Folks,
I'm on a committee that is developing overarching environmental guidelines for Grinnell and we wrote up a draft. If you have any comments please leave them for me. We meet with the President next week to finalize the statement. See below:
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Grinnell College “aims to graduate women and men. . . who are prepared in life and work to use their knowledge and their abilities to serve the common good” (Grinnell College Mission Statement). It follows that the College values the common good of environmental sustainability: the long-term maintenance of the environmental resources and services that support human and all other life on earth. Thereby, Grinnell College is committed to promoting environmental sustainability in all its actions.
The College, in pursuing this over-aching goal, will pursue strategies to:
Reduce resource consumption.
Increase resource re-use and recycling.
Reduce waste output.
Maintain a healthy campus environment for the Grinnell College community.
Acknowledge Grinnell College’s interdependence with the Iowa landscape.
Foster native Iowa biodiversity.
Successful implementation of environmental initiatives will complement other college priorities, such as reducing financial costs and creating campus landscape and architecture that promote personal health, safety, and productivity. The above environmental goals and their associated benefits will be achieved most effectively if they are seamlessly integrated with campus operations.
To achieve its environmental goals, the College will:
Challenge all members of the campus community to improve their environmental practices.
Incorporate analysis of environmental costs and benefits into budget planning, purchasing,
campus planning, construction projects, and daily operations.
Provide the educational and human resources necessary to assess, research, implement, and improve environmental strategies.
Provide opportunities and resources for research and free inquiry of environmental issues.