Environmental Advisory Committee
Minutes for December 4, 2008
Present: Erika Bailey-Johnson, Carol Bennett, Mitch Davidson, Nancy Haugen, Asher Kingery, Mark
Lawrence, Crystal Middendorf, Chinwuba Okafor, Amy Piekarski, Dave Souba, Andrew Spaeth,
Derek Webb, Patrick Welle
Convener: Erika Bailey-Johnson
1) Recap of Last Meeting Held 11/03/08
* changes to committee by-laws [Derek and Erika will continue to work on wording]
* brief discussion about whether co-conveners should be voting members; determined
that only the Sustainability Coordinator will be a non-voting member, with the exception
of a tie
* co-conveners were self-nominated and a motion was held to approve their appointments
(unanimous approval): Derek Webb (non-student) and Crystal Middendorf (student)
2) SFE Report
* “Do it in the Dark” Energy Savings Campaign: on-campus competition is done, but the
winning residence hall has not yet been determined; the date and time of the celebration will be
sometime next week; the IT Dept is working on a traveling trophy to present to the winning Residence
Hall; the off-campus portion will continue for a while longer since they receive electric bills at varying
times
* Going trayless; Student Senate supports going trayless; Andrew shared a report entitled “The
Business and Cultural Acceptance Case for Trayless Dining”, Aramark; Student Senators and SFE
members have been at Walnut Dining Hall to discuss the benefits
* SFE has determined the focus for next semester for their meetings will be educational
3) ARAMARK Report on trayless dining
* a discussion was held about the timing of the trayless policy; several committee members felt
that a gradual start (Trayless Tuesdays?) might provide less resentment among students; others felt
that many students already know about this initiative, and that a connection should be made with
going trayless and the Presidents Climate Commitment; it was determined that the best time to start
would be the first day of Spring Semester as long as students, faculty, and staff are present during
dining hours to support and educate about going trayless; staff and faculty are encouraged to support
this initiative in any way they can [Erika will send out an educational pdf to share]; the Midnight
Breakfast held Dec. 10th will be a trayless event [Andy and Erika will gather a group to table for that
evening]; some of the trays will be kept and there is no plan for the other trays as of now
3) Sustainability Coordinator Report
* Erika attended AASHE conference held Nov. 9-11 in Raleigh, N.C.; nearly 2000 participants
involved in sustainability in higher education; lots of great networking
* a flow chart was presented to demonstrate what happens with recycling on campus; a
proposal will be presented by Waste Management on Wednesday, Dec. 10th, at 11:00 a.m. in
Ozawindib; [EAC members are encouraged to attend]
* a Wind Energy Forum will be held on campus on Dec. 17th, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.; Erika is
beginning discussions to establish a Renewable Energy degree at BSU and Wind Technician degree
at NTC; Pat mentioned working with the CRI
* the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment {ACUPCC) was
signed on Nov. 17th, and a brief discussion was held about how to proceed [Erika will send
Commitment website to committee]; Mitch briefed the Committee on his research into the electrical
use of campus technology (printers, computers, etc.)
15th
* Erika is going to apply for a CERTS grant “Schools Cutting Carbon”; due date is December
[Erika will send grant to Committee when complete]
4) Other business
* Mark brought up gray water management and the “cradle to cradle” philosophy that should
be used for future building projects
Respectfully submitted
Erika Bailey-Johnson