![\"TOM](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/10\/ruffaner.jpg\" "\\"ruffaner\\"")
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“Mr. Green”<\/strong><\/p>\n If Augsburg had a \u201cMr. Green\u201d contest, TOM RUFFANER \u201998 might well be the best candidate. Over the past decade, he has led Augsburg toward greater commitments in sustainable living.<\/p>\n Ruffaner has pushed Augsburg to bring about environmental improvements in energy use, safer cleaning products, and recycling and waste reduction (starting with a comprehensive Waste Wise audit). He also helped the College study its transportation habits and commuting alternatives. And, he has chaired the Environmental Stewardship Committee and supported community efforts.<\/p>\n In fall 2007, Ruffaner received an Individual Achievement Commuter Choice Award, given by Metro Transit, that recognizes organizations and individuals for their creative solutions in promoting alternatives to driving alone. He also served on the advisory committee that helped design the light rail station nearest Augsburg.<\/p>\n A 1998 graduate in metro-urban studies, Ruffaner is the custodial supervisor at Augsburg.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC), made up of faculty, staff, and students, leads the environmental initiatives of the College. Created in 1990 as a task force, it was revitalized by President William Frame in 1999 and given both purpose and strength.<\/p>\n Tom Ruffaner, longtime committee chair and custodial supervisor, believes that the comprehensive \u201cWaste Wise\u201d audit carried out in 1999 became the \u201cdriving force behind \u2018greening\u2019 at Augsburg.\u201d The audit \u201cnot only identified areas of waste and inefficiencies across campus but also offered resources to make improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n The ESC Vision Statement in 2004 summarized its goals: \u201cThe stewardship of the urban and global environment can only be pursued if we take these steps toward using less, living more simply, and acting with the care and awareness of the impact of actions on the people and ecosystem within which we live and on which we all depend.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2006, Augsburg\u2019s new president, Paul C. Pribbenow, quickly embraced the growing urgency to address issues of sustainability and gave voice to a deeper understanding of sustainability within Augsburg\u2019s mission and vision.<\/p>\n The changes across campus in the past three years have been significant. Sustainability is infused through Augsburg\u2019s curriculum and grounded in its daily practices\u2014on campus, in the community, and around the world.<\/p>\n Augsburg participates in two important institutional collaborations:<\/p>\n \u2022 Presidents Climate Commitment<\/strong>\u2014President Pribbenow joined more than 600 American college and university presidents to sign an agreement to \u201cneutralize greenhouse gas emissions and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth\u2019s climate.\u201d A report has just been completed that measures the College\u2019s carbon footprint.<\/p>\n \u2022 Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC)<\/strong>\u2014Five colleges (Augsburg, Hamline, St. Thomas, St. Catherine, Macalester) are exploring ways to create a stronger academic identity that clearly expresses their shared identity as an urban institution and centers on the theme of sustainable urban development. Ideas may include curricular development, community outreach, research, service-learning, internships, study abroad, and faculty development.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Green Vehicle Initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n The green vehicle initiative developed from the inspiration of Brian Krohn\u2019s biofuel discoveries and my resources as a member of Augsburg Day Student Government in fall 2008. Almost immediately Reid Larson and Steve Eichten also committed themselves fully to the project. Collectively, the four of us found that our goal was to ensure that our next Department of Public Safety vehicle was both a fiscally and environmentally sound investment. After hearing estimates that the department puts nearly 150 miles daily on their vehicle, we realized that having either a biodiesel or hybrid would surely be cost effective. It turned out that a Ford Escape Hybrid would save the college $30,000 annually by our low-end estimates.<\/p>\n Initially finding little support in the purchase of a hybrid, the group prepared for a meeting with President Paul Pribbenow. We presented him with graphs on two- and fouryear savings, a list of ways that he would be supporting the Presidents Climate Commitment he had signed earlier in the year, and a list of colleges, universities, and police departments that all had successfully integrated hybrid vehicles into their programs. By meeting\u2019s end the president had given us an oral commitment to the Ford Escape, and said that John Pack, director of public safety, had also expressed his support earlier in the day. By September 2008 the College\u2019s new hybrid vehicle was in use on campus. The Green Vehicle Coalition, as it has developed into, sees this particular project only as a first step toward many long-term goals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Some of the most exciting projects for sustainability have come from student-led initiatives. Students have researched alternative fuels, organized teach-ins, gained student backing to support wind energy, pushed the College to purchase green vehicles, and become engaged in the political process.<\/p>\n Augsburg\u2019s chapter of the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG) began the initial efforts to recycle in the 1970s. Recently, its Environmental Task Force, along with student groups, has led projects on campus, including:<\/p>\n \u2022 Focus the Nation teach-in<\/strong>\u2014Augsburg joined organizations across the country in setting aside a day to engage the entire campus in conversations on sustainability.<\/p>\n \u2022 Wind energy purchase<\/strong>\u2014Both day and weekend student governments held referendums in which students voted to add a new student fee to contribute to wind energy purchase. It enables Augsburg to offset 100% of its fossil-fuel electricity costs on the Minneapolis campus, making the College one of the largest purchasers of wind power in the state.<\/p>\n \u2022 Hybrid security vehicle<\/strong>\u2014When a security vehicle was due for replacement, a student group pushed for the College to buy a hybrid fuel vehicle.<\/p>\n \u2022 Food services changes<\/strong>\u2014Students initiated the practice of composting food, saving three-quarters of a ton of trash.<\/p>\n \u2022 Environmental history of Augsburg<\/strong>\u2014 The 2007 Environmental Connections class researched and wrote \u201cFrom Rural to Urban: The Environmental History of Augsburg College 1872-2005,\u201d studying its relationship to nature, technology, and humans.<\/p>\n \u2022 Trash audit<\/strong>\u2014In order to call attention to lackadaisical attitudes toward recycling, a group of students went through twodays\u2019 worth of garbage and showed how nearly 70% of it was either compostable or recyclable.<\/p>\n Much work remains before Augsburg can be satisfied it is consuming only what Earth can renew. But now, that work is increasingly carried out with greater consciousness of the impact made by personal choices and practices, both on the self and on an interconnected and interdependent global community.<\/p>\n My dad tells me, \u201cDreams are free. Dream big, it won\u2019t cost money.\u201d I listened and dreamt and acted big by forming an ad hoc organization and, with other students, started organizing for the Focus the Nation teach-in in January 2008. The teach-in provided rich liberal arts perspectives to more than 500 attendees and launched momentum towards switching Augsburg\u2019s energy consumption from fossil fuel to wind energy.<\/p>\n The organizing students petitioned Day Student Government for a referendum to impose a fee of $14.75 per semester to purchase wind energy. The referendum passed, with 68% of the vote, and day students now contribute more than $54,000 annually. Contributions from Weekend College Government and the administration enable us to purchase enough wind power to make Augsburg\u2019s Minneapolis campus 100% free of fossil fuel electricity. We have reduced the equivalent in carbon emissions of taking 26,000 cars off the road or planting 69 square miles of trees each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Betsey Norgard Living sustainably is no longer merely an option. As a vast majority of the world\u2019s people struggle for resources to sustain even simple lives, a small minority consume at rates that will quickly deplete Earth\u2019s resources and imperil future generations. Environmental concerns are now front and center on our national agenda. But <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-stories","tag-spring-2009"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7942,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions\/7942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The greening of Augsburg<\/h2>\n
Students step forward<\/h2>\n
\u00a0Focus leads to wind energy<\/h2>\n