The College has a long history of environmental awareness and activism which originated in the early days of maintaining a self-sustaining farm.
In 1995, the College began a campus-wide paper recycling program. Student organizations such as EcoAction and G.E.R.P. supported these efforts and encouraged the Holy Cross community to do their part. Blue bins began to appear throughout campus for paper collection and Dinand Library was specifically named as a collection point.
For many years the library staff observed the tremendous amount of waste generated by free printing. In April 2008, a display of paper was set up in the Main Reading Room of Dinand Library. Collected from the recycle bins over the course of one week, the numerous boxes, bags and piles of paper made for an impactful visualization of how many printed pages or unused sheets went to waste.
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Photographs of paper waste display in the Main Reading Room of Dinand Library
In 2009, library administrators worked with ITS to find a print management system that would help reduce printing in the libraries.
PaperCut, an open-source system, was installed in January 2010. The Holy Cross community was still allowed free printing, while outside users would be charged $.10 per page. The number of prints across the Dinand, Science and Music libraries decreased by 9% from FY2009 to FY2010. Dinand Library alone experienced a 50% decrease of printed pages from the fall semester, before PaperCut was installed, to the spring semester
Making scanners publicly available in Dinand and the Science Library also helped reduce the need for printed pages. It was observed that while scanners received heavy use, students were not then printing everything that they had scanned.
Paper recycling is just one of the many examples in which Holy Cross Libraries continue to support environmental best practices and sustainability efforts wherever possible.
Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America
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April 22, 1970: The first Earth Day was held April 22, 1970 and initiated by Senator Gaylord Nelson (Senator-WI), whose concern about environmental deterioration in the U.S. led to the national event. Holy Cross participated with a day-long program of films, panel discussions and speakers, including Michael Harrington.
1990: GERP (Green Earth Restoration Project) writes an open letter to faculty calling for ending the use of Styrofoam cups on campus.
1995: Holy Cross began a campus-wide paper recycling program. Blue bins began to appear throughout campus for paper collection. Dinand Library was specifically named as a collection point.
2003: Rev. Michael McFalrand, President of Holy Cross, established a Presidential Task Force on environmental concerns.
September 15, 2007: Fr. McFarland signed the Climate Commitment, an agreement among over 400 American colleges and universities to eliminate their net greenhouse gas emissions, on behalf of the College. Holy Cross has a goal of carbon neutrality by 2040.
2008: A display of paper was set up in the Main Reading Room of Dinand Library. Collected from the recycle bins over the course of one week, the numerous boxes, bags and piles of paper made for an impactful visualization of how many printed pages or unused sheets went to waste in Dinand Library alone.
2009: Library administrators worked with ITS to find a print management system that would reduce printing in the libraries.
2010: PaperCut, an open-source print management system, was installed in January.
2011: Publicly available scanners in Dinand and Science Libraries reduce need for printed pages.
2013: The Purple Goes Green Guide is published as a collaborative effort of the Presidential Task Force on the Environment, Office of Transportation, 2013-2014 co-chairs of Eco-Action, 2013-2014 chairs of Oxfam, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 Student Government Association, and 2012-2013 Environmental Liaison program.
April 2020: The Office of Sustainability was established.
