SGA Environmental Committee

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About SGAEC


The Student Government Association Environmental Committee works to collaborate with UMass Amherst administration, staff, students, and the Student Government Association in order to implement environmentally sustainable initiatives in all realms of campus life. We aim to focus campus-wide efforts to create policies which contribute to sustainability and are financially efficient practices. Above all, we as a Committee work to minimize the ecological footprint we generate today for the benefit of future generations in the UMass community.

Environmental sustainability is an important priority for the UMass community. The 10-member SGAEC was established in 2008 to initiate projects on behalf of the undergraduate student body to enhance environmental sustainability on the UMass campus, and working together with the administration we have already made strides: we worked with Dining Services on the trayless dining initiative, we have been working with the Physical Plant to craft new environmentally conscience heating and cooling policies, we have started a composting initiative in the Blue Wall that is geared to spread to the other Campus Center eateries, and more. See below to read more about initiatives we've run in the past.

We are currently in the process of forming new working groups for students to get involved with projects in many different areas. View our Get Involved! page for more information!
 

Climate Action

We’ve worked on several Climate Action projects , some of them in coordination with the Environmental Performance Advisory Committee (EPAC):
  • UMass Climate Action Plan: in compliance with the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment to reduce net campus carbon emissions to zero, the deadline for completion of the Climate Action Plan is September 2009.
  • Grant proposal for online “energy dashboard” displays for campus buildings.
  • Proposal for cold-water washers and clothes lines in the UMass dorm laundry rooms.
  • Feasibility study for co-production of biochar and bioenergy for the UMass Central Heating Plant. Biochar, produced from heating organic matter (straw, wood chips, manure, etc.) in the absence of air, can be buried in the soil to sequester carbon and reverse global warming, as well as enhancing soil and crop yields. Bioenergy and heat are valuable co-products of making biochar. We have been investigating this technology for use at the UMass Central Heating Plant as a way to reduce campus carbon emissions.
  • Organizing a Northeast Biochar Symposium for November 13, 2009.

Green Dining

One main focus in Spring 2009 was working with Ken Toong and Dining Services to reduce waste in the Dining Commons. Trayless dining will eliminate tons of food waste and vastly decrease water and energy use in the DCs, saving money, which can be put towards improving food quality. The committee is coordinating volunteers from the Eco-Rep program to create informational displays, which include more in-depth information and statistics about savings.

We’ve also worked with Dining Services to implement a new program to reduce use of paper cups on campus. This year all students will receive stainless steel, reusable water bottles with the on-campus Meal Plan. Reusable travel mugs will also be available to purchase. Both the water bottles and the travel mugs can be used at any of the Dining Commons on campus.
 

Heating Policies for Housing Services

This project is focused on working with Housing Services to both define what policies they use to heat the dorms by and to alter/create more environmentally friendly and comfortable policies. Specifically, we are determining if Housing Services has a maximum temperature that we try not to heat the dorms above and if they don't, to create a policy that would set the maximum target temperature of 67 degrees F for all dorms on campus. This would reduce the excess energy that is used to heat the dorms to the excessively high temperatures that they currently reach. To exemplify this point, we have seen actual date from a lower Central dorm that had a reading of 90 degrees F in the beginning of March! Not only does heating dorms to such excessive temperatures make students uncomfortable, but is also an enormous waste of energy.