After more than a month of drafting legislation and lobbying other representatives, the Associated Students of Madison Student Council approved the creation of a new grassroots Sustainability Committee in fall 2012, a project spearheaded by current committee chair Collin Higgins.
According to Higgins, he pursued the committee’s creation because none of the other ASM grassroots committees were addressing issues of environmentally friendly campus initiatives.
“There wasn't really that opportunity for students to have a voice in the student government or have an opportunity to push how university policy affects sustainability,” Higgins said.
Higgins said he sees multiple areas for improvement on campus sustainability efforts, including encouraging students to purchase reusable water bottles and coffee mugs to reduce daily waste.
“I think sustainability affects students’ everyday lives in ways they may not realize,” Higgins said. “There are a lot of small mundane daily actions that multiplied by 42,000 students add up to really significant mundane daily actions.”
At the university level, Higgins said he would like to see more locally sourced food options in the dining halls.
“There is a big demand for it and students would really be impacted in a positive way,” Higgins said.
He also added he would like to see the university become a leader in using alternative energy sources to meet campus needs via solar panels and wind panels.
At the same time, Higgins said he hoped to increase the number of students ASM would reach by creating the new committee.
Overall, he said student involvement in the committee’s first semester this spring has been consistent, though small. He hopes having more institutional relationships and additional recruitment publicity next year will help increase student engagement.
“Sustainability is a bit of a buzzword right now,” Higgins said. “People really do have an interest, I think it's just about tapping into that interest.”
He said he hopes to “hit the ground running” next semester by seeking out ideas for the committee’s campaigns at its upcoming Sustainability Fair April 27.
“I'm kind of leaving [our next campaigns] up in the air right now,” Higgins said. “It’s really about the democratic process, really getting students ideas from the fair.”
