Meeting Minutes 9/11/09
Members present: Cathy Carlson, Kevin Futhey, Wade Gordon, Theresa Hornstein, Dave Israel, Britt Johnson, Carol Johnson, Cliff Koski, Deanne Roquet, Jeri Schwerin.
Announcements
Wade announced LSC was not a recipient of the Minnesota GreenCorps grant. 56 host sites applied, 7 were accepted. Due to an overwhelming response, more funding may be available in the near future.
Wade announced LSC will soon be a full member of AASHE, once a few PO issues are resolved.
Wade announced the new purchaser’s job description will contain a sustainability component.
Committee Reports
No committee reports were provided at this meeting.
Old Business
Sustainability in the Curriculum: Carol discussed a need for an “idea” session. College outcomes have been revised to contain a sustainability component. It has not been added to FYE because FYE already has many objectives.
Recycled Paper: Deanne suggested getting a class involved in researching recycled paper, via class project. There is a need for training and support in setting printer defaults to double-sided. Carol will contact IT regarding this matter.
Sustainability in Purchasing Policy: Deanne communicated an email conversation with Mark Winson regarding sustainability in purchasing. Mark recommended including someone from plant maintenance (Kevin?) and the new purchasing agent when setting up the policy.
Styrofoam Shredding: At this time styrofoam is being collected, but not shredded. Kevin, Britt, Tom Tonkin, Roger Johnson, and Mike Koppy will be meeting to discuss future plans of the project.
Environmental Council Membership: Gary Adams, Jim Drake, and Heather Grillo have removed themselves from the Environmental Council. The council suggested asking Heather to remain on the council as an Earth Day subcommittee member. Britt will contact Heather. Wade will work to recruit students, possibly through the student senate. During the meeting Kevin spoke with Dan Pioro to request an IT representative on the Environmental Council. The council would also like representation from the ERTC.
Climate Plan: Cliff discussed a need to make a plan for the ACUPCC. Wade indicated he would meet with Mark and Gary to discuss this. The council discussed contacting UofM students to assist with the Climate Plan.
Cafeteria Coffee Cups: Cathy reported no reusable cups have been purchased from the cafeteria. However, several people are bringing their own reusable cups and receiving a discount. Carol will send out an email to advertise the reusable coffee cup savings.
Conference Room Coffee Cups: Emily will pick up the coffee cups for the Presidential conference room from Tanya in the Art Department.
New Business
Grants: Carol discussed the need for an EC subcommittee for grants, now that LSC no longer has a grant writer. For now, please forward grant opportunities to Britt and she will place them on the EC blog.
MPCA Environmental Report Card: Deanne was trained on the MPCA Environmental Report Card on State of MN. This training was sponsored by the College of St. Kate’s. Deanne explained that the report card led to some interesting realizations about knowledge, attitude, and behavior. She will be presenting this information to the IE Committee. This may be helpful in plotting a path towards sustainability in the LSC curriculum.
Environmental Council Goals: Deanne discussed a need for the Environmental Council to set goals. This will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting. Goals will be posted to the blog. Cathy suggested an “ongoing” list of goals. As goals are met, new goals go up.
Press Release: Wade informed the council that the ACUPCC would like to do a press release regarding LSC’s completion of the greenhouse gas emissions inventory.
Diane Morin’s Position: Diane’s position is not being replaced. Kay Earnst will be covering Diane’s responsibilities. Carol is meeting with Kay to discuss past/current/future sustainability efforts.
Adult Environmental Programming: Deanne discussed a need for local agencies to coordinate programming in order to streamline messages and improve turn-out. Nadine Meyer organizes programming for the DNR and the Aquarium.
Environmental Specialist Position: The council discussed the Environmental Specialist position, and a need for clarification of job description.
Cafeteria Dishes: Cathy reported several dishes are missing from the cafeteria. Kevin reported maintenance frequently finds dishes around campus. Carol mentioned an idea brought up at a duty day breakout session of charging a deposit for tableware to prevent loss. Cathy explained this would involve too much administrative cost.
Atrium Plants: Roger Johnson’s Atrium Revitalization committee is working to improve the plants in the atrium. Theresa said there are plants in the circle drive that should be taken in for the winter. Cathy Carlson will give the message to an employee who is on the Atrium Revitalization committee.
Motions
No motions were made at this meeting.
Next Meeting
The next environmental council meeting will take place Friday, September 25, 2009 from 9:30 to 11:30am in Gary’s office.
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Leave a Comment (3) ↓
What are you planning to do with the shredded styrofoam? I cant think of anything that it could be used for other than packing materials.
What do you plan to do with shredded styrofoam. Does it make it easier to recycle when you shred it down to size.
The material that is being shredded is basically large chunks of styoroam (think of the molded pieces you get with small appliances, computers etc.) The shredding is done to re-use, not recycle, styrofoam as this material cannot be recycled. The shredded styrofoam is bagged and given to numerous businesses for different purposes such as packing material (similar to packing peanuts) or insulation. The purpose is to extend the life of the existing product, thereby diverting it from landfills and at the same time alleviating the need for production of new styrofoam materials.