The Green Fee Committee (GFC) held its first pre-proposal meeting of the fall semester on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, to discuss suggestions and potential environmental improvements to consider. The meeting provided a platform for attendees and representatives to discuss campus-wide sustainability initiatives in person and via Zoom. Facilities Management was the only committee member group absent from the meeting.
To kick it off, Dr. Scott W. Hagerty, Economics Professor and Chair of Geography & Environmental Studies, explained the origins and allocation of the “Green Fee.”
“The Green Fee comes from mandatory general fees which are $85… [and] turns to something like $40,000 a year, which is more or less our budget, and that’s what we have to allocate,” Dr. Hagerty said. He provided some mathematical estimates that take into consideration the fees that students pay and the percentages allocated to different areas of NEIU.
Dr. Hagerty emphasized the committee’s mission “to build diversity and [engage] more voices across campus.” “Sustainability drives everything, [and] as an economist, conserving resources is universal,” Dr. Hagerty said. “But here we are talking about not only from the natural resource point of view but also trying to build societies while trying to build a culture. We’re doing things that are not only helping the Earth but helping people live up to it.”
Past Success and Future Directions
Dr. Lindsay Maldonado, Assistant Professor in Teacher Education, gave several successful examples of projects that have transpired over the years, such as the electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, solar panels, water bottle refill stations, the library’s large book image scanner, the Collide Escape bird screens, the raised garden beds of the abandoned tennis courts and the vegetation plantings in the arboretum.
She encouraged the committee’s collaborators to think beyond physical infrastructure. The committee aims to build on past successes while exploring new ways to maximize available funding. “It might benefit us to fund some speaker series or some ways to get the word out,” Dr. Maldonado said.
The meeting’s pre-proposal ideas started with Dan Van Lente, an Environmental Studies undergraduate major. He emphasized the importance of maintaining and tracking existing projects. “I just want to make sure we’re taking care of past projects and making sure that the maintenance people are assigned to that, there’s money allocated [and] set aside for that kind of stuff,” Van Lente said.
“Every year we have a little meeting [to assess] how are all of our projects doing,” Van Lente said. “Okay, the water filters? Those are doing fine. The bike station? We got to do something about that. So let’s put money towards that this year,” Van Lente clarified as examples of considerations.
New Sustainability Proposals
Among the new proposals presented, Tom Kalogris, another Environmental Studies undergraduate major, suggested upgrading the existing greenhouse lighting with “high-pressure sodium grow lights with LED grow lights to reduce electricity use.”
“We could ask for funding to replace the current fluorescent room lighting for improved visibility in the workrooms and greenhouse,” Kalogris said, “With more efficient LED lighting and to have the lights put on sensors to turn off when the room is not being used.”
Shortly after, a Master of Public Health graduate student and Sports and Health editor for the Independent, Ananth Prabhu, offered three proposals of his own. One of them was to expand on the current waste management affairs across campus. Given that NEIU only has landfill and recycle bins, Prabhu said adding compost bins would reduce waste more efficiently. The pilot program would include bins in “the coffee shop, the cafeteria and the lobby” of the BBH building.
Furthermore, to ensure effective use of the compost bins, Dr. Maldonado suggested, “Having signage, so that it’s clear what to do and having some event[s] that’s educational—that talks about compost, the importance of compost, how to do it and what it includes.”
“The people power was the one issue that we discussed. Who’s actually going to take this compost and bring it to the tumbler and then manage that whole process, I don’t know that Facilities [Management] is going to do that,” Dr. Maldonado clarified.
There are several benefits to using compost. For one, it improves soil health and provides nutrients to plants growing in that soil. According to the U.S. Composting Infrastructure Coalition (USCIC), recycling organic matter (compost is made from food scraps and organic byproducts) also redirects waste from filling up landfills—a waste method that poses a higher risk to human health and the overall environment. Also, compost supports the surrounding ecosystem of worms, bugs and microbes.
Insects and worms play an important role in the ecosystem, whether it is through recycling nutrients or serving as breakfast, lunch, and dinner for birds and frogs. An educational event held at NEIU in the future could dive deeper into these topics and certainly better illustrate the advantages of compost over landfills.
Prabhu’s second proposal is a campus water conservation initiative via rain retention barrels to prevent stormwater runoff on paved surfaces. The collected water would be used for campus landscaping, greenhouses, and other gardening projects. Inspiration for the idea came when “[he] observed a whole bunch of sprinklers earlier in the semester, and they’re watering the sidewalks and around the library, and the quad, so it’s just a waste of water,” said Prabhu. “But a step beyond would be to have collection barrels. It can just be purchased at hardware stores, like sixty-six-gallon barrels, and then connect those to hoses and then use the collected rainwater for landscaping.” Prabhu emphasized the most optimal location to place the water barrels would be “anywhere with sidewalks or parking lots, wherever there’s [stormwater] runoff.”
However, Dr. Melinda Storie, Associate Professor & Coordinator of Geography & Environmental Studies, mentioned an obstacle for consideration. “The volume of rain that the roofs on campus collect would overflow a rain barrel pretty quickly so it has to be a system, it might have to be a cistern,” Dr. Storie said.
Prabhu’s third proposal included “a green roof pilot program for one building on campus; it would require two inches of soil and Sedum. It’s a very low-maintenance plant, and the sedum mats have multiple benefits for cooling, water conservation, and drainage.”
While Prabhu acknowledged it as the most costly of his three proposals, Dr. Storie added that a requirement by Facilities Management in the past has been “feasibility studies to understand the structural integrity of the buildings.”
Scientific literature says that installing a sedum green roof has positive benefits. According to Plant Diversity on green roofs: A review of the ecological benefits, challenges, and best management practices by Patrick Ndayambaje, the researchers discovered that “while Sedum is not the most effective at absorbing water and preventing runoff compared to higher diversity plantings, it is resilient and can survive drought conditions without irrigation. Having plants that can quickly absorb moisture between rain events in the season can enhance the water management capabilities of roofs.”
A Collaborative Space for Campus Improvement
One of the standout aspects of the GFC meetings held each semester is that they provide a space where proposals can be pitched without bias or judgment. Everyone is heard, and an open discussion is always established after every pitch. Each member has the freedom to share their viewpoints and perspectives and articulate why they believe that a particular idea would or would not work.
The diversity in backgrounds, like age, occupation, and life experiences, prevents individuals from living in a bubble, and new ideas can flourish upon scientific scrutiny. One must not forget that the committee consists of students from the Student Government Association (SGA), the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies (GES), the Green Conservation Group (GCG), student representatives, faculty members, and staff members from Facilities Management.
A change from recent semesters has been the addition of Dr. Hagerty’s economics background providing a unique perspective when looking at funding and resources. It is pretty safe to say that NEIU’s campus maintenance and future are in good hands.
For any student, faculty, or staff member who has a proposal that they would like to pitch, do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Maldonado (L-maldonado2@neiu.edu) and the Green Fee Committee (greenfee@neiu.edu) for consideration.
