Reusable mugs, eco-friendly light bulbs and a new recycling program are some of the green changes on Loyola’s campus in the last year. Loyola’s new Sustainability Committee met for the first time on Wednesday to determine the ways in which the campus can become even greener.

Ed Kvet, university provost and vice president of academic affairs, said, “Tulane is known as the Green Wave, but I want us to be more green than they are.”

On Wednesday, Kvet asked members to determine whether the committee should assume standing committee status or meet only occasionally, as is the case with most ad-hoc committees.

The members voted unanimously for standing committee status.

Kvet said sustainability is not something the campus has sufficiently addressed.
He also challenged the committee to look at “making change with money being a variable.” Kvet said that too often, change is not made because of the amount of money it would cost the university, but that in the case of sustainability, often changes can be made that don’t cost much money.

During the tail end of this semester, the committee aims to “get ready for spring so that we can hit the ground running,” according to Bob Thomas, director of the school of mass communications.

Thomas said he hopes the committee will be able to “engrain sustainability into the community” and also across curricula, “because it’s the right thing to do in a Jesuit setting.”

 The committee also discussed the need to improve the D- rating Green Report Card issued earlier this semester. According to Thomas, some of the changes needed are administrative, but “we got whacked because we didn’t fill out the forms.”

The committee mentioned making a recommendation to the university to provide an environmental studies major for students. Thomas said they are working diligently to come up with an environmental studies major on the campus without having to expand the professorships.

The only student member of the committee, sociology sophomore Chad Carson, said he was glad to see the emphasis on sustainability coming from the top-down, and called the administration’s interest in making the campus more sustainable very exciting.

Other areas on campus that have been taking positive steps toward making the campus more sustainable are the university’s Physical Plant and Dining Services. Physical Plant has been using more eco-friendly light bulbs that Thomas said “just make sense” economically.
Dining Services is now offering a reusable mug that was given out at a Nov. 7 pep rally, according to Caitlyn Brewster of Dining Services. Refills with the mug are cheaper, so that students who make the choice to reuse their mugs are also saving money at the same time. The mug can also be used on Tulane’s campus for discounted refills.

In addition, Kathy Anzelmo, biology professor, has set up the university’s recycling program, which has become more visible on campus lately and recycles aluminum and paper. Anzelmo hopes to educate the faculty and staff at Loyola on the importance of recycling.

The best way to have a sustainable campus is to have an educated campus,” Thomas said Wednesday. “We need to educate the Loyola community about what it really means to be green.”

Jessica Erwin can be reached at [email protected].