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Students make “green” living accessible
July 27, 2007
Sustainability Fellows Tamara Power-Drutis and Kyle Morean are working to make sustainable living more accessible to students living on campus.
Many students have no idea what “sustainable living” really means, Morean said. And few are aware of all the things PLU is doing to reduce the university’s carbon footprint.
By incorporating information about environmental stewardship into existing programs and events and by supplying students with resources about how to live more sustainably, Power-Drutis and Morean hope to educate and equip students to live green even after they leave the Lutedome.
“At the core, the basic definition of sustainability is broad – it’s not just being green or recycling really well,” Morean said. “And you’re not really doing sustainability if it’s just on the insular campus.”
Power-Drutis is educating residential life and other student leaders on the subject during training events. The goal is that those leaders will spread the message by incorporating information about sustainability into their programming and events, she explained.
She’s currently working on creating the RD/RA Lifestyle Project, based loosely on an Environmental Sciences course. Residential life leaders will evaluate their use of resources, and then learn how reduce their use of water and electricity, as well as make more sustainable choices about food and transportation.
Additionally, the First Year Picnic during Welcome Weekend will produce no waste. Everything from lunch bags to the silverware used will be recycled, reused or composted. No trashcans will be available at the picnic, and student leaders will be on hand to explain why.
“If we get students engaged right when they come to campus, we can put new habits in place,” Power-Drutis said.
She is currently working to create a guide to shopping green in the Tacoma area and ways to live green on campus. Both will be available to the campus community at the beginning of the year.
While Power-Drutis has focused her efforts on educating the student leaders, Morean has concentrated on evaluating recent residence halls renovations. He’s looking at the effectiveness of the renovations, as well as ways to educate students about the changes and create a guide for future renovations.
“I want to use T-stad, Foss and Pflueger as models of how we can use the new facilities to be interactive learning tools,” Morean said.
Though the two are working on separate projects, they’ve found much of their research overlaps. They teamed up to visit regional colleges and universities who are leaders in the movement, such as Seattle University, Western Washington University, Lewis and Clark College and Portland State University.
At each school, they met with the students, faculty or staff to learn what else is being done and how PLU stacks up. They found the support the sustainability movement receives at PLU from students, faculty, staff and the administration is unique.
“We realized we needed to praise PLU,” Morean said.
Compared with other inner-city schools, like SU and PSU, PLU students are much more involved in the movement. Additionally, PLU is the only school they’ve visited so far that provides opportunities for students to research subject.
However, Morean pointed out the fellowship has limits, as it’s hard for students to make a sustained impact over the course of just one year. Additionally, various departments are adopting sustainable practices, but no one person is overseeing their actions and determining how they fit into the bigger picture, he explained.
To that end, Morean and Power-Drutis recommend the creation of a new sustainability coordinator staff position. Without it, Morean fears the campus sustainability movement may collapse in the future.
“We need to take a proactive position to find someone to keep it all together,” Morean said.
In the few short months they’ve been researching sustainability on campus and elsewhere, they’ve identified a host of projects and areas that need attention. In their final report, they will be recommending future areas of study.
“I don’t think there will ever be a lack of things to do with regard to sustainability,” Power-Drutis said.
By incorporating information about environmental stewardship into existing programs and events and by supplying students with resources about how to live more sustainably, Power-Drutis and Morean hope to educate and equip students to live green even after they leave the Lutedome.
“At the core, the basic definition of sustainability is broad – it’s not just being green or recycling really well,” Morean said. “And you’re not really doing sustainability if it’s just on the insular campus.”
Power-Drutis is educating residential life and other student leaders on the subject during training events. The goal is that those leaders will spread the message by incorporating information about sustainability into their programming and events, she explained.
She’s currently working on creating the RD/RA Lifestyle Project, based loosely on an Environmental Sciences course. Residential life leaders will evaluate their use of resources, and then learn how reduce their use of water and electricity, as well as make more sustainable choices about food and transportation.
Additionally, the First Year Picnic during Welcome Weekend will produce no waste. Everything from lunch bags to the silverware used will be recycled, reused or composted. No trashcans will be available at the picnic, and student leaders will be on hand to explain why.
“If we get students engaged right when they come to campus, we can put new habits in place,” Power-Drutis said.
She is currently working to create a guide to shopping green in the Tacoma area and ways to live green on campus. Both will be available to the campus community at the beginning of the year.
While Power-Drutis has focused her efforts on educating the student leaders, Morean has concentrated on evaluating recent residence halls renovations. He’s looking at the effectiveness of the renovations, as well as ways to educate students about the changes and create a guide for future renovations.
“I want to use T-stad, Foss and Pflueger as models of how we can use the new facilities to be interactive learning tools,” Morean said.
Though the two are working on separate projects, they’ve found much of their research overlaps. They teamed up to visit regional colleges and universities who are leaders in the movement, such as Seattle University, Western Washington University, Lewis and Clark College and Portland State University.
At each school, they met with the students, faculty or staff to learn what else is being done and how PLU stacks up. They found the support the sustainability movement receives at PLU from students, faculty, staff and the administration is unique.
“We realized we needed to praise PLU,” Morean said.
Compared with other inner-city schools, like SU and PSU, PLU students are much more involved in the movement. Additionally, PLU is the only school they’ve visited so far that provides opportunities for students to research subject.
However, Morean pointed out the fellowship has limits, as it’s hard for students to make a sustained impact over the course of just one year. Additionally, various departments are adopting sustainable practices, but no one person is overseeing their actions and determining how they fit into the bigger picture, he explained.
To that end, Morean and Power-Drutis recommend the creation of a new sustainability coordinator staff position. Without it, Morean fears the campus sustainability movement may collapse in the future.
“We need to take a proactive position to find someone to keep it all together,” Morean said.
In the few short months they’ve been researching sustainability on campus and elsewhere, they’ve identified a host of projects and areas that need attention. In their final report, they will be recommending future areas of study.
“I don’t think there will ever be a lack of things to do with regard to sustainability,” Power-Drutis said.