Andrew Dorr hopes to stay in Syracuse post-graduation.

‘The city is changing, and there is a lot that can be done,’ said Dorr, a senior environmental studies major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

There is more that can be done in the area by students to support sustainability, Dorr said, and he would like to help the process.

As energy coordinator for ESF’s student organization the Green Campus Initiative, Dorr helped arrange the second forum for the group, which was held Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Marshall Auditorium on the ESF campus. The State of Syracuse forum promoted sustainable and environmentally friendly living and cooperation between area colleges.

The forum featured a panel of local government and business speakers, including Sam Gordon, senior planner with the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board; Charlotte Holstein, founder of Forging Our Community’s United Strength of Greater Syracuse; Andrew Maxwell, director of planning and sustainability for the city; and Matthew Millea, deputy Onondaga County executive for physical services.

Last year’s forum focused on what individuals could do globally, but this year the organization decided to focus on what could be done locally, Dorr said.

‘Sustainability — it’s about thinking locally before you can think globally,’ Dorr said.

About 150 people showed up for the event, Dorr said. He had hoped for about 200 participants and said he reached out to Le Moyne College and Syracuse University to attend the event.

Cooperation between schools is one aspect of the GCI Dorr said he would like to see improve in the next few months. He also said there is plenty happening in the county with which students can help. He said he would like to see ESF students visit area colleges to see how their sustainability programs work.

The GCI will also be looking to do more with the zero-waste initiative and the New York Public Interest Research Group’s Take Back the Tap program, which encourages the use of tap water in place of bottled water.

Will Wallak, public relations coordinator for SU’s Energy and Computing Management Department, said he thought the forum was a success and would like to see more students working to improve the local environment.

At the forum, two microphones were set up for attendees to ask questions and provide comments. Wallak said there was always a steady stream of speakers, and he was moved by the involvement that was already apparent on the county-wide level. He said he was moved by one man who voiced concern over low-income individuals fishing from the polluted waters of Onondaga Lake.

‘If they are going to live and make a difference,’ Wallak said, ‘it’s going to be here.’

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

 

Published on January 30, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride