The Office of Sustainability, previously known as the Sustainability Initiative, is currently involved in a number of projects that range from the overarching sustainability strategic planning process to smaller scale projects around campus, according to sustainability director Rosi Kerr '98. These projects are in accordance with College President Jim Yong Kim's desire to make Dartmouth the "greenest of the Ivies," biology professor David Peart said.
The sustainability strategic planning process, not to be confused with the College's larger strategic planning process, intends to improve Dartmouth's sustainability. The sustainability strategic planning process will merge with the strategic planning process in June, Kerr said.
The Dartmouth recycling program is the oldest in the nation, and zero-sort recycling has been in place on campus since 2010, according to Kerr. Dartmouth currently diverts 36 percent of all waste from landfills and is making progress toward its goal of diverting 40 percent of campus waste by 2015. The Office of Sustainability is also working on energy efficiency projects in buildings around campus, according to Kerr.
"We have achieved an efficiency increase of 10 percent from 2005 levels, and we are also making progress toward our publicly-stated greenhouse gases goal to reduce 30 percent of emissions from their 2005 levels by 2030." Kerr said. "We also have several benchmark goals along the way."
The Office of Sustainability will continue to work with student organizations in order to meet their long-term sustainability goals, Kerr said. Student sustainability organizations are doing their part to further integrate sustainability into the Dartmouth culture and experience, she said.
Student initiatives include improving recycling rates, reducing the use of bottled water, improving the sustainability of on-campus dining, reducing bicycle waste around campus and increasing the visibility of sustainability in the Greek system, she said.
Although the Office of Sustainability will continue to support these student organizations, it is shifting its focus from individual projects to molding future leaders in the field of sustainability.
"We have made progress toward our sustainability goals, and it was all a result of the efforts of really passionate, incredible people across campus," Kerr said. "We are now shifting from the efforts of individuals to supporting the efforts of students and the College as an institution as they decide that they want to lead in sustainability."
The College also aims to create sustainability leaders through the sustainability minor program, introduced last fall. Student inquiry about the minor has increased since its inception, and enrollment in the classes required for the minor has also increased, according to Jenna Musco '11, a sustainability minor communications assistant.
At least 50 students attended a Sustainability in the Curriculum workshop earlier this month, which Musco said indicates a growing interest in sustainability.
"Sustainability's core values are important for improving your lifestyle, whether or not you're tied to environmental aspects," Musco said. "The more students learn about that and hear that message, the easier it will be to make a cultural shift."
The working group that created the minor program also designed the Sustainability Solutions Cafe discussion series, according to George Thorman '11, research assistant to environmental sciences professor Anne Kapuscinski. The Sustainability Solutions Cafe was inspired by the World Cafe group discussion format, which uses small, separated group round-table discussions to formulate possible solutions to challenges, Thorman said.
The first cafe, titled "Taking Sustainability Literally," will be held on Friday, Feb. 3 and will focus on sustainability in business, Thorman said. Mark McElroy, author of "Corporate Sustainability Management," and Jed Davis '83 Th '85, Cabot Creamery director of sustainability, will speak about their experiences with sustainability in the business world, according to Thorman. Future cafe speakers may be nominated by students and professors in order to encourage Dartmouth community members to become more engaged with environmental issues, Thorman said.
"Sustainability is a lot broader than environmental sustainability, financial sustainability, living better lives that are more fulfilling and with societal value," Kerr said. "It's holistic, and there's a lot going on."
The interdisciplinary aspect of sustainability justifies the reasoning for its offering as a minor and not a major, Peart said. Peart co-chairs the working studies committee with Kapuscinsk and teaches Science for Sustainable Systems, a class that counts toward the sustainability minor.
"The big picture in terms of sustainability for students in a place like Dartmouth, with its emphasis on a liberal arts education, and for faculty that are scholars and teachers in the world is that we need to have a sense of history about the way the world is changing," he said. "The vision for the minor is that we attract students from a wide range of disciplines that are interested in sustainability who can incorporate the ideas of sustainability and its problems and solutions into their own disciplines and professions."
Peart said he emphasizes the use of a systems approach to sustainability challenges and uses real case studies of sustainability projects in his class to develop systems analysis skills in his students. He was also involved in the five sustainability planning workshops that have been held and attracted at least 700 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, administrators and trustees, he said.
"What participants enjoy the most is that they get to know Dartmouth community members they would normally never interact with," Peart said. "It's stimulating to find that we have these interests in common about sustainability questions through talking across all disciplines and professional schools with the diversity of the Dartmouth community."
The sustainability strategic planning process will affect the entire Dartmouth community, according to Peart. New research ideas and changes to the curriculum and student life are being discussed, and there is talk about sustainability being incorporated into Dartmouth's mission, Peart said. The Tuck School of Business is even considering introducing a masters program that combines sustainability and business, according to Peart.
"As a Dartmouth alum, I know that the students are action-oriented," Kerr said. "Sustainability is an opportunity to take what you have learned in the classroom and apply it to real world challenges."
The Office of Sustainability designed a video displaying five easy ways to be more sustainable that will soon be appearing in multimedia centers around campus, Kerr said. Additional signs informing students of proper recycling procedures will also be posted around campus.
The Big Green Bus will be offering tours to students and alumni during Winter Carnival, and the Office of Sustainability plans to focus on outreach efforts for Earth Week in April.
