The first sustainability actor I want to highlight has, unfortunately for Gustavus, already left us. Jason Stratman left Gustavus just a few weeks ago. Jason was our Manager of Environmental Health and Safety. In that position, he was in charge of range of “must do” tasks ranging from disposing of laboratory wastes safely to making sure van drivers were properly trained.
But along the way, he found ways to make us safe and sustainable. In one of his initiatives, he worked with Printing Services to change the chemicals they used in their printing operations to types that were safer and much easier to dispose of.
Jason also went out of his way to create a system for collecting rechargeable batteries (ask at the bookstore if you are looking for a drop off point) so that they could properly disposed of and recycled.
The chemical managment change in Printing Services was an invisible change, and the battery collection effort is also not very prominent, yet both were significant actions to improve our sustainability by reducing waste and associated toxicity.
Thanks, Jason, we wish you well in your new position at Western Nebraska Community College.