Attendees: Jon Baer, Christine Badaracco, Elie Bou-Zeid, Patrick Caddeau, Dan Casey, Jan Cash, Vincent Castenada, Rick Curtis, Andrea DeRose, Steve Elwood, Kathy Hackett, Sandor Kovacs, Jenna Losh, Denise Mauzerall, Tom Roddenbery, Leila Shahbender, Robert Sheneman, Shana Weber, Holly Well e s, Kristi Wiedemann, and Feng Zhu.

I.   Welcome & Introductions

Shana Weber welcomed everyone back and wished everyone a Happy New Year!   A new participant of the PSC, Robert Sheneman, from PPPL, was introduced as well as Sandor Kovacs, who joined us on Skype.   Sandor is the first Reunions Sustainability Chair and is working to green the 5 th year Reunion alumni class activities.   Shana also spoke about the New Sustainability Steering Council’s first meeting on February 7 th which was held to begin the process of defining the role of the Council and its vision.

II.   Policies/Initiatives

Kristi Wiedemann gave a presentation on “Alternatives to outdoor lamp post postering”.   Results for the Spring ’11 Postering Survey showed that the top 5 results for hearing about campus events were from: Friends or word of mouth; admin listserv email; weekly events email; Facebook; and student group email.   Holly Welles mentioned that PEI has already eliminated posters, for the most part, without affecting attendance at any event.

More research was done to determine peer institutions practices which showed that a t least 5 Ivy Universities restrict posters to designated areas, such as kiosks and bulletin boards.   The 5 Universities are:   Brown; Cornell; Harvard; Yale; and University of Pennsylvania.

The next steps would be to present the findings and alternatives to AMG, then draft a policy statement and obtain PSC endorsement of potential policy, and present to upper administrative review.

III. Presentations

Jon Baer, Director of Building Services gave a presentation on Princeton’s “Recycling and Solid Waste Patterns during End-of-Year Activities”.   Year end is defined as the twenty day period starting on the first day of finals through the Saturday following commencement.   In 2011 399 tons of waste and recycling was generated during that period.   Ways to drive down the waste included: donating clothing, books, toiletries, school supplies, electronics and food.   The next steps might be to expand donation sites, and to explore how graduate students can take advantage of items donated by undergraduate students.   A possibility of having a student agency organize the logistics of this was also discussed.

Sandor Kovacs ’07, 5 th Reunion Class Sustainability Chair joined us to discuss “Greening Reunions”. The 5 th Reunion Class wants to identify where they can make the biggest sustainable impact for the next Reunion.   His group has many suggestions such as:  

• More receptacles (and it was mentioned that there should be a requirement and standard for how many re-cycling containers each class orders)
• Complete an online survey for car pooling/ride share
• Locate vendors who are committed to sustainable practices and then can be used again
• Minimize printed material.   Use iPrinceton app and Facebook and Twitter to publicize events in real time.
• Prepare a sustainability   pledge to be handed out during sign-in
• Have plastic tubs or dumpsters that are clearly marked for which one is for recycling of paper or plastic
• Sandor is preparing a “Best Practices” document to share with other classes for future Reunions.

IV.   Updates/Announcements

In fall 2012, the Office of Sustainability will host the 3 rd Sustainability Open House.    It is important to get students involved.   We should start thinking about past Open Houses and also new ideas.   We are thinking about having it at Chancellor Green and need to find a way to use the space more efficiently.

Discussed if there is any interest in a ½ day PSC tour to Willow School to see their campus and the innovational steps they have taken toward a sustainable campus.

Next meeting:   March 7, 2012.