- Enid Cardinal,
ISU Office of Sustainability Coordinator
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With bicycle helmet closeat hand, Enid Cardinal, ISU coordinator of sustainability, looks over some paperwork in preparation for Earth Day. (Photo by Lynn Tangarro / Staff Photographer) |
Enid Cardinal sits behind her cluttered desk, listening to Pandora as she taps away on her computer.
“Did you know Illinois imports over ninety-seven percent of its food?”
That was the first of many facts shared by Cardinal, coordinator of the Office of Sustainability at Illinois State University. Cardinal, who has been at ISU for three and a half years, has spearheaded such programs as Reggie Ride and the Local Foods Dinner. She also serves as advisor to the Student Sustainability Committee and serves as liaison to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.
“She’s very passionate about sustainability,” Rob Martin, chairman of the Student Sustainability Committee, said. “She juggles hundreds of things at one time and I don’t know how she gets any one thing done.”
Cardinal fiddles with her computer as she accidently shuts down Pandora.
“Darn, I liked that song,” she said.
The avant-garde woman in charge of sustainability at ISU is framed by three walls of windows allowing the bright sunshine to flood the room. She swivels her chair and leans in closer, her hands punctuating her sentences.
“I’m working on a progress report,” Cardinal said. “The last one was completed in 2008. When I first came here, transportation was my focus. I lived here for a year and a half before I was forced by circumstances to purchase a car.”
The first transportation-related program was Reggie Rides, which debuted in August 2008.
“This program received more national press than anything ISU had done that year; more than the new renewable energy undergraduate program that had been added. I even found an article on a site in Australia,” Cardinal said. “UC Berkeley even called for help. It’s great when California is calling Illinois for help with sustainability!”
Other transportation-related programs Cardinal has worked on have been the Connect by Hertz, which debuted in August 2009, and, in partnership with WGLT radio, Good to Go.
Cardinal’s passion for things sustainable began in her youth. She grew up in New York where recycling was required.
“My parents had a bin for clear glass, green glass, brown glass, colored paper, white paper, newsprint, aluminum, plastic. If it could be recycled, we had a bin for it,” Cardinal said.
As the youngest of five children, she watched her older siblings pursue careers in environmental-related fields. She had her own vegetable and herb garden in high school. She has also spent time as a trail-builder in Vermont and worked on a boat in Alaska.
In college, she made her roommates clean out all the glass and plastic for recycling.
“They really hated doing that,” Cardinal said. “But one week I was gone and they didn’t do it. Everything went in the trash. Well, the trash went in clear bags and if there were any recyclable materials, you would get a $15 ticket for each item. When I got back, my roommates had gotten $45 worth of fines. They reluctantly admitted I had been right.”
Cardinal is currently working on greening it at ISU and making an understanding of sustainability one of the learning outcomes for undergraduates.
“It’s important for students to understand the interconnectedness of things so they can make smarter decisions when it comes to sustainability,” Cardinal said. “For example, by recycling one aluminum can, you save enough energy to run a TV for three hours. By buying local foods, you reduce your dependence on fossil fuels and increase the local economy.”
As advisor for the Student Sustainability Committee, Cardinal helps students decide how to fund projects on campus. Katie Colaric, a member of the committee, is an ardent supporter of ISU sustainability and has been learning much from Cardinal.
“She knows her stuff,” Colaric said. “I don’t know much about the topic, so I assume Enid knows what she is talking about. She is passionate about getting students involved in sustainability on campus.”
Cardinal practices what she preaches. She rides her bike to work when the weather allows. She purchases as much of her food from the local farmers’ markets as possible. She has her own herb garden and makes her own applesauce and preserves.
As she rifles through her desk to find a piece of paper to share a banana bread recipe, she shares one last interesting fact. “Did you know that Illinois is one of the top importers of trash in our country?”