MSU office works toward sustainability goals

In 2012, MSU established the Office of Sustainability (OS) to advocate for and achieve the University’s on-campus sustainability goals. Since then, the OS has instituted different programs and policies to help reduce water and energy usage. The office manages projects, hosts an annual Sustainability Summit — an event where students and staff can learn more about MSU’s sustainability and carbon neutrality goals, according to its website — and engages with the MSU community to encourage sustainability. 

“We like to say that our office has been around since 2009,” said Program Manager of the OS Paul Edlund. According to Edlund, the OS started as a group of about five students who volunteered their time to help people recycle on campus. In 2012, the Associated Students of MSU allocated funds to allow the office to work toward sustainable practices.

In December of 2021, MSU’s University Council agreed to implement a sustainability framework through the OS to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, zero waste by 2035 and earn a Platinum rating through the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) by 2035. 

According to Edlund, STARS is a nationwide system many universities use to gauge their sustainability efforts. The STARS rankings start at Reporter — which means they are just reporting on sustainability — to Platinum, the highest rating.

Currently, MSU is a Gold-rated institution under STARS. MSU’s progress toward the goal of a STARS Platinum rating by 2035 will help develop the other two aspects of the sustainability framework — carbon neutrality and zero waste — simultaneously, according to Edlund. 

One example of sustainability on campus is MSU’s diversion rate, Edlund said. Diversion is the amount of waste that gets recycled or composted instead of going to a landfill. According to Edlund, MSU’s diversion rate was at 34 percent in 2024. He compared this to MSU’s two percent diversion rate in 2009 as a sign of progress. 

Other projects include a campus-wide retrofit where fluorescent light bulbs were replaced with LEDs, according to Edlund. Additionally, North Hedges Residence Hall has been retrofitted with a heat recovery ventilator, variable frequency drives are being installed on campus motors and Leon Johnson Hall has received an energy retrofit.

“In terms of reducing waste, achieving awareness and consciousness in the campus community, especially the earth system crisis, yeah, [the OS is] doing a good job,” said MSU environmental history professor Mark Fiege. He cited the creation of courses with environmental emphasis and student efforts to advocate for learning more about sustainability as signs of positive evolution. 

“Faculty can create and teach sustainability courses, but what really drives change are the students — they are the energy,” Fiege said. “The students' ideas are cutting edge, the faculty needs to catch up and absolutely the administration.” 

According to Edlund, the classroom is another area of focus for the OS. In 2022, the OS worked with faculty to determine how many classes included sustainability in their curriculum. The office then worked with the Center for Faculty Excellence and the Campus Sustainability Advisory Committee to educate faculty members on sustainability and help them implement sustainability into their curriculum, according to Edlund. 

“I feel like [MSU administration] should talk about sustainability more on campus — because I think people understand that they should compost and recycle on campus, but they don’t know why,” said environmental science student Brooke Horton. 

Architecture major Kacey Ronbeck said she had never heard of the OS before and that she didn’t think there had been much outreach to students. “There’s not a lot of advertisements about it,” she said.

“It makes sense that a lot of students don’t know about the programs we offer,” Edlund said. He acknowledged that the OS’ location in the Strand Union Building (SUB) could make it more difficult for students to access. According to Edlund, all the information about MSU’s sustainability practices is shared at the annual Sustainability Summit. The next Summit will be held on April 15, 2025.

“[The Sustainability Summit] is such a great place for students to get to interact with faculty, staff, other students and administrators to learn about: what [is the OS] doing and how [is the OS] involved,” Edlund said. The OS also sends out a newsletter and the MSU news service publishes information about MSU’s sustainability, according to Edlund. 

“Our door is always open,” he said. According to him, the OS works closely with students who have needs and suggestions regarding sustainability. Ronbeck and fellow architecture major Madi Gallinger proposed a couple of ideas for further sustainability on campus, including putting tops on outdoor trash cans to limit spillover into parking lots and creating new recycled structures or sculptures to remind students of the University’s commitment to sustainability.

Edlund said the OS is there to help students with any of their sustainability goals. “We’re at SUB 284, you’re welcome to drop in,” he said.

To learn more about what the OS offers, head to https://www.montana.edu/sustainability/.