Students Sign Personal Climate Commitments to Reduce Carbon Emissions

Guilford joined more than 1,200 colleges and universities in a national teach-in on global warming sponsored by the nonpartisan group Focus the Nation, which included a screening of Focus the Nation’s Web cast “The 2 % Solution” and an opportunity for the Guilford community to sign a Personal Climate Commitment.

Guilford’s students and administration have long supported environmental sustainability, says sustainability coordinator Jim Dees. He points out that Guilford was one of the first colleges in North Carolina to sign the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, now signed by almost 500 schools. The agreement calls for the college to become “carbon-neutral” and to increase education on efforts to halt climate change.

“What’s best about Guilford is that the faculty and staff were already on board,” Dees says. “Students want this too, but they need to be educated about it. Having that support from top to bottom is nice.”

As students, faculty and staff entered the Walnut Room during lunch for the symposium, they were greeted with tables full of reusable canvas bags and “Born to Recycle” temporary tattoos. Fliers listing 10 ways to reduce Guilford’s impact on the environment dotted every table.

A large, blown-up copy of the President’s Climate Commitment, signed by President Kent Chabotar and approved by the Board of Trustees, stood by the door. Next to it was another poster where students could list how they planned personally to help conserve resources. The board was covered with commitments to walk or bicycle rather than driving short distances, turn off lights and computers when not in use, buy locally grown food items and recycle more.

“The 2 % Solution,” was Web cast Jan .30 from the University of Central Florida. Colleges and other institutions tuned in last night and today for a round-table discussion of various solutions to global warming. The film’s title refers to the fact that, if the United States wants to reduce its carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050, it will need an average of a two percent reduction each year. (For more information about the film, visit www.FocusTheNation.org)

Focus the Nation is a good source for Guilford students wanting to know how they can personally help the environment, says Malcolm Kenton ’08, who is a student representative to the Sustainability Council. “I like that they emphasize not only what you can do to decrease your own impact and energy use, but how you can get involved politically,” he says. “They tell you to go talk to your Congressman.”

Following the Web cast, Dees and Rex Harrell, Guilford’s project sustainability manager, talked about what the campus has already accomplished – installation of solar panels on Shore Hall, water recycling and composting at the Pines, the switch to waterless urinals. The culture of sustainability has spread to every aspect of campus life – signs in the Dining Hall boast that the switch to different napkins saved almost 1,000 gallons of water last month; the upcoming renovation of Archdale Hall will aim for a Silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

Tim Jernigan-Smith ’11 was familiar with Focus on the Nation, having attended one of their consortiums as a high school student. “I was hoping that I’d pick this back up when I got to college,” he says of environmental activism. “I care about these things, but I need a little push. And when you hear the facts, it’s a good reminder.”

Jan. 31, 2008