Sustainability Report Card shows slight upturn for YSU

By Harold Gwin

A spokesman said YSU has a wide range of environmental plans.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University’s grade on its annual College Sustainability Report Card went up this year — but only slightly.

The university scored a “D” in the use of natural resources on its 2009 report card and moved up to a “D+” on the 2010 report card released recently by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, a nonprofit group in Cambridge, Mass. The organization rates colleges and universities that have endowments of at least $150 million, issuing a report card on how carefully those institutions address the issue of sustainability.

It defines sustainability as the use of resources to meet current needs, yet preserving the ability of future generations to tap those same resources.

Many schools became greener during the last year, earning higher grades on the report card, said Mark Orlowski, the institute’s executive director.

The institute conducted surveys about campus, dining and student initiatives, as well as endowment investment. Access to endowment information is intended to foster constructive dialogue about investment in clean energy and in community development, as well as about sustainability considerations in shareholder voting.

Oberlin College again leads the 16 Ohio schools, maintaining last year’s top A- grade.

Ron Cole, a YSU spokesman, said the university isn’t sure what all activities were considered by the institute, citing a long list of environment-related programs found at YSU.

“We are comfortable that we are making really significant strides,” he said, but added that everyone can do better on the issue of sustainability, and the university is committed to doing better.

Cole pointed out that YSU is spending $10 million on efforts to make buildings more energy- efficient, a project that will save $13 million in utility costs over the next decade. Replacing old lighting with newer, more-efficient lighting is already saving $500,000 a year, he said.

YSU recycles 1.2 million pounds of waste material annually, stuff that isn’t going into area landfills, Cole said. Food composting is producing 10 tons of compost annually for use in campus landscaping, he said.

The university was the first in Ohio to start a “Dump and Run” program to recycle items students leave behind at the end of the school year, he said.

gwin@vindy.com