Meeting Minutes 08/28/09

Posted by jy5546fj on September 4, 2009

Members present: Jim Drake, Kevin Futhey, Wade Gordon, Theresa Hornstein, Dave Israel, Britt Johnson, Carol Johnson, Cliff Koski, Glenn Merrick, Deanne Roquet, Jeri Schwerin.

Announcements

Val Vegar has resigned from the Environmental Council.

Cathy Carlson has ordered real coffee cups to be sold in the cafeteria and will offer cost savings to customers using their own cups or purchased cups.

Mark Winson is looking into eliminating water coolers around campus in an effort to cut costs. Currently LSC has 21 water coolers, most of which also dispense hot water. Hot/cold dispensers cost approximately $10 per month to operate. Cold-only dispensers cost approximately $5-7 to operate.

The Environmental Council thanked Wade for providing a pizza lunch for Deb Rowe, students, and others during the LSC Duty Day.

Deanne announced that the Ken Burns PBS film on National Parks will air on the National Geographic Channel on September 27.

Wade announced that Dean Talbot of Minnesota Power is giving LSC a box of Kill-A-Watt meters. Once all of these meters, along with those obtained through the MN Schools Cutting Carbon grant, are bar-coded, Wade will turn the meters over to the library to make them available for check-out.

Glenn announced he will be cooperating in a grant that is held by the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement. The grant is aimed at engaging students directly in restoration of Great Lakes ecosystems. He will have more detail after the Healing Our Waters conference at the DECC next week.

Committee Reports

Trail/BioRetention Pond: Glenn reported all three interpretive trail bridges are now structurally sound.

Old Business

MN GreenCorps: Sites have not yet been chosen for this year. 78 organizations applied, and approximately 9 will be chosen. It is possible there will be 10 more available this fall, due to the positive response.

Duty Day: LSC Duty Day on August 18, 2009 went well. Most staff and faculty are speaking well of the day and are working to implement ideas discussed. Some staff/faculty felt some of the breakout sessions were not useful, but most comments were positive.

Styrofoam: Kevin and Britt have spoken with Mike Koppy of Machine Tech and asked that the Tool Club now take over the styrofoam collection, shredding, and distribution, as planned. Kevin will set up a meeting with Tom Tonkin, Roger Johnson, Mike Koppy, Britt, and himself.

Conference Room Coffee Cups: Coffee cups for the conference rooms are complete. Carol is arranging for the cups to be put to use.

EC Flowchart: Carol and Theresa proposed an Environmental Council flowchart. Shannon will do revisions and send out to all council members.

New Business

EC Membership Survey: A survey will be sent out to all Environmental Council members regarding activity on the council. Britt will send out the survey, compile the results, and report back at the next meeting

EC Meeting Times/Days: The council discussed this semester’s meeting time and decided on every-other-Friday from 9:30 to 11:30am in Gary’s office. Council members are asked to attend any portion of the meetings their schedules allow. Subcommittees will meet as determined by subcommittee members.

Student Involvement: The council discussed a need to recruit students, particularly for the MN Schools Cutting Carbon program. A student senate representative is also necessary.

Cigarette Butts: The council discussed the issue of accumulating cigarette butts by Miller Creek, due to the LSC smoking ban. It was decided this is not an issue for the Environmental Council, but rather an issue for Beth and Mark.

Environmental Council Duty Day Breakout Session: Carol reported the following discussion points brought up by faculty and staff that attended the EC breakout session she, Theresa, and Julius taught:

Plants in the atrium are dying. Carol will contact Gary K. to include with IE.
The concept of a deposit on tableware, as other colleges are doing.
Parking lot/Rideshare needs. Mark and Wade are currently discussing this as part of LEED requirement
Bringing in an EC representative to FYE classes. Possibility of a virtual tour?
Adding sustainability to everybody’s performance evaluations. Wade and Stacey are looking into this.
Earth Day should be on the yearly calendar. Contact Heather Grillo?
A need for more water fountains.

Waste Wise Annual Meeting: Waste Wise will hold its annual meeting October 6, 2009. Kevin proposed and the council voted in favor of funding one EC member to attend the meeting, at a cost of $35.

Debra Rowe Power Point: Several people have requested Debra Rowe’s Power Point presentation from the LSC Duty Day. Deanne will arrange this.

Environmental Council POs: Shannon will now do POs for the Environmental Council.

Living Green Conference: Wade has notified EAGLE that LSC has agreed to take over the Living Green Conference. The council voted in favor of endorsing this transfer.

Retreat: The council discussed a need to hold another Environmental Council retreat.

Recycled Paper: Carol contacted Mike in the copy center. We currently use copy paper that is 0% recycled. A switch to 100% recycled copy paper would cost $7500 more per year. A switch to 30% recycled copy paper would cost $4000 more per year.

Motions

The council voted in favor of funding one Environmental Council member to attend the annual Waste Wise meeting on October 6, 2009. The cost of the meeting is $35.

The council voted in favor of endorsing the transfer of the Living Green Conference from EAGLE to LSC.

Next Meeting

The next Environmental Council meeting will take place on Friday, September 11, 2009 from 9:30 to 11:30am in Gary’s office.

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