Towson talks about making environmental strides, and five months ago Towson President Robert Caret signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, yet some are questioning whether the TU campus is truly going green.
According to the University's Web site, the three major items that Towson will address in meeting its commitment are public transportation, waste reduction, and green building.
Commuters commute alone
To reduce carbon emissions caused by automobiles the University stresses public transportation. However, Kenilworth at Charles Apartments and the University Village are the only two off-campus residence locations that have Towson University shuttle bus services.
A shuttle also runs to Penn Station in Baltimore.
"The University would love to do more busses to apartment complexes, but the apartment complexes don't want to get on board because they have to pay for it," Kenny West, administration and finance manager of parking and transportation services, said.
This semester the shuttle service for Kenilworth requires students to have added a sticker to their identification card, to verify Kenilworth residency. According to West, Kenilworth implemented the new identification program because students were riding the bus who lived in the surrounding apartment complexes.
Towson's Web site states that commuters make up 80 percent of the undergraduates at Towson. Most commuters do not carpool and there is no formal program to encourage it. West said such a program might not work.
"We're looking at implementing it, but...we don't know if it would be effective at this university at this time. Students have a habit of wanting the most convenient spaces and not wanting to carpool anyway," West said.
Commuter Services offers a ride board that is split into three categories: local listings, extended travel listings, and carpool listings. As of Jan. 30, only eight people were listed on the board.
West said the University is hesitant to get more involved with the Ride Board because of insurance and liability issues.
Recycling is a given
According to the University's Web site there are 381 recycling locations on campus.
However, some campus observers believe the recycling is combined with regular trash and disposed of.
Also, there are a limited number of recycling receptacles in the residence halls.
Jason Stefaniak, University Residence Government president, said there are two big ones in the lobbies of the residence halls, but the future goal is to bring in bags and boxes for each room and floor.
"I think a lot of students and certain administrators are working really hard because they care about recycling, but I think the University as a whole is trying to make itself look better by talking about recycling. They put it on the Web site and they participate in RecycleMania, but we don't have recycling bins on every floor…Overall, I think their efforts are ruined by not everyone chipping in," Stefaniak said.
Sean Lawlor, a sophomore Towson Energy Activist member, said he doesn't think Towson is environmentally friendly enough. He said there are some administrators working toward green progress, "but really much larger strides need to be made in regards to energy."
"A lot of what they're focusing on is recycling and that kind of goes without saying. They need to focus on larger things," he said.
Amanda Duzak, former campaign director and current member of TEA, explains the importance of her group's work.
"It's extremely important because this is our generation. We're pretty young right now, but people in the past and up to recently have said things 'like it's our children, it's our grandchildren's'[future].' Now we can say it's us," Duzak said.
Duzak said she has noticed changes at the University.
"I think I have seen Towson do more around campus. Let's say the [University] Store - they have a sustainability section now, so you can buy recycled paper. In the lunchrooms, they are serving more locally grown food. Now, I don't know how much is actually locally grown. I actually wanted to ask how much of it was. I think they're at least trying to appear green," Duzak said.
Construction and lighting effects
Construction and growth has also affected the environment at Towson.
The University is aiming for many of its new buildings to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED certified), which promotes sustainability, productivity and cost effectiveness.
The Center for the Arts is known for being lit up at all hours. University administrators attribute the energy use to late-night housekeeping and a July pipe burst that required late-night repairs.
"Crews have been working in these areas in multiple shifts, including during the evening and weekends to bring the much needed space back on line for occupancy and use as quickly as possible. So many of the spaces you see from the University Union have been lit into the evenings to facilitate renovation," Jack Nye, director of planning in facilities management, said.
He said lights in the parking garages stay on all night because of safety concerns.
As for monitoring how much energy and water a resident student uses, the University has no method for tracking it.
"To my knowledge the University has not considered a student accountability approach for water and electric use/conservation to date," he said.
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