The Sustainability Committee of Loyola University met to discuss the eco-friendly movement of the uptown campus, including a campaign for educating the campus through future classes for undergraduate students and what Loyola is currently doing to stay green.

The panel included Bob Thomas, director for the center for environmental communication, faculty from around the university and a representative from Sodexo. They also met with Laura Kurzu, Loyola’s vice president for marketing and communications. Topics of discussion included what the university plans to do not just on campus but around the city of New Orleans to promote sustainability.

Acquiring land on the West Bank, which is being transferred to Loyola for ecology class use, and property through the Sisters of St. Joseph was a goal the committee also hopes to do in the near future. Recycling on campus has been happening for a while, but the committee also plans on expanding and promoting it more.

“Step two is getting rid of plastic water bottles on campus. Some plastic bottles such as Dasani contain petroleum in the plastic and charge customers $11 a gallon for recycled New Orleans water. You can use the water, but the bottle itself in not recyclable,” Thomas said.

Jesuit universities such as Santa Clara University have been shifting towards changing campus lifestyles with a focus on social justice and critical thinking, something that Thomas and the committee plan on doing.

They also plan on revising or changing their contract with Coca Cola. The company has been feeding campuses all over the nation unusable plastics for years, and the plan is to hopefully switch back to aluminum cans without any adverse effects to the environment or students.

“In a time when students are trying to get by with their tuition, we don’t need to be making them overpay for water on campus. We also need to start stressing energy conserving on campus. We’re simply trying to reduce wastefulness and make our school and the city better,” Thomas said.