News Stories
Updated
Environmental Policy Approved
On May 16, 2009, the Board of Trustees approved an update to
the College's Statement of Environmental Policy. This policy
explicitly states the College's commitment to sustainability
and sets new standards and requirements for decision-making
in four key areas: capital projects, budgetary and financial
planning, education and research, and assessment and review.
It also formally creates the Sustainability Integration
Office, headed by Bowen Patterson.
Trustees and
Faculty Discuss Sustainability at Retreat
At this year's Trustee-Faculty Retreat, Pomona's Board and
Faculty spent two days discussing sustainability both
globally and locally, learning from high-profile plenary
speakers about global issues and discussing in breakout
sessions how Pomona should move forward with sustainability
goals.
For two nights and two days, over 200 attendees including
Trustees, Faculty, Administration, and their families heard
from speakers including John Bryson (retired CEO of Southern
California Edison and Founder of the Natural Resources
Defense Council) and L. Hunter Lovins (President and Founder
of Natural Capitalism Solutions and well-known author).
Attendees also participated in breakout sessions on topics
such as transportation, student activism, sustainability in
the curriculum, greening the campus, and how to reduce their
own environmental impacts.
To see the Sustainability Coordinator's plenary presentation
and to get more information as it's available, see
here.
New Items
Available for Checkout!
Starting January 2009, the Sustainability Coordinator's
office now has drying racks and compost buckets for students
to check out and use, FREE of charge! These two items are
added to the CFL light bulbs that have been available for
students since 2007. Together, these items mark the start of
what will hopefully soon be an expanded array of
"sustainable lifestyle items" available to help spread
sustainable behaviors and practices among the campus
community.
For more information on this program, see
the Checkout page here.
Pomona
Spreads the Sustainable Word
This spring, representatives from Pomona will present on
campus sustainability topics at three conferences and
workshops around the country.
In January, Sustainability Coordinator Bowen
Patterson was invited to Furman University in Greenville,
SC, for four days to assist the University in writing their
Climate Action Plan. Bowen was joined by representatives of
Middlebury College, University of New Hampshire, Cornell
University, and the non-profit Clean Air-Cool Planet to help
facilitate the workshop and provide assistance with plan
content.
In March, Bowen and student Allie Comet '09
will present a workshop entitled "Building Relationships
through Gardens" at the National Farm to Cafeteria
Conference in Portland, OR. They will talk about the Pomona
College campus farm and development of the campus
compost program.
Also in March, Bowen and student Chelsea
Hodge '09 will present a workshop entitled "Utilizing
students to broaden sustainability planning beyond ACUPCC"
at the Pacific Regional Society of College and University
Planners (SCUP) conference in Boulder, CO. They will discuss
the
Sustainability Action Fellowship and other methods of
student participation in the current
Action
Plan process.
Folding
Bikes Ready for Checkout!
Pomona's fleet of six folding bikes are now ready for check
out through the On The Loose gear room. The bikes can be
checked out for one week at a time and require a refundable
deposit. Check with On The
Loose for more information. Gear Room hours are M-W 8-11
p.m. and Th 7-11 p.m. The Gear Room is in Walker Lounge.
Unlike conventional bikes, these folding bikes can be folded
and taken on public transportation any time of day. They can
also easily be folded and put in a trunk for bike trips in
faraway parts of LA.
Pomona Sends a
Group to the AASHE Conference
From November 8-11, Pomona's Sustainability Coordinator and
five students will travel to the 2nd Bi-Annual Conference of
the Association for the
Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE),
of which the College is a member. This group will attend
sessions about campus sustainability and what others schools
are doing. The Sustainability Coordinator will talk on a
panel session about the
College's
Sustainability Audit, and another student will present a
poster on the College's Drying Racks Program.
This conference will allow the group to gather strategies
and ideas for moving forward with sustainability on campus,
including opportunities to talk with vendors, consultants,
and other supporting businesses at the
Sustainable Solutions Expo.
Funding for this travel was provided by: the Sustainability
Coordinator's Office, the Dean of Students,
ASPC, and
EQC.
Pomona Launches a
New Sustainability Website
Welcome to our new Sustainability at Pomona College website!
This expanded sustainability site is a clearinghouse for
information about sustainability efforts at the College. The
site was created by the Sustainability Coordinator's Office
and it is intended to provide information about current
sustainability efforts, opportunities to get involved, and
how the campus community can reduce its environmental
impact.
The website includes direct links to recent
efforts, including the College's Sustainability Action Plan
process and opportunities to download sections of the
campus' sustainability audit. Over the coming years, the
website will develop portals for up-to-date information
about resource use and current projects and will track
progress on goals like carbon neutrality and resource use
reduction.
The website's input pages also provide a
brand-new, easy opportunity to provide input about the
College's sustainability efforts or to ask questions about
how things work on campus. If you have ideas about what
you'd like to see on the site or have any questions or
comments about sustainability at the College, you can
contact the Sustainability
Coordinator or visit the
input page.
Announcing the
Sustainability Action Fellowship
The Sustainability Coordinator has just announced a new
program for students to be an integral part of the creation
of the College's Sustainability Action Plan.
A group of 29 students have been chosen as Sustainability
Action Fellows, to receive leadership training and to be the
driving force of the collection of strategies for the Plan.
This group of students,
assigned to one of six topics (energy, water, purchasing,
education/communication, waste and recycling, or
environmental justice) will be responsible for seeking out
sustainability strategies in their assigned topic area.
Their work will include interviews with key staff and
faculty, research about what other institutions are doing,
basic financial and implementation analysis, and gathering
input from the campus community about opportunities and
goals.
You can see more about
the fellowship
here.
The audit is here!
Pomona has completed its first-ever campus sustainability
audit. Over the last five months, CTG Energetics and a team
of student auditors, have been working hard to compile and
analyze data about the College's environmental footprint.
This effort has resulted in a massive document providing
information about the ins-and-outs of the campus' impacts,
including the following topics:
