On college campuses across the country there is a concerted campaign to increase their sustainability. Sustainability manifests itself in a myriad of different ways: using the most efficient technology available that does not waste fossil fuels, conserving water and serving food from local providers, thereby reducing transportation costs.
However, three of the more important actions that universities across the country are doing is creating schools of sustainability, reducing the presence of plastic water bottles on campus and recycling.
So how does Saint Louis University compare with other universities across the country in the sector of sustainability, and more specifically, in the three areas described above?
One similar school that is doing a lot of things right in sustainability is Loyola University Chicago. Like SLU, Loyola-Chicago is a Jesuit institution situated in a major Midwestern city. This article will often use this university’s sustainability efforts as a benchmark that SLU should reach for.
The first area that we will talk about is the creation of schools of sustainability. At the moment, SLU has a Masters program of sustainability, which intends to “provide students with an integrated foundation in sustainability that incorporates cross-disciplinary knowledge in science, technology, business and policy.” Loyola-Chicago, on the other hand, has its own Environmental Science department of which sustainability is a major component.
The use of plastic water bottles on campus is another important issue that requires addressing. There are projects on campus attempting to increase the amount of water fountains with “fill stations” that can fill up reusable bottles with greater ease. This is an important first step in both encouraging the use of reusable water bottles, which are becoming increasingly popular, as well as reducing the university’s dependence on plastic water bottles. However, SLU administrators, faculty and students alike should begin to consider a more comprehensive measure to reduce the privatization of water.
A number of college campuses have implemented campus-wide policies that prohibit the sale of water bottles on campus, and Loyola-Chicago was one of them. In fact, Loyola-Chicago was one of the first, and their argument was based on the principles of water justice, the tenant that the privatization of a human right, water, is morally wrong. Since Loyola’s success, it has become a national trend for other college campuses to follow suit. Universities that have initiated these policies are often the most forward-thinking universities in the country. They are the trendsetters.
The last issue, and one that SLU is doing relatively well on, is recycling. Two years ago, SGA initiated a program to vastly increase the amount of recycling bins on campus as well as media campaigns to make recycling more a imperative activity. Now, it’s extremely easy for students to find a place to recycle. However, there are still ways that SLU can improve. For example, there are still on-campus apartments where recycling is too much of a hassle for students.
So, while SLU is addressing sustainability in a diligent manner, there is still a great deal of room for improvement, and it would be wise for our university to use Loyola-Chicago’s efforts as a model.