College launches effort to become greener

The College of Charleston is falling in line with higher education institutions across the country with a new attempt to grow a little greener and become a role model for environmentally sound practices.

Department leaders campuswide will gather later this month for the first meeting of the college's sustainability committee, says Burton Callicott, a librarian and chairman of the new committee.

Callicott has been chairman of the college's recycling committee for the last two years. That committee, he said, "had tons of great ideas, but no power to effect change."

The new group will include directors of residence life, business affairs, the physical plant and food service, he said. And George Benson, the college's newly inaugurated president, is behind the effort, Callicott added.

Nikki Seibert, a graduate student in environmental science and the recycling committee coordinator, said she would like to see more sustainability efforts on the campus. "Universities are supposed to be the leaders of the community," she said. "We should be the beacon for sustainability."

Callicott said some progress has been made. For instance, the school uses safer cleaning products, less pesticides for landscaping and lights that save energy.

Angela Halfacre, chairwoman of the political science department, and a group of her students landed a $10,000 grant a few years ago to make the Political Science Department building a bit greener by installing ceiling fans, reinsulating and repainting the interior walls with less toxic paint. The group also planted a native plant garden near the building.

"There have been little campus initiatives," Seibert said, "but they fail when the students (who initiated them) graduate, so we need a coordinator for the long run."

Callicott said the new committee might discuss hiring a sustainability coordinator, someone who's knowledgeable and can follow through with the committee's ideas.

Christine von Kolnitz holds such a position at the Medical University of South Carolina. The university last year recycled 27 percent of its "waste stream," she said.

That included paper, cardboard, yard waste and scrap metal, she said.

Gene Luna, associate vice president for student affairs at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, said the university has many sustainability efforts underway, including the opening three years ago of West Quad, a residence hall and classroom building that is one of the state's first certified green buildings.

The university is building a biomass plant that will generate steam to heat buildings by turning wood chips into gas. When the new plant opens, likely sometime this spring, the university will no longer have to use gas to create steam. The new process will reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, Luna said.

Presidents at Clemson University, Furman University, MUSC and USC have signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, a national effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions and to accelerate research and educational efforts. So far 415 college presidents have signed on.

Callicott said the committee might ask Benson to sign the document or make some similar tangible commitment to campus sustainability.

"I think there's real support for these initiatives by a significant portion of the community," he said.

Seibert agrees. "A lot of people would say it's a touchy-feely thing when in reality it's an economic and political thing," she said.

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.

---

Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.

---

Comments

This article has  1 comment(s)