Green Campus Challenge Gathering

On November 6, 2009, Glen Sicard, Amy Kadrie, Jeff Foster, Patricia Beaumont and Laney Widener attended the Green Campus Challenge Gathering. The program was held at LeMoyne College and was sponsored by LeMoyne College and Syracuse University. Twenty-six central New York colleges and universities were represented. The following are our observations:

The University of Rochester is seen as a leader and mentor in many areas of sustainability including:
Transportation programs – alternative fuel vehicles (hybrid, electric, GEM, Segway, Biodiesel); Zipcar, shuttles, car pool, guaranteed ride home, City Cycles, bike racks, enclosed bike racks, buses using low sulfur diesel fuel, park-n-ride program
Recycling initiatives – end of year clean out, staff electronics collection event (26,000 lbs collected this year), standardized signage and containers, Mt. Trashmore, Big Belly solar compactor
Dining – Trayless dining; composting; local foods (20%); Pride of New York; student involvement (examples include sustainability interns, earth day program and tree planting, collection of oil for biodiesel shuttle).
Sustainability initiatives – Go Green Pledge, green meetings, Eco Reps program, student involvement and collaboration (for example Biodiesel program)

Potential ideas shared by other college and university attendees –
Transportation – Transportation Eco Rep; semester long bike loan program $25 student gets bike, fee is returned at the end of the semester if they return the bike in the same condition; implement a Van Pool program; commuter challenge program (similar to our fitness challenge)
Recycling – Increase waste capture in dining facilities, one university is trashless; trash cops paid student positions
Dining – Network café (informal way to discuss and make plans for sustainability ideas)
Sustainability – using media such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogs; required course on sustainability; green office certification program; negotiate with office supply vendor for better pricing on recycled paper; student sustainability awards; improve curriculum integration and community integration; establish behavior of students during the first two weeks of their arrival; advisory committee on green office; feature sustainability champions on website; look for new pledge challenge ideas; implement vending machine energy savings tools