CSC Initiatives
A Sense of Place
The sustainability office produced this summary of Sustainability Initiatives and Challenges at Colorado College for the President's Advisory Council.
New Ecofund Grant Established!
The new Ecofund grant will provide financial
support for campus sustainability projects, addressing the core value
of Colorado College to "nurture a sense of place and environmental
ethic.” Funding will be given to applicable and worthy projects
that will positively impact the campus and local community. This grant
was established from the 2005 CCCA student vote on purchasing wind energy
credits. Rather than focusing on wind energy alone, EnAct members and
the CSC chose to focus on any sustainability project that positively
contributes to the college's core value.
No Vote on the Chicago Climate Exchange
CSC members voted against joining the Chicago Climate Exchange based on the projected energy use of the college. Increased energy use between 2000 and 2005 disagrees with requirements from Exchange membership either to make reductions of 4% per year in CO2 emissions or acquire (via purchase or donation) Carbon Financial Instruments. In addition, the Exchange must re-charter during 2006, which may result in changed requirements and/or reduction goals. By unanimous vote the CSC recommends: a) CC not consider joining the Exchange now; b) further analysis is essential so that a specific action agenda can be proposed for reducing the rate of increase of energy in general and electricity specifically, and c) the issue of CC joining the Exchange be revisited after their re-chartering exercise is complete.Former CSC Initiatives
Support CC's New Recycling Program!For years, CC students have emphasized the importance of having an effective recycling program on campus. Recycling is essential for promoting sustainability, protecting natural resources, and managing waste. Colorado has one of the highest land disposal rates in the country. Not only does recycling cut back on the use of landfills, it saves on production energy and limits the amount of precious natural resources being used. Our community has an obligation to assist in environmental conservation in order to protect the environment for present and future generations.Lack of confidence in the existing program and the recognition that recycling is vital to sustainability, a new recycling program on campus is being launched. For more information, click on the title link above. For information on office recycling efforts, click here.
Energy Retrofit of On Campus
Houses
After assessing Colorado College's energy consumption we found that
the most cost-effective way to go about improving our energy efficiency
as a campus was to direct the college's attention and efforts towards
the small residential and office buildings owned by the college. It
is much easier and cheaper to retrofit these smaller campus buildings
to be more energy efficient than to tackle any one of the larger educational
buildings.