U Massachusetts Expands Edible Gardens Program
Hoping to improve the university's sustainability image, three new programs were added to the edible gardens initiative including a Edible Mushroom Cultivation Program, the installation of pollinator hotels to provide a nesting area for pollinator insects, and a solar charging station that provides a renewable energy source for cell phones and USB-powered electronics.
U North Carolina Chapel Hill Builds Food Pantry
The newly established Carolina Cupboard, a student organization sponsored by the departments of Housing & Residential Education, and Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, will collect and redistribute nutritious food to students in an attempt to alleviate food insecurity.
U Washington Kicks Off Festival
The new weeklong festival focuses on university operations and academic sustainability with different events across campus.
Western U Institutes Student Environmental Competition
In its inaugural year, Western's Ideas for Sustainability and the Environment (WISE) competition aims to generate ideas and initiatives by asking students to pitch innovative and high-impact ideas to reduce or eliminate today's most pressing environmental concerns.
U East Anglia Students Initiate Water Saving Campaign
(U.K.): Attempting to challenge conventional water usage behavior, students recently launched the Go with the Flow Campaign asking students who take showers in the morning to urinate in the showers instead of using the toilet.
San Francisco State U Class Analyzes Bikeability
As part of an agreement with city agencies to take measurable steps to minimize transportation impacts of the growing student population, the university's Bicycle Geographies class released a new report outlining how to make students' commutes safer and where more secure and convenient bike parking could be located.
Students Promote Green Cleaning [VIDEO]
Students from several institutions promote the importance of using green products such as baking soda and vinegar for cleaning as a less expensive and healthier option.
U Michigan Hosts EarthFest
This past September, Planet Blue, a university sustainability initiative, held a "Party for the Planet" to increase awareness around environmentally friendly food purchases, climate action and waste prevention. During this event, students had the opportunity to learn about sustainable focused groups that they could join.
U Texas Austin Students Create BioFuel
Through a 2013 grant, students have researched, studied and created a biofuel that is intended for use in university vehicles once out of the testing stages. This particular biofuel is created from a waste product that was slated to be thrown away and will decrease the university's fuel intake.
Clarkson U Student Starts Project to Offset Carbon Emissions
(U.S.): A graduate student recently developed an forestry project in Uganda in an effort to balance the effects of carbon emissions generated by university air travel. Micro-finance groups were also set up to create paid jobs for women who work on this project.
McGill U Boost Sustainability Initiative
(Canada): The university recently launched the ECOLE initiative, after three years in the pilot stage. This initiative allows students to examine sustainable living in urban communities, learn about clean energy and green produce and conduct community events.
College Idaho Provide Eco-House
A self-sustaining college sponsored residency provides opportunities for students to promote food consciousness and a more environmentally friendly lifestyle for a second year.
Johnson C. Smith U Students Garden
In an effort to provide a sustainable garden and food source to the campus, the university had students plant fall crops for harvesting in November and December. This garden will also encourage healthy eating habits.
Indiana U Purdue U Indianapolis Repurposes Food Waste
The university’s new student-led food rescue and distribution operation will turn wasted food into meals for those in need while creating opportunities for student leadership and empowerment, service learning opportunities and additional community partnerships, to promote sustainability throughout the campus to community.
Wright State U Students Advocate for Fair Trade
In order to increase the variety of products and price points to consumers at the university, the Fair Trade Student Association will soon begin a campaign to increase the availability of eco-friendly products by laborers who were treated fairly and ethically.
Albright College Opens Sustainability House
Five college undergrads will take part in green activities at a new affinity house focused on sustainability, such as recycling and tracking their energy use, developing a relevant event for students on campus, and writing a grant application for a capital item for the house, such as a solar panel.
U South Florida to Bring Local Food to Campus
This November the university plans to bring organic fruits and vegetables from a garden to the university for consumption and to increase convenience while reducing the need to travel for produce.
Georgia State U Sparks Food Movement
(U.S.): University students have set out to close the gap between the food on the plate and where the food is grown in a new “Know Your Grower Atlanta” campaign sparking conversations and connections related to the local food process.
Government Model Engineering College Promotes Organic
(India): The college recently started a month-long campaign to spread awareness about the harmful effects of the use of pesticides and additives and to promote the use of purely organic farming methods by having students pass out organic kits and provide student access to an organic farm on campus.
Bryant U Student Studies Campus Solar Lighting
A student recently accepted into National Wildlife Federation’s Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program conducted research and analysis about implementation of solar-powered street lights and is finishing the feasibility analysis and presenting it to the university.
Roosevelt U Students Initiate Green Projects
Sustainability interns have cultivated a rooftop garden, with more than 100 pounds of produce donated to campus dining, and are preparing a sustainability plan using skills learned in the sustainability studies program.
Smith College Students Engage in Community Garden
In its first year out of the pilot program, the college offers students the opportunity to increase knowledge and hands on learning about sustainable food through managing the daily operations of the garden in collaboration with Dining Services. Harvested food is donated to local nonprofits or sold to students.
Colorado College Sells Produce to Public
Students from the college have begun selling produce from a college-owned, 1.5-acre, student-operated farm to the public in addition to its food service provider.
U Maryland Donates Plants to Dorm Residents
Modeled after the university's Green Office Program, the Green Dorm Room Project, students living in residence halls will receive green plants to decorate their rooms and improve air quality.
Doak College Operates a Paper Recycling Unit
(India): In an effort to become more environmentally-friendly, service-learning students from the Botany Department course on Waste Paper Management collect paper materials used across all departments and recycles it into paper for college invitations and program brochures.
U Iowa Student Releases Mobile App for Recycling
After a recent educational trip to garbage-infested beaches of Mexico, the senior marine conservation student recently created an application to turn recycling into a competition with users challenging each other on a virtual platform.
U Saskatchewan Class Furthers STARS Progress
After mining the university's bronze STARS submission, a new undergraduate course through the School of Environment and Sustainability involved teams working on self-selected projects that could help the university move its official rating up.
Knox College Sustainability Office Initiates Grad Pledge
(U.S.): The university's Sustainability Office recently took over Graduation Pledge for Social and Environmental Responsibility and was able to secure signatures for 90 percent of the spring 2014 graduating class. The pledge reads, "I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work."
U Missouri Hosts First Farm to Dinner Event
The recent locally-produced on-campus dinner aimed to showcase the university's involvement in the local food movement in Columbia and introduce students to the farming community.
North Carolina State U Class Boosts Water Efficiency
This spring, aided by the professor's desire to generate real-world sustainability experience, 15 students in a quality control in food and bioprocessing science class focused on improving sustainability in the university-owned creamery by researching the facility’s processes and choosing to focus on enhancing efficiency of the case washer, which cleanses reusable plastic cases that transport milk.
U Wisconsin Madison Tests Campus Sustainability Game App
Designed with support from the university's Office of Sustainability, students from an introductory environmental studies course tested the new app, called Sustainable U, which directs players to find signs posted in campus buildings and scan a code with their mobile device to pull up information, videos or games related to waste, energy, water or transportation.
Colorado Mountain College Holds Sustainability Summit
(U.S.): The college's inaugural summit featured an overview of the sustainability-related accomplishments to-date, signing onto the Real Food Challenge, instituting a sustainability award, and nearly 50 posters by sustainability capstone students.
Ohio State U Students Work with City Policymakers
(U.S.): Spring semester students worked in teams to collect data, research best practices, and develop recommendations regarding strategies for the City of Columbus related to climate change adaptation, urban agriculture, alternative vehicles and green buildings.
Penn State U Wins Energy Dept Collegiate Wind Competition
(U.S.): The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the first place standing to the university after achieving the highest amount of points through performance testing, business plans and market opportunities for their turbine designs. The University of Kansas and University of Massachusetts at Lowell were second and third respectively.
Illinois Valley CC Dedicates Land for Organic Farm
With hopes its farm will produce enough organic vegetables to be brought to local markets, the new one-acre farm is used for research on sustainable farming methods by the college's Sustainability Club.
Ohio State U Class Develops Sustainability Framework
During the spring 2014 semester, a class from the university's Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability program worked with a local materials company to develop strategic sustainability initiatives for which the company can use to engage stakeholders.
Energy Dept Announces Home Student Design Competition Winners
Grand winners of the U.S. Department of Energy's Challenge Home Student Design Competition are State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in partnership with Onondaga Community College and Ryerson University. In its inaugural year, 28 teams from U.S. and Canadian universities competed to develop cost-effective zero energy ready homes for mainstream builders. Other categories include Best Design Solution Integration, Best Technical Integration, Best Presentation, Best Production Home Integration and Special Recognition for Subject Area Excellence.
EPA Releases Winners of Second Annual Campus RainWorks Challenge
Recently announced are four winners of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's competition to engage college and university students in reinventing the nation's water infrastructure and developing innovative green infrastructure systems to reduce stormwater pollution and build resilience to climate change. The winners are University of Florida at Gainsville; Kansas State Univerity; Michigan State University; and Mississippi State University.
