Kristen Gahnberg
Amy Landgraf
Kai Smith
Bailey Thompson
Comparison of Sustainability on College Campuses
College campuses are a venue especially well suited to preach and practice sustainable
living. We experience college at a time in our lives when we are highly impressionable.
Graduates of college have their political, religious, and philosophical views challenged daily and
often fine tune or even reverse their beliefs during these four years. It is therefore incumbent on
colleges to instill in young students values of sustainability. The opportunity is ripe. As such,
we evaluated the sustainability practices of four universities, including Seattle University.
Compared to other universities, we are confident stating that Seattle University is years ahead of
the other schools in terms of waste management, sustainability education, and evaluating the
"true" cost of projects. However, numerous projects at other universities can and should be
considered for implementation at Seattle University.
Our main objective this quarter was to prepare evaluations of four schools' sustainability
practices using the AASHE Comparative Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework. We
compared the practices of Gonzaga University, Seattle Pacific University, and University of
Portland with the practices of Seattle University. We chose to evaluate five aspects of
sustainability from the AASHE to focus our comparisons. These aspects were 1) energy and
climate change, 2) water, 3) dining services, 4) waste, and 5) campus culture. We felt that these
five topics were particularly important to the ecological degradation of the planet.
Overall, energy is a natural resource that is quickly becoming depleted and current
practices are contributing to the degradation of our planet. Global warming is evidence of this
and is no longer a disputable fact. Water is just one of many natural resources that is quickly
being depleted due to changes in climate and pollution. It is something that we readily tend to
waste, but there is inadequate drinking water throughout the world. Food is another commodity
that is often taken for granted and research shows that 40-50% of our food ready for harvest is
not consumed and goes to waste (Harrison). It is important to look at the food provided on
campus and how sustainably it is produced and consumed. These all contribute to the overall
campus culture, which has the potential to influence its students and create a generation that
practices sustainable living and educates future generations.
This project aims to compare and contrast the levels of sustainability at four universities:
Seattle University, University of Portland, Seattle Pacific University, and Gonzaga University.
The overall goal of this analysis is to explore where specifically Seattle University is both
succeeding and failing in sustainability. We hope to use programs already implemented at the
other universities to make Seattle University a more sustainable campus.
The intended result for the campus comparison project was to understand Seattle
University’s place and rank among Seattle Pacific University, Gonzaga University and
University of Portland. The first strategy used was to compare the five components of the
AASHE survey for each school. However, when it became clear that the survey was not the best
method for comparison, we decided to do our own additional research to find information about
the sustainability practices about each school. We also looked at different programs implemented
at each university with the goal of finding programs that could be added to the Seattle
University. Each of us spoke to several contacts at our respective universities. Our primary
contacts were those who were in charge of or directly involved in the sustainability programs at
each university.
For the measurement component, it became clear that it would not be possible to measure
the schools based on the AASHE survey. So therefore we decided to not assign a ranking for
each school but rather make recommendation for improvements on Seattle University’s
sustainability program.
Our team encountered several setbacks in the application of our original action plan. The
AASHE survey was a primary concern, followed by difficulties in timely responses from our
references, the inability to compare and contrast information in an efficient, effective, and
concise manner, and finally the inconsistencies between the institutions themselves.
The AASHE has the potential to be a powerful tool in assessing campus sustainability if
the time, energy, and proper detail are given. The primary questions used for assessment are
constructed in a yes / no manner. There is adequate space provided to expand upon the answers.
However, when comparing our data we discovered several inconsistencies in the responses, even
the same survey, when given to two or three different references on the same campus resulted in
various and conflicting responses. In addition, the locations, populations, and resources of the
various institutions greatly affected numerical data and made straight comparisons invalid and
unreliable.
Thus, while the proposed method of using a survey to compare and contrast campus
sustainability was implemented, the majority of results used to complete the comparison between
campuses were based on alternative sources. These included, personal interviews, additional
information provided by references, campus websites, newspaper articles, and a myriad of
various research.
Seattle University has already taken many steps to create a sustainable campus. The
University has received fourteen environmental awards and eight environmental recognitions in
honor of their achievements and programs that have served as models for other institutions. In
2007 it received the Sustainability Innovator Award for preconsumer food waste composting
practices. The University also received the Diamond Award in 2006 for competing in the
Commuter Challenge. The challenge encouraged Seattle businesses to reduce the number of cars
their employees drove to work. The university also encourages their students and staff to become
aware of what it means to live sustainably through the Sustainability Challenge. This competition
awards participators points for incorporating sustainable practices into their daily lives. These
practices include turning off unused lights and reducing water use. Even though Seattle
University already has award-winning sustainability practices and promotes sustainable living to
its students and staff, there is still room for improvement. Looking at the sustainability programs
on other campuses can show Seattle University where improvements can be made.
The University of Portland is an independent, four year Catholic university affiliated with
the Congregation of the Holy Cross. The school’s mission focuses on teaching, faith, and service.
With approximately 3,000 students and 300 faculty and staff the University covers 130 acres and
contains 31 buildings. The campus has made significant efforts to become more sustainable and
to inform students and faculty as well as the general public of the environmental crisis which we
face in today’s society.
Recently a Committee on Sustainability was formed with the intention of advising the
University president with ecological concerns. The committee is focused on monitoring progress
of sustainable goals which include climate neutrality, recommending improvements for services
and facilities and encouraging and supporting educational programs geared toward sustainability.
Events such as the Bon Appetite “Eat Locally Challenge” allow students, faculty, and the public
to engage in the dialogue of the benefits of eating locally grown food and the importance of fair
trade acquirement.
The campus has been and continues to be a site which hosts a variety of community
forums, discussions, and events centered on sustainability and the University’s role in the global
community. Examples of previous discussion topics include renewable energy and climate
change initiatives. In October, UP combined with the Education for Sustainability Western
Network (EFS West) to host the first sustainability and higher education conference entitled
“Defining the Vision for Higher Education.”
A unique program initiative combined political and ecological concerns in the form of a
three day torch relay to the capitol to present a petition and invite the US Senators and the
Governor to attend a “Focus the Nation” event hosted by UP focused on a global warming
solution symposium. The Green Torch Relay included about 100 students who biked, ran,
kayaked, and rollerbladed from Portland to Salem to present an 18-ft long petition with 4,000
names to the Capitol building. The Focus the Nation event is intended to engage millions of
college students, faculty, staff members, politicians, and the public at 1,000 plus institutions
around the country in a discussion centered on global warming and possible solutions to the
contemporary global crisis.
The University of Portland has become one of the primary institutions engaged in the
ecological dialogue surrounding sustainability and the education of the environmental crisis.
With engaged facilities, students, committees, and events, UP is contributing greatly to the
contemporary issues. With the continued focus on sustainability the institution of the University
is in a very powerful position to increase knowledge among our younger generations to be
committed to change and to taking care of the environment.
Gonzaga University presented an especially unique situation because of their similarities
to us in terms of campus size and student body composition. However, their environmental
initiatives are roughly 10 years behind those of Seattle University and, therefore, they were not
in a position to fill out the AASHE survery as they do not currently collect much of the
information necessary to provide an objective analysis. They do, however, feature a number of
important initiatives that Seattle University should consider emulating. First, they utilize the
AmeriCorps VISTA program, saving their school roughly $100k over the years that the fellow
will be employed at Gonzaga. This VISTA employee is charged with laying the foundational
relationships inside and outside of campus to ensure a successful, coordinated sustainability
effort in the future. Specifically, this coordinator has established relationships with the
bookstore: they create notebooks from recycled cardboard and paper and sell them in the
bookstore, as well as promote a "Sustainability Week" at the bookstore that features those
sustainable products sold. Additionally, this coordinator reaches out to neighboring schools and
beings environmental school educational programs, which allows Gonzaga science students to
attend area elementary and middle schools and give young students an idea of what is possible
with greater sustainability (Engineers Without Borders, for example). This coordinator also
hosts numerous cultural events and programs on campus, including films and speakers that have
featured strong turnout. Finally, the coordinator has suggested numerous ways to engage student
government (priority funding for sustainable programs and events, official position within
student government that is focused on social justice) using student environmental groups.
Ultimately, the above suggestions could be incorporated into Seattle University's plans to ensure
an even greater sustainability effort.
Seattle Pacific University believes that universities are the optimum vehicle for change.
As a private, Christian university with 3,800 students SPU is in the process of shaping and
defining their own sustainability program. SPU has created a mission statement for sustainability
with principles in line with the concepts of Christian stewardship and reconciliation. The primary
goals of their mission statement are to better the SPU community, engage the campus culture as
well as the surrounding community culture and to change the world.
Seattle Pacific University has their own triple bottom line agenda which involves
economy, ecology, and equity. Economy is the financial sustainability aspect, it involves creating
a stable market and designing investment filters as well as partnering with sustainable
companies. Ecology is the environmental sustainability; it is about being green and caring for the
planet; including what we take from the planet, how we use the things we take and what we put
back into the earth. The final aspect is equity which is the social sustainability. This includes
social justice, cultural diversity and reconciliation (which include our obligation to giving back
and doing good). More specifically, some of their sustainability goals are biodiversity, carbon
neutrality and waste elimination.
While SPU ranks highly in all of the categories of the AASHE survey there are two
practices that stood out above the rest. The first is SPU’s Ecovive Recycling program. This
program was created by the Department of Facility and Resource Management to provide costeffective and timely services that promote care and preservation of campus facilities and a safe
environment for the campus community. The programs and initiatives in the department must be
of high quality, be in line and support the university’s core missions, and must be done in the
most economical manner possible. The other strong program is SPU’s dining services and the
corporate partnership they have formed. Included in this is a partnership with the Food Alliance,
which provides in season foods from local farmers, non GM foods, and hormone and antibiotic
free foods. One is a partnership with Fort Howard, a supplier of paper, napkin, tissues and towels
uses exclusively recycled fiber in their manufacturing process. And finally a partnership with
Mobil Chemical, a primary contracted source for plastic can liners, uses from 30% to 90%
recycled materials in their plastic liners.
Seattle Pacific University has taken the necessary steps in order to form a strong
sustainability program. They have established initiatives in which Seattle University can learn
from and possibly adopt. SPU is moving forward with their sustainability program and is looking
towards an ecologically sound future.
References
Blume, Thomsas, Assistant Director of Physical Plants at the University of Portland.
Harrison, Jeff. "Study: Nation Wastes Nearly Half Its Food." UA News. 18 November 2004.
University of Arizona. 8 Dec 2007 <http://uanews.org/node/10448>.
Jeffris, Katie, Administrative Assistant, Facility and Project Management at Seattle Pacific
University.
Luty, Paul, Director of Physical Plants at University of Portland.
"Sustainability", Seattle University <www.seattleu.edu/sustainability>.
University of Portland. 7 Dec 2007 <www.up.edu>.
Walrab, Bethany, Campus Sustainability at Seattle Pacific University.
University of Arizona: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?n=56340-half-of-us
Contacts:
Seattle University:
John Easley
Buzz Hofford
Lee Miley
Karen Price
University of Portland:
Thomas Blume
Paul Luty
Seattle Pacific University:
Katie Jeffris 206-281-2597; Jeffrk@spu.edu
Bethany Walrab 206-281-2844; walrab@spu.edu
Gonzaga University:
Jace Bylenga
Kate Collins