For Earth Month in April, there is a heightened emphasis on environmental efforts across the University of Notre Dame. This includes a variety of ongoing developments and projects to minimize energy consumption and conserve resources for sustainability.
For recycling changes, the University encourages students and faculty to bring recyclable materials to centrally placed toters. Big blue bins have been spread out over the campus as part of their centralized toter system.
There are also efforts to use cleaner energy forms and promote composting strategies in food manufacturing.
"Twenty years ago, the University's power plant was fueled almost entirely by coal, but we have gradually shifted to natural gas, which is cleaner but still a fossil fuel," Dorini family professor of energy studies Peter C. Burns explained. Without this natural gas supply, the campus is at risk of freezing due to South Bend's intense climate conditions.
Additionally, a hydroelectric system, ND Hydro, was established at the St. Joseph River as another sustainable power source for the University.
"Notre Dame finally installed hydroelectric generators on the dam of the river that had the capability for these implementations for years, and these generators produce roughly seven percent of electricity for the institution," Burns said.
The Environmental Change Initiative of Notre Dame (ND-ECI) is conducting research to uncover solutions to modern day environmental challenges. Through partnering with corporations, nonprofits and policymakers, the initiative is actively playing a role in promoting environmental change.
Director of ND-ECI, Jennifer Tank, is part of the Sustainability Strategy Standing Committee, where students, faculty and staff develop and assess current sustainable strategies in the University.
"From food composting, to recycling [and] our energy transition, we can work on all of these things through the broad engagement of the Sustainability Strategy Standing Committee," Tank said.
Pulte family professor of development policy Arun Agrawal shared the University has recently launched the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative as their inaugural director.
"The initiative aims to enhance research and strengthen the University’s sustainability curriculum in partnership with colleagues, networks and universities outside of Notre Dame, while supporting the faculty and students within the school," Agrawal said.
Through this initiative, faculty members submit proposals and provide resources to advance their research with current students.
"The initiative is supporting the work of the Vatican through recognizing Pope Francis' 'Laudato si',' which is 'On Care for Our Common Home,' that asks everybody to focus on ways they could bring about change to promote sustainability," Agrawal said.
Additionally, the University is currently building a one-megawatt solar plant in partnership with Crossroads Solar to contribute to a more environmentally friendly campus.
"This plant is being built on the west side of campus and will be up and running in the next few months," Burns shared.
There have also been various smaller efforts to promote a more sustainable campus. Tank stated these actions as the lights in buildings turning off when no one is in the room, the heat being set to minimize heat loss and recycling systems purposefully implemented to optimize resources.
Many of these changes are aimed to be done as seamlessly as possible behind the scenes but cannot be fully executed without the involvement of staff and students.
"A community-level partnership needs to happen that comes not just from administration, but from faculty and students, because all of us are responsible for making our campus more sustainable," Agrawal said.
