Sustainability at Lake Superior College

Meeting Minutes 3/16/2012

9:00-11:00

Location: Student Life Conference Room

Attendance

Governing Council Members present: Amy Brooks, Deanne Roquet, Kevin Futhey, Kristi Heintz, Mike Francisco, Theresa Hornstein, Wade Gordon

General Members present:  Mat Gilderman, Lance Lindgren, Kevin Lindgren, Heather Grillo

Guest Present: Beth Johnson

Announcements

Spring Open House is today from 3:00-6:00.  Kristi and Lance will staff the table.

Duluth Bicycle/Pedestiran/Trail upcoming meetings and progress report  Reminder; “Carless in Duluth” at the Teatro Zuccone, Tuesday March 20^th.  Read an article in the DNT here.

David Sobel at UMD next Tuesday, speaking on “Children and Nature Design Principles” and “Natural Play Areas for Children”.

Darby Nelson, Minnesota aquatic ecologist, professor emeritus, Anoka-Ramsey Community College and conversation activist, presents “For the Love of Lakes” Presentation and Book Signing Thursday, March 22 at Canal Park Lodge 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.  Admission and parking are free!  For more information call 218-727-2497

Work-Study & Work-Group Reports

RecycleMania: Thanks to Beth, Heather, and Amy, April has turned into an LSC Earth Fest! With Earth centered activities almost every week leading up to Earth Day.  Heather handed out a 2 page list of activities planned.  April 4^th will the Recyclemania and Earth Day collection kick-off event.  See attached items page from Heather detailing events.

Earth Day T-shirts: A few design and slogan ideas were generated for t-shirts.  The Council took a look at each one and voted on their favorite.  Kristi contacted Make Your Mark designs for t-shirt pricing.  She will print organic cotton shirts for $10 each with no set-up costs.  The Council decided to go with this bid.  Wade will talk with Gary K to see if PR will cover the cost of the t-shirts.  If he will not, Deanne motioned we spend up to $1000 on t-shirts, Theresa seconded the motion, unopposed.

Vending Misers:  Lance will report on vending misers at next meeting.

Student Trip to Living Green Expo:  Deanne brought the Living Green Expo in May.  Any student interested in going should talk with Roger about the possibility of Student Life helping to fund travel.

Adopt-A-Parking Lot signs:  Gary Adams has approved the idea to start an Adopt-A-Parking Lot program on campus.  Kristi also ran the idea past Student Life, and it seems many student groups would be willing to adopt lots to keep clean.  Steve got a quote from ShelDon for metal signs, and they’ll cost up to $300 to print.  An idea generating design was presented to the EC, Kristi will work with Mat and Jean on a sign design.  Wade motioned to pay for the signs, Deanne seconded the motion unopposed.

Arbor Day Some ideas were generated regarding our obligatory Arbor Day promo in compliance with Tree Campus USA.  Giving away trees was an idea, as was planting herbs instead of giving away trees.  Kristi will look into the availability of free trees.

5R Promo  Kristi is still waiting on an official go ahead from Administration to run this year’s 5R event.  The Council decided to use last year’s design, changing the date and some details, for promo this year.  The event will be on Friday, April 27^th.

“Local Sustainability Folks” meeting:  LSC will host the group’s meeting on April 19^th at 3:00.  We’ll do a campus tour and meet in the H-Building.  Kristi will send out an email to the “folks”.

Ongoing Business

Earth Day Classroom Discussion: Wade put together a great power point and embedded the you tube video, the majestic plastic bag.  He also included some talking points.  Kristi will work on adding a few more plastic bag facts and post it to the EC SharePoint for Council review, then post it to the EC blog for faculty view.  Deanne will send the link to faculty on Earth Day.

Food Service Director Search:  Dick has written a very thoughtful letter to Vice President Finlayson and President Johns regarding the EC’s commitment to promoting a sustainability and health/nutrition conscious individual to fill this position.  He asked the EC to make revisions where we saw fit, then forward that letter to Pat and Al.  The EC made revisions, Wade will hand deliver the letter later today.

Old Business

Budget                                                                                                                                                                     

PO encumbrances since last meeting:

Balance as of 2/22/2012: $2,379.37

• Adopt-A-Parking Lot signs $180-300
• Interp Trail Sign Supplies: $300
• Earth Day/5R/Recyclemania printing :$
• Earth Day t-shirts: $
• Water bottle station: $700 (retrofit) $1300 (full) + installation

Next meeting

Next meeting is March 30^th  at 9:00 in the Student Life Conference Room

Notes Submitted by Kristi Heintz

Meeting Minutes 2/24/2012

February 24th, 2012

9:00-11:00

Location: Student Life Conference Room

Attendance

Governing Council Members present: Amy Brooks, Cliff Koski, Deanne Roquet, Kevin Futhey, Kristi Heintz, Theresa Hornstein, Wade Gordon

General Members present:  Anna Beaulieu, Dick Haney, Glenn Merrick,  Jeri Schwerin, Patty Dorn, Lance Lindgren, Kevin Lindgren, Heather Grillo

Guest Present: Beth Johnson

Announcements

Spring Open House is March 16^th from 3:00-6:00.  Kristi has reserved the EC a table for the day.  The table will feature recycling.

Duluth Bicycle/Pedestiran/Trail upcoming meetings and progress report Dick reported on some upcoming public meetings, hosted by The Healthy Duluth Area Coalition. Email Kristi or sustainability@lsc.edu for more info.  Kristi will also post this to the LSC facebook page.  An article in the DNT also features details for the the public meetings and the free showing of “Carless in Duluth” at the Teatro Zuccone, Tuesday March 20^th.  Read the full article here.

This also re-raised the question of our own campus accessibility and our lack of an entrance sidewalk.  Wade will bring this point to Al Finlayson’s attention.  The Council also agreed it would be a good idea to invite Al to a meeting to introduce ourselves.  Wade will bring this request to Al as well.

Work-Study & Work-Group Reports

RecycleMania: Amy and Beth reported on plans for the Recyclemania kickoff event planed for March 14^th.  The event will promote the project and prompt individuals to start saving found items for recycling projects on Earth Day, including a recyclables sculpture contest, shopping bag “crocheting” and pop-tab bracelets.  Heather mentioned Event Planners will also be showcasing Pi Day on March 14^th.  Kristi, Amy, Beth, and Lance will meet after the meeting to discuss more details of the day (see addendum below).

Vending Misers:  Lance and Wade checked the misers.  One snack machine is using MORE energy with the miser installed.  Kristi suggested they trade the vending miser for the snack miser to see if that makes a difference.  The vending misers are on a timer, and besides being activated by motion, will automatically turn on every few hours to keep the machine cold.  Snack misers don’t have that feature.

Ongoing Business

Food Service manager Search position  Dick and Cliff are both on the search committee for this position.  Wade, Deanne, and Kristi all forwarded ideas for sustainability related qualities we’d like to see in the position.  Dick shared the timeline and criteria the committee is using to base their interviews on, and also voiced his concern for the lack of emphasis being placed on nutrition and sustainability in the qualifications posted for the position.

Earth Day  Deanne contacted Elizabeth Nordell, a cultural story teller, and she indicated she would charge $200-$300 for Earth Day.  Wade said it is a culturally related event, so he would be able to pay for this.

Classroom Video: Patty followed-up with Kent about possibly showing a video in classes on Earth Day.  An idea was generated to contact Brandon to see if his class would like to do a short documentary on what LSC does for sustainability, then this could be shown in classes.  This would be a fantastic option for next year, as the timeline for this year is a bit short-notice.  Jeri suggested we use “The Majestic Plastic Bag”, a 4 minute Mocumentary on YouTube.  The Council reviewed the short film, and agreed it would be great.  Wade will embed it in a PowerPoint with some discussion points for faculty.  We will discuss the talking points at the next meeting.

Newsplash Sustainability Q&A This week’s newsplash will feature PTA’s glossy paper recycling fundraiser.  Ideas for the future include recyclemania (during week of March 14^th), energy miser data, and stryo shredding update.

Old Business

Residential CFL recycling drop-off  Kristi messaged Sarah at WLSSD, and because the grant is specific to a long-term recycling drop-off site, they will not be able to sponsor us for event related drop-offs.  Sarah will bring out ideas to the committee and see if there’s any possibility of an event type project.

Budget                                                                                                                                                                     

PO encumbrances since last meeting:

-Recyclemania promo material shipping: $12.14

Balance as of 2/22/2012: $2,379.37

Next meeting

Next meeting is March 16^th  at 9:00 in the Student Life Conference Room

Addendum: Notes for March 14^th Recyclemania Kick-off event

Where: Desk across from Student Life—we will find out if this can be used  as a “Re-Using” Center, where student can drop off plastic bags and pop-tabs, until Earth Day.  We can also have a receptacle for glossy paper recycling here.  Lance is working on designing a banner that we can hang here.

What Else: We will be unveiling the rules for the Earth Day sculpture contest.  Beth will put together a rule sheet.  There will be 3 prize categories 1. Creative use of materials 2. Most functional/usable 3. Biggest (outdoor, must be weatherproof)

And: We discussed t-shirts for Recyclemania and Earth Day.  Using the same design for both events would be ideal.  Kristi will find out from Mat who our vendor was in previous years.  Kristi will talk to Heather about ordering 100 shirts.  We’re still brain-storming on a slogan for the shirts, but will go with a basic brown or olive green with basic writing, possibly with an LSC logo.

Notes Submitted by Kristi Heintz

Meeting Minutes 2/10/2012

9:00-11:00

Location: Student Life Conference Room

Attendance

Governing Council Members present: Carol Johnson, Cliff Koski, Lance Lindgren, Deanne Roquet, Kristi Heintz, Theresa Hornstein, Wade Gordon

General Members present:  Glenn Merrick, Jeri Schwerin, Megan Bugge, Kevin Lindgren

Announcements

Work-Study & Work-Group Reports

SS Legacy Project update.  Zak Radzak, from the Senate Involvement Committee, attended the meeting to update the Council on the Legacy project.  The SIC and Kristi met with Jeff West of Boreal Natives last week to find out what their options were for seeding the space outside the library in native grasses.  Jeff informed them that the spring would be a time for killing off existing turf grass and planting could be done in the fall.   Spring could also be a good time to get started on walkways before seeding/planting begins.  Glenn spoke to the importance of working with the Env. Science faculty to incorporate educational tree plantings with the project, and also pointed out that Duluth Stream Corp may be interested in providing trees for the project as well.  Jeff was asked to put together a few different design options for the Senate to look over and take to Administration for approval.  Zak also discussed the Senate’s idea to propose a “student greens fee” to supplement the planting funding year after year.  The Council agreed we would be of help in any way possible.  Zak will keep us informed as plans materialize.

RecycleMania: Amy and Kristi did a walk-through of the loading dock to formulate a plan for tracking recycling.  Amy will also keep an eye on trash, to estimate what’s being dumped that could be recycled.  Beth is ordering promotional materials, but shipping will cost $12.14.  Theresa motioned the EC pay for shipping, Carol 2^nd.  Kristi will work with Lance to start a comprehensive signage project for recycling.

Vending Misers:  Lance and Wade installed 4 Kill-A-Watt meters and some vending misers last week.  They will be taking the readings on Monday for the one week energy baseline.

New Business

LEED Workshop  Continuing Ed and Kraus Anderson are offering a LEED Associate Exam Prep Workshop.  It is a 3 day workshop, and registration is $200.  LSC gets 2 free spots, and if completed, would receive LEED points in certification for having a trained staff member employed.  Wade reported that as of now, there aren’t enough people signed up to run the course, but it hasn’t been canceled yet.  The first course is February 16^th.  Kristi would be willing to attend it the course runs.

Toasy Toes Kristi gave Lolly her Toasty Toes foot warmer in the 2^nd floor Admin Suite along with an informational flyer.

Residential CFL recycling drop-off  WLSSD has asked LSC if we’d like to be a compact fluorescent bulb drop-off site.  Prepaid buckets would be supplied, and the buckets would need to be monitored for proper handing and items being dropped off.  After much discussion, the Council agreed it may be a good option to be the host on a bi-annual or quarterly event, but continuous drop-offs may become over-burdening on maintenance.  Deanne will email Sarah at WLSSD and see if this would be an option, Kristi will talk with maintenance to get their feedback.

Food Service manager Search position  Kathy has sent out a request for search committee members for the Director of Food Service position beginning next fall.  Cliff has volunteered but isn’t available for some of the potential interview times, and Amy has also volunteered as a student representative.  Wade will work on some interview questions representative of the EC’s wishes.

Earth Day  Deanne suggested a story-teller, Elizabeth Nordell, with cultural perspective be brought to campus for Earth Day this year instead of music.  The cost of such a speaker can be shared with the Intercultural Center, Student Life, and the EC.  Deanne will find out how much the performance  fee is.  This could possibly be an outdoor activity on Thursday of Earth Week activities.

Newsplash Sustainability Q&A Kristi will send info on the saddle bags to Mat for next week’s newsplash.  The following week can highlight Lolly’s toasy toes.

Old Business

Recruiting brochure  The Council reviewed the current recruiting brochure and made suggestions for changes to the updated version.  Theresa will forward this information to Melissa Leno.

Living Green by the Lake re-cap: Deanne gave a recap of the Living Green Conference.  Overall, attendance was fair, but Deanne and Theresa made great contacts with other groups.  Deanne reported EcoRotery does monthly service projects, and would love to have students involved in their service projects.  Instructors could possibly work it into courses or offer the opportunity as extra credit.  Sustainable Twin Ports and Minnesota Power would both like to table at the LSC Earth Day festivities, Deanne forwarded their contact info to Heather.  Minnesota Power also extended an invite to LSC to participate in the “Power of One” program.  UMD uses this program, selling CFLs in their bookstore, and a portion of the sale goes to Student Life.  The concern was the bookstore may not have the space available, and we don’t have the on-ground housing that may drive a successful project.  Kristi will forward the information to Heather, Roger, and Connie to see if they are interested.

Budget                                                                                                                                                                     

PO encumbrances since last meeting:

-IOS: 50 saddlebags + 1 foot warmer: $293.79

Balance as of 2/8/12: $2,398.56

Next meeting

Next meeting is February 24^th at 9:00 in the Student Life Conference Room

Notes Submitted by Kristi Heintz

Meeting Minutes 2/10/2012

9:00-11:00

Location: Student Life Conference Room

Attendance

Governing Council Members present: Carol Johnson, Cliff Koski, Lance Lindgren, Deanne Roquet, Kristi Heintz, Theresa Hornstein, Wade Gordon

General Members present:  Glenn Merrick, Jeri Schwerin, Megan Bugge, Kevin Lindgren

Announcements

Work-Study & Work-Group Reports

SS Legacy Project update.  Zak Radzak, from the Senate Involvement Committee, attended the meeting to update the Council on the Legacy project.  The SIC and Kristi met with Jeff West of Boreal Natives last week to find out what their options were for seeding the space outside the library in native grasses.  Jeff informed them that the spring would be a time for killing off existing turf grass and planting could be done in the fall.   Spring could also be a good time to get started on walkways before seeding/planting begins.  Glenn spoke to the importance of working with the Env. Science faculty to incorporate educational tree plantings with the project, and also pointed out that Duluth Stream Corp may be interested in providing trees for the project as well.  Jeff was asked to put together a few different design options for the Senate to look over and take to Administration for approval.  Zak also discussed the Senate’s idea to propose a “student greens fee” to supplement the planting funding year after year.  The Council agreed we would be of help in any way possible.  Zak will keep us informed as plans materialize.

RecycleMania: Amy and Kristi did a walk-through of the loading dock to formulate a plan for tracking recycling.  Amy will also keep an eye on trash, to estimate what’s being dumped that could be recycled.  Beth is ordering promotional materials, but shipping will cost $12.14.  Theresa motioned the EC pay for shipping, Carol 2^nd.  Kristi will work with Lance to start a comprehensive signage project for recycling.

Vending Misers:  Lance and Wade installed 4 Kill-A-Watt meters and some vending misers last week.  They will be taking the readings on Monday for the one week energy baseline.

New Business

LEED Workshop  Continuing Ed and Kraus Anderson are offering a LEED Associate Exam Prep Workshop.  It is a 3 day workshop, and registration is $200.  LSC gets 2 free spots, and if completed, would receive LEED points in certification for having a trained staff member employed.  Wade reported that as of now, there aren’t enough people signed up to run the course, but it hasn’t been canceled yet.  The first course is February 16^th.  Kristi would be willing to attend it the course runs.

Toasy Toes Kristi gave Lolly her Toasty Toes foot warmer in the 2^nd floor Admin Suite along with an informational flyer.

Residential CFL recycling drop-off  WLSSD has asked LSC if we’d like to be a compact fluorescent bulb drop-off site.  Prepaid buckets would be supplied, and the buckets would need to be monitored for proper handing and items being dropped off.  After much discussion, the Council agreed it may be a good option to be the host on a bi-annual or quarterly event, but continuous drop-offs may become over-burdening on maintenance.  Deanne will email Sarah at WLSSD and see if this would be an option, Kristi will talk with maintenance to get their feedback.

Food Service manager Search position  Kathy has sent out a request for search committee members for the Director of Food Service position beginning next fall.  Cliff has volunteered but isn’t available for some of the potential interview times, and Amy has also volunteered as a student representative.  Wade will work on some interview questions representative of the EC’s wishes.

Earth Day  Deanne suggested a story-teller, Elizabeth Nordell, with cultural perspective be brought to campus for Earth Day this year instead of music.  The cost of such a speaker can be shared with the Intercultural Center, Student Life, and the EC.  Deanne will find out how much the performance  fee is.  This could possibly be an outdoor activity on Thursday of Earth Week activities.

Newsplash Sustainability Q&A Kristi will send info on the saddle bags to Mat for next week’s newsplash.  The following week can highlight Lolly’s toasy toes.

Old Business

Recruiting brochure  The Council reviewed the current recruiting brochure and made suggestions for changes to the updated version.  Theresa will forward this information to Melissa Leno.

Living Green by the Lake re-cap: Deanne gave a recap of the Living Green Conference.  Overall, attendance was fair, but Deanne and Theresa made great contacts with other groups.  Deanne reported EcoRotery does monthly service projects, and would love to have students involved in their service projects.  Instructors could possibly work it into courses or offer the opportunity as extra credit.  Sustainable Twin Ports and Minnesota Power would both like to table at the LSC Earth Day festivities, Deanne forwarded their contact info to Heather.  Minnesota Power also extended an invite to LSC to participate in the “Power of One” program.  UMD uses this program, selling CFLs in their bookstore, and a portion of the sale goes to Student Life.  The concern was the bookstore may not have the space available, and we don’t have the on-ground housing that may drive a successful project.  Kristi will forward the information to Heather, Roger, and Connie to see if they are interested.

Budget                                                                                                                                                                     

PO encumbrances since last meeting:

-IOS: 50 saddlebags + 1 foot warmer: $293.79

Balance as of 2/8/12: $2,398.56

Next meeting

Next meeting is February 24^th at 9:00 in the Student Life Conference Room

Notes Submitted by Kristi Heintz

Meeting Minutes 1/27/2012

9:00-11:00

Location: Student Life Conference Room

Attendance

Governing Council Members present:  Amy Brooks, Cliff Koski, Deanne Roquet, Kristi Heintz, Theresa Hornstein, Wade Gordon

General Members present:  Dick Haney, Jeri Schwerin, Patty Dorn, Lance Lindgren

Announcements

Work Studies Introduction  Kristi introduced our newest work-study, Lance Lindquist.  Lance was hired last week and will be working 10 hours per week along with Amy.  Lance is in his first semester at LSC.  Amy is in her 4^th semester at LSC and was previously a member of the EC.

“Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for our Time”  Dick announced this movie will be playing at UMD on February 9^th at 7:00 at UMD in the Bohannon Hall Room 90, attendance is free.

LSC Newsplash The Council would like to see weekly sustainability tips in the Newspash which is sent out by Mat every Monday.  Wade suggested we set up a list of ideas and give them all to Mat to use weekly.  Until then, Kristi will send Mat something to print on Fridays.

Work-Study & Work-Group Reports

Kristi on behalf of Brian Sanner: SS Legacy Project update.  Brian contacted Boreal Natives via email and has received a response to his message stating they’d be happy to work with the Senate in constructing a site plan.  Brian will follow-up again and keep Kristi posted.  An avid gardener and student, Kevin Lindquist, attended the meeting and gave a lot of great suggestions for the project.  Kristi will make sure Brian has his contact info as he would be a great resource for the Senate throughout the project.  Wade added that administration would like to see a plan outlining timeline, detailed definition of space to be used, and a plan for the annual phases and additional planting.  It may also be a good idea to include the Campus Tree Care Committee in the planning process, which includes members of maintenance.

Amy-RecycleMania: Amy gave a brief overview of the RecycleMania project she is working on with Beth in Student Senate.  The Council gave suggestions for waste tracking; Deanne suggested she contact Kate Whorley at Minnesota Waste Wise for tips.  The Council also discussed ideas for promoting the project throughout the next few months.  Kevin L. suggested a kick-off event with a movie, he suggested “Home” and Deanne suggested possibly include Heather and Student Life in making popcorn.  Kristi suggested using it as an opportunity for comprehensive campus recycling education and Beth would like to include some sort of a pledge that students would sign, possibly a banner.

Lance-Vending Misers:  Lance will be taking on the vending miser project.  Wade has 7 new misers to be installed.  Wade will work with Lance to first install the Kill-A-Watt meters to get a week-long baseline of energy use for soda and snack machines before installing.  Lance will also work on repairing the existing misers and putting up signs to educate users and product/machine distributors.

New Business

Saddle bags  Kevin has asked the EC to purchase 80 saddle bags for existing offices that do not currently have them.  The EC approved spending up to $250 on saddle bags and Kristi created a purchase order.  The vendor Kevin supplied for saddlebags is no longer in business.  Kristi found a similar product from Innovative Office Solutions (IOS), but it’s a bit bigger and more expensive.  With the $250 encumbered, 50 saddlebags can be purchased.  Kristi will have Shannon purchase just one for an example and will have the existing PO revised for IOS if that product is satisfactory and existing bags fit into them.

Toasy Toes Kristi gave the first foot heater to the Welcome Desk, and they’ve had mixed feelings.  It’s warm, but not as warm as a space heater.  Kristi gave them a small flyer explaining the energy and dollar savings they are achieving by using the foot warmer instead.  Wade suggested mopboard also be used along the base of the Welcome Desk to cut down on draft.  Kristi and Lance will work with maintenance to get this installed.  Lolly has also requested a foot warmer for her new space in the President’s Suite on the second floor.  Kristi will get a second foot warmer for her and also an informational flyer.

Living Green by the Lake is next weekend at the Coppertop Church.  Kristi has registered LSC as a sponsor for the event and has asked Mat and Jean to put together a poster highlighting the H-building’s LEED properties.  They will finish up with the poster early next week.  Theresa and Deanne are working on the rest of the info table for the event.

ReUse Room-Evaluation of Use:  The room was utilized fairly well.  There was no “illegal dumping” or misuse of the room.  For being open for about 2 weeks, the room saved the campus over $2,500 in reclaimed supplies.  After Kristi sent a final reminder for pick-ups in the room, it was fairly well cleaned out.  Office supplies remaining will be put in the Academic Affairs supplies room.

Earth Day  Patty would like to be a part of planning music for Earth Day.  Wade offered to help pay for an artist if it has a cultural appeal, Student Life also has money for music, and the EC may also contribute. Patty will look into options and will consider using the outdoors as a venue on Thursday the 26^th to compliment outdoor work.  Patty will also follow up with Kent Richards about the possibility of asking faculty to show a short video with Earth Day appeal, on Wednesday the 25^th, in classes.

Old Business

Meeting attendance: voting membership  Deanne suggested we re-visit the intentions of voting members and attendance at meetings.  It was decided that those members that committed to being voting members should be held to making as many meetings as possible.  Deanne will send an email to all voting members, asking for commitment.  If attendance isn’t possible, a replacement for that voting position needs to be found.  Discussion about the frequency of meetings was also brought up.  There was talk of making some meetings during the busy parts of the semester (beginning and end) just work-group meeting weeks.  It’s a great idea, but there was concern of follow-through.  This idea can be discussed more at a later meeting.

Budget                                                                                                                                                                     

PO encumbrances since last meeting:

-Living Green by the Lake sponsorship: $250

-Gov. Connections: laptop battery $104.60

-Recycling Products, Inc: 80 saddlebags $274

—-Note: this company is no longer in business, IOS sells this item for $4.95 each

Balance as of 1/25/12” $2,448.35

Next meeting

Next meeting is February 10^th at 9:00 in the Student Life Conference Room

Notes Submitted by Kristi Heintz