Local bike shop donates 'green' rides

     The sustainability committee will offer green transportation for students.

     As part of Otterbein's efforts toward a more sustainable campus, the school will soon be providing bicycles for the use of students and faculty through the Otterbike Sharing Program.

     According to Mary Kerr, member of the sustainability committee, people who wish to borrow an Otterbike must fill out a waiver at the Courtright Memorial Library and pay a one-time yearly fee of $10.

      From then on, renters only need to show their Cardinal Cards to check out a bike. Students will be able to rent for a period of three days.

     According to Kerr, the Otterbikes will all be donated from the Westerville Bike Shop located on Main Street. "Anyone can donate to the fund, and they can donate used bikes if they want to,"

     Kerr said. "The owner of the shop will look it over and see what needs to be done as far as maintenance. The owner there has been just so generous." Kerr, who tends to travel and commute on bike, predicts that the program will "definitely expand" if students choose to utilize it.

     "With the trail system in Westerville, it is just as easy to ride up to Giant Eagle and buy your groceries. You can really get around better on trails. I do it all the time," Kerr said. "I think that this program will really encourage students and help show more awareness of sustainability on campus."

     According to Heidi Ballard, co-chair of the Standing Committee on Environmental Sustainability, the Otterbike Sharing Program is the new addition to Otterbein's sustainability focus.

     This week, the sustainability committee had students and faculty take a survey to help support and plan collegewide sustainability initiatives.

     The survey results will be presented by the environmental sociology students on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 11 a.m. in the Philomathean Room, in Towers Hall.

     "We've created an audit that helps determine what areas to strengthen," Ballard said. "Then we make up a priority list of what needs to happen." Ballard also said that the survey will determine where Otterbein is, and the committee will be able to look at a number of indicators of sustainability and inform students where they need to place emphasis on campus.

     According to Ballard, Otterbein took steps toward sustainability in 2008 by joining the American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education, which created a commitment for the college to continue the sustainability process. Ballard would like sustainability to be more incorporated on campus. One way is through courses offered at Otterbein.

     "This (sustainability) is imperative for higher education," Ballard said. "Higher education is where future leaders are made. Plugging sustainability into curriculum would increase the number of programs and awareness within our school."

     This past March, the Otterbein Board of Trustees voted to adopt a Policy of Sustainability for the college.

     Since then, "we were nominated for an Emerald Award, which is sponsored by SWACO (Solid Waste Authority of Ohio)," Kerr said. "They award an organization who has really worked hard toward recycling and reducing waste. Although we weren't selected, it was our first nomination, and so that was very exciting."

     According to Kerr, Otterbein was nominated for programs such as the college's paper tracking program, PaperCut, as well as the trayless cafeteria. Otterbein also completed the Science Building, which has two new greenhouses attached to it for research and teaching.

     "I think all the efforts that the college is going through to become more sustainable are great," junior psychology major Travis Ell said. "Before coming to college, sustainability was something that I never cared or even thought about, but within the last few years all of the new initiatives that the college has put in place have really helped me to see how important being sustainable is." t&c;

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