Lecture by renowned environmentalist Paul Hawken gives context to Energy Challenge and Recylemania

Gustavus is kicking off the spring Semester by maintaining old ways and actively pursuing new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Beginning with a little inspiration, the Johnson Center for Environmental Innovation and Center for Vocational Reflection are sponsoring a lecture by well known environmentalist, author and entrepreneur Paul Hawken to take place Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall. The month of February also sees the two intercollegiate challenges of Recyclemania and the Minnesota Campus Energy Wars Challenge.

The lecture given by Hawken will be an account of his various experiences and findings on environmentally friendly ways of life and business, thus showing those in attendance ways in which they might further their efforts in sustainability, both locally and globally. Hawken, however, is not merely renowned for his scientific research, but for the fact that he also gives context for the importance of environmental awareness by showing its direct links with social justice.

“He is an inspirational voice,” Jim Dontje, the Director of Johnson Center for Environmental Innovation, said. “[While] the best answers for sustainability are local, it is always helpful to get a wider range of perspectives and to learn about how other people are answering these questions. … [Hawken] makes it clear that social justice and environmental issues are linked very tightly and not at all separate.”

Hawken has taken on many different jobs throughout his career as an environmentalist. He has written numerous pieces of journalism and seven books, including four national bestsellers: The Next Economy (Ballantine 1983), Growing a Business (Simon and Schuster 1987), The Ecology of Commerce (HarperCollins 1993) and Blessed Unrest (Viking, 2007). Hawken also worked on the staff of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965 issuing pieces in newspapers and radio about the movement prior to the March on Montogmery.

His books give an economic account of sustainability, as Hawken himself has founded several businesses dedicated to conducting commerce in an environmentally friendly manner. Hawken is the founder of the Natural Capital Institute, a research organization which serves as an open source networking platform that links business, government, social entrepreneurs, students, scientists and citizens concerned about the environment and social justice.

“I think it should appeal to a wide range of students,”Dontj said, “It’s easy to say ‘Oh, an environmentalist!’ and box him in, but [Hawken’s] latest work in Blessed Unwrest is very historical.”

After listening to Hawken’s lecture, students can immidiatly put the skills and philosphies they learned into practice in the two recycling compeitions taking place on campus.

Recyclemania is a competition involving hundreds of colleges and millions of students across the nation in which competitors try to reduce the amount waste they throw away. The competition is taking place currently and will end on March 27, 2010, at which time all numbers from the colleges and universities will be tallied to find the winner. Last year Gustavus placed among the top third of schools in the nation and ranked first out of all Minnesota schools.

“I think it’s important what we are doing right now,” Nils Anderson, a sophomore elementary education major, said. “It’s a learning experience, and students should take from [it] the idea that [recycling] should be part of everyone’s everyday life. It’s a movement taking place worldwide.”

The environmental students of Gustavus hosting the event are hopeful that the institution can repeat its previous success. They will be tabling outside the Market Place every Friday, encouraging people to sign pledges to recycle over the ten week period and hosting various drawings.

The goal of the Energy Challenge is to reduce the consumption of energy at Gustavus. For Gustavus students this means mostly electrical and heating related energy. Students are encouraged to think the mantra of “if you don’t need it, turn it off.” Energy statistics of the month of February will be taken and then compared to the institutions’ numbers for the previous three years. Whichever school has cut down on energy usage the most wins the Challenge.

While the effect of gas used in a vehicle is fairly tangible, electrical use is one of the largest sources of green house gases, and conserving it can be as effective as reducing driving by about 50 percent.

“Electricity, while it may seem very clean in our building, has a very dirty fuel cycle,” Dontje said. “For every one unit of electricity we use, it takes about three or four units of coal.”

Last February Gustavus cut down on energy use by 15 percent, made possible by both equipment updates and the personal habits of the school’s students and staff. Although the bar has been set high by last year’s statistics, Dontje and others remain confident that there are still more ways to cut down on energy usage.
Hawken will be meeting with students wishing to learn more about increasing their efforts for the Minnesota Campus Energy Challenge (MCEC) and Recyclemania on a more informal question-and-answer basis at a later time yet to be decided. “I think it’s a great way to get the campus involved in creating a  greener society,” Derrick Berndt, a junior chemistry major said.

The staff of the Linneus Arboretum has been maintaining itsContinuing Education Program, with its most recent installment to take place on Feb. 15 entitled Greenhouses: What a Gas! Discovering Climate Change. The Continuing Education Program is dedicated to heightening awareness of global warming and greenhouse gasses in the St. Peter community.

This installment will be bringing elementary students from St. Peter Elementary School to the arboretum. “We are going to go outside and record the temperature, then go inside the greenhouse to compare the two temperatures. We will also make our own greenhouse plants with a plastic bag from the homes so they recycle the plastic bags,”a 2008 graduate of Gustavus and the current Arboretum Naturalist and Nobel Hall Greenhouse Manager Bob Dunlap said.

The combination of guest lecturer Paul Hawken’s presence on campus, Recyclemania, the Energy Challenge and the Continuing Education program shows that Gustavus is presenting many opportunities to be informed and active in the fight against pollution. Gustavus students have but to take a little initiative in recycling and creating more eco-friendly habits to directly impact a more healthy world.