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Spring does not officially begin until March 20, but due to efforts by some University administrators and activist student groups, the campus may be going green sooner rather than later.
As part of an on-going effort to reduce Towson's "carbon footprint," the University has adopted several environmentally friendly, or green, initiatives. Also, Towson President Robert Caret joined hundreds of signatories across the country last summer for the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.
"A carbon footprint is anything we use in our daily lives that emits carbon," Towson Energy Activists member Amanda Duzak said. "So let's say you drive from your house to school. You're going to emit carbon."
According to special assistant to the vice president of student affairs and coordinator of civic engagement initiatives Darcy Accardi, the University has begun to pursue green efforts due to a strong response by the student body.
"The Towson Energy Activists deserve a lot of credit for getting the discussion started, but other groups like the Student Government [Association] and others have voiced their concerns," she said. "It's part of a national trend that students across the country on college campuses are getting more involved in the green movement."
The ultimate goal of the ACUPCC is to reach climate neutrality by stopping damaging carbon emissions from reaching the atmosphere. As part of the agreement signed by Caret in August, the University must complete a full inventory of all greenhouse gases put off by campus entities in one year. This includes electricity, heating, and car emissions from student commuters.
After signing the ACUPCC, Caret appointed vice president for administration and finance, James Sheehan, to lead the search to create a task force for accomplishing the mandates set by the commitment. Sheehan appointed associate vice president for facilities management Stephen Showers to chair the committee. Also on the committee are special assistant to the vice president for administration and finance Amie Voith, chairman of the faculty senate Tim Sullivan, director of planning in facilities management Jack Nye, University Residence Government president Jason Stefaniak, TU staff council chair Liina Ladon, and TU staff council member Gloria Gajewski.
"The University has long recognized the importance of environmental issues both on campus and across the world," Sheehan said. "We felt that the President's Climate Commitment embodied many University ideals related to sustainability, so it was an excellent fit."
As reported by The Towerlight in September, Caret offered his signature with a caveat, writing "assuming reasonably stable budgets," below his name.
According to the University's Go Green Web page, there are 381 recycling locations on campus. Communications specialist in the office of administration and finance Pam Martin said new locations are always being added and there will be more than 400 by the end of the semester.
When constructing the new College of Liberal Art complex, the University reused 95 percent of the foundation of Lida Lee Tall, demolished in Spring 2007, according to Martin.
Also, the new Childcare Center was partially constructed with recycled materials.
"This cuts down on the waste that is produced from the construction," Martin said. "There are a lot of green building plans in the future for Towson as they continue to grow the campus."
On Jan. 27 the University Residence Government and facilities management began an annual RecycleMania campaign, a national contest to see which school can collect the most recyclables while eliminating waste. The program runs for 10 weeks and Towson will compete against more than 200 schools from across the country. Last year, Towson finished in the top 20 percent of participating schools, having recycled 1,842 pounds of cardboard, 13,445 pounds of paper, and 1,713 pounds of cans and bottles.
"We are very supportive of recycling on campus, especially in the residence halls and we have been working on trying to get recycling bins in every room," Stefaniak said. "So any type of program that encourages recycling on campus we are very supportive of."
As part of the campaign, "Go Green at TU" stickers will be placed on all recycling bins around campus.
In and around the University Union Potomac Room Thursday, the University will host "Focus the Nation," a national teach-in concentrated on educating students about global warming and other related environmental issues. In Paws, students can view Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and an award-winning documentary on oil depletion and America's reliance of fossil fuels, "The End of Suburbia."
Nick Di Marco and Daniel Gross contributed to this report.
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