By Christina Falso, Staff writer
Sustainability is an important movement that has become more prevalent in society over the past decade. Many universities and companies are striving to increase their Sustainability use and find innovative ways to create less waste to improve the environment, such as the switch from coal to natural gas that Susquehanna implemented in 2014.
These achievements prove to be true here at Susquehanna as the school was awarded the bronze achievement for sustainability in February of 2018.
“We are excited to have received this award and will hopefully obtain the silver award next year,” Katherine Straub said, a professor in the earth and environmental sciences department at Susquehanna.
Straub submitted and helped create the STARS application, The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System. They assessed Susquehanna’s sustainability and completed detailed evaluations.
SUSTAINABILITY— Susquehanna commissioned building a solar array back in December of 2017. The array will contain 14,000 solar panels that will provide 30 percent of the university’s electricity needs on campus. The array is located at the Center for Environmental Education and Research.
“It is all a points system,” she said, when receiving the certain bronze, silver, or gold status. “We hope to gain more points next year and receive the silver award,” Straub continued. “Susquehanna currently has 35 points, and we are only 10 points away in order to obtain the silver award.”
Each category of the assessment is broken down into subcategories. For example, some categories include, Academics, Engagement, Operations, Innovation and Leadership, and Planning and Administration.
These categories break down into the subcategories of curriculum, research, campus engagement, energy, and buildings, etc. All these elements are vital to help rate sustainability and the environment on campus.
In thinking towards the future, last year Susquehanna partnered with WGL Energy to create a 3 megawatt solar array. The solar array has been built but are not turned on yet.
The array will be turned on in June and will enhance the calculations of solar electricity and other environmental measurements.
In addition, the sustainability coordinator, Derek Martin will move forward with the school’s efforts to keep this campus environmentally friendly and safe.
Some ideas Susquehanna can implement to improve sustainability for the future are to reduce food production waste and educate new first-years on the importance of the environment and how we all can be more sustainable here at Susquehanna.
Dear Earth, an event held on April 26, is an event structured toward that idea. Students were able to write messages on themselves about the importance of the environment and get a picture taken.