Students from Baldwin Wallace University attended the Greater Cleveland Partnership Sustainability Summit at the Huntington Convention Center on Jan. 24.   

Two students who attended the event were sustainability majors Emma Stamper, a sophomore member of the University’s sustainability committee, and junior Olivia Powell.  

Powell said the central goal of the summit was for businesses to come together to discuss sustainability and how businesses can become more sustainable.  

The summit provided the attendees ideas that they could implement into their own lives and businesses.   

“One of the panellists that I listened to has her own company that consults small and medium enterprises on how they can be more sustainable,” Powell said.   

Listening to that panelist sparked an idea for Powell. Powell said that her idea was that BW could benefit from hiring someone who is an expert in the field of sustainability.   

Stamper said the university should look at integrating sustainability into their business strategy, and that hiring a sustainability officer with a designated sustainability office may be beneficial.  

Powell said that for the university to become more sustainable, they need to allocate more resources towards sustainability.   

According to Powell, sustainability grants were mentioned at the summit. These grants are given out to organizations and companies, and Powell said she believes that there should be more action taken to allow BW to apply for those grants.   

Stamper said that data from the Princeton Review states that 74 percent of students looking into colleges would have their decision impacted by the school’s **responsibility to the environment. 

“And as a committee, we’re keeping that 74 percent in mind,” Stamper said.   

A change that Stamper would like to see on campus is for the Baldwin Wallace community to embrace sustainability.   

“Every major should have a section that is sustainability related,” Stamper said.  

Powell said that there are difficulties with conveying sustainability needs.   

“It’s hard to really have effective messaging about [sustainability] because the only people who hear about it are the people who are already aware and already interested,” Powell said.  

To get more students involved in sustainability, Powell said she believes that it would be beneficial for classes to have outside projects that help the community.  

Stamper said that some responsibility rests on the students, but agrees with Powell, and said it is up to the BW’s leadership.  

“Gen Z is very passionate about being green,” Stamper said. “And a part of higher education is preparing you for your future, and sustainability is a large part of that.”  

For more information on how to get involved with sustainability, the Sustainability Committee is having a meeting on the second of March from 4-5 p.m. at the Center for Innovation and Growth in Room 105.