When students paid their student accounts balance for the fall semester, they might have noticed a new fee with a minor cost that will make big changes across the University campus.

▲ One of the proposed initiatives for the ‘green fee’ is a bike share program that would allow students to rent bikes on campus. Initiatives for the fall include gameday recycling and a sustainability coffee hour.

This $3 “Green Fee” will cover two-thirds of the budget for the Office of Sustainability, a small office of the Physical Plant that was created just last February.

The Office of Sustainability already launched a number of pilot programs this summer to test new eco-friendly initiatives, including a successful food waste composting program at the East Campus Village dining hall. If this success proves lasting, the program will most likely be expanded to other dining halls.

Jeanne Fry, director of Food Services for the University, said because the program partnered with the Office of Sustainability and launched on June 1 there has yet to be much feedback, but Food Services lists its other numerous eco-friendly initiatives on its official website.

“We’ve been recycling since the 1970s,” Fry said. “So we’ve been green long before most people around here were green.”

Other initiatives from the Office of Sustainability include a new emphasis on recycling to up the total percentage of University recycling, which already takes care of nearly 50 percent of the University’s waste. The office has added recycle bins placed in tandem with the trash cans in the landscaping around campus. It is also working with the Athletic Association to promote in-stadium recycling, with volunteer crews to look for recyclable waste in game-day cleanup.

“The possibilities are endless,” said Sheena Zhang, a senior from Athens studying ecology, biology and sustainable design as well as a member of the Go Green Alliance. She also said a bike share program might be in the works to enable students to rent bikes to zip across campus.

Yet the green fee was only implemented due to the hard work of students, especially the Go Green Alliance, said Kevin Kirsche, director of the Office of Sustainability. The alliance modeled the fee after a similar program at the University of California at Berkeley. After getting 1,000 signatures on a petition, the student group saw their plan pass overwhelmingly by an SGA vote. The fee was approved by President Michael Adams in January.

Zhang said the fee has streamlined the University’s move toward sustainable living.

“The funding of the Office of Sustainability makes any kind of efforts to go green on the campus so much easier because we have one contact that we can talk to, and also talk through to talk to the administration,” she said.

Kirsche said that despite an overall increase in student fees this semester, the green fee was designed to be reasonable to students.

“It’s palatable,” Kirsche said. “It’s a cup of coffee. It’s a gallon of gas.”

For students, however, the benefits of a green fee and the Office of Sustainability can be more directly accessed — a chunk of the funds go toward student internships in the office and grants for student, faculty and staff proposals.

“If you have ideas for things you’re particularly passionate about, submit a proposal to implement it on campus,” Kirsche said. “Even outside of the formal proposal process, send us e-mails … We would absolutely love to hear students’ perspectives in the area of sustainability.”

SUSTAINABILITY COFFEE HOUR

When: Today 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Where: Jittery Joe’s in the Miller Learning Center

More Information: Stop by to  ask questions and share your ideas with the Office of
Sustanability