The student-run Sustainability Committee formed by the AUSA Senate this quarter has outlined three goals for the academic year.

The committee, made up of 10 undergraduate members, has committed itself to maintaining the current momentum for recycling on campus by entering DU into nationwide competition for recycling and waste minimization, creating and implementing a composting system at the university and starting a involving the school in a pilot in a Denver bike-sharing program, according to Mary Jean O’Malley, chair of the new committee.

“We hope to institute, by the end of the year, a model that the city and other campuses in Denver can use to put into place into their own programs,” O’Malley said.

The committee is also looking at student proposals for increasing the use of reusable materials and the creation of a DU community garden.

The committee’s primary purpose is to enact student led sustainability initiatives, backed by $50,000 from the student activity fee.

“Most of DU’s current sustainable projects, like recycling, came out of student proposals and so it only makes sense that the AUSA Senate invest in student participation and help these kinds of projects continue,” O’Malley said.

The committee was created in the shadow of the faculty-run Sustainability Council which began meeting in the fall of 2007 after the chancellor signed DU onto the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment in the spring of 2007.

The council’s primary responsibility is to ensure that DU meets the standards outlined by the Presidents Climate Commitment.

This year it is working on a proposal that will establish a path toward carbon neutrality for the university.

“The council has been integral in getting the campus on the same page in terms of sustainability; it has shown the administration to be very supportive of DU’s sustainable efforts and is continuing the push to live up to Chancellor Coombe’s commitment,” O’Malley said.

A forum, intended to inform students of the committee’s purpose and goals as well as to gain an understanding of student’s ideas and hopes for new programs this year, was held on Thursday in Jazzman’s Café by O’Malley and Zoee Turrill, the committee vice-chair.

“We heard from some students about their thoughts on our programs and their ideas. We plan to hold such forums every quarter, because we really want to make sure we incorporate as many students as possible into this process,” O’Malley said.

The members of the new committee will be officially confirmed tomorrow.