SUSTAINABILITY - The Challenge of

Changing Our Educational Institution

“Our Earth - Our Legacy “

Presented by

John Glass

Director, Materials & Resources Management

Coordinator, WSU Sustainability Initiative

Goals and Objectives

• Historical Perspective: How we got into the environmental,

social and economic predicament that we currently face• Ecological Footprint - How our personal consumption

habits impact sustainable development• Governor Locke’s Executive Orders - 02-03, 05-01 on

Pollution Prevention and Sustainability • Definition of Sustainability and Sustainable

Development • What WSU is currently doing to support environmental,

social and economic sustainability• WSU Sustainability Initiative - goals and objectives• Getting involved - What individuals can do to support

and promote sustainable development

 

What on Earth Are We Doing?

•Earth’s Carrying Capacity - maximum number of any specific population that a habitat can support. Easter Island – Ecological Disaster The Earth is a large island Limited natural resources… no place to borrow Unable to dump pollution anywhere else An array of interconnected global problems

created our current crisis Problems are increasing at an exponential rate Bottom line – The Earth has a limited carrying

capacity!

Easter Island – Ecological Disaster

•Complex Society for 16 centuries

•Forests cut down to support themselves

•Eventually, soil, water and cultivated food supplies depleted

•Population crashed from 12,000 to 4,000 in a span of 40 years (1680-1722)

Exponential Growth

•Deceptive in that it starts slowly, but quickly accelerates Bottle of bacterium example

•Population growth By 1650 took 250 years to double the population By 2050 global population expected to triple in the 48

least developed countries, and double in many more nations

By 2050 population estimates of 8 - 11 billion •Correlation: Population, Wealth and Education

As poverty goes down, birth rates also decrease because women have better educational and professional opportunities as well as access to birth control

Unacceptable Fact: 20% of world’s population lives in desperate poverty•No clean water, inadequate food, shelter or sanitation

Consumption of the Earth’s Resource Base•Energy is the most basic natural resource

Daily Calorie Consumption = food, shelter, clothing, and other human creations (cities, movies, etc.)•1 million years ago = 3,000 calories •10,000 years ago (early agricultural stage) = 15,000 calories

as cities were built and wealth was accumulated•Today – Globally = 89,000 calories per day•Today – United States = 260,000 calories per day

•9% of energy from renewable sources, 91% from nonrenewable sources

•Population has doubled in last 40 years, but land available for food production has significantly shrunk

•Clean water supply is shrinking Deforestation, urbanization, and overgrazing causing run off By 2025, 67% of the worlds population will face water stress

Pollution• CO2 emission increased by 31% since 1750 – half

coming in the last 50 years`

• Global warming estimates = 2.5ºF to 10.5 ºF in next 100 years Ice age was 9 ºF cooler Planetary temperature change of extreme magnitude

• Results: Agriculture will have to move towards the poles New dams and irrigation will be required Human population will migrate north Disruption in food supply Tropical climates will replace temperate ones Organic matter will decay quicker = more greenhouse

gases Sea levels will rise threatening planet’s coastal regions Economic costs could bankrupt the global economy

The Psychology of Environmental Problems

• Optimism verses Pessimism, or Boomsters verses Doomsters• Boomsters View:

Population growth is good = people produce more than consumed Humans can redesign habitat by inventing technology Human beings are the “ultimate resource” As resources are depleted , cost will rise, slowing use and

encouraging alternative technologies to develop• Doomsters View:

Public opinion polls: increased concern about environmental issues

The most popular view – even though it makes people feel worse Fear and scare tactics Variation of agreement on how to solve the problem

• Reaction depends on assumptions about the future

The Psychology of Over Consumption• North Americans biggest users and wasters of the world’s

commercial energy: 5% of planet’s population use 24% of total commercial

supply 84% of this is wasted

• Americans waste over 40% in completely avoidable actions: Inefficient home heating systems, appliances, water heaters,

and automobiles Energy efficiency could dramatically increase (quadruple)

with current technology, without lifestyle changes, or new power plants by simply utilizing super-efficient lighting, motors, appliance and building components

Washington residents generate 7.5 lbs of garbage/person/day

Nationwide 2.5 million non-returnable plastic bottles = every hour

Nationwide consume directly or indirectly 100 lbs of raw material daily

We use 30 times the amount of gasoline, 4 times the meat and 19 times more paper

Biological verses Cultural Carrying Capacity

• Biological carry capacity = maximum number ecosystem can support at the lowest possible standard

• Cultural carrying capacity = always much less because humans use more resources than is absolutely necessary Basic necessities are culturally different

• Conceptualizing cultural carry capacity I = P x A x T (I is the impact of any group or nation)P is the population sizeA is the per-capita affluence (as measured by consumption)T is the technology employed in supplying the consumption

• If P doubles, then I will double assuming A and T remain constant

• Bottom Line: United States is the world’s most overpopulated nation!

• Population must decrease to sustain affluence

• If not, affluence will fall, either systematically with planning, or suddenly through ecological collapse

What in Washington Are We Doing?

The Bad News!

Decline and Disruption in our Natural Systems

•Since 2000, Washington is ranked fifth as the worst state in the nation in the rate of health-based drinking water violations. At times, 20% of the population is affected.

1 2 3 4

“Factoids: Drinking Water and Ground Water Statistics for 2000-2002”, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, June 2001, May 2002, January 2003.

Decline and Disruption in our Natural Systems

•65% of the 3,000 square miles of estuaries are in poor or fair

health in Washington, as well as three fifths of the rivers. “Water Quality of Washington’s Rivers and Streams”, Department of Ecology, 1998 Washington State Water Quality Assessment, Section 305(b) Report, Publication Number 97-13, August 1997, based on assessment of 98% of Washington State’s 73,886 miles of rivers and streams, in Washington State Office of Financial management Environmental Chartbook: A Collection of Indicators on Washington’s Environment, June 1999.

“Water Quality of Washington’s Estuaries”, Department of Ecology, 1998 Washington State Water Quality Assessment, Section 305(b) Report, Publication Number 97-13, August 1997, based on assessment of 100% of Washington State’s 2,942 square miles of estuaries, in Washington State Office of Financial management Environmental Chartbook: A Collection of Indicators on Washington’s Environment, June 1999.

Loss of Economic Vitality - Opportunities Unrealized

•In Washington, 8 million tons of waste was generated during 2004. This was enough to cover 4 lanes of I-90 from Spokane to Seattle 20 feet deep. Fact – 67% could have been recycled or diverted which could have created 18,000 new jobs.

SpokaneSeattle

Washington State Department of Ecology, 2004.

Threatened Biodiversity, Habitat, and Icons:

• Cod and Herring catches continue to decline.

• Rockfish, Butter clams and Pollock are nearly extinct.

• Just 15 years ago, Washingtonians caught more than 21 million pounds of Whiting, today they catch none.

• More than one million acres of farmland and timberland lost in the past 20 years.

• 99% of our intact Palouse Prairie ecosystem is gone.

Robert McClure and Lisa Stiffler, “Our Troubled Sound”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Special Report, Seattle, WA, November 16-22, 2002. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/sound/

Social Inequities on the Rise:

• Despite the economic boom of the 1990’s the poorest one-fifth of Washington families have seen virtually no rise in real income over the past twenty years. • Meanwhile, Washington’s richest 20% had their inflation- adjusted income increase more than 40%. Pulling Apart: A State-by-State analysis of Income Trends, Economic Policy Institute/Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, DC, April 2002.

• Washington State’s prison spending is up 80% since 1980• While education spending is only up by 11%. Gary Gardner, “Prison Populations Exploding”, in Lester R. Brown, Michael Renner, and Brian Halwell, Vital Signs 2000, Worldwatch Institute, Norton & Co. New York, 2000.

Population Growth and Associated Problems:

•Washington’s population will double between 1998-2050. This will be equal to adding 29 new Spokane’s or Tacoma’s.

•In the last 20 years, the population of Washington state has increased 43%, the number of vehicles has grown 57%, and miles driven is up 88%.

“Our Changing Nature”, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, 1998.

“ A Summary of Transportation Information for Washington State 2002”, Washington State Department of Transportation, 2002.

Essential Driving Trend:

Exponential Growth

Which Has Two Possible Outcomes:

1. Overshoot and Collapse

Or…

2. Dynamic Equilibrium

Which is another word for …

Sustainability

Sustainable Definitions:

Sustainable Development- is development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

World Commission on Environment and Development, aka “The Brundtland Commission,” 1987

“To achieve sustainable development, some things must grow—jobs, productivity, wages, capital and savings, profits, information, knowledge, and education—and others—pollution, waste, and poverty—must not.”

The President’s Council on Sustainable Development

Sustainable Definitions:

“Living and governing for the future demands that we look at the complex problems of water, energy, growth management, community and economic development from a system-wide approach—examining how they are

connected and integrated”

Governor Gary Locke

The Compass Framework

A symbol of direction, orientation, and gatheringN

EW

SCreated by AtKisson, Inc, February 2003

The Compass is also…

Nature

EconomyWellbeing

Society

A symbol of Sustainability

Created by AtKisson, Inc, February 2003

Sustainability Indicators

Nature

•Environmental Quality

•Environmental Impact

•Resource Use

•Ecology & Habitat

•Scenic Beauty

N

Created by AtKisson, Inc, February 2003

Economy

•Production & Consumption

•Goods & Services

•Infrastructure (Roads, Traffic, Public Transport…)

•$: Taxes, Budgets, Finances, Investment

•Jobs & Employment

E

Created by AtKisson, Inc, February 2003

Society

•Governmental Systems

•Educational Systems

•Community Life

•Organizations & Religious Institutions

•Social and Cultural Institutions

•Social Conditions

S

Created by AtKisson, Inc, February 2003

Wellbeing

•Individual Health

•Personal Development

•Primary Relationships

•Satisfaction

•Fulfillment of Potential

•Quality of Life

W

Created by AtKisson, Inc, February 2003

The News isn’t all Bad!

•Washington’s Environmental Legacy Washington is ranked fifth best among all states in it’s

support of environmental issues Ranked high among all states in recycling rates Proactive, responsible actions with Executive Order’s 02-

03 and 05-01 Creation of Office of Sustainable Development in OFM Educational workshops on Sustainable Development,

Change Management and Leadership

Where Do We Go From Here?

Washington State University is committed to actively support the goals and objectives of the Governor’s Executive Orders 02-03 and 05-01

Governor’s Executive Order 02-03

Each state agency shall establish sustainability objectives

and prepare a biennial sustainability plan to modify its

practices regarding resource consumption; vehicle use;

purchase of goods and services; and facility construction,

operation and maintenance.

Executive Order 02-03 Goals

•Institutionalize sustainability as an agency value;

•Raise employee awareness of sustainable practices;

•Minimize energy and water use;

•Shift to clean energy for both facilities and vehicles;

•Shift to non-toxic, recycled and remanufactured materials in

purchasing and construction;

•Expand markets for environmentally preferred products and services

•Reduce or eliminate waste as an inefficient us of resources

Governor’s Executive Order 05-01

1)Agencies incorporate green building practices in all new construction projects….

2)Buildings over 25,000 gsf will be built and certified to the LEED Silver Standard

3)Agencies take all reasonable actions to reduce the lifecycle impacts of paper products

4)Office paper purchased by state agencies must have a minimum of 30% post consumer recycled content

5)Target a 20% reduction in petroleum use6)Use professional fleet management and

planning practices

WSU Community Members

Get involved by actively supporting the goals and

objectives of the WSU Sustainability Initiative and Executive Order #24!

Goals and Objectives

1. Identify all stakeholders interested in and/or currently involved in sustainable practices at WSU and establish an efficient and effective communication process to increase active participation.

Goals and Objectives

2. Work with, and through, the WSU University Health and Safety Committee to move the initiative forward.a) Develop a Washington State

University Sustainability Policy b) Advise on marketing, communication,

and promotional strategies

WSU Executive Policy #24

•Washington State University is committed to improve its performance in sustainability in all areas of operations ……..

•Washington State University will develop appropriate systems for managing environmental, social, and economic sustainability programs ……..

•Washington State University will continue to support the present Environmental Management System and its principles to manage environmental challenges on the Pullman Campus and extend them to other WSU campuses and locations.

•This policy will help Washington State University meet its responsibility to prepare students, staff, and faculty to proactively deal with the environmental, social, and economic challenges facing humanity.

Goals and Objectives

3. Identify, accumulate and categorize a comprehensive list of sustainable practices currently used by business entities and academic departments at WSU.

Goals and Objectives

4. Plan and coordinate a campus assessment project that would track ten categories and the indicators of sustainability for each category.

Energy Water

Material Resources

Dining Services

Transportation Built Environment

Ecological Literacy

Research Activity

Decision Making

Land Use

Individually

•Determine your ecological footprint (www.earthday.net)

•Challenge your current behavioral patterns, particularly your consumer/consumption habits

•Understand the consequences of the decisions you make

•Establish an action plan to modify those behavioral patterns – EarthScore Workbook

•Challenge the status quo

•Take responsibility for your personal actions

•Join organizations that share your values

•Lead by example

SUSTAINABILITY

“It’s Our Earth - Our Legacy”