The Office of Sustainability is located in the Facilities
portion of the ROTC building. It is composed of a full time staff
member and student sustainability coordinators.
Sustainability
at St. John’s is an interdisciplinary mission, and requires the
dedication of individuals from all different fields and majors on
campus. The Student Sustainability Coordinators on campus are just
that: a diverse group of students that come together to make St.
John's University a little greener, one day at a time. Currently,
eight Student Sustainability Coordinators work on the Queens
campus.
Some of the
initiatives Sustainability Coordinators work on include: promoting
and maintaining the Single Stream Recycling system on campus, the
Organic Garden, new compost initiatives, and promoting national
competitions such as RecycleMania and Campus Conservation
Nationals.
One of the
main responsibilities of Sustainability Coordinators is to monitor
the recycling system on campus. This encompasses recycling in the
Residence Village, Townhouses, classrooms, and offices. By
routinely checking the dorms and buildings on campus,
Sustainability Coordinators ensure that recycling bins are present,
and check that students/employees are following the Single Stream
Recycling policy, as well as making sure trash is not mixed in with
recyclables.
Sustainability Coordinators also create
posters and campaign for the Nation-wide competitions, RecycleMania
and Campus Conservation Nationals. During competition months,
Sustainability Coordinators promoting the idea of increasing
recycling, and conserving energy by talking to students, holding
pledges, and raffles.
Another task of Sustainability Coordinators, with the help of
Earth Club, is to manage the organic garden located by the softball
field. Weeding, watering, planting, and harvesting are done in the
garden during the summer season and fall semester. Preparing the
soil and transplanting plants from the green house are also done at
the beginning of the planting season around March. All produce
harvested from the garden is donated to the soup kitchen at St.
John's Bread and Life in Brooklyn. Student Sustainability Coordinators also run the production of
compost on campus. Coordinators are responsible for collecting
pre-consumer waste and mixing it with other organic matter to
create rich and fertile compost. This compost is then used in the
organic garden, as well as around campus.
To learn
more about the Office of Sustainability, please contact:
Thomas
M. Goldsmith
Director of
Environmental and Energy Conservation
Department of Facilities Services
(718)
990-8008
goldsmit@stjohns.edu
Raelynne Lee
Sustainability Department Assistant
(718)990-5054
sustainability@stjohns.edu