Lewis & Clark Recognized as a Leader in Sustainability

GODFREY - Governor Quinn and the Green Governments Coordinating Council (GGCC) have recently recognized Lewis and Clark Community College as a Gold Level Compact School within the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact program.

The gold level recognition is given to schools that have successfully engaged their campus community in sustainability initiatives, made a commitment to greening operations and continue to make measurable progress toward improvement.

Lewis and Clark's Gold Level recognition places it among top colleges and universities in the state, including University of Illinois-Chicago, University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana, Illinois Institute of Technology and Moraine Valley Community College.

"It is gratifying to receive statewide recognition for the vision and strategic execution of our sustainability policies and practices at Lewis and Clark," L&C President Dale Chapman said. "It was a college-wide effort involving scores of people at all levels of the institution and is certainly a team victory headed up by the Lewis and Clark Office of Sustainability."

Lewis and Clark Community College was recognized as a Gold Level Compact School after signing the Illinois Governor's Sustainability Compact and achieving the commitments in the document that it pledged to fulfill.

Notable initiatives include the purchase of 100 percent green energy across all the Lewis and Clark Community College District's facilities, inclusion of sustainability in the college's strategic plan and a continuing commitment to be a carbon-neutral campus by 2058.

Lewis and Clark also launched other notable projects, including a new, more robust recycling program, community education programs and infrastructure improvements, such as the new eco-road on campus.

Campus-wide energy efficiency projects, such as lighting upgrades and automatic computer lab shutdowns, have reduced energy consumption on L&C's main campus approximately 3 million kWh or 18 percent since 2008.

Lewis and Clark will be honored during the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact Awards ceremony Nov. 9. The ceremony will recognize both public and private universities and colleges at the McDonald's Conference Center in Oak Brook.

"We're proud to receive this award and it really highlights the progress we've made as a district in the past several years," L&C Water Resources and Sustainability Coordinator Ted Kratschmer said. "I feel strongly that this award showcases Lewis and Clark's efforts to be a leader in the field of sustainability, not just with our campus infrastructure, but in the classroom and community."

Last year, L&C received the Governor's Sustainability Award for reducing the college's energy use a total of 14.4 percent from 2008 to 2010.

For more information on L&C's green initiatives visit www.lc.edu/discover/greenInitiative.

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