"It's a good way to gauge what the student body is concerned about and also to get the word out about volunteer activities and clubs that are available if you're interested in environmental issues," Marissa Knodel '09, the summer leader of Sustainable Dartmouth who organized Thursday's event, said of the summit.
Over a dinner comprised mainly of local organic ingredients, four groups -- Sustainable Dartmouth, the Organic Farm, ReEnergize New Hampshire and a committee in support of the construction of a Sustainable Living Center on campus -- briefly outlined their plans for the summer.
The major summer project for Sustainable Dartmouth is to prepare for the group's second annual Move-In sale, to be held in September. The event, which offers incoming students used furniture and appliances gathered from students at the end of Spring term, is meant to reduce Dartmouth's waste and promote the reuse of materials. The group is looking for volunteers this summer to test and sort donated items in preparation for the sale.
Sustainable Dartmouth is also considering the development of a sustainability pledge for the student body.
"Students that sign the pledge would commit to goals in three different areas: environmental education, reduction of waste and recycling," Knodel said.
The group also hopes to bring speakers to campus and hold field trips during the summer, including a potential visit to the Sustainability Festival, which will take place in Vermont next weekend.
One of the organization's over-arching goals is to convince the College to pledge to zero carbon emissions by a certain date. The group has drafted a carbon emissions mission statement and is currently working with the Ivy Council -- a student government organization that includes students from each Ivy League university -- to achieve its implementation.
"We're looking to make both actual structural changes within the College to reduce our environmental impact and also to create awareness among the student population," said Dominic Winski '09, a member of Sustainable Dartmouth and chair of the environmental studies division of the Dartmouth Outing Club.
Representatives from the committee of students supporting the construction of a Sustainable Living Center on campus spoke about their project, which was reenergized last spring through the efforts of Knodel and several other students. The committee hopes to eventually build or retrofit an existing house in order to allow students to increase the sustainability of their lifestyles. The building would act as an educational center and meeting space for environmental groups and would provide a unique residential experience for students.
"The center would be a living demonstration of how to live more sustainably with a smaller ecological footprint," said Jonathan Wachter '10 who presented the group's efforts alongside Daniel Susman '10.
Such a project has been proposed several times in Dartmouth's history, but its implementation has met resistance from the administration. Current efforts, however, have not yet faced significant opposition. The group hopes to maintain pressure on the administration this summer while refining a written proposal that will be submitted to the administration.
Arran Forbes '09 and James Novakowski '09, summer co-chairs of the Organic Farm, discussed the history of the farm as well as upcoming events.
Two representatives from ReEnergize New Hampshire, a group working to raise awareness and build support for solutions to global warming, also spoke at the summit. The group organized a five-day walk this August from Nashua, NH to Concord, NH to call for national action to cut carbon by 80 percent by the year 2050 and to create two million new jobs in clean energy businesses.
Sustainable Dartmouth was formed in the fall of 2005 after the hiring of Jim Merkel as Dartmouth's Sustainability Coordinator. Prior to its formation, a similar group, called the Environmental Roundtable, coordinated the efforts of environmental groups on campus to facilitate communication.
