By Amelia Eichel
On Feb. 2, Associated Students of Lewis & Clark (ASLC) Vice President Zack Johnson ’19 and Senator Tom Stratton ’20 updated the ASLC on the current status of two on-campus committees: the Renewable Energy Fee Fund (REFF) Committee, and the Bon Committee.
Johnson asked for another ASLC representative to join him on REFF committee.
The REFF Committee is responsible for approving which Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) the school purchases. After the certificates are chosen, the committee uses the leftover funds to delegate grants and funds to LC students who want to do a renewable energy project or an unpaid renewable energy internship.
To begin this process, LC’s Office of Sustainability calculated LC’s greenhouse gas footprint.
“A number of things go into calculating our greenhouse gas footprint at the beginning of the year,” Senior Director of Sustainability and Communications Amy Dvorak said. “We look at our electricity and natural gas use. We look at gas for fleet vehicles, refrigeration, fertilizer, how much waste we’re producing and paper use.”
Normally, the REFF committee would now be inviting renewable energy developers and sellers to bid to provide the institution with renewable energy and greenhouse gas offsets. LC will receive one REC for every megawatt-hour of energy that they contribute to the power grid. However, the REC process was delayed this year because the software that connects LC with contractors is being updated. In the past, the committee started reviewing bids between January and February.
In the midst of this delay, the REFF committee has been focusing on reviewing a grant proposal for a solar project in Cuba. The committee has agreed to prioritize advertising this semester, as they have only received one grant proposal thus far.
“One thing that I haven’t been the greatest at is getting the word out,” REFF committee’s student leader Damian Sanchez ’19 said. “We want students to know that these grants aren’t only for renewable energy projects. They can also go toward paying students for unpaid internships that are related to renewable energy.”
During senator updates at the Feb. 2 meeting, Stratton announced that the Bon Committee is reorganizing and reprioritizing in response to Bon Appétit hiring a new General Manager, Ryan Jenson, and the many changes made since last semester.
“The Bon workers have successfully unionized, and they are happy with the results of negotiations,” Stratton said. “The Bon has also created a new allergy-free station and separate gluten-free section to address student concerns from last semester.”
The Bon committee is still recruiting members for this semester. Stratton says that two issues that will be prioritized this semester are minimizing food waste, donating food that is left over after service, and increased communication between students and the committee.
Bon Appetit has resumed donating leftover food after two years of claiming and failing to do so. Urban Gleaners now picks up leftover food from LC every Tuesday and Thursday.
Stratton said that students can give input by voicing any concerns about the food, the service, the prices or the meal times to anyone on the Bon committee.
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