Sustainability gets students’ vote

A PSU students checks out the "green fee" voting booth

Portland State University (PSU) May 12 joined a growing list of schools initiating a jump in student fees to cover sustainability initiatives. Voting students came out 72 percent in favor of the Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), a referendum that puts in place a $5 per term “green fee” expected to raise more than $500,000 to support initiatives the reduce the school’s impact on the environment.

It includes a $10-$15 Flexpass subsidy for students who use TriMet, and creates a student-run “special sustainability projects fund” to support small student-led sustainable projects, such as building new bike parking stations or installing water bottle refilling stations, around campus.

In addition, the initiative includes a new “green revolving loan fund,” which would finance energy and water conservation projects. The loan fund would grow over time as the money saved from lower energy costs is continually reinvested.

Although the city of Portland is ranked among the most sustainable cities in the world, PSU received the lowest possible score in the newest edition of The Princeton Review. The publication gave PSU a 60 out of 99 sustainability ranking, evaluating criteria such as energy use, recycling and plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

That could change, as the university is required to, over the next 10 years, match a $25 million grant from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation to expand its research in sustainability across all disciplines.

“Our fund was centered upon saving PSU money through energy efficiency and through improving access for students through the transportation subsidy,” says student senator Brendan Castricano, who helped champion the campaign. “I think it gives students an opportunity to express their value for sustainability. This green fee provide an opportunity for the 27,000 students at PSU to engage in sustainability in a practical and meaningful way.”

With the passing of The Green Initiative Fund, Castricano says that Portland State now joins about 60 other universities nationwide who have implemented similar fees. The University of Oregon, Western Washington University, Evergreen State College and the University of California at Santa Cruz are among the other West Coast schools administering such fees.