Sustainability plan sets ambitious goals for college's carbon emissions
By: Robert Hemphill and Hunter Bradley
Issue date: 10/2/09 Section: News
Carbon neutral by 2025; zero waste by 2020. Those are the over-arching goals of the Macalester Sustainability Plan, signed September 15th by President Brian Rosenberg. By 2010, Macalester plans to approve a telecommuting policy, create a sustainability fund, and hold a sustainability seminar that will draft an annual report on their progress. The document is a culmination of years of student-staff collaboration, strategic planning, and compilation of ideas from over 400 Macalester community members.
Issues addressed in the Sustainability Plan include water use, light pollution, landscaping, and a commitment to ethically sourced, "environmentally preferable" products. Outlined in detail in the document are short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies to handle these issues. President Rosenberg added Macalester as a signatory to the American College and University's Presidents' Climate Commitment in 2007, setting in motion the change of events that would lead to the plan.
With the college a signatory to the PCC, Macalester committed to several goals. In the short-term, Macalester committed to only purchasing new appliances that were Energy Star certified and subsidizing bus passes. As a provision of the PCC, Macalester had two years to set a target date and "milestones" on the road to becoming carbon neutral. Carbon neutral means that the school will not be a net emitter of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gasses.
Commitment to sustainability is not new at Macalester. The school was a signatory of the Talloires Declaration in 2000, and 10 clubs and committees have an affiliation with the college's sustainability office.
Two years later, the sustainability plan was finished. Initial work was done by the 2008 environmental studies senior seminar, which completed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory to determine Macalester's yearly carbon emissions. Beginning in fall 2009, the Sustainability Advisory Committee - comprised of students, staff, and faculty - began planning strategically how to not only become carbon neutral but how to implement sustainability into all of campus life and actions. Through the committee, and the broader Planning Team, more than 400 community members discussed and worked toward building the sustainability plan.
Issues addressed in the Sustainability Plan include water use, light pollution, landscaping, and a commitment to ethically sourced, "environmentally preferable" products. Outlined in detail in the document are short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies to handle these issues. President Rosenberg added Macalester as a signatory to the American College and University's Presidents' Climate Commitment in 2007, setting in motion the change of events that would lead to the plan.
With the college a signatory to the PCC, Macalester committed to several goals. In the short-term, Macalester committed to only purchasing new appliances that were Energy Star certified and subsidizing bus passes. As a provision of the PCC, Macalester had two years to set a target date and "milestones" on the road to becoming carbon neutral. Carbon neutral means that the school will not be a net emitter of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gasses.
Commitment to sustainability is not new at Macalester. The school was a signatory of the Talloires Declaration in 2000, and 10 clubs and committees have an affiliation with the college's sustainability office.
Two years later, the sustainability plan was finished. Initial work was done by the 2008 environmental studies senior seminar, which completed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory to determine Macalester's yearly carbon emissions. Beginning in fall 2009, the Sustainability Advisory Committee - comprised of students, staff, and faculty - began planning strategically how to not only become carbon neutral but how to implement sustainability into all of campus life and actions. Through the committee, and the broader Planning Team, more than 400 community members discussed and worked toward building the sustainability plan.
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