AESS 2017 Draft Conference Session Schedule
SUCO Ecological Footprint Assessment
Abstract
Ecological footprint assessments are used to quantify the environmental impact of an individual’s actions and decisions. These decisions inform on the degree of impact one individual creates, which can then be attributed to environmental impacts on a larger scale. We report on the development of a student centered ecological footprint assessment survey for the State University of New York at Oneonta (SUNY Oneonta). SUNY Oneonta strives to reduce their ecological footprint by improving the energy efficiency of their buildings on campus. Despite these efforts, the university’s ecological footprint cannot be significantly reduced without student awareness of resource use. The objective of this footprint assessment was to measure the environmental impact for each student regarding four resources. We assessed the average student water consumption, garbage and recycling production, electricity usage, and carbon emissions from commuter behavior via the SUNY OPT bus. Using an online survey, students were asked about their perceived use of a resource. This information was used to compare each student against the typical student in their dorm building. In addition, the survey measured the university population’s “willingness-to-pay” to offset the environmental impact of their resource consuming behavior, while assessing their initial perception on the concepts of climate change, global warming, and sustainability. The campus climate on sustainability at SUNY Oneonta, while significantly strong, pertains to students of a few majors. There is a need to expand this concept to more majors on campus.