E n v i r o n m e n t a l C o n c e r n s O r g a n i z a t i o n
The Sustainability Fee will be a $5 fee per student per semester that would generate approximately $120,000 per year. This funding would be used to enhance sustainable practices on our campus, ranging from the use of renewable energy technologies, such as solar panels, to implementing resource conservation projects, such as the application of rain water capture systems. The money accrued would be put into the Sustainability Fund and monitored by a subcommittee of the Chancellor’s Sustainability Committee, created to manage the funds. The subcommittee will consist of students, faculty, and staff who would oversee the projects funded with fee money; routine reports and presentations will be issued to the Sustainability Committee to ensure proper operation. The sustainability fee will be shaped by top recommendations set by the Sustainability Committee’s 2009-10 Annual Report in conjunction with the analysis of research findings derived from a STARS Sustainability Assessment, which entails a one year span of campus-specific research that will begin this May. Projects funded by the Sustainability Fee will be focused on utilizing best management practices, acquiring capital improvements, and addressing student led initiatives; which all pertain to reducing consumption and emissions campus wide.
We feel strongly that this student green fee is both beneficial and necessary to UNCW’s environmental ethics, progression and subsequent reputation. Several other universities in North Carolina have already adopted green fees, or are working toward it, and now it is time for UNCW to follow their lead. Adopting a Sustainability fee for our campus is an action that would improve the air quality in our region, encourage other student efforts throughout the nation, and essentially benefit mankind and all of the species inhabiting our planet by reducing our carbon footprint.
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•Help us out by taking the UNCW Sustainability Fee survey
Questions about or comments on the fee? Please email uncweco@gmail.com
