Sustainability
Sustainability
Phone: (218) 755-2560
Mailing Address:
Bemidji State University
1500 Birchmont Dr. NE, #31
Bemidji, MN 56601
BSU is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
BSU is among a select group of leaders in EPA's Green Power Partnership.
Waste
BSU has done a great job reducing their waste so far, but that's always room for improvement. As apart of the Climate Action Plan, BSU's goal is to be carbon neutral, which means little to zero waste.
Reusable Water Bottles and Mugs
Starting back in fall of 2009, the Sustainability Office offers free mugs or water bottles to all incoming freshman and transfer students. At the end of the fall semester, if there are any bottles or mugs left, we open it up to all students. The purpose of this is to reduce the use of plastic bottled water and paper/styrofoam coffee cups. Providing a container for students to reuse, will give more of an incentive to reduce and reuse!
Free Store
The Free Store is a place in the Sustainability Office where everything is free! It's all student, faculty, and staff donations that people can come in take. Everything from clothes, kitchen supplies, or school supplies are available. The purpose of the Free Store is to reduce the amount of products that people buy. We want to encourage people to reuse items when they are in perfectly good shape. It's been very successful!
Waste Audit
Every semester the Sustainability Office performs a waste audit for the academic building, Hagg Sauer. We choose Hagg Sauer because of the high student/faculty/staff traffic, and the high number of faculty offices. The audit is performed over a 5-day period has been going on since 2008. The results are
- 2008:
- 59.45% Garbage
- 20.65% Paper
- 19.90% Containers
- AFTER EDUCATION
- 70.99% Garbage
- 12.29% Paper
- 16.72% Containers
- 2009:
- 85.21% Garbage
- 8.15% Paper
- 6.64% Containers
- 2010:
- 83.31% Garbage
- 8.15% Paper
- 6.28% Containers
- 317 Java City cups
- 33 lbs of potential compost
- 15 lbs of liquid waste
- 2011:
- 78.56% Garbage
- 13.32& Paper
- 8.13% Containers
- 193 Java City cups
- 13 lbs of potential compost
- 12.5 lbs of liquid waste
- 22.5 lbs of paper towels
"We need to love and respect the Earth with the same intensity that we give our families and our tribe."
~ James Lovelock