Have you ever given a second thought to the blue recycle bin and the white trash bin in your hall room? Some of us may take that for granted, but not everyone.

On Friday, Nov. 13, a team from Loras joined the College and University Sustainability Roundtable Conference at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. Students were exposed to new ideas of sustainability and found new reasons to be proud of their college.

The conference consisted of about 50 participants including faculty, staff and students from 16 different colleges and universities in Iowa. After a short introduction, the students were taken to another room for a separate discussion.

The major part of the conference focused on sharing ideas from the members of each school. Each school gave their updates on various sustainability issues raised and practiced in their respective schools. Utshaha Maharjan and Nitija Tiwari, two interns for Loras sustainability committee, explained their recent efforts and projects. While other colleges and universities shared their ideas for improvement, the Loras students were pleased to find that this college has already implemented most of what was being shared.

While the ideas of having biofuel, wind mills and hybrid cars on campus were new to the group, issues of going trayless, having recycle bins in every hall room (and recyclemania) were something with which other schools were still struggling. However, they agreed that there are lots of areas we need to improve on.

Recycling bins can be seen all over the campus.

Loras’ sustainability committee comprises of a team of faculty, staff and students that meet every other week and talk about various sustainability issues on campus. This committee has its own policy that talks about the short and long term sustainability plans within the college. Nathaniel Wagner, the chair for the committee who also participated in the conference, said, “It is always a great opportunity to talk to other schools about sustainability and representing Loras’ efforts, and this conference was a great chance to do both.” He also expressed his hope that Loras create a position for a sustainability coordinator who would monitor and push sustainability concerns. Nitija Tiwari, reflecting on the conference, said, “we have learned many new things that we hope to see happen at Loras.” She further added, “I would like to ask my fellow students, faculty and staff to join us in making Loras a more sustainable and healthier place to live.”