When I first heard about the Sierra Club's project of targeting campuses that have coal-fired power plants, I was delighted. First, because I think it's a great idea, and second, because my college isn't on its list of targets. On the contrary, Iona is a small college that was founded in the tradition of the Christian Brothers, and it continues have a consistent commitment to service, including positively contributing to the environment. Although it seems like the world has only recently tuned in to environmental concerns, Iona has been advocating sustainability for over 15 years. That's when the Environmental Concerns Committee first began at Iona, and it continues to be an important voice at Iona, influencing other organizations such as IC Green and various academic departments to do their part. These clubs and organizations are what help make Iona an energy-efficient campus.

 

Given all of the great work that Iona does, I wanted to highlight some of their particularly environmentally-friendly programs and initiatives.

 

Last semester, the ECC helped to introduce green marketing programs. "Sustainable finance" and "Current issues in marketing" are just two examples of how the environmental agenda is making its way into student lives. These courses teach students how to make business decisions in the real world, while still being environmentally responsible. They teach students that saving green is more important than making green.

 

The campus has done its part to significantly reduce paper consumption by creating the Paper Conservation Campaign. Consumption of office paper has nearly doubled since 1980, but Iona's conservation campaign has aided in lowering this number and educating students on not being wasteful. They do so by prompting students to check their documents before printing, as well as providing double-sided printing. This project has been so successful that it has earned Iona recognition with the National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Program.