the green issue greenthe list here are 25 ways the whitman community keeps its commitment to the environment and to sustainability. Our campus is simply elegant The mission of Whitman College’s landscape specialists can be summed up in two words. “Simple elegance,” saidlandscape Su- pervisorBob Biles ’74. “That’s the term I coined since I’ve been on board.” Biles leads a team of eight full-time landscape specialists who have more than 100 years of combined experience making Whitman’s campus grounds among the nation’s finest. “We know what can grow here and how to take care of it,” Biles said. Prior to his promotion to landscape su- pervisor in 2011, Biles had been a member of the landscape maintenance department for 16 years. Since taking the helm, he has led an effort to plant more perennials to save money and invest in sustainable beauty. His job isn’t just about making the grounds of the campus look like Eden, however; it’s about making the the area el- egant in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way. Biles said his crew uses pesticide on less than 2 percent of the more than 1,500 trees on campus – the elms, birches and larches. Elms are susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease, birches are susceptible to birch borer infestations and larches are susceptible to case borer infestations. The pesticide is harmless to mammals and is chemically similar to nicotine. Whenever dead or dying trees pose hazards, the landscape specialists cut them down. All of the salvageable wood is put to good use. The stairs in the Hall of 24 Whitman Magazine
Whitman Magazine July 2012
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