Spring 2014
Boston College Office of Sustainability
BC Green
The official newsletter of the Boston
College Office of Sustainability
Spring Forward!
Springtime is finally upon the Heights! We have had some interesting
events this year and in our Newsletter, we’ll take a looks at some of
these green activities and new initiatives. There are also several articles
from students about their own personal sustainability experiences.
This year a new Sustainability Living and Learning Community was
formed in Edmonds Hall. Twenty four students, all sophomores were
selected as the first residents. Delia Ridge Creamer writes about her
experience in this issue. We also kicked off a Cross Functional
Sustainability group with representatives from various areas of the
campus with the goals of improving communications on sustainability
practices on campus and to explore ways for BC to be more
sustainable.
At the start of the fall semester, we handed out water bottles to all freshmen and Engineering and Energy again
provided LED bulbs for all students on campus. Later in the fall, the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics
and Eco Pledge invited Bill McKibben to speak about climate change and the impact of greenhouse gas emissions
on the environment. He inspired an overcapacity audience to examine our dependence on fossil fuels and to
explore ways to influence systemic and long lasting change. BC participated in the Game Day Recycling
Challenge at the November 2, Virginia Tech Game. On that day, recycling was the most successful of any other
game. However, overall our recycling rate decreased from the previous year and we are challenged to improve
next season. This year Greener Lib continued to host monthly lunch sessions showing movies or discussions on
relevant sustainability topics. Eco Pledge also held its annual Harvest Fest on the O’Neill lawn in October.
In the spring, residence hall communities participated in the NRG Games, energy competition with
Ignacio/Rubenstein winning the prize and trophy. BC participated in Recycle Mania and recycled a total of
605,240 lbs. of material which reflected a 37% recycling rate. Unfortunately another drop from last year, when our
recycling rate was at 43%. All the while, we were either the leader or second in our ranking with the ACC Schools
in the various recycling categories. Eco Pledge and UGBC held Green Week at the end of March (see schedule on
Page 6) and included a successful Green Career Fair co-hosted with the BC Career Center. Another Arts fest
green event sponsored By BCEEAN, Environmental Studies, the Institute for Liberal Arts and others was held on
April 24th with the theme of “Climate SMART- Artists respond to climate change”. The Sustainability Fair is to be
held on April 30th and the year will wrap up in May with BClean, the successful move out program. This year we
plan to make a short video of the event to showcase student and parent participation, the Non-Profit organizations
and the work that goes into organizing the program.
These are just some highlights; there are many more individual and group efforts that have not been listed and yet
these play a great role in BC being a more sustainable campus. We thank all of you who participated this year.
Boston
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Sustainable Living: A Community Effort
By Delia Ridge Creamer
When I was initially accepted into
the sustainable living community I
was not sure what to expect. We
were told we were going to be the
first group of students
participating, as the program had
just been established. Despite
those first uncertainties, my
experience living on the
sustainable floor has been nothing
but a positive one, especially
considering it is the “guinea pig”
year of the program.
Throughout first semester we had
bimonthly talks all focused on
different aspects of sustainability.
BC professors from different
departments came to give lectures
to us, about a topic of their choice.
The informal and interactive
lectures were always interesting,
ranging in different topics taught
at BC. Whether it was history,
theology, or sociology, they all
centered upon the concept of
sustainability and how it applies to
their respective subjects. A
personal favorite was the talk
given by Professor Laura Hake of
the Biology department, who
talked about how personal
products we use affect our longterm health. She suggested
websites that rank products by
their risks for cancer, infertility,
allergies, etc.
During the second semester the
talks by various professors and on
campus organizations have
continued, but we are also gearing
up to do an end of the year
capstone project. I am especially
excited for the project because it
will give us the opportunity to
show other BC students what we
have been learning all year. We
are encouraged to do a project
focusing on awareness, research,
dorm programming, or building
partnerships, but there is a lot of
freedom in terms of what we can
do. The lectures have inspired
each of us in different ways on
how BC can be a more
sustainable university, so will be
interesting to see what directions
we take each project in.
Although it is uncommon for
sophomores to live in a mainly
senior building as a sophomore,
there are upsides to living in
Edmonds. One key is the lack of
reliance on the dining halls.
Although grocery shopping on
Sundays is something I had to
adjust to, I have been pleased by
my experience living with a
kitchen. I’m especially happy
because I’m a vegetarian so it
allows me to branch out more.
Another perk to my floor is the
different people I have gotten to
know. I live in a four-person
apartment styled dorm with my
three best friends, but nearly
everyone else on the floor were
people I hadn’t known before
this year. I initially expected the
floor to mostly be environmental
geoscience majors like myself,
but this isn’t the case. Everyone
has different majors, yet we all
have a common interest in
sustainability. This makes our
conversations more interesting
because we all come from
different places and backgrounds
of interest. Through our informal
lectures, dorm bonding, and
talking throughout the year I
have gotten to know most of the
people living on my dorm, and
I’m glad I have been able to
share this experience with them.
Sustainable living may still be
relatively low key right now, but
I’m hopeful that it will expand as
a community, and continue to
attract interested and passionate
sophomores in the years to come.
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Boston
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Collaborating and
Comparing:
Sustainability Efforts at
NC State
by Bob Pion
On Monday, March 10, 12
visitors from NCSU arrived for
a visit to the BC campus which
they had planned for their
spring break. The group
members are residents and staff
in the Eco Village at their
University and wanted to learn
more about BC’s Sustainability
Living and Learning
Community in Edmonds Hall.
Like BC, this was their first
year of their sustainability
living program and saw this as
an opportunity to compare
notes. Anya Villatoro, the
Edmonds RD, talked with the
group about how the
sustainability living and
learning community was set
up, how students were
selected, the type of
activities in which the
students participate and
plans for next year. Next year
academic credit will be
awarded to students who meet
the requirements being
established. After the
discussion, Victor Castaneda, a
resident in the community,
invited the guests to his
apartment for a tour. The NC
State group liked the
apartment size and layout and
appreciated being able to
compare their apartment
spaces with the ones here at
BC.
Later they toured Middle
Campus, and walked through
Stokes and heard about some
of the
design and construction
features implemented to
achieve a LEED Silver rating.
A stop at the Bookstore was a
must so they could pick up BC
postcards to send back to those
who supported their trip and to
include in the daily journals
they were keeping.
The group had visited with the
City of Boston Energy
Department earlier in the day
and had plans to tour other
facilities and visit with the
Harvard Sustainability Office.
It was a great opportunity for
both communities to learn
from each other.
TOP TEN TIPS FOR STAYING GREEN:
1) Switch it off! Turn off the lights when natural light is sufficient and when you leave the room.
2) Take the stairs, not the elevator. It’s finally nice out – 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!
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Boston
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Office of Sustainability
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Spring
2014
The Spirit of Service in Sustainability
by Varsha Ramesh
This spring break,
I volunteered with the
Appalachia Volunteers, going
on a Habitat for Humanity
trip in North Carolina. What
I was expecting to be just
house-building trip ended up
being an eye-opening
experience about the spirit of
sustainability in service.
Along with thirteen other
students, I lived in a small
youth house that was part of
the local church. There were
many wonderful community
members who supported out
efforts by providing us meals,
but often times we were also
left to provide for ourselves.
No matter what, throughout
the entire week though, there
was one theme that carried
throughout all our actions –
living simply. My personal
experience was that everyone
involved with Habitat for
Humanity truly had the same
goals. As an organization,
they are committed to “green
building”. While we built we
treated all the materials with
care and were not wasteful
with supplies. Any scraps
were saved to be re-used,
and every piece of wood was
carefully cut. In the recent
years as well, Habitat has
begun to build more energyefficient houses, which are
efficient and durable, use
fewer resources, making them
more affordable to maintain.
The overall mission of the
organization is to optimize
the building process so that
we are less wasteful – and
from my experience I learned
just that.
On days when the weather
prevented us from being out
on the worksite, my volunteer
group went to the Habitat ReStore where donated items
are sorted and then sold to
the public. As I sorted
through piles of electronics
and porcelain tea sets, I
realized how even this aspect
of Habitat’s work is
sustainable as well.
By giving community
members a place to donate
their old goods that are no
longer needed, habitat is
reducing the waste that goes
to the dump. More
importantly, they are also
using recycled items to fund
their house-building
initiatives.
Apart from all the
traditionally sustainable
aspects of my trip, I felt a
deep intangible spirit of
respect for resourceful living
among all my group
members. Working all day
with just a hammer and nails,
helping make use of all the
resources we were given –
these were just small things
that became the norm. If
given the opportunity to do
more service like this, I would
take it in a heartbeat. Few
other things have really made
me think about how my
actions can help promote a
more sustainable future.
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Boston College Office of Sustainability
Spring 2014
Spotlight: New Major Alert!
The College of Arts and Sciences is starting an
interdisciplinary major in Environmental Studies! This is
the result of hard work by a group of faculty members
from various departments who developed the proposal
for the new major. In the coming months, the ESP staff
will work to launch the major and additional program
details will be unveiled. This major is only available to
the Class of 2017 and beyond, but the program still
preserves the minor that many of the current BC
upperclassmen are pursuing.
This program is especially important because its strong
interdisciplinary nature makes it very useful in the global
economy. U.S. News and World Report recently cited
environmental studies as one of nine “new college
majors with a future” and a defining issue of the century.
Our student organizations
hosted a successful green
week this year! Special
thanks to EcoPledge for all
their hard work!
Get connected to The BC Office of
Sustainability:
Like us on Facebook @ The Boston
College Office of Sustainability
Read our e-Newsletter and stay up to
date with all things BC Green by
visiting our website at
www.bc.edu/sustainability
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Boston
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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
Newsletter Editor: Varsha Ramesh, ‘16
Communication & Outreach Intern
The Boston College Office of Sustainability
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