Sustainability Council activities began with an assessment of conservation, environmental enhancement, and sustainable activities currently underway at SOU.  For example, Jared Fuhriman has been very successful in assessing and finding ways to conserve our energy usage.  Savings to date compared with previous years have exceeded $200,000, a remarkable achievement!

In order to promote sustainability at SOU, the Council has been working with the city of Ashland Conservation Division on water and energy conservation, Bonneville Environmental Foundation on promoting "Green Tags" offsets and Ashland Sanitary on recycling opportunities.

The Council facilitated the implementation of the student initiated "Green Tag" project.  Following an intensive campaign this spring the SOU student body voted to add $8/term/student to activity fees to offset both electricity and natural gas energy usage. 

The Council is also working to coordinate recycling activities on campus.  While recycling activities are extensive, student involvement, for example, lacks consistency due to annual turnover and graduations.

For the coming year the Council will be establishing policies regarding recycling, purchasing, transportation, energy, and water conservation. The Council sponsored a "Kick-off" event in September to declare sustainability as an integral part of SOU's philosophy and operations.  The President signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, joining 284 other colleges and universities promising to address activities that will reduce our green house gas emissions.