University holds monthly meeting on sustainability

Pitt’s monthly sustainability meetings all started as a class assignment. According to… Pitt’s monthly sustainability meetings all started as a class assignment. According to professor Rosemary Capo of the department of geology and planetary sciences, these meetings, which bring together representatives from various departments, began last semester as a result of a project by Theresa Romanosky, a student in her sustainability class. These meetings include representatives from housing, dining and transportation, as well as student leaders from Student Government Board, Free the Planet and Engineers for a Sustainable World.’ About 20 people attended the second meeting on Friday in the SGB conference room in the William Pitt Union. ‘[The meetings] have been very productive,’ said SGB environmental committee chairman Tom Hudzik. ‘[They] give students a chance to see what’s going on around campus.’ All of the attendees agreed that education of students about sustainability, how they can participate and awareness of what the University is doing is necessary to motivate students about how they can positively impact their current environment. Specific departments have taken their own initiatives, many of which students may not be aware. Sodexo, for one, gives all of its used oil to a company that recycles it and creates bio-diesel fuel. The company went tray-less in the Sutherland dining facilities and are looking to do the same elsewhere as it saves money in terms of water and energy used to wash them, a representative said at the meeting. Sodexo also buys produce from local farmers and implements the use of reusable plates to eliminate more waste from disposable plates and containers. The campus shuttles are also jumping on the environmental bandwagon. As of this academic year, Pitt purchases a bio-diesel fuel for the buses it leases. This fuel comes from recycled animal fats that are a by-product of animals already designated for slaughter in the meat-packing industry, said a representative from Pitt’s department of transportation at the meeting. William Mitchell of Facilities Management and other people attending the meeting agreed that student involvement is crucial. ‘ ‘I want to have more students involved, including student organizations,’ said Mitchell. One suggestion that everyone present seemed to agree upon was the idea of getting Pitt Students involved with a national recycling competition called Recycle Mania. According to the event’s Web site, Recycle Mania is a 10-week competition that promotes campus waste reduction by reporting recycling statistics. Future meeting dates are already set and are generally held the first Friday of each month. However, the next meeting will be held on the first Thursday in November.