Colleges shine light on carbon output

Evergreen, South Puget Sound, Saint Martin's, Centralia College join nationwide campaign

By Diane Huber | The Olympian • Published January 28, 2008

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To quantify how much carbon dioxide The Evergreen State College emits each year, imagine 5,000 people each releasing 1.1 million balloons filled with greenhouse gases.

Links

For a schedule of Focus the Nation events go to focusthenation.evergreen.edu

• For information on the national campaign go to http://www.focusthenation.com

• For information on The Evergreen State College's Sustainability Task Force, got to http://www.evergreen.edu/sustainability

• John Pumilio's thesis on The Evergreen State College's carbon output

• To calculate your carbon output and learn ways to reduce it: http://www.carbonfootprint.com
Focus the Nation events

• What: A nationwide campaign to raise awareness about global warming. South Sound sponsors are The Evergreen State College, South Puget Sound Community College, Saint Martin's University and Centralia College.

• Online schedule of events: http://focusthenation.evergreen.edu.

Community Forum

• What: Creating a Climate of Change: A Community Forum on Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest

• When: 7 p.m. Wednesday at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Stage 1, 512 Washington St. S.E. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the first 500 people through the door will receive a compact fluorescent light bulb courtesy of Puget Sound Energy.

• Speakers: The free event will feature a panel of South Sound and state elected officials, lawmakers, business leaders and scientific experts on global warming, including Sen. Karen Fraser, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chairman Billy Frank Jr. and Olympia Mayor Doug Mah.

At SPSCC

• What: The college will have educational films about global warming at noon and 4 p.m. in Building 26, Room 105 today, Tuesday and Wednesday.

• Films: Today: "Global Warming: The Signs and the Science"; Tuesday: "The Next Industrial Revolution: William McDonough, Michael Braungart and the Birth of the Sustainable Economy"; Wednesday: "The Story of Stuff" and "Climate Chance: Olympia's Call to Action."

• Teach-in: The college will also have information booths, demonstrations and speakers from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday in the Student Union building.

At Evergreen

Climate change workshops will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday. Topics include community solutions to climate change; sustainable buildings in Thurston County; and what are the greenhouse gas implications for our food choices?

That's Evergreen's "carbon footprint," calculated last year by graduate John Pumilio as part of his master's thesis.

Saint Martin's University and South Puget Sound Community College are following suit with their own carbon calculations.

It's one way the colleges hope to raise awareness about global warming and reduce greenhouse gases.

The three campuses, along with Centralia College, are also sponsoring this week's Focus the Nation campaign, which kicks off today at more than 1,000 campuses and communities nationwide.

"We want people to understand what carbon footprints are and to be able to think about this issue from a community standpoint," said Nancy Parkes, an environmental policy instructor at The Evergreen State College.

Parkes is co-chair of the college's Sustainability Task Force, made up of faculty, staff and students. "This is going to raise momentum and awareness and community partnership, which Evergreen intends to feed and keep going," she said.

Evergreen

Pumilio's calculations found that 41 percent of Evergreen's emissions are from electricity; 28 percent from heating; and 24 percent from students and staff commuting to and from campus.

His thesis recommends that the college become carbon neutral by reducing emissions and offsetting them with investments in green power and other programs that reduce greenhouse gases.

Evergreen is on its way toward carbon neutrality by 2020, a priority asserted by President Les Purce and 250 college presidents nationwide. The college has several initiatives to help reach that goal:

nStudents pay a self-imposed fee for purchasing 100 percent green, non-polluting energy from Puget Sound Energy.

nThe 160,000 square foot Seminar II building earned a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold standard, set by the nonprofit United States Green Building Council. It's the second-highest ranking, and it measures sustainable building practices.

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