College to Develop Sustainability Master Plan

To bolster its ongoing commitment to sustainability, Franklin & Marshall has appointed a Sustainability Task Force to develop a sustainability master plan for the College. The new master plan will address sustainability in two principal areas: campus life and institutional policies and operations.

In his charge to the task force, Interim President John F. Burness '67 asked for a plan that will recognize the College's successes, identify needs and establish priorities. The task force will provide its results to him by March 31, 2011.

The task force is just one of many initiatives undertaken by the College since 2007 in its broad-based effort to become a more sustainable campus, including a center for sustainability, two conservancies, an arboretum and numerous programs to raise awareness of environmental issues.

Two initiatives executed during the fall semester include a new, environmentally friendly parking lot along Race Avenue that was completed in August. With its rain gardens, gabions and porous asphalt, the lot is the only parking area on campus that contains all rainwater on site, thereby eliminating runoff into the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

In October, the College introduced food waste composting at the Benjamin Franklin Dining Hall. Students now scrape food from plates into BioBags, rather than plastic trash bags. Diners may do the same with compostable flatware, cups and napkins.

In addition, the Franklin & Marshall Board of Trustees, as part of a broad reorganization of its committee and meeting structures, has added sustainability to the charge for the committee that oversees campus construction and related issues. That committee is now called the Buildings, Grounds and Sustainability Committee.

"I am hopeful the task force will engage the entire College community in a serious dialogue around sustainability and help the College more effectively integrate existing efforts and chart the course for the future," said Burness. "A sustainability master plan will enable Franklin & Marshall to both advance its educational mission and play a constructive leadership role in one of the most challenging issues facing our world."