Speaker urges students to insist on sustainable futures

Students are the only ones who have the power to make changes to the university that they live in, was the message that Betsy Hands said to 70 people in the Gallagher Building.

Ramey Corn
Montana Kaimin

“Students need to get involved with the vision for sustainable living,” said Hands, a graduate student in environmental studies.

Hands’ lecture on Tuesday night was part of the sustainable communities lecture series. It was titled, “From Recycling to Ecodemia: The Maturing of the Campus Environmental Movement.”

The sustainable lecture series is offered as a one credit course to both undergraduates and graduate students. Students meet once a week for the lectures. Undergraduates must write a one to two page reaction for 10 out of the 13 lectures. Graduate students must write a 15 page paper at the end of the series.

“I’m interested in sustainability and a way in which we’re working towards that in Missoula, and how to get involved in helping out,” said Kathy Huber, an undergraduate student in environmental studies and class participant.

Hands has 14 years of experience with sustainable living, she said. She spent her undergraduate years at the University of Michigan where she, along with other students, helped to create recycling programs at the university, which are still in use today. Hands came to the University of Montana where she has worked on sustainable issues, operations and on creating an environment for sustainability on campus.

Hands outlined principles for the reason the University should be a green campus. The first principle is that UM is a large institution that has a significant impact on the environment and the surrounding community, and thus it must create a better sense of place, Hands said. She used examples of stickers that say, “Turn off lights when not in use,” that are placed in some buildings and bathrooms at UM. She also talked about turning the heat down in buildings like the Liberal Arts Building, instead of opening windows and heating the entire outside campus.

“Small steps are incremental in the approach to social change,” Hands said.

In the spring of 2001, MontPIRG’s Campus Environmental Audit completed an environmental audit to reveal the practices and the policies which can be amended, to decrease the ecological impact UM makes. Hands used statistics throughout her lecture to support her statements. UM produces 3,328,099 pounds of garbage a year, and recycles 497,115 pounds a year, with means that the university fails to recycle the 25 percent required by law, Hands said. UM recycles 15 percent, she said.

But, some places on campus are integrating conservation practices, like Dining Services who compost nine tons per year of pre-consumer waste, said Hands. Pre-consumer waste is what comes off food before the consumer eats it. The ASUM Bio-Bus, which runs partly on recycled vegetable oil, is a second example of incorporating conservation practices.

Another principle is that UM has an obligation to be a leader in society due to the vast resources concentrated in one place, Hands said. Hands talked about the new $18.9 million Dornblaser Housing Project. The project is a place where eco design, public process, transportation, water consumption and a sense of community will be implemented in the design.

Hands is a member of a group that is trying to implement conservation practices into the Dornblaser project. So far the group has been successful in making changes like: the addition of green space, the use of an energy efficient heating system, decreasing parking spaces and covered bicycle racks.

“They realized that we were passionate about it,” Hands said.

President Dennison signed the Talliores Declaration on April 22, 2002, Hands said. The declaration commits the University to economical sustainability. Hands said that it is crucial to hold Dennison to the commitment.

“If that’s not enough to get you involved, then I don’t know what to say,” Hands said.

Another tenet of Hand’s argument is that the University has the capacity to inspire hope and vision due to their accumulated capital and research capabilities. The Talliores Declaration, paying fees for recycling, MontPIRG and allies from dining services and ASUM transportation all work together to create sustainability, Hands said.

“If we put all those together we can make the University a model of sustainability,” Hands said.

UM has put out a master plan for the next 10 years for the design of the campus. Hands said that it is important that students form a group that is ASUM funded, to be a watch dog of the University. The group could make sure that student input is implemented into the conservation design of future buildings.

For those interested in a meeting about shaping the building practice at Dornblaser, they can meet Monday, Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. in UC 326.

“I’m pretty interested in sustainability issues,” said Mike Baker, an environmental studies major. “They have a lot of relevance for society today.”

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