The quest for a green campus

Part Two

Last week, The Arbiter featured profiles on the Environmental Health Club and the Sustainability Club, showing how they worked toward sustainability and solving environmental issues. The Environmental Studies Club and the Department of Energy Research, Policy and Campus Sustainability cover different areas of these environmental problems, making stark changes to the Boise State campus and beyond.

The Environmental Studies Association

The Environmental Studies Association was formed in 2004 by students in the Environmental Studies program.

“Our mission is to provide activities and opportunities, especially regarding environmental issues, for students of all majors to socialize and make a difference in their community,” the club mission statement states on its Website. “Through our activities and leadership, we hope to promote sustainable use practices and raise awareness of environmental issues.”

The club organizes a variety of activities including a semi-annual clean-up of their Adopt-A-Highway section between Boise and Horseshoe Bend, and planting trees for Re-Leaf Boise along with other volunteer activities. They sponsored a talk by Arjun Mahi advocating the United States becoming energy independent with renewable resources by the year 2050.

“Our club and the work we do is important because we are one of the few environmentally focused clubs on campus,” club President Samantha Hobdey said. “We give students a chance to learn more about environmental issues and participate in meaningful educational and volunteer opportunities.”

In the future, they plan to do a spring highway clean-up, activities for Earth Day, sagebrush harvesting and going on a hot tub excursion.

“Students are part of the greater community and are also our future leaders,” Hobdey said. “They will inherit the problems created by previous generations and will be most affected by the pollution, global warming, climate change, sustainability, growth, extinction and other issues facing their local communities and the greater world. They are at a unique point in their lives where what they learn and the decisions they make will affect future generations.”

Hobdey also thinks students should understand the environment’s past so they can help figure out the best way to progress in the future.

“Campuses have traditionally been the source of new ideas and student movements that have created revolutions and changed the direction of environmental policies around the world,” she said. “Students are uniquely challenged and affected by environmental issues and also uniquely positioned to make
a difference.

“Moreover, as students at a university, expanding our knowledge of the world around us, we learn about the demand of our lifestyles upon the environment, and are shown ways in which to savor, protect and appreciate the beautiful place we call earth,” Hobdey said. “Being a student is a wonderful opportunity to become educated on the issues, and learn methods and ways to ‘save the world’!”

Hobdey says students can get involved and begin making a difference right now concerning issues such as recycling and
sustainable living.

“We give students a chance to connect with the local community and network with organizations that may be their future employers,” she said.

For more information checkout clubs.boisestate.edu/details.

The Department of Energy Research, Policy and Campus Sustainability

The Department of Energy Research, Policy and Campus Sustainability was formed in September 2007 by order of President Kustra.

“We coordinate and lead BSU’s involvement in the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment,” Sara Shultz, administrative assistant for the department, said. “This office is also working to establish a process to guide and oversee policy development related to energy use, energy research and other initiatives that help create a financially viable and sustainable campus. We seek funding for energy and energy policy related projects and research. Lastly we work with state and local government to provide an unbiased and informed view on the current research on energy, sustainability and the environment based on information gathered from operational, academic and research units on campus.”

This department, along with others, works to make the growth of Boise State more sustainable. Pushing to make new buildings more environmentally friendly involves looking at the material used to build them, along with using recyclable material for
the furniture.

“The ILC is a very good example of this,” Shultz said.
Dining services also stopped providing trays last semester to conserve water used cleaning them.

“This ‘tray-less’ push is a nationwide effort to reduce the water consumption on campus that is otherwise wasted, often on cleaning many already clean trays,” Shultz said. “Dining Services is also switching to Green Seal cleaning products, which are more environmentally friendly than regular cleaners.”

Even the grounds crew at Boise State takes part in this push to become more sustainable, fine tuning the sprinkler system to run at the best times: early in the mornings and evenings.

“This allows more water to be absorbed and actually reduces the total amount used,” Shultz said. “Grounds is also working on converting some of our open green turf into more sustainable, environmentally friendly native growth.”

Shultz clarifies these few examples demonstrate only part of how our campus is becoming more sustainable.

“It is a major undertaking that multiple departments are working towards, as a team,” she said.

For more information on this department go to boisestate.edu/sustain.

Environmentally focused classes

The following list includes some classes offered at Boise State that focus on a range of environmental issues. They cover a variety of different fields and include both lower and upper level classes so students interested in the environment can further their knowledge while here at Boise State.

Introductory Classes
Engineering 100 – Energy for society
Environmental Health 100 – Introduction to Environmental Health

Advanced Level Classes
Anthropology 314 – Environmental Anthropology
Anthropology 294/494 – Cultures & Sustainable Futures Workshop
Biology 422 – Conservation Biology
Economics 333 – Natural Resource Economics
Economics 498 – The Economics of Global Climate Change
English 397 – Special Topics: Green Writing
Geography 321 – Conservation of Natural Resources
History 376 – Global Environmental History
ME 497 – Renewable Energy Systems
Political Science 340 – Environmental Politics
Spanish 303 – Advanced Conversation & Composition

Information obtained courtesy of the Department of Energy Research, Policy and Campus Sustainability.

TABITHA KEILY
News/BizTech Coordinator

Related Posts:

1. BSU goes green at Campus Sustainability Day
2. ‘The turf may be blue, but our campus is green,’ Gardner says
3. BSU hosts third annual Campus Sustainability Day
4. Conversations with Gardner: The Sustainability Saviors
5. Environmental efforts on campus