Thank you President Beck. In support of the sustainability initiative that President Beck just described we have convened a committee to take a comprehensive look our environmental impact here at Lawrence University. We are calling this effort “Green Roots” and I would like to take a few moments to tell you about what we plan to, but first let me reconnect you with where we stand today.

Here is Earth. This is where we live. We only have one of these. As you can see from this image of the earth at night, the impact of 6.7 billion people is evident and far reaching. Each second we add 2.6 people to Earth. That will fill this chapel in under 8 minutes. By the time you leave for the holidays we will have added an additional 17 million people to Earth. By the time the class of 2012 graduates we’ll add the entire population of the US to the planet. But population growth is only part of the problem. Noted biologist, Paul Ehrlich, famously postulated that the environmental impact of a population is the product of the number of individuals times their consumption times a technology factor. The average citizen in the United States, consumes more resources and generates more waste than any other on the planet. Therefore, an obvious way for us to reduce our individual and collective impact on the environment is by limiting both production and consumption, especially of items made from non-renewal resources.

Originally this initiative was conceived as a theme year or years on the environment, but in the initial meetings of the planning committee last spring it became clear that such efforts would have to be on going, and that much of our work would be dedicated to sowing the seeds for future changes. Our mission is (slide with “To establish an institutional framework within which we can cultivate habits of mind and dispositions that lead to ecological intelligence and environmental sustainability”). Over the next two years then, we intend to propose pragmatic short and long term projects to improve our sustainability, to find ways to instill environmentally sound practices into the day-to-day operations and decision making at Lawrence University, and to provide opportunities for us all to connect with this place in which we live and work.

This is not to say that we haven’t already been doing some impressive things. For example, three years ago, our physical plant took steps to update our heating system. When completed this will reduce natural gas consumption and CO2 production by approximately 25% and reduce our water needs by over six hundred thousand gallons of water a year. This is about one and a half of our swimming pools worth of water saved per year. Another obvious example that you will soon hear about is the Campus Center. These efforts were started well before being green was in vogue. That being said, we still have a ways to go. An analysis of recycling habits in the dorms last year by students in the Introductory Environmental Science class revealed that over half of the items in the trash were recycleable. Many of these were, how shall I say it, beverage containers.

Our committee’s charge is to identify and coordinate efforts from all quarters of the college to promote sustainability and increase our environmental awareness and understanding. Among other things, this will involve programming a variety of activities, open to the local community, including speakers, workshops, and creative works from the performing and visual arts. To facilitate this broad brush approach, the committee is made up of faculty representatives from across university, LUCC student appointed representatives, the VP for Student Affairs, and members of the staff. Of course we welcome input from all of you as well.

Our efforts will extend to curricular innovation in which Lawrence University has a long and distinctive history. Our signature program, Freshman Studies, has included environmental readings from Aldo Leopold since the sixties and more recently from our own Dr. Bjornerud. Ron Tank – an emeritus in the Geology department, who still teaches today, wrote THE FIRST textbook on Environmental Geology in 1973, and Environmental Studies, now a Lawrence University major, was approved as an interdisciplinary area over 25 years ago. The major is founded upon contributions from the humanities, the sciences, arts, and social sciences. An overarching goal of these courses is to develop an understanding of the natural world and the human place in it.

Other curricular efforts have transcended the classroom and evolved into organizations that have at their heart rich and ongoing community engagement. The student-run campus garden (aka SLUG) is a case in point. SLUG started as a class project in the Symposium on Environmental Topics class whose focus was Sustainable Agriculture. Twenty Lawrentians worked diligently that winter term to transform bottom of union hill into a lush garden. This year marks the 5th anniversary of SLUG which now supplies the dining hall with over a ton of organic produce every year (some of it you have already enjoyed) and composts most of the kitchen waste. In addition, under the guidance of Education Professor Stewart Purkey, Senior Megan Bejella put together a garden-based curriculum that teaches Appleton middle school students about organic, sustainable gardening and local food production.

Green Roots, however, although focused on campus change isn’t solely about Lawrence University. As you will hear later (from Margaret Carroll and Pat Schinabeck) Lawrence is partnering with the broader Appleton community to bring a fresh new look to College Avenue, improving both the safety and aesthetics of the busiest pedestrian crossing in town. We are also engaging in a dialog on issues of national and international importance - an example of which you’ll hear from Dr. Finkler in a few moments. As both examples indicate, the Green Roots initiative will connect Lawrence to other groups and projects concerned with environmental sustainability.

Finally, let me mention that we are not solely addressing well worn issues such as global warming, invasive species, pollution, and resource depletion. We are thinking very broadly about our built, urban environment and plan to explore the healthfulness of where we live, work, and play. For example by the spring of 2010 there will be an interpretive River Walk that will run along the river, past the new Campus Center, and through the garden. It will be a place to connect with a once forgotten natural amenity and it will be a shared resource for the entire Appleton community. The key signage elements along the walkway (like the one shown here) were researched by students in another Environmental Studies Symposium. That research will connect intellectual inquiry by the students with future visitors to the river and will bring the historic and environmental past to life for users of the trail.

Both the river walk and SLUG highlight how class work can result in campus legacies that enhance how we use and interact with our environment. I hope that you can see from these examples that your initiative and involvement in Green Roots will pay off in real change on campus, in the Fox Valley, and elsewhere. The committee looks forward to working with all of you to make Lawrence a greener place, a healthier place, and a more beautiful place. We invite you to join us in building upon these and other past successes and looking forward to future endeavors. It will take a long-term commitment of will and resources and, no doubt, sacrifice from everyone in our community to be fully realized. In the end, however, we will establish deep, green roots here at Lawrence that will extend throughout the valley, and beyond, to all the places that, in the future, you call home.

Thank you to President Beck, faculty and staff, student and guests.

President Beck has asked me to speak to you about a very exciting project at Lawrence University.  Since late 2007, our firm has been building your new Campus Center.  While the sounds of equipment, concrete pumps, pneumatic hammers, drilling and safety alarms are music to my ears, they must be an aggravation to all of you on campus.  I apologize for any undue annoyances this may be causing you.  I’m pleased to tell you that after this year’s severe winter put us behind our plan, we have had a very productive summer.  We are back on our original schedule and expect to open this wonderful new facility in the fall of next year.  It will be an amazing addition to the Lawrence University campus and a building you and the entire community will enjoy for years to come. 

While the physical beauty will provide both an aesthetically pleasing structure and an environment to congregate and learn in an efficient use of space, your new Campus Center will also represent Lawrence University’s commitment to a more sustainable future.  It is anticipated to be a LEED silver certified building according to the U.S. Green Building Council standards.  It will incorporate some of the most contemporary “best practices” in design and construction.  Why is this important and what should you know about this new building besides the fact that your food will taste better?

For many, the breakneck speed at which change is occurring worldwide is beyond comprehension.  The global economy is in another troubling cycle.  Massive shifts in economic strength, changing geopolitics, exploitation of our natural resource consumption and global climate change are having a profound impact on America and how we view ourselves in the world.  America alone consumes 30% of the world’s energy.  According to the U.S. Green Building Council, buildings produce 48% of greenhouse gas emissions, consume 71% of electricity produced at U.S. power plants and are responsible for 136 million tons of building waste every year.

Buildings consume over 17% of the earth’s fresh water.  On average, 17.5 gallons of water is flushed down our 1.6-gallon toilets which is more than what can be consumed by any one person in a day.  This direction of consumption use and abuse according to many experts has had and may have irreversible consequences for this generation and future generations.  To some, the world of Wall-E in the popular Pixar movie is not too far away.

Concerned about the massive impact the building industry has on the environment, a group of industry experts created the USGBC in 1997.  Their goal was to encourage building owners to voluntarily design and build a new generation of buildings.  This vision has now become the most revolutionary change in the building industry in over a century.  At the first USGBC Greenbuild Conference in 2000, there were 250 participants.  Last year, there were 35,000 attendees.  To say green buildings are “hot” is an understatement.  While green buildings represent only 6-10% of the market, this trend is expected to double in five years.  USGBC created a vigorous set of standards called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).  LEED awards points for six key areas.

1.  Sustainable sites
2.  Water efficiency
3.  Energy & atmosphere
4.  Materials and resources
5.  Indoor environmental quality
6.  Innovation and design process

Because of the tremendous interest in this part of the market, best practices are being readily shared, new products that truly are sustainable have come on the market and technology is having a meaningful impact on building performance.  The following are some of the sustainable features and benefits of the new campus center:

• Bicycle storage and changing rooms to encourage methods of transportation to and from the facility which have low environmental impact.
• The building footprint has been minimized to limit disturbance to native soils, plant specimens, and maintain both erosion control and native habitat for wildlife.
• Vegetative shading strategies, vegetated roof, and both reflective roof and pavement surfaces will help control any microclimate heat island effect on the area to minimize impact on humans and wildlife.
• Interior and exterior lighting strategies have been designed to minimize the trespassing of light outside of the building and off of the project site respectively.  This will help eliminate glare and limit obtrusive light at night.
• Native and adaptive plant specimens are being planted to minimize irrigation.  All water used for irrigation is non-potable water which eliminates the use of drinkable water and the energy to treat for consumption.
• Low flow plumbing fixtures will be installed to reduce water consumption by more than 30% by standards mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment used in the Campus Center has been designed to be 21% more efficient than that required by industry standards.  This will both ensure thermal comfort of occupants and help minimize energy consumption.
• The new Campus Center will utilize wood which has been certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council.  This wood has been harvested by forest managers who adopt environmentally and socially responsible forest management practices.
• Carbon dioxide monitoring systems will ensure adequate ventilation throughout the campus center to help sustain occupant comfort and well-being.
• All materials used inside the building will contain low levels of volatile organic compounds and no formaldehydes.  Maintaining low levels of these compounds will help ensure healthful indoor air quality.
• The new Campus Center will include a high level of controllability of lighting systems.  This will be accomplished through zoned lighting and task lighting.  It will help reduce the amount of energy necessary to light the facility by allowing occupants to light only what is necessary and will consequently promote the productivity, comfort, and well-being of building occupants.  

These design and construction features and more will create one of the “greenest” campus centers in America.  Beyond this, we believe it will inspire all of you to begin or continue your journey to practice a more sustainable lifestyle that is sensitive to your role in this wonderful place called planet earth.  Aldo Leopold, the noted conservationist urged us all to be good stewards of the land and to do no harm.  At Lawrence, your leaders have taken a great step forward by embracing these sustainable philosophies.  You will be challenged to find ways to become a more sustainable community.  Next fall you will have a chance to experience a building for the future.  I assure you there’s nothing to fear.  “Light, more light.”

PAT: Margaret and I slid into Lawrence’s environmental initiative almost by accident. We hope it’s a happy accident for the college and also for the city and the neighborhood.

Both of us served on the College Avenue Design Committee, which Mayor Hanna formed in 2004 to advise the city council on the design of the new College Avenue Bridge and the rebuilding of the street from Drew east through the campus and out to Mathias Street. Margaret was appointed to represent Lawrence on the committee, and I was to represent the community at large.

As a long-time resident of the old center city and a former city alderperson, I was aware of the synergism between Lawrence, the city, and the neighborhood. Both Margaret and I understood that the new bridge would impact all of these and that the sustainability of each one depends on the viability of the others.

MARGARET: Our committee studied the details of the College Avenue project for three and a half years. The greatest concern for Lawrence in the project was the safety of pedestrians crossing College Avenue as it cuts right through the campus. Unifying the two sides of the campus requires hundreds of crossings every day, and making those crossings safe is an obvious priority. To accomplish that goal, the committee came out in favor of two elements suggested many years ago by a consultant on campus growth. One element is to mark the two crosswalks very clearly. The second is to provide a way to funnel all pedestrians to the crosswalks and guard against jaywalking. Rather than build barriers along the roadside, we decided to recommend turning the median—the part that is now mostly grass and a row of small trees—into a modest garden on soil banked high behind a curb. A third element recommended by the consultant was to put signs saying Lawrence University at both ends of the campus, clearly showing motorists that they are entering the Lawrence University campus—and making clear that they need to slow down and watch for pedestrians. The design committee also backed using Lawrence University signs but did not see them as something the city should pay for.

PAT: Our committee held its final meeting in April of this year. At the very end of that final meeting, the engineer responsible for the entire project just happened to show us photos of a median that Marquette University had built, largely for the purposes of increasing use of the crosswalks and calming traffic. It was gorgeous. We realized what potential a redesigned median could have in improving the quality of life for the campus, the neighborhood, and the downtown. But the city did not have the funds to pay for the more elaborate landscaping.

Overnight both Margaret and I had a similar thought. Could we find a way to build something like that on the Lawrence median? It would be a beautiful and safety-enhancing addition to the whole neighborhood. It would provide visual unity to the two sides of the campus. It would provide a lovely and gracious entrance to the downtown area. It would give us a chance to proclaim “Lawrence University” at both ends and make drivers aware that they were in the presence of pedestrians and that they needed to keep speeds down. Maybe, we thought, we could make this a joint project of the city, the neighborhood, and the college—a gift FROM all of us TO all of us.

MARGARET: The city had already agreed to put some money into the landscaping and to do the basic cement work. We could think of other potential donors from the neighborhood and the community. And to our astonishment, we soon learned that Lawrence was planning an environmental initiative under the guidance of Professor Jeff Clark. It appeared that all the pieces were coming together.

Turning this median into a beautiful garden, true to its origins as an effective pedestrian safety measure but enhanced to provide a lovely entrance to the downtown area and lift the spirits of everyone who sees it, will help to further the college’s dream of a Sustainable Lawrence.

1. US-China Water Symposium: A Wisconsin Idea Approach to Connecting Science, Policy, and Practice
   1. Slide 1 - delegates
   2. Slide 2 - water symposium title
2. The Wisconsin Idea – a century ago
   1. Slide 3 – origin of the Wisconsin Idea – 1904 – “education (at UW Madison) should influence people’s lives beyond the boundary of the classroom” and “The boundaries of the campus are the boundaries of the state”
   2. UW Madison faculty help shape state regulation and policy
   3. UW Madison faculty introduced new technology (especially agriculture related) to the state’s farmers
3. The Wisconsin Idea – 2008
   1. Slide 4 - Connect science, policy, and practice to improve the prospects for sustainable fresh water management and wastewater management
   2. Link Wisconsin academics with decision-makers and business practitioners to discuss best practical technology
   3. Share this experience with those outside Wisconsin in general and with a group of Chinese academics and policy advisors in particular
4. ENST 300 Seminar:Water Wars: Local and Global
   1. Slide 5 – ENST 300: Water Wars: Local and Global – a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the increasing scarcity of clean, fresh water and the need for more efficient and equity allocation of it
   2. Slide 6 – “whiskey’s for drinkin’ and water’s for fightin’”
   3. Slide 7 – poster on Terry Anderson’s talk on Water Markets
   4. Water Symposium provides significant background for ENST 300
   5. Many speakers who addressed the delegates will address ENST 300
   6. Student research projects will examine the Great Lakes, major US rivers, and major Chinese lakes and rivers. Compare and contrast analysis will be a common approach.
   7. Provide opportunity for interested students to extend their research into Summer 2009 with potential China trip focused on the Yangtze River
5. Global relationship building – long term objective
   1. Slide 8 - Create opportunities through internships, international exchanges, and enviropreneurship for global discussion of ideas regarding environmental science, policy, and practice.
   2. Establish ongoing internships with Wisconsin organizations such as Environ Corporation, the International Crane Foundation, the Madison Environmental Group, and the Nature Conservancy
   3. Encourage enviropreneurship: entrepreneurs who seek to establish property rights to natural resources so that owners will reap rewards from good stewardship.
      

You’ve heard some of the changes that will be made to our curriculum as a result of the Theme Year on the Environment, as well as unique new internship opportunities and other changes to how we view the environment at Lawrence. But what about us as people? Our courses may change, and we may have new opportunities to enrich ourselves academically, but at the end of this theme year will we have changed at all? And more importantly, do we want to change?

It all used to be so simple. Remember Earth Day back in elementary school? Earth Day meant no regular classes – instead, we could sign up for hikes, craft-making sessions, and field trips. We were so full of enthusiasm, and solving Earth’s problems seemed so easy. All we had to do was convince Mom and Dad to use less water and turn out the lights when they left the room, and the energy and resources thus saved would reverse global warming, end deforestation, mitigate the effects of oil spills in the world’s oceans and, in the process, quite possibly bring about world peace. Alas, the problem was far more complex than that. We now know that Earth has Earth-sized problems, and the prefabricated solutions with which we were furnished many years ago were well-intentioned but pitifully inadequate.

But today our problem is not a lack of solutions. We know what to do, but we often lack the will to do it. “Why bother?” we ask ourselves. “I’m just one person – I can’t solve Earth’s environmental problems by myself.” No, you can’t. But there are still reasons to care.
The practical reasons to be concerned are fairly obvious to anyone who believes in modern science. Global warming triggers climate change, which has been implicated in the increasingly violent Atlantic hurricane seasons that have produced disasters like Hurricane Katrina. Rising sea levels could easily swamp low-lying areas across the globe, from Battery Park in New York City, to the greater part of Bangladesh. There are economic incentives as well – reducing consumption of resources like water and electricity is obviously a money-saver, and our economy is currently demonstrating the consequences of our dangerous dependency on non-renewable sources of fuel. There are even ethical and religious reasons to take pause, from the secular contention that we ought to take care of our planet because we haven’t got another, to the assertions of religious figures like the Pope or the Dalai Lama, both of whom have spoken out against the dangers of materialism, over-consumption, and poor environmental stewardship.
You’ve heard arguments like these before, so why should they be more compelling now? Well, one person may not make much of a dent, but what about fourteen hundred people? We can’t all find the cure for cancer or HIV-AIDS, but we can all work to save our environment. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be work – we can actually help the environment by doing – and using – less.

So how can we accomplish this? In a college setting like Lawrence, I can think of one particularly pertinent area. You will probably have noticed that while people outside the “Lawrence Bubble” are accustomed to paying utility bills on a fairly regular basis, not once during your time at Lawrence will you be presented with a bill for your heat, water, or electricity consumption. This makes it very easy to fall under the illusion that you don’t have to pay for heat, water, or electricity. I am guilty of this; on a cold winter day I have been known to tell myself that I deserve a long, hot shower before trudging off to class and then spend twenty minutes monopolizing the shower and thoroughly enjoying enough hot water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. How do I justify this? “Well, I don’t have to pay for the water. It’s unlimited!” But it’s not unlimited, and every year Lawrence University has to pay the utility bills for fourteen hundred people. The more heat, water, and electricity we use, the more pressure it puts on the environment and on Lawrence’s finances.
The same goes for our dining facilities. The more food we use – and the more food we waste – the more food that must be purchased, which puts financial pressure on Lawrence’s food services. Combine these cause-effect relationships with a weakening economy, expensive gasoline, and rising costs for everything from transportation to healthcare, and we have a Bad Situation for everyone involved. In short, our actions have a real and quantifiable economic cost.
So what’s the solution? Think seriously about your consumption. Are there ways you can reduce the amount of heat, water, and electricity that you use? Can you eliminate food waste from your daily routine? Do you have wasteful habits and can you break them? These are just some of the many ways you can begin to change, and if we multiply the benefits of one person’s reduced consumption by fourteen hundred, think of the effect that would have!

Of course, we don’t want this theme year to consist solely of Lawrence students starving themselves and refusing to shower, all in the name of environmental preservation. This is an opportunity for us all to engage in a serious re-evaluation of our relationship with our environment. And it’s not just an opportunity for us to re-evaluate as individuals, but to re-evaluate as a community – to have a campus-wide discussion of how we as Lawrentians treat the world around us. This gives us an opportunity to make real change in our collective habits, goals, and lifestyles, and acting together, as a community, we can have a far greater impact than we would as individuals acting alone. So we should ask ourselves important questions like “What, environmentally speaking, are our priorities right now?” or “Do we have habits or procedures that are wasteful or environmentally insensitive?” Answering these and other pertinent questions provides us with the information we need to determine where we can do better. Then, if we can address our weaknesses, we can make real, positive changes.

So what exactly does the phrase “address our weaknesses” mean, and how do we do it? Addressing our weaknesses means determining what we do, both as individuals and as a community, that is wasteful or environmentally insensitive, and then taking action, either by changing our habits, or by changing the procedures Lawrence uses on a day-to-day basis. There are any number of ways to do this. If you wanted to conserve water, you could take fewer, shorter showers, or do fewer, larger loads of laundry. To conserve electricity you could use fewer lights for less time or turn off your computer rather than letting it hibernate overnight. To conserve food you could take smaller portions and come back for seconds – if “your eyes are bigger than your stomach,” you end up throwing food out, which isn’t doing the environment any favors.
We can do the same kind of things as a community. To save paper, we could switch all the printers on campus from single-sided printing to double-sided. We could use organic waste to make compost for the Sustainable Lawrence University Garden, rather than just throwing it out. And we can do things that help us grow as a community, like campus beautification projects. This is a time for us to harness our creativity and ingenuity in the form of ideas. It’s a time when “we can’t” and “we don’t” should be replaced with “what if?” and “why not?”. And anyone can do this! You can join one of our environmentally-minded groups like Greenfire or SLUG. You can run for a position on our student government, the Lawrence University Community Council, or join one of its standing committees. Once this year’s LUCC representatives have been elected, I will be asking them to approve the foundation of a Standing Committee on Environmental Responsibility which will serve as a forum for the environmental efforts of the student government and the student body. These are all organizations that any one of you can participate in. It’s time to get engaged.

So let me sum this up. What should this Theme Year on the Environment mean to you, the Lawrence student? It means new academic opportunities, but it’s more than that. It’s a time to step back and reflect on ourselves both as individuals and as a community, and analyze how we interact with the environment. It’s a chance to find out where we’re weak and where we’re strong, and take steps to improve our individual and communal relationships with the world around us. It’s a time for new ideas, and a time for engagement in student organizations and student government. And most of all, it’s a time to work together for positive change. We can all do it. Let’s live the Lawrence Difference.