Longview creates plans to protect the environment
by Jordan Lee
What has been talked about for years will now become a reality on campus. As the environmental state of the planet has become a prominent issue with the world population, so it is true for the local planning community.
After ten years of input on the need to improve campus environmental policies, a group has been formed to focus on such a task. This diverse group of people forms a team known as the Green Initiatives Task Force.
“The general goal is to make Longview more green, more environmentally friendly,” said Jim McGraw, a Longview counselor and member of the task force. “We want to increase the degree to which we recycle materials and educate everyone on how we can be more conscious of our environmental impact.”
The task force hopes to fill the void of the now nonexistent environmental groups that once were on campus. In doing so, they meet routinely to discuss developmental ideas and to incorporate input from many perspectives.
Heading the group are Professor Keet Kopecky and Facilities Manager Steve Greife who are joined by a host of others, including teachers, students, and administrators.
“Dr. Grogan got this task force going,” said Kopecky. “He contacted us to let us know he thought it would be a good idea to put this task force together.” Both Grogan and Kopecky have experience with environmental issues as they are both members of the Sierra Club, a national environmental organization.
After forming, the group began creating ideas that would impact the campus and would develop beyond recycling. They observed what other campuses were doing and compared them to Longview’s own efforts. Through the implementation of these ideas, they hope to make a big difference on campus.
“Longview sends 200 tons of trash per year to the dump,” said Steve Greife. In efforts to reduce this number, the team plans to increase classroom and office recycling and use more recycled paper. They also hope to phase out the use of all Styrofoam completely.
Presently, newspapers, cardboard, junk mail, #1 and #2 plastic bottles, and aluminum cans can be recycled in the yellow bin near the building and grounds office west of the automotive center. Copy paper can be recycled in the grey bins near the loading dock marked for copy paper. Paper signs have been taped to the top of the gray bins indicating what can and cannot be placed in them.
All material that needs to be shredded should be taken to the copy center where Longview’s shredding contractor will take care of this. If employees shred materials at their workstations or office area, they should put the shredded material in a trash can.
Other efforts include the use of “demand-limiting” devices such as automated, motion sensing utilities that decrease the use of electricity and water. Even campus grounds will be used for further environmental purposes. With cooperation from the Missouri Department of Conservation, they hope to introduce native prairie grasses and wildflowers in some remote campus green spaces. The plants would add an aesthetic appeal while reducing the amount of land that must be mowed regularly.
“We’re going to experiment with ten acres and once we get it right, then we will expand the flowers and grass to a broader area of campus,” said Kopecky.
All these efforts require a large amount of funding. To support office and classroom recycling it would cost $14,000 alone. The Green Initiatives Task Force plans to cover these future endeavors with the grant that was submitted to the Mid-America Regional Council. Pending the grant’s approval in February, the committee members will continue their efforts and expand their influence.
The Engineering Club has initiated one green project with its effort to design and build a wind turbine. At their meeting, Nov. 19, they discussed the need for the money to actually accomplish the project. Club president, Charles Beauvais, said the economic situation has put a hold on the funding at this time.
February 2, 2009
0 Comments