CSB and SJU Sustainability Office
We are the CSB+SJU Sustainability Office
Mission Statement
Broadly defined, sustainability means meeting society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As a Catholic, Benedictine institutions, the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University accept that all creation is a gift from God; in exchange we are expected to care for creation and provide stewardship for the entire community of life on Earth. Our commitment to this stewardship, by definition, incorporates the principles of sustainability: our actions should be ecologically sound, socially just, and economically viable today and should continue to be so for future generations.
Because of our commitment to the Benedictine tradition and the principles of sustainability, we will work to emphasize and embed these concepts into our educational mission, the operation of the physical campus, and our outreach to communities beyond the college.
Goals
1. Decarbonization – climate change is the biggest threat to our shared future on planet Earth. We must not only teach climate science, policy, and justice, but we must actively work to reduce our operational greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming.
2. Zero Waste – we must actively work to reduce our waste going to landfills, incinerators, and polluting the natural world. By implementing reduce, reuse, recycle, and composting initiatives, we can live out our values of stewardship, moderation, and community.
3. Stewardship of Resources – we seek to steward and conserve the limited resources we use to operate our institutions. We aim to reduce our impact on the natural spaces that help define the aesthetic of our campuses while improving biodiversity, water quality, and soil health.
4. Education and Outreach – sustainable action requires creating awareness around issues. We seek to educate our campus through programs, events, and materials aimed at building a culture of sustainability where all students and employees recognize their role in contributing to sustainability goals.
What We Do
There is plenty going on in the Office of Sustainability! Here is some of our current work:
- Projects and Initiatives: Sustainable action permeates our campuses. The Office is continuously seeking out opportunities to improve sustainable practices across the campuses. Current initiatives include campus composting, swap shops, and carbon footprinting.
- Revolving Loan Fund or Green Funds: Funding for projects that have a return on investment that in turn create a more energy and resource efficient school.
- Education: See our quick guides to recycling and composting on campus, energy and water tips, and more on our Projects and Programs page!
- Student-led Initiatives: students have initiated many of the sustainability projects on our campuses with opportunity to create more. A couple long-running initiatives include: Full Circle Greenhouse, Community Kitchen
Annual Events
- Stash It Don’t Trash It: Move-Out collection of unwanted items and subsequent donations
- Earth Week: Week in April dedicated to sustainability with a variety of events to advocate for the Planet
- Cut the Current Energy Challenge: Annual challenge to see which residence hall can reduce the most electricity.