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Doing good work on Earth Day

By Kristina Boyer '05 and Carole Engblom
April 22, 2005

A week of environmental activities is capped off with a campus-wide clean-up, campus fair, tree planting and sustainable dinner organized by St. Olaf student environmental groups, faculty and staff to honor Earth Day, April 22. Energetic work by students participating in the "Campus Ecology" class, the St. Olaf Greens (a political group), the St. Olaf Environmental Program (a volunteer network), the student-run Environmental Coalition (an awareness group), as well as participation by students, faculty and staff in the college's Sustainability Task Force ensures that everyone has an opportunity to learn more about environmental sustainability and stewardship.

From a $1.5 million grant to help St. Olaf build a wind turbine on college grounds to food composting and an examination of the environmental building principles that will guide the design and construction of the new Science Complex, the St. Olaf community is committed to promoting and implementing sustainable practices.

In large and small ways, St. Olaf students, faculty and staff are making changes to help the environment. Bon Appetit, the college's food service, buys chicken that hasn't been treated with human antibiotics, purchases beef and pork from local farmers, and makes sure that all paper products are from recycled fiber. Black, Gold and Green is dedicated to news and information about St. Olaf's environmental stewardship. Environmental entrepreneurs Dana Burntess '07 and Dan Borek '06 have formed STOGROW Farm, funded by a grant from the Student Government Association to use the St. Olaf farm for long-term sustainability. Student naturalist April Graves '05 organizes and leads environmental field trips, tree plantings and other natural restoration activities on campus. Plans are in place for a green Science Complex and implementing green chemistry into the curriculum. The college will begin construction on a wind turbine in 2006 and composter, which will take care of the all food waste, will be up and running before the end of the academic year.

"We want the campus to be as beautiful as it is today for the grandchildren of our current students," says St. Olaf President Christopher M. Thomforde. "We need to be not only stewards of the earth but also partners with it so that the future will be healthy and vital for all things living."

Earth Day, a global environmental movement sponsored by Earth Day Networks, aims to educate and mobilize people, governments, and corporations to take responsibility for a clean and healthy environment.

Contact Carole Engblom at 507-646-3271 or leigh@stolaf.edu.