UISG votes to add sustainability coordinators and committees to the UI Hospitals and Clinic and Athletics Department.
By Jack Berning
The University of Iowa Student Government voted Tuesday to approve a resolution that would add a sustainability coordinator and a sustainability committee for both the UI Hospitals and Clinics and the Athletics departments.
With the passing of the resolution, the proposal will now be sent to UI President Bruce Harreld and a dozen other related individuals to determine the best plan of action to implement the coordinators and committees.
Currently, both the UIHC and the Athletics Departments have just one person serving on each sustainability committee.
Co-authors of the resolution Noel Mills and Akash Bhalerao believe these major areas could be doing much better when it comes to sustainability.
“We don’t want to talk with just one person about sustainable solutions,” Mills said. “We want a discussion. When more people are talking about the issue, it is much easier to take action and come up with new ideas.”
Sustainability shouldn’t just be an idea, she said, but rather a culture.
“Sustainability should be a part of the Hawkeye brand, and with the help of two large departments such as hospitals and athletics, we can make it a part of the structure at the university,” she said.
Bhalerao stressed the importance of increasing awareness and participation to make the Iowa City community more sustainable.
“With implementing these committees, we can increase sustainable influence and thus connect with the community better,” he said. “For example, we have game-day recycling outside of Kinnick but nothing on the inside. We hope, through resolutions like this, sustainability can make it in to Kinnick and other institutions in the university.”
UISG also works closely with the UI Office of Sustainability, which is led by director Liz Christiansen.
“Both UI Hospitals and Clinics and UI Athletics have made great progress, especially in the areas of food-waste reduction, composting and green events,” she said. “The UISG, along with the charter committee, recognize that as we draw closer to 2020, we will need a fully engaged campus to meet our sustainability targets.”
The UI has seven sustainability “targets,” created in 2010, that it aims to achieve by 2020.
While both UISG and the Sustainability Office set high goals for the coming years, officials believe that through increased participation, the expectations can be met.
“Both governance groups are seeking to deepen a working relationship with all parts of our institution to achieve our goals,” Christiansen said. “The UI Student Government is more engaged than ever in sustainability efforts on campus. It’s great to see.”
