Spring is in the air. The crisp wind is slowly being replaced with bright sunshine and warm flowers. Soon Loyola will start to feature begonias in the horseshoe and around Touchdown Jesus in front of Marquette.
Meanwhile, Physical Plant and WFF (who are responsible for the groundskeeping around campus) are trying to make sure that whatever goes into the ground is environmentally safe.
Ann Moss, assistant director of Physical Plant, contracts out a landscaping company to handle most of the gardening at Loyola but insists that only crushed pine-straw mulch be used. “It is a renewable resource and therefore environmentally friendly,” Moss said. She also insists that the contractor minimize, as much as possible, the use of ornamental trees because their fertilization needs are greater than those of simpler trees.
“Our contractor designs the landscaping to maximize the use of indigenous plants and trees. They also use agriform tabs which target the specific plant and do not broadcast fertilizer farther than is needed,” Moss said. She said she considers the environment in everything she does around campus, and WFF resident manager Robert Sides agrees.
Sides, whose responsibility is to maintain the grounds, has been at Loyola for six months. He believes Loyola has made great environmental progress. “We don’t use anything that is bad for the environment and we spend several hours every day making sure that the campus looks nice,” Sides said.
WFF employee Rick Harrold has been at Loyola since 2000 and can see an improvement in the way students have taken a stance on the helping the environment.
“Education is the key. People need to be educated about the damage that harming the environment can do to not only the campus, but the water systems and the animals,” he said.
WFF plans to dip into its budget this spring to decorate the campus. “We want to buy some flowers and plants this spring and plant them ourselves. In five weeks the campus will look really green,” Sides said.
Katy Bodin can be reached at [email protected].
