Program Description

Sustainability Office | Governance and Administration | Campus Involvement | Sustainability in Curriculum | Student Life | Sustainability in Operations | Climate Commitment | Community Outreach | Regional and National Leadership | Recognition and Awards

last updated April 6, 2009

Sustainability Office

Lane formed a Sustainability Office in 2004. The Sustainability Office includes three staff along with student workers and volunteers. The Recycling & Surplus Property Coordinator expands and improves recycling, reuse, and waste reduction programs. The Energy & Indoor Environmental Quality Analyst reduces the college's energy use and expenditures, while helping to provide excellent indoor environmental quality for staff and students. The Sustainability Coordinator works on all aspects of sustainability at the college including developing and implementing sustainability policies and procedures, compliance with the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, and improving sustainability in learning opportunities.

The overall goal the Office is to implement Lane’s sustainability core value. The core value states:

• Integrate practices that support and improve the health of systems that sustain life.
• Provide an interdisciplinary learning environment that builds understanding of sustainable ecological, social, and economic systems, concern for environmental justice, and the competence to act on such knowledge.
• Equip and encourage all students and staff to participate actively in building a socially diverse, just, and sustainable society, while cultivating connections to local, regional, and global communities.

Governance and Administration

From its President to its policies, Lane displays a high level of commitment to sustainability. The college adopted three sustainability policies in 2006 (Design and Construction, Energy Conservation, and Recycling) and a sustainability core value in 2007.

In addition to these written commitments, Lane ensures that sustainability is part of governance by having sustainability seats on several college committees and councils including the Facilities Council, the Bond Leadership Team, and the Facilities Planning Team. Lane’s Sustainability Office also reports directly to the college President.

Campus Involvement

Sustainability Group
Lane's Sustainability Group is a committee of Lane employee and student volunteers who work together to advocate, promote, and implement Lane’s sustainability core value. Membership is open to all. The committee’s scope of work includes:

• Developing policies on sustainable practices.
• Developing a long-term plan for implementing sustainable practices.
• Communicating and promoting sustainable efforts to the campus population.

Sustainability and Learning Committee
Lane’s Sustainability and Learning Committee is a faculty-driven committee that promotes and supports the integration of Lane’s sustainability core value into all aspects of learning. Sustainability and Learning Committee projects include:

• Identifying and promoting sustainability-focused classes.
• Infusing sustainability throughout the curriculum.
• Expanding sustainability degree program options.

Sustainability in Curriculum

Lane has three two-year degree programs with a sustainability focus:

• Energy Management
• Renewable Energy Technology
• Water Conservation

In addition to degree programs, Lane offers many credit classes in which students learn sustainability concepts, including:

• Biodiversity and Sustainability (Biology 103)
• Environmental Politics
• Forest Ecology
• Global Climate Change
• Global Ecology
• Global Health
• Introduction to Environmental and Natural Resources Economics
• Introduction to Sustainability
• Introduction to Water Resources
• Nature Literature
• Nature, Religion, and Ecology
• Peace and Conflict Studies

Lane’s Northwest Energy Education Institute provides training for professionals who want to upgrade their skills in energy conservation and green building design.

Student Life

Lane has several student clubs focusing on sustainability. The Green Chemistry Club provides opportunities for students to learn skills that will help them improve the environmental performance of future academic and employment endeavors. The Green Chemistry Club is currently working on building a biodiesel processor that they will use to turn waste grease from the campus kitchen into fuel for campus boilers and vehicles.

The Learning Garden Club oversees all aspects of Lane’s organic learning garden. Club members gain practical, hands-on experiences in sustainable, local food production.

Lane’s chapter of the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) provides students with the opportunity to gain an educational experience in democratic citizenship. In addition, students get a chance to face up to society's big problems, take action, and win concrete changes that improve the quality of our lives.

Lane’s Sustainability Office works with these student clubs to offer events throughout the year. During the 2009 school year, events will include a National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, Earth Day, and several “green” film screenings.

Sustainability in Operations

Conference and Culinary Services
From offering organic and local foods to composting and recycling kitchen waste, Lane’s Conference and Culinary Services makes great efforts toward sustainability. Other sustainable practices include:

• Sourcing only locally produced milk that is bovine growth hormone (rBST) free, cage free eggs, and fair trade, organic coffee.
• Offering $0.15 discounts for using your own mug when purchasing beverages.
• Providing reusable plates, bowls, and utensils in the cafeteria.

Energy Conservation & Renewable Energy
Lane’s Energy and Indoor Environmental Quality Analyst is continually working on projects to reduce the college’s energy use and to increase use of renewable energy. Energy conservation projects include:

• Installing motion sensors on vending machines.
• Installing timers on printers, coffee makers, and other equipment.
• Ensuring that lighting and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment is only operating when needed.
• Replacing inefficient equipment with more efficient equipment.
• Retrofitting lighting systems.
• Helping college departments analyze purchases to ensure use of the most energy efficient products and systems.
• Promoting energy conservation through department trainings and employee weekly newsletter announcements.

Lane’s current renewable energy portfolio consists of:

• 10% Greenpower electricity purchased for Eugene facilities.
• 25% wind power electricity purchased for the Cottage Grove facility.
• 4.5 kW on-site solar electricity.
• 20% biodiesel in campus back up boilers.
• Ground source heat pump to condition four small buildings.

Facilities Management & Planning
The Facilities Management & Planning department has taken great strides towards reducing its impact on the environment. Pesticide use has been eliminated from campus gardening practices. Native landscaping installations help to restore wildlife habitat while creating a natural space that requires very limited maintenance. Campus housekeepers use low toxicity Sustainable Earth cleaning products. Campus painters use low VOC paints. The college uses flooring materials that emit very low levels of chemicals and have other positive environmental benefits. Campus planners consider sustainable design including porous paving and daylighting. Electric or hybrid vehicles are replacing conventional vehicles in the maintenance and motorpool fleet. The college currently owns three electric golf carts and three Toyota Priuses.

Recycling & Waste Reduction
Lane has a comprehensive recycling program that includes paper, cardboard, metal, plastic, glass, electronics, wood, grounds debris, and food waste. Recycling is a revenue generating and cost saving function of the college. It costs over $60 per ton to have materials hauled to the landfill, but local recyclers purchase recycled materials from the college.

Reuse opportunities include a clothing exchange for students and a reusable office supply exchange for staff and student groups. Leftover food from the cafeteria is donated to a local food bank. Lane's surplus property program makes every effort to ensure that excess property is reused or recycled.

During school year 2006, Lane’s reuse and recycling rate was 61%. Lane continues to reduce the amount of material headed for the landfill by investigating and implementing new programs including green procurement strategies.

Transportation
Student daily commuting is the biggest single contributor to Lane’s greenhouse gas emissions. Lane is a commuter campus and biking and walking opportunities are very limited. In order to curb carbon emissions from commuting, Lane offers “free” bus passes to all credit students on main campus through a mandatory student fee.

Water Conservation
Lane’s Sustainability Office works with students and faculty in the college’s Water Conservation degree program on projects to reduce campus water use. Water conservation projects have included:

• Retrofitting old toilets with electronic flushing devices which reduce the gallons of water used per flush from 3.5 to 1.6.
• Retrofitting bathroom faucets with aerators that limit flow from 2.2 gallons per minute to 0.5 gallons per minute.
• Retrofitting showerheads to reduce flow.
• Placing signage and stickers around campus reminding people to reduce water use.
• Posting announcements in the employee weekly newsletter reminding people to conserve water.

Lane’s Grounds Maintenance crew has a goal to eliminate the need to water campus grounds. The college’s Lead Horticulturalist designs new landscaped areas so that they will only need to be watered during their first 5 years. The Grounds crew takes opportunities to minimize water-intensive turf on inner-campus and allows turf to go dormant over the summer by not watering it.

Climate Commitment

Lane has a strong commitment to becoming carbon neutral and to helping to educate the next generation of leaders about the importance of reducing greenhouse gases. Lane is a signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). As a signatory, Lane is committed to become carbon neutral. In addition to this commitment, Lane is a member of the ACUPCC Leadership Circle whose members have agreed to help lead the initiative, promote it, and recruit colleagues to join. Lane’s President is also a member of the ACUPCC Steering Committee.

As required by the Commitment, Lane has recently conducted a comprehensive green house gas emission inventory and is currently working on a plan to become carbon neutral.

Community Outreach

Community outreach is a key component of Lane’s sustainability activities. Lane recently hosted a garden propagation fair at which community members learned eco-friendly gardening techniques. Lane holds an annual Local Food Connections event in which farmers and other local food suppliers connect with local restaurants and other food vendors. An annual Peace Conference provides community members with the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge that will help them build a just and sustainable society.

Continuing education classes and professional certificate programs in sustainability abound. Spring 2009 sustainability themed continuing education classes include:

• Introduction to Permaculture and Gardening.
• Organic Gardening Principles and Practice.
• Sustainability Consortium (a class to facilitate community conversations about sustainability and to stimulate connections and action).

Lane’s Sustainability Office also frequently gives tours and presentations to K-12 classes and community groups.

Regional and National Leadership

Lane is committed to helping other community colleges with sustainability efforts and has hosted three sustainability conferences for community colleges. In 2007, Lane organized a sustainability conference for Oregon Community Colleges. Also in 2007, Lane hosted a Sustainability Symposium for the League for Innovation in the Community College. The Symposium gave the nation’s leading community colleges the opportunity to learn more about college sustainability and to plan for new programs to implement at their colleges. In 2008, Lane hosted the National Conference on Sustainability for Community Colleges.

Lane’s Sustainability Coordinator coordinates a monthly conference call of community college employees interested in furthering sustainability on their campuses. She and Lane’s President also frequently speak nationally about sustainability at colleges.

Recognition and Awards

2005

• Lane wins the Recycler of the Year Award from the Association for Oregon Recyclers.

2006

• Lane is recognized by Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy with a Community Sustainability Award.
• Lane wins the Campus Sustainability Leadership Award for a 2-Year College from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
• Lane receives the College and University Recycler of the Year Award from the National Recycling Coalition.
• Lane wins the Lane County Trashbusters Award.

2008

• Lane receives 4th place in the waste minimization category of the national Recyclemania competition. Over 80 other colleges and universities were competing in this category.

2009

• Lane receives 9th place in the waste minimization category of the national Recyclemania competition. 148 other colleges and universities were competing in this category.
• Lane recieves the Dean's List award from the Clinton Global Initiative for student work on the Learning Garden.