Page 680 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

Middlebury College and Minnesota’s Macalester College
were pioneers in installing wind turbines to help meet their
energy needs, and today more colleges are doing so. The Uni-
versity of Maine at Presque Isle installed a wind turbine that
will save $100,000 each year in electricity expenses with a
corresponding reduction in carbon emissions (Figure 24.9b).
St. Olaf College in Minnesota gets one-third of its electric-
ity from its wind turbine. Massachusetts Maritime Academy
is erecting a wind turbine expected to generate 25% of the
school’s electricity and save $300,000 per year.
Campuses that do not generate renewable energy them-
selves can still invest in renewable energy by purchasing
“green tags,” or carbon offsets (p. 531), which subsidize
renewable energy sources. Western Washington University,
College of the Atlantic in Maine, Georgian Court University,
and other schools now offset 100% of their greenhouse gas
emissions by buying green tags for renewable energy. The Figure 24.10 In October 2011, college and university
teams converged on Washington, D.C., for the fifth Solar
California State University system buys 20% of its power Decathlon. Each team designed and erected an entire house fully
from renewable sources, and students in the University powered by solar energy.
of California system were integral in convincing the UC
regents to pass a system-wide policy back in 2003 to encour-
age renewable energy. Renewable power generally costs
more than power from fossil fuels, but on dozens of cam- locally grown or produced food. At Sterling College in
puses so far, students have voted to increase student fees— Vermont, many foods are organic, grown by local farmers,
to tax themselves—to help fund the purchase of renewable or produced by Vermont-based companies. Some foods are
energy. At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, green fees grown and breads are baked on the Sterling campus, and
brought in $1.4 million to buy green power and make energy- food shipped in is purchased in bulk. Dish soap is biode-
efficiency upgrades. gradable, and kitchen scraps are composted along with
Some students even design renewable energy technology! unbleached paper products.
In 2011, teams of students from 20 universities competed in Some college campuses even have gardens or farms
the fifth Solar Decathlon. In this remarkable biennial event, where students help to grow food that is eaten on campus
teams of students travel to the National Mall in Washington, (Figure 24.11). Students help run sizeable farms now at many
D.C., bringing material for solar-powered homes they have dozens of campuses—all of which provide food for the din-
spent months designing. The teams erect their homes on ing halls and often for local communities. San Diego City
the Mall, where they are open to the public for 10 days College converted an expanse of lawn into a vibrant organic
(Figure 24.10). The homes are judged on various criteria, and farm. University of Montana students tend a 10-acre farm that
prizes are awarded to winners in each category. A team from produces 20,000 pounds of organic produce that is given to
the University of Maryland won the 2011 competition, where a local food bank. At Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, a
the houses were inspected by 350,000 visitors. Since 2002, a small garden originating with a class project grew to three-
total of 112 collegiate teams have competed. The event moves fourths of an acre and began supplying a local food bank. It
to Irvine, California, in 2013, and it has inspired similar events then moved off-campus to a 20-acre site, where it now pro-
in China and Europe. duces $28,000 worth of food for community-supported agri-
culture (CSA) members (p. 287), as well as for the campus
food service.
Dining services and campus farms can George Mason University runs a CSA for its students,
promote more sustainable food staff, and faculty, and it also established an apiary for
honeybees. Loyola University Chicago is raising bees to
For those of us who can’t hit a nail with a hammer, let alone produce honey on its campus as well, and Loyola students
build a house, we can still make a difference three times a and staff are going into the community and tending com-
day—each time we eat. One way is by cutting down on waste, munity gardens to feed the homeless. They also are plant- CHAPTER 24 • Su STA in A bl E Sol u T i on S
estimated at 25% of food that students take. Composting food ing fruit- and nut-bearing trees in urban neighborhoods
scraps is an effective method of recycling waste once it is cre- in Chicago to help establish homegrown food sources for
ated, but trayless dining can reduce waste at its source. Coe working-class residents.
College in Iowa is one of many schools where dining halls At Kennesaw State University in Georgia, a new “Farm-
are eliminating trays and asking students to carry plates indi- to-Campus” program is providing 20% of the produce served
vidually. Not having to wash trays saves water, detergent, and in the KSU Commons dining hall and plans to boost that figure
energy, and Coe’s dining manager calculated that the trayless to 50% by 2014. Newly acquired lands are producing organic,
system prevents 200–300 pounds of food waste per week. heirloom, and non-GM produce, and include an apiary, apple
Campus food services also can buy organic produce, orchard, and greenhouses—all of which KSU faculty and stu-
purchase food in bulk or with less packaging, and buy dents use as an outdoor learning lab. 679

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