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Sustainability Forum questions corporate responsibilities

By Brock Auerbach-Lynn &
Elizabeth Mauban
TECHNEWS WRITERS

The monthly Sustainability Forum,
hosted by the Office of Campus Energy and
Sustainability, kicked off the semester last Fri,
day with a discussion on whether government
policies or consumer choices are more effective
in driving businesses to be environmentally
and socially responsible

Joseph Clair, Director of the Office
of Campus Energy and Sustainability, started
things off with an update of all sustainability
projects on campus He focused attention on
several competitions which llT will be pare
ticipating in this semester The first is Recye
clemania, an eighteweek contest wherein llT
will compete against universities across the
country to see which can recycle the most Last
year, llT placed second in Illinois Recyclemae
nia starts February St

The second competition will be
Campus Conservation Nationals This three,
week contest, from late March thru early April,
will encourage certain buildings across llT

to reduce energy and water usage, compared
to a baseline measurel HT will be competing
against universities nationwide for the Campus
Conservation Nationals crown, as well as some
great prizes

Clair then passed the stage to the
moderator, Brock AuerbacheLynn, the project
implementation coordinator for the OCES, as
well as an MBA and MS Environmental Man,
agement & Sustainability student at llT’s Stuart
School of Business AuerbacheLynn outlined
the opportunities that both consumer spend,
ing and government policy have to drive en,
vironmental and social change by businesses
He also mentioned some of the difliculties and
problems associated with each, including inefe
ficient outcomes with government and uncoe
ordinated efforts among consumers Having
laid a sufficient background, AuerbacheLynn
introduced Ashley Craig to speak on the gov,
ernment policy sidel

Ashley Craig is the environmental
business specialist at the Chicagoebased Envie
ronmental Law & Policy Center She detailed
how government policy is a crucial roadmap
for businesses, citing the rise and wane of al
ternative energy investment with state energy
policies Craig also mentioned that waste poli

cies requiring electronics producers to recycle
a large portion of eewaste have triggered a huge
market where once there was none While gov,
ernment is not always benign and certainly not
perfect, Craig put forth a strong argument that
sound government policy can make a differ,
ence in driving environmentally and socially
responsible business behavior

Kath Duffy, the founder and direce
tor at the Dill Pickle Food Coeop in Logan
Square, followed Craig to the podium to speak
on the power of consumer spending The
coeop model, which she built the Dill Pickle
around, is completely customereowned, with
the customers dictating policies on everything
from the fair trade chocolate to the farming
methods of its vegetable producersl Members
of the community wanted an organic and local
food option that would cater to their specific
and slightly “off the beaten path" needsl Duffy
remarked that Dill Pickle Food has no debt
and has already achieved over a million dollars
in sales each of the last two years “Certainly
a testament to consumer power," cited Duffy
The shareholders of the store also shop there,
and they are diligent in making sure every,
thing in the store is something they are proud
to buy and sell, to educate casual shoppers on

why certain items are or are not offered, as well
as explain any price differences between their
store and conventional grocersl

Audience members were then given
a chance to direct questions to the speakers
Questions ranged from how this recent recese
sion impacted efforts to influence businesses to
become more sustainable to how universities
can play a role in influencing consumer behave
ior and purchases, as well as government pol,
icy In response to questions about corporate
lobbying and dealing with counterproductive
legislation, both Craig and Duffy encouraged
the audience to get involved in the process,
both as consumers and as responsible citizens
engaged with the political process

The forum elucidated the power
of both consumer purchasing and govern,
ment policy on their own, but it was clear by
the end that, when used in conjunction, they
are an even more formidable force in driving
business to create social and environmental
change

The next Sustainability Forum will
be at noon on Friday February 24, in the
MTCC Ballrooml Further details can be found
by emailing campussustainability@iitledul

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Photos by Christina Noonan