Augustana College: School’s initiative has lots going on

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By Alma Gaul | Sunday, March 23, 2008 |

At Augustana College, food service is getting sustainable, too.

Gary Griffith, the director of dining services recently hired away from a job in San Diego, is brimming with ideas to make his operations more environmentally friendly.

They include using biodegradable packaging for take-out food, purchasing more “local” food and — this is big — collecting food waste for composting on a Rock Island County farm.

Buying “local” food is environmentally friendly because it doesn’t have to be shipped as far, reducing energy use in the transport, and it supports the Quad-City-area economy, Griffith said.

To make students aware of the connection between food and producer, he expects to create “bio boards” for the dining areas that would have pictures of the farmers and the farms where the food was produced.

In the future, students (and others) might receive a discount for using their own refillable cups for beverages in all food service venues.

“I’m excited,” Griffith said. “I think the students are ready for it.”

Other Augustana initiatives include:

** A commitment to using the U.S. Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards for construction projects, striving at all times for a minimum standard of “silver.” College president Steven Bahls describes that as a “huge commitment” for Augustana because of the increased upfront expense.

Some students would like to see even more. Or, more accurately, less.

Aaron Schroeder, a junior from Long Grove, Iowa, said he is still smarting from the construction last year of the Dorothy Parkander Residence Center, a pair of three-story buildings on the south end of campus.

“They shaved off the tree line,” he said. “It used to be an immaculate hillside. Now there is runoff to the parking lot. And they did this without looking at geothermal (energy).”

More recently, the college’s board of trustees voted to build a new student center to be ready by mid-2010. Schroeder thinks it would be enough to remodel the existing College Center, something Augustana plans to do in addition to constructing the new building.

“The most sustainable building is the one that doesn’t get built,” he said. “They (administrators) can’t keep saying ‘reduce’ while building these gargantuan buildings.”

Other students are more laudatory about the efforts that have been made.

“It’s definitely an awesome thing,” Beth Flynn, a junior from St. Cloud, Minn., said of the college’s environmental plan.

** The purchase and “green” rehab of a house just south of campus that will be used for student housing as well as an ongoing demonstration project. The college budgeted $50,000 for the project, which was the hands-on, student-directed component of classes about the environment.

Elements have included installation of a geothermal energy system and energy-efficient windows, a compost pile, a vegetable garden and the use of rain barrels for capturing rainwater.

** The dedication of two full-time custodians to managing the campus recycling program.

** Possible development of an academic major in environmental studies.

** Maintenance of nearly 600 acres of ecologically significant habitats divided among three field stations around northern Illinois. The stations preserve native ecosystems as well as offering a laboratory for teaching. There is a 420-acre site in Lee County, a 67-acre site in Milan and a 98-acre site at the junction of Rock Island and Moline.