Edit: Green in all the right ways

The University is about to get a lot greener, thanks to a recent decision by administrators to dedicate up to $500,000 toward green initiatives on campus. The joint effort between students and administrators has been years in the making and is a testament to how innovative thinking and perseverance can change UNC for the better.

The new Green Revolving Loan Fund will create a $500,000 pool from which green initiatives at UNC will be financed. Though that sum pales in comparison to what some other colleges, including the University of Virginia, devote to their own green funds, the investment nonetheless marks a step in the right direction.

But it should not give cause for complacency, as the University lags behind not only in its environmental funding but also in the race to achieve carbon neutrality.

The idea is that over time, with sustained investments, this fund will facilitate the “greening” of the campus.

However, the genius of the proposal lies not in the dollar amount — which is still relatively small — but in the structure of the fund. That structure creates a sustainable cycle of reinvestment which will allow UNC to finance future green projects.

A 2011 report by the Sustainable Endowments Institute found that 52 institutions already have similar revolving loan funds on their campuses, with an average fund size of $1.4 million. UNC’s $500,000 commitment is tiny in comparison and does not reflect the decade this institution has invested in environmental leadership.

Regardless, the University is still in a position to profit handsomely from the arrangement. If the institute’s research proves true, the University can at least expect returns of 29 percent. At that rate, the fund would be worth more than $6 million in less than a decade.

The initial fund proposal, developed by UNC student Stewart Boss and recent graduate Chris Lazinski, called for financing to come from the University endowment. But legal concerns prevented this tack from taking effect.

Instead, the funds will come from the University’s low-interest campus management pool. UNC was wise to dedicate this underused source of funding to a cause that will improve not only the school’s bottom line but also its sustainability.

As big a victory as this is for the on-campus environmental movement, students should not be content with the status quo.
Leadership in environmental sustainability is important not just for the University’s reputation but increasingly in the admissions process. In a recent USA Today article, 69 percent of high school students surveyed said a school’s commitment to sustainability will influence their decision on where to attend college. As competition for top students intensifies, UNC needs every advantage it can get.

UNC’s endowment routinely receives an “F” for environmental transparency. That’s not the kind of message a leading institution of environmental research should send to students, especially when Duke University expects to achieve carbon neutrality a full 26 years before UNC.

While $500,000 is a reassuring — if not symbolic — gesture, the reality is that UNC lags behind its peers in environmental investments and leadership and must do more.

If students want UNC to be a leader in environmental stewardship, they will have to keep pushing.