Sustainability Coordinating Events
Below are descriptions of events that attempt to coordinate sustainability on Marlboro College's Campus between various town meeting committees or other student, staff, or faculty activities.
4-29-09
The Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) hosted a meeting to discuss various committee action geared towards sustainability. The EAC called the event "Pancakes and Sustainability" to lure students to a morning meeting in Staples. A student made the pancakes and a faculty member brought the (real) maple syrup.
Minutes from the Meeting
8:12 am meeting begins
people begin passing pancakes around
in attendance:
KP, Mark Genzler, Matt Ollis, Jenny Ramstedder, (student next to jenny), Ben Libberman, Eva Baison, Ken Schneck, Jim Tober, Philip Johansson, Pat Cavanaugh, Chrissy R., Todd Smith, Jessica Stern, Randy Knaggs, Kenny Card, Geri Madina.
reports from individuals that are coming around
- geri medina (representing committee on the first two years)
- maybe people from environment can talk during dead hour
- work with orientation committee
- integrating something into orientation week
- making dead hour manditory
- preliminary plan application and sophomore review making them potentially manditory
- orientaion committee has an event -- maybe we can buy paper instead of plastic
- Ken Shenck -- no bridges trips are focused on sustainability
- Randy Knaggs mentions that we need to orient new students
- Jim Tober -- says the Environmental Advisory Committee is a committee that actually should focus on advising the president and not be action oriented
- Pat Cavanaugh - - says something about not being highly action oriented
- Jess Stern -- Waves her opportunity
- Randy Knaggs - - he mentions that things have happened over time but that there has not been communication between different groups
- on eac, he mentions they are trying to take into environmental impact for purchasing and any action
- need for better coordination
- biggest challenge is that our community changes
- Sunny Tappin -Orientation committee
- she lives off the grid and belives in that
- understands it takes a shift to change things environmentally
- Kenny
- Farm
- planting schedule
- purchasing from dinning hall
- composting
- greenhouse
- jenny was worried about glass
- mark asks how to use the greenhouse
- KP - everything has been said
- Mark - - he is on select board
- Matt Ollis - - there are three studies being done at the moment: solar, small scale biomass, hydro electric
- feasibility studies going on for each of those
- Jenny Ramstedder on Power Relations with Sustainability
- academic work that is related to sustainability
- 5 out of 7 students are doing work that relate to sustainability
- Jenny also passed out her bubble chart relating to sustainability
- this shows power relations
- this is how confusing people, action, or activities are confusing on campus
- Pat mentions that there have been other such power relation studies done in the past
- Randy mentions that to move things forward through different structures
- KP says: how can we come up with direct paths to answers
- Kenny - - goes on to describe wiki pages and the sustainable initiative coordination
- Todd - - mentions that sustainability goes beyond environmental -- it goes into the clear writing requirement, to our mission statement,
- committees members coming together might not overly change things
- if we had guidelines or a general suggestion for evaluating their environmental sustainability
- purchasing guidelines?
- Pat - says our mission in setting up purchasing guidelines might regulate each committee so they are acting environmentally
- Todd - - says, ellen says efficiency has doubled in the last year
After the meeting 9:35am
- Kenny is thinking - - the Sustainable Coordinating Committee should write a Sustainability Report
- Randy, Mark, and Kenny continue discussing sustainability
- Randy - - can we reimagine town meeting structure
- If committees dont meet they lose their budget (mark and kenny agree)