Boston College Office of Sustainability
Spring 2015
BC Green
The Official Newsletter of the
Boston College Office of
Office of Sustainability
Sustainability
Recycle Mania 2015
Delia Ridge Creamer ‘16
Since February, Boston College has been competing against over 400 other universities around the
nation in order to promote waste reduction activities on campus. The annual intercollegiate competition
called Recycle Mania has become a regular occurring event for BC. The goal is straight forward enough:
increase recycling rates of universities in a competition format, with the hope that awareness will
increase, and students will take pride in being the most sustainable institution.
Categories in the competition range from which schools recycle the most on a per capita basis, to
which schools have the best recycling rate as a percentage of total waste. In 2014, BC did exceedingly
well, significantly higher than our neighbor Boston University in three of the categories, and on par with
Notre Dame. Last year our recycling rate over the entire competition was 36.7%. While our numbers are
relatively consistent, we should continue to strive to move up in the rankings.
This past year we ranked 125th overall in the competition. BC’s efforts resulted in cumulative
greenhouse gas reductions were 538 metric tons of C02, which is equivalent to taking 106 cars off the
road or the energy consumption of 47 houses. BC will keep moving up the ranks with the support of
faculty, staff and students, who continue to their efforts to recycle. Recycling is something that is in the
hands of the students, faculty, and staff who work here. While the goals of Recycle Mania are modest at
their core, the progress BC has made can turn into greater long-term sustainability efforts. Putting effort
into making proactive choices about recycling will help BC continue to grow as an environmentally
friendly institution, and will contribute
decreasing
overall carbon
footprint.
Top 10toTips
Forour
Staying
Green
1) Switch it off! Turn off the lights when natural light is sufficient and when you leave the room.
TOP
10 nice
TIPSoutFOR
STAYING
GREEN
2) Take the stairs, not the elevator. It’s
finally
– enjoy
the sunshine
for a little longer!
3) Hydrate! Make use of those water filling stations all around campus
4) Loaded Laundry: Only do full loads of laundry – it’s cheaper and easier on the environment!
5) Recycle! Bottles, paper, cardboard, plastic – the list is endless. Think twice before you trash it.
6) Even better, reuse! Old cell phones and chargers, furniture, and clothing can all be donated.
7) Healthy, fresh, local: Choose local food whenever you can! The Loft @ Addie’s is a great option.
8) Take the T! With the sun out, the extra walk really isn’t so bad.
9) Shorter Showers make a huge difference. Hygiene is a must but wastefulness isn’t!
10) Get Involved! There are tons of sustainability student groups on campus – check them out!
Boston
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Pipeline Politics
Liza Degenring ‘16
The controversy over the Keystone XL
Pipeline
extension has been ongoing since
2008 when it was
proposed. It has passed in
both the U.S. Senate and the
House of
Representatives but debate on
its
implementation still continues. On
Tuesday,
February 10, EcoPledge and The
Eagle
Political Society hosted “Pipeline Politics:
Keystone XL and American Energy Policy
with
Professor of Political Science, David Deese. The talk provided a forum for discussion, examining
questions of energy and the environment. Deese addressed a multitude of issues that the Keystone
pipeline could possibly create, analyzing its construction as a logistical, commercial, and environmental
issue. He also brought up key points about the problems created with the continued reliance of fossil
fuels. “It’s not only environmental but it goes through some indigenous lands in Nebraska and it touches
on these bigger issues of fossil fuels—do we want to rely more and more and more on fossil fuels?”
Deese said. “No, all the countries’ energy policies around the world are really trying to diversify away
from fossil fuels.” Deese also discussed the recent agreement between the U.S. and China to combat
climate change in which the U.S. promised deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and China set a
target for capping their emissions by the year 2030. The reality of these two countries agreeing to this
is uncertain though, “the reliability or the predictability of the Chinese meeting their commitment is
higher than that of the U.S.,” due to the extreme pollution that their country is suffering from and the
fact that millions of their citizens will be displaced with sea level rises. The U.S.’s actions are going to
depend primarily on the 2016 presidential elections. “You’ve got a new president in two years cranking
away in February of 2018 and it depends a lot on who it is. So certain steps that the U.S. takes I think
will be locked in, and I hope and pray that the EPA rules on limiting big U.S. power plant emissions are
actually going to go into effect as intended and stay there.”
Earth Day Survey Results
At this year’s Earth Day Fair, hosted by UGBC and Ecopledge, students participated a survey that asked various
question concerning sustainability at BC. Below are some of the results of interest.
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NCSE Conference in Washington, D.C.
Alex Krowiak ‘15
From January 27th-29th, 3 students traveled to Washington, D.C. to represent the
Environmental Studies Department at the 15th National Conference and Global Forum on Science,
Policy, and the Environment. Alex Krowiak (’15), Brianna Tully (’15), and Christie Merino (’16) were
also joined by Professors Tara Pisani-Gareau of the Environmental Studies Department and David
Deese of the Political Science Department. The theme of this year’s conference was Energy and Climate
Change. Speakers included Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
Amory Lovins, Chief Scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute, and John Holdren, Director of the Office
of Science and Technology Policy at The White House, among many others.
Many of the talks were centered around the upcoming 21st Conference of Parties to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris (COP 21) that will take place in December and
the necessary preparations leading up to it. Speakers emphasized the importance of “practices” and
“processes” rather than “end points” in fostering agreement between nations. Further, speakers suggested
that rules, such as the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, should be structured to ensure transparency and reporting
methodology. Together, these guidelines will help to effectively achieve the goal of limiting warming to 2oC,
and mitigate the effects of climate change.
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Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Since the year 2008, Boston College’s campus greenhouse gas emissions have decreased steadily. In
the past year our total emissions were 75,000 metric tons of carbon, with over 70% of these emissions
coming from purchased electricity and stationary combustion. 16% was due to air travel, and 9% was
for commuting.
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Boston College Office of Sustainability Mission Statement:
Boston College recognized that there are limits to the world’s resources. To ensure the quality
of life for future generations, Boston College seeks to demonstrate the leadership in
environmental stewardship and sustainability, living the motto ‘ever to excel’. The university is
committed to conserving resources and reducing the impact that its services and activities
place on the environment.
Newsletter Editor: Alex Krowiak ‘15
The Boston College Office of Sustainability
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Boston College Office of Sustainability
Fall 2014
Spotlight: New Major Alert!
Alex, keep the newsletter to 4 pages. If you can keep the mssion
statement at the end that would be good. If not, that’s ok. You may want
to put Harvest Fest on the first page and rework the other info pieces.
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Newsletter Editor: Alex Krowiak ‘15
The Boston College Office of Sustainability
Fall 2014
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