Letter to the editor

To the editor:

It is true that this year, Barnard’s sustainability “grade” was rather dismal, and while many of the points in the editorial, “Barnard gets a passing grade, but barely,” (Oct. 29, 2009) are correct, many are not. As the editorial correctly states, Barnard is participating in the PlaNYC 2030 Challenge, and, yes, our recycling program is broader and more transparent than Columbia’s (or New York City’s). But, unlike the article suggests, recycling at Barnard is very straightforward. Plastics #1-7 are all recyclable at Barnard, and a few bottles tossed into the wrong containers will not lead to problems since the waste collector we use re-sorts recyclables. There is ample opportunity at Barnard to compost, as well. Currently, the EcoReps are educating a group of suites to pilot a composting program. Dining hall visitors also contribute to the Bio-X machine by sorting their waste so that food scraps can be decomposed into greywater.

Encouraging the campus to recycle and compost is just a small part of Barnard EcoReps. Primarily EcoReps work on environmental education initiatives. We are a small, relatively new group, comprised of 10 students who are employed by the Barnard First-Year Focus program. Through bi-monthly themed potlucks and other campus-wide events like Give and Go Green, we promote sustainability.

We hope that in the future, as Barnard’s administration continues to work towards becoming more sustainable, collaboration between the EcoReps and the administration will become more fruitful. Even as a group employed by the school, EcoReps faces many challenges initiating simple programs, such as the production and distribution of updated recycling signs for students. Budget constraints and Barnard’s lack of a sustainability coordinator, or an administrator who can allocate sufficient time for sustainability issues, adds to our struggle to initiate programs (FYI, Dickinson College has a sustainability coordinator).

The focus of the editorial on recycling misses a huge point about where we, as a campus, are right now. Barnard students know how and why to recycle. The next step is to demonstrate how the community can live sustainably overall, taking into account individual practices, like eating habits, and administrative practices, like purchasing.

Holly Menten-Weil, BC ’10, and Ariella Krones, BC ’10
Barnard EcoReps
Nov. 4, 2009