can contribute to global warming. Emissions can result from, among other things, automobiles, heating systems and the burning of fossil fuels.

The city of Burlington has recently undertaken an initiative to reduce its carbon emissions by 10 percent from its 1997 level. The College's Environmental Council has since formed a committee to discuss what Middlebury should do to reduce carbon emissions.

"We haven't outlined our specific goals yet. Right now, we're looking into ways to improve in this area," said Connie Bisson, sustainable campus coordinator and a member of the committee on carbon neutrality. Bisson noted that in addition to reducing carbon emissions, the College can take other steps to combat the problem, such as planting trees in order to absorb more carbon that would be released into the atmosphere.

The bill also calls for the increased implementation of practices such as renewable energy generation and green building technology.

Recent building projects have used many progressive techniques. For example, 60 percent of the wood used in the construction of LaForce Hall came from Middlebury's own land at Bread Loaf, ensuring "sustainable harvest" and a reduction of fuel emissions from trucking over shorter distances. In addition, the new Atwater residence halls will be structured to allow for ventilation without using air-conditioning.

"We try to be as responsible as we can," said David Ginevan, executive vice president of Facilities Planning. "The goal is to be as practical as we can, both environmentally and economically." Ginevan noted that the College makes an effort to be environmentally progressive, but cannot always afford the most advanced measures. "Sometimes we don't go as far as some people would want us to," said Ginevan.

For example, consideration was given to building structures to collect rainwater to flush toilets in the new library, but the structure would have been too costly, said Ginevan.

The second part of the bill calls for a re-emphasis on recycling, in response to declining recycling rates in recent years. According to Bisson, the College's overall rate of recycled waste has declined from 43.8 percent in 1999, to 37.6 percent in 2000 and then to 35 percent in 2001.

The bill suggests that each commons create a position for a student Environmental Director. The position, said Sullivan, would be for an unpaid volunteer, who would work to improve recycling rates within his or her commons, as well as educating students within each commons about other issues, such as reducing water and energy use.

Savage said he believed the recycling rate would increase if such positions were created. "Sometimes, people can just forget about recycling," he said. "We need to make it more of an everyday issue."

Sullivan added that he expected the commons to embrace the idea. "The position would be easily implemented, and it would involve many more students in environmental issues," he said.

The bill, which was one of several SGA resolutions to address environmental issues this year, passed with a vote of 15-0-0.