Submitted on May 5, 2010; last updated on May 5, 2010
No information provided
Indiana State University has been working to reduce carbon emissions and its overall carbon footprint since the 1990s. In 2001, ISU switched from a coal powered steam plant on campus to a central steam heating plant fired by natural gas boilers, which has reduced our emissions by approximately 1.4 million pounds of greenhouse gases annually (Ney 2008). ISU established the recycling center in 1989, which has reduced our deliveries to the landfill so that ISU is only sending 15% of the solid waste to the landfill that it did in 1990 (Ney 2008). In its 20 year history the ISU recycling facility has diverted over 9,000 tons of trash from the landfill, which has saved over 3,000 loads (16 Cu. Yd.) from the landfill. ISU has transformed an urban campus with many impermeable streets to a green campus with extensive canopy cover and named green spaces, planting over 4,000 trees since 1984. Indiana State University is presently at 61% of its 1990 carbon emission levels (Ney 2008). We have come a long way in improving efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. To achieve carbon neutrality, we need to integrate sustainability into all of our activities and to make it a part of campus culture. This can be a unifying theme across campus that may help to build community and a respect for the local environment. Sustainability is also industry driven (i.e. LEED certification) which creates a need for well educated students. Our education programs in sustainability are providing an advantage to our students through training in green construction, the environmental sciences, business, and psychology associated with sustainable issues. By incorporating sustainability into our teaching, the foundational studies program, and learning communities, we can engage a large portion of our undergraduate students and make sustainability part of ISU culture. See ISU's Climate Action Plan document for more information.
Our education programs in sustainability are providing an advantage to our students through training in green construction, the environmental sciences, business, and psychology associated with sustainable issues. By incorporating sustainability into our teaching, the foundational studies program, and learning communities, we can engage a large portion of our undergraduate students and make sustainability part of ISU culture. This academic direction can be a unique selling point for ISU that can set us above other institutions. By incorporating sustainability into our academic programs our impact will be larger than just the university-level changes. We will change student behavior and awareness of the environment around them and they will take these lessons to their professional careers. Also, by incorporating sustainability into campus facilities and activities, we provide teaching moments with real-world consequences for our students. All of our sustainability activities should be located on campus or on ISU landholdings and these activities and improvements should be promoted so that students are aware of our efforts to become sustainable. As we improve the infrastructure on campus we also develop learning venues that fit into our mission for experiential learning and community engagement. See ISU's Climate Action Plan document for more information.
Indiana State University has excelled at teaching courses that deal with sustainability, but until this year, we have not completed a catalog of classes that deal with sustainability and the faculty that teach those classes and conduct research in the area of sustainability. We have identified 39 faculty that conduct research in or teach about sustainability. This information is based on an informal poll and the number of active faculty is likely to grow once we organize a sustainability emphasis and advertise that emphasis across campus. We have also identified 22 courses that deal with the environment and sustainability. These courses cover economics, psychology, political science, technology, and the environmental sciences. Currently, five student organizations deal with environmental issues and have community service events on a regular basis. See Climate Action Plan document for more information.
Indiana State University students, faculty and staff are heavily involved in community outreach efforts related to sustainability. A community garden located on university-owned property east of the campus, a weekly Farmers Market at Ninth and Cherry streets and Terre Foods Cooperative Market all promote the use of locally-grown produce, thereby reducing reliance on fossil fuels to transport produce great distances. Sodexo/ISU Dining Services donates food daily to the local Catholic Charities Food Bank. The university is a leader in campus and community recycling efforts and now has an ongoing e-scrap collection program that helps protect the environment by keeping potentially hazardous materials out of landfills by promoting the de-manufacturing of televisions, computers and related components. See ISU's Climate Action Plan document for more information.
