ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES COMMITTEE
May 21, 2002
Umpqua Room

ATTENDEES: Bob Jones, Dorene Steggell, Anne Forrestel, Julia Heydon, Robyn Hathcock, Karyn Kaplan, Dean Livelybrooks, Chris Jones, Josh Ruddick
Guest: Steve Mital

Environmental Studies Service Learning Program:

Steve Mital had a successful month as a result of EIC's endorsement. Dan Williams has approved $7,500 for the EMU waste reduction project. EMU's grant writer, Mary Farrington, believes that the financial support from Dan will help to secure grant dollars.

He has met with professor of architecture, Charlie Brown and will continue to pursue ideas for energy conservation projects on campus.

Steve has been in contact with the event organizer for Ohio University's fall 2001 energy bowl competition in their residence halls. It was organized along the lines of the NCAA and winning floors received prizes. They invested approximately $18,000 for outreach, education, and prizes. Total energy cost reduction was $75,000 over a ten-week period and the average amount each hall reduced was 20%. There is interest in expanding this idea into an intercollegiate energy bowl.

One of the off-campus projects will be on watershed health with the Mohawk Watershed Council. UO students will conduct the initial survey of valley residents, coordinate volunteer streamside planting days, write the newsletter, and present the survey results. Additional projects under consideration are with McKenzie River Trust, Mt. Pisgah, or the City of Eugene.

Robyn, on behalf of the Ed Tech Committee, and Bob's supervisor have asked whether the EIC would endorse a proposal to charge for printing in the microcomputer labs. From January through May, 2002, over two million sheets of paper will have been printed between the EMU, Klamath, and McKenzie microcomputer labs. Chris Jones said that costs have tripled each of the last two years. The highest costs are for toner and maintenance.

Bob pointed out that the technical equipment would cost more than the amount saved. Chris concurred in that other universities charging for black-and-white printing have found they can't charge enough to recover costs. However, they are able to cap the cost of printing and save paper.

One solution may be to provide a finite number of copies to students as part of the tech fee and then begin charging. Dean suggested that EIC give a more general endorsement in supporting efforts to reduce paper waste.

Karyn said that EIC discussed this issue approximately three years ago and did recommend charging for printing in the final report. At the time ASUO agreed and planned to institute a fee during the summer, but the plan was not executed.

Robyn and Bob offered to review the proposal and send a draft letter to the list serve.

The wood products sub-policy has not been written yet. It will be sent to Dan Williams when complete.

The committee asked Bob if he would chair next year. Since his appointment ends after this year, he would need to be reappointed by the Officers of Administration. If reappointed, Bob agreed to chair.

Karyn reported a 22% reduction in the amount of waste at this event. Food and paper waste were composted. Cans, paper, and bottles were recycled. Karyn also noted a significant decrease in littering compared to previous years. The dish washing area was very well organized. There were an abundance of volunteers. Vendors and festival participants completed hundreds of surveys.

Since transportation is such an important issue, Dorene felt that it should be given more time as a major agenda item for next year. The Committee agreed and suggested potential topics for further discussion: TRC location/size and increase promotion, fiscal incentive for the people who only drive occasionally, increase telecommuting and four-day-workweek options, increase parking rates.

Julia expressed concern about the amount of paper to be discarded with the proposed change to new letterhead. Even though the deadline has been extended to January 1, 2003, there will still be a significant amount of waste. Anne pointed out that when corporations make such a change, there is often a 2-to-3 years deadline and waste is minimized. Julie and Anne will draft a letter.

Benefits of a June versus an early September meeting were discussed. The consensus was to get an early start setting next year's agenda during the first week of September.

The next Environmental Issues Committee meeting - TBA.