Collaborate with students, faculty, staff, and administration to design and establish sustainable energy policies for your campus. The awareness and knowledge that you generate on campus through NCEC will help you get that process going. You can extend your school's sustainability efforts beyond February 2008! There are a few helpful sources that you can present to your administration:
- Encourage your school's president to sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/) Possible strategies for your school to become more sustainable, together with links to more resources, can be found at http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/html/solutions.php. Another in-depth discussion, including illustrative examples of existing, successful actions from campuses around the country, can be found at http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/pdf/climate_leadership.pdf
- Energy Action’s “New Energy for Campuses” report: http://www.energyaction.net/documents/new_energy.pdf
- Ask your administration to participate in the National Wildlife Federation's Campus Ecology program: http://www.nwf.org/campusEcology/fellowships/index.cfm
Above all, discuss ways that comprehensive climate policies can benefit the institution. This can include the benefits of the institution taking a leadership role in terms of campus image, monetary benefits from saving energy, and innovative academic and civic engagement opportunities by empowering students, faculty and staff to work together on innovative campus sustainability initiatives. For more information, see the Policy Resources: http://www.ssc.org/resources
