The 1990s have been a decade of increased awareness and concern by colleges and universities about environmental issues. The "greening" of institutions of higher education is spreading feverishly across this country and, indeed, around the world. Books, articles, conferences and organizations have developed recently to address the issue. No longer will environmental responsibility be the hallmark of only the most progressive businesses, but also of the most progressive educational institutions.

Bates is on the forefront of this tide, having given this notion direct attention since 1990, with the inception of a campus environmental issues committee. In the fall of 1997, Bates took another major step and hired a part-time environmental coordinator to work with established campus groups and organizations to coordinate the "greening" of the Bates campus. At the same time, the College officially sanctioned the Environmental Confederation, a campus group composed of students, faculty, staff and administrators (including the environmental coordinator), whose mission it is to shape and direct campus stewardship initiatives. This move solidified Bates' firm commitment to transfer its intellectual understanding of environmental issues to practical action in its daily operations.

The Environmental Confederation's first major task was to begin the process of drafting an Environmental Action Plan for the College. In its initial phase of this project, the group focused on four specific areas of environmental concern, with the intention of adding new areas each year. The four areas that this report addresses are solid waste, hazardous waste, procurement and energy.

Within each area, the Environmental Confederation looked at Bates' current practices, analyzed them with an eye on their respective environmental impacts and made recommendations for improved "greenness."

The process led to the conclusion that the College would be best served by primarily focusing on three of the areas researched, for the sake of practicality and the limitations of human resources. These areas for the 1998-99 academic year are solid waste, hazardous waste and procurement.

The research done by the Confederation indicated that individuals and specific departments at Bates have done very well to conduct business in an environmentally friendly manner. In general, however, there has been a lack of consistent and cohesive policy guiding the institution as a whole. This report clearly addresses this missing link and hopes to provide the basis for a coordinated effort toward greening the Bates campus.

Solid Waste
We found that Bates, like most other educational institutions generates a great deal of solid waste and currently recycles approximately 33 percent of it (exclusive of building debris). Not only is improving our recycling rate the right thing to do, but it is our responsibility as part of a larger community. The municipality of Lewiston has met the state recycling goal of 50 percent diversion, and we believe Bates can go further. It will require increased education of the entire community, as well as an improved recycling program. In addition to increasing recycling rates, it is paramount to any solid waste reduction scheme to include opportunities for reuse and reduction. Again, Bates has some excellent programs in place to address these tactics, and we have included further suggestions.

Hazardous Waste
Hazardous waste is an area of the College's environmental effort that has been disjointed and lacking in holistic attention. On some accounts, we manage our wastes in the most environmentally responsible manner, but on others we have literally been dumping it down the drain. We are considered a large quantity generator, in large part because of inherited wastes from the purchase of buildings and the vast amounts of chemicals used for experimentation in the sciences. We have recommended that the College streamline its hazardous waste services and provide training for selected college personnel, relevant science faculty members and relevant science students. Additionally, we will work toward source reduction where possible. As is the case with solid waste, reduction will not only be environmentally beneficial, but it will also save the College money.

Procurement
Since there is no central purchasing office at Bates, purchasing is done by many different people on campus. Some individuals have incorporated environmental concerns into their bid process, but others have not. The most important purchasing recommendation is to develop a campus-wide procurement policy that takes into account our environmental mission. With such a policy in place, there will be consistent attention to environmental concerns, regardless of which department is making the purchases.