Bogor Agricultural U Students Create Sustainability Awareness
(Indonesia): Working toward Indonesia's commitment to reduce its carbon emission by 26 percent by 2020, a group of Bogor Agricultural University students are encouraging more sustainable actions among higher education communities by routinely picking up plastic bags and litter on campus, and distributing free reusable cloth bags.
Maastricht U Student Green Office Wins Int'l Sustainability Award
(Netherlands): The International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) and oikos International have recognized the achievements of the university’s student-led Green Office with a Student Leadership Award that represents sustainability student activism. Students have already successfully implemented several sustainability projects through the Green Office including the first sustainability baseline analysis of the university; business cases for a more energy-efficient computer infrastructure and light system; and several conferences and networking events.
Taibah U Students Build Biological Incubator
(Saudi Arabia): Students of the renewable energy and biotechnology unit have created a model of a biological incubator to produce antibiotics from bacteria using solar energy. The group is currently working on various applications that make use of solar energy and research on manufacturing solar cells locally.
Creighton U Student Spearheads Fair Trade Status
Inspired by the economic plight of a community in the Dominican Republic during a service trip, a senior at the university has successfully campaigned for the university's Fair Trade status. The status commits the university to support Fair Trade through the use of fair trade products where feasible in university-operated/owned outlets, meetings and special events; Fair Trade education and awareness building on campus; and general support of Fair Trade through procurement practices.
Cornell U Students Design Sustainable Housing for Nicaragua
After conducting a site analysis and speaking with community members, 14 students have provided recommendations for sustainable housing in San Diego, Nicaragua, a village of 99 households. An interdisciplinary team of more than 50 undergraduate and graduate students are part of Sustainable Neighborhood Nicaragua (SSN), an international project developed by Cornell University Sustainable Design. This summer, the SNN team will work on the design phase of the project that includes a mock-up drawing and digital design of a model house, estimating materials and cost, and raising funds. The students will also offer recommendations for neighborhood designs, with the hope that their model will provide plans for other communities on how to build sustainable housing that serves local needs.
Grand Valley State U Acquire Bees to Help Teach Sustainability
The new apiary is home to thousands of honeybees and is designed to align with the university’s commitment to sustainability, as well as promote the importance of the honeybees through education and awareness. The two hives will provide opportunities for interdisciplinary studies and research by students and faculty. The project received funding from a Sustainability Reinvestment Grant from the GVSU Sustainable Community Development Initiative.
U Colorado Students Introduce Green Energy Curriculum in Haiti
Five engineering students introduced a green energy vocational training program after an initial visit to Haiti in January to assess specific energy needs and employment opportunities for those who are trained in the field. Last month, the students returned for three weeks to train six local instructors on the essential knowledge and skills they need to pass on to their students. The 250-hour curriculum covers the installation, operation and maintenance of solar, wind and hydropower renewable energy systems. Beginning this fall, the program will be taught to local students in the 11th grade and beyond. The Neges Foundation, a relief and development organization, is supporting the instructors.
Mills College Students Spearhead New Campus Bike Co-op
Students recently partnered with the Mills College Sustainability Center and local, community bicycle shops to launch the cooperative. Aiming to make bicycles accessible for everyone and support sustainable transportation and exploration, the co-op's grand opening included the promotion of a Bike to School Day and a fix-it-yourself workshop led by local mechanics. The student-run space provides tools and open hours with volunteer student mechanics to assist in maintenance and repairs throughout the academic year.
U Iowa Students Develop Tool to Identify Energy Opportunities
Graduate students in the university’s School of Urban and Regional Planning have developed a new tool to help the City of Dubuque identify untapped renewable energy sources. The interactive, web-based map can be used by residents and businesses to pinpoint their property’s renewable energy potential, including solar, wind and geothermal power. The map application is expected to be implemented on the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation’s website for public use.
Southern Oregon U Student Creates Apiary Program
Graduate student Ryan King has partnered with the Southern Oregon Beekeepers Association to establish the Ashland Apiary Project on campus. Three new bee colonies mark the completion of the first stage of the long-term environmental education project. Next, King plans to start an official SOU Beekeeping Club by September 2012.
U York Students Launch Fair Pay Campus Campaign
(U.K.): The student branch of the Green Party, Young Greens, has launched its Fair Pay Campus campaign at the university. Among the demands: a pledge to work toward a 10:1 pay ratio; transparency regarding administrative pay; and that all contracted workers are paid a Living Wage. Universities that adopt fair pay policies will be recognized as "Fair Pay Campuses" by the Green Party and publicly celebrated.
Chatham U Graduate Student Initiates Community Seed Bank
A food studies graduate student has partnered with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to provide a public, regionally adapted seed bank, gardening and seed-saving classes, and a place to hear and share some of the local gardening history. The public can "borrow" or "check out" seeds, with the hope that they will grow the crops past harvesting stage, letting them go to seed. The public is then encouraged to return these seeds to the Pittsburgh Seed and Story Library.
U Chicago Students Create Green Event Certification Program
Students have partnered with the university’s Office of Sustainability, Office of the Reynolds Club and Student Activities staff to launch a Green Event Certification program. The aim of the program is to encourage student organizations to reduce the environmental impacts of on-campus events.
Western Michigan U Student Spearheads Recycling Expansion
As part of a graduate student's thesis, new recycling bins with improved signage have replaced trash cans on campus. The results from the pilot waste project will be used in the development of a campus-wide waste reduction master plan.
Chandler-Gilbert CC Students Help Green Local Community
As part of a special projects course, "Eco-philosophy and the Environmental Technology Center," students researched and found solutions for a local housing community to operate more sustainably and reduce its carbon footprint. After phone calls, field research and visiting the community to talk with members, the students recommended waterless urinals and sensor-driven faucets, reducing artificial lighting by at least one third, and the creation of community gardens and riparian areas.
U Illinois Chicago Students Help Water District Save Energy
(U.S.): Chemical engineering professor Sohail Murad and his students are testing both open and closed loop heat pump systems for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Over the next year, the group will study which system does best in lowering heating and cooling costs, with an expected savings of 20 to 50 percent. The water reclamation district may use the findings to retrofit its other treatment plants.
U New Hampshire Students Develop Bicycle-Powered Washer
(U.S.): Inspired by a TED Talks speaker who addressed the life-changing impact of washing machines in rural areas, three mechanical engineering majors have fabricated a bicycled-powered washing machine that can clean a load of clothes in 30 minutes using six gallons of water. The washer, which requires a drill and basic welding to assemble out of scrap materials and a few basic items from a hardware store, is designed for easy assembly in developing countries.
WV Wesleyan College Student Initiates Solar Panel Installation
(U.S.): With the help of a senior engineering student, West Virginia Wesleyan College has installed a solar panel above the doorway of its science building. The panel will generate enough electricity to power the fluorescent lighting in the building. The student plans to analyze the efficiency of the solar power system over the course of its operation with the goal of many more solar installations at the college.
Syracuse U Students Initiate Food Waste Audits
Two Sustainability Division interns recently gave their fellow students a firsthand look at the food being wasted in the campus dining center each day. Two dinnertime tray waste audits yielded a total of 278 pounds of tray waste, which was displayed for student viewing on a tarp-covered table in three separate piles: untouched food, food scraps and non-edible waste. The visual impact was designed to encourage students to waste less food.
'Can an MBA Change the World?' Video Contest Winners Announced
A group of five students at Dartmouth College's (New Hampshire) Tuck School of Business have won the Global Business School Network's 2012 MBA Challenge Video Contest, which asked the question “Can an MBA Change the World?” The winning video describes the application of the students' business school skills to address the need for low-cost housing in Haiti. A team from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earned second place in the competition with a video about their work in Eastern Africa on sustainability-focused projects.
Clarkson U Students Initiate Energy-Efficient Campus Solutions
Student research, funded by the university's sustainability fund, has concluded that the university could save up to $600,000 annually on energy bills by installing motion sensor-controlled lighting in its residence halls. The student group installed motion sensor lighting on one of the school’s older residence halls and recorded the difference in the amount of energy used. Their research was recently singled out by the New York State Pollution Prevention Initiative in a contest among teams from partner universities throughout New York.
Mills College Students Launch Bike Co-Op
A group of students have created the Spokes Folks Bike Co-Op, providing a community support system, bike-repair seminars and maintenance tools. The co-op aims to provide access to bicycles to those who do not own bikes.
Thomas More College Turns Green Spaces into Art
The college's new Sculpting Spaces project encourages the campus community to transform the campus’ green spaces into outdoor studios, laboratory classrooms and student galleries. Students and faculty are working to create artistic spaces while learning about landscape design and sustainability practices.
U Louisville Students Install Recycled Solar Panels
Members of the university’s Renewable Energy and Efficiency Club are installing a small-scale solar energy project using recycled materials. Students purchased the solar cells from eBay and re-engineered the cell architecture to use a low-cost method. The panels will be used to power two fans that will ventilate a greenhouse.
Cornell U Students Create Low-Cost Light for Developing Countries
An idea that uses soda bottles to provide light to people in developing countries without electricity has won the $3,000 first-place prize at the university's Big Idea competition, open to all undergraduates. CapLight, created by Chris Dobyns '13 and Folajimi Fowose '13, replaces the cap of a standard soda bottle with an LED light assembly designed to provide low-cost, energy-efficient lighting. The prize money will be used to build more prototypes, which the students plan to distribute this summer.
U Calif Riverside Students Win Int'l Enviro Design Competition
A team of students from the university’s Bourns College of Engineering recently won the 2012 Intel Environmental Innovation Award for their reusable storm drain oil filter design. Constructed out of 100 percent recycled materials, "Sustain-a-Drain" is placed into storm drains to filter the oil carried in stormwater run-off. The students plan to patent their design and permanently install filters on campus.
U Michigan Students Establish Campus Farm Pilot
Four School of Natural Resources and Environment graduate students have established a 250-square-foot pilot farm for testing crops that will then be donated. Future plans include a larger farm and a centralized sustainable food program at the university. The students are currently seeking additional funding to hire a farm manager.
Fordham U Students Launch Campus Garden
Student group Fordham Urban Sustainability and Ecosystems and the United Student Government have created an agricultural garden and living classroom on campus. The purpose of the project is to raise awareness of healthy eating habits and to educate the campus community about the production of sustainable food. In alliance with a local farm, the two groups have also initiated a Community Supported Agriculture program.
Harvard U Students Launch Climate Awareness Blog
Titled "There's a Hole in my Ozone and Other Awkward Problems," the blog is a source of "factual but unintimidating environmental information" designed to show students that little things can make a difference toward a greener life. The blog was created by two Harvard Resource Efficiency Program Representatives.
Tiffin U Students Initiate Expanded Recycling Efforts
Students have assembled corrugated plastic recycling bins to be placed around campus that will enable the campus community to deposit bottles, cans and cell phones. Funding for the bins, along with a student worker that will work on the recycling program with the maintenance department, was provided by the Sandusky Seneca Solid Waste Management District.
HKUST Students Host Green Events Month
(China): Members of the university's Green Ambassador Program organized a reusable mug campaign, an item swap, and a donation drive for a local kindergarten in need of computers and projectors in March. The month was designated for events to raise awareness in support of a "green" lifestyle.
UK Institutions Launch Student Food Co-ops
(U.K.): Oxford Brookes University is the latest of eight institutions in the U.K. to launch a student-run food co-op. Organized by People & Planet student chapters at Kent, Strathclyde, Durham, Manchester, Birmingham, East Anglia and Newcastle universities, these co-ops are designed to provide students and staff access to ethical food at low prices.
York U Students Rally for Full-time Sustainability Officer
(U.K.): The York University student chapter of People & Planet, a student network in Britain that organizes campaigns to end world poverty, defend human rights and protect the environment, recently protested outside of a university Sustainability Strategy meeting for a full-time sustainability officer.
Local Food Co-op Comes to U Mass Med School
(U.S.): The Massachusetts Local Food Cooperative has begun offering monthly distribution at the Worcester campus due to the efforts of a group of volunteers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. On the first Friday of every month, student and faculty volunteers travel to the distribution center in Westminster to pick up orders from the university. The goods are then brought back and unloaded to a waiting pick-up area set up in the old Medical School lobby.
Texas A&M Green Roof to Engage Wide Variety of Students
Next fall, students from a variety of academic programs at the university will begin collaborating on an interdisciplinary, three-year project to install and monitor a green roof and living wall atop a campus building. The project is funded by a $100,000 university reallocation grant for enhancing students’ preparation for the workplace and society through high-impact learning experiences. The project will also raise awareness of "green" technologies and provide opportunities for additional student research.
Florida Gulf Coast U Students Initiate 'Food Forest'
Funded by student fees, the half-acre permaculture garden mimics the seven layers of a natural forest and is divided into irrigation zones. In addition to producing edible plants, students cite the initiative's ability to create community.
U Florida Fraternity House Installs Solar Array
Beta Theta Pi has initiated a 10-kilowatt solar array on the roof of its campus house that is expected to provide as much as 20 percent of the house's energy use per year. The fraternity received a $20,000 rebate from the campus' energy provider for the $44,000 system, and a $10,000 loan from the university that fraternity members are paying off with 1,000 service hours on campus energy-efficiency projects over five years.
U New Hampshire Students Launch 'Friday Night Lights Out'
This grassroots effort, started by undergraduate students, mobilizes students at the start of the weekend to turn off lights and other appliances left on in academic buildings. The students have calculated that their efforts save the university about $200 per week.
Butler U Students "Green" Pharmacy Building Roof
Funded through the Student Government Association, the 1,300-square-foot vegetated roof is made up of 640 trays of sedum, a hardy ground cover that will deter stormwater runoff. The roof will be a topic of future student research and serve as a pilot study to assess the possibility of green roof installations on other campus buildings.
Earthzine Names Winners of Global Student Writing Contest
Online news source Earthzine has announced the winners of its third annual College and University Student Essay and Blogging Contest, which asked students to consider ways that Earth observation can help build a more sustainable world. Michelle Wai-Hon Lam from the University of Michigan took home the top honor with her essay, "Seeing like a Planet: From Global Consciousness to Global Conscience."
Ohio State U Students Submit City Sustainability Plan
Offering short-term, medium-term and long-term goals, the student's proposed sustainability plan for the Hilliard City Council focuses on energy and waste reduction, land use and urban ecology, and economic development and social equity. Students created the document as part of the university’s "City and Regional Planning" class.
U Missouri Student Initiates Community Garden
A doctoral student is spearheading a new community garden that will largely be used by children in the university's Child Development Lab as a way to nurture the value of natural foods and where food originates in children ages two to five. A larger garden is also planned when the fundraising is finalized to pay for the cost of materials.
U Pennsylvania Eco-Reps Promote Community Service
The student sustainability educators recently partnered with UC Green, a local organization that works with the community to empower volunteers in sustainability, to assist in the cleanup of an urban cemetery.
U South Carolina Students Initiate Carbon Neutral Athletics
Student athletes have been hard at work planting trees and exchanging energy-efficient light bulbs around campus to offset the carbon emissions of a recent men's basketball game. The first carbon neutral athletic event at the university was intended to create awareness of the carbon emissions produced by sporting events and to pave the way for larger scale carbon neutral events around campus.
Georgetown U Students Work to Institutionalize Sustainability
(U.S.): In an effort to effectively collaborate with administrators, Georgetown University’s (D.C.) student-led Visions for a Sustainable Georgetown Initiative has completed a campus-wide study to help advance sustainability initiatives. Core suggestions include the development a Climate Action Plan and creation of an official Office of Sustainability.
Michigan State U Students Lead Energy-Efficient Building Design
(U.S.): A group of Michigan State University students have received a $43,626 grant from the Office of Campus Sustainability to design a template to be used to transition all campus buildings to 100 percent renewable energy. Working with the university's "Design of Alternative Energy Systems" class and a local green economy leadership training organization, the students aim to take three buildings off of the main current power source.
U Wyoming Students Aid Efficient Lighting Retrofit
(U.S.): As part of a "Campus Sustainability" class learning project, a pair of University of Wyoming students are conducting a detailed inventory of campus building lights to help the university receive rebates for converting to more efficient lighting.
Plymouth State U Opens Student Ecohouse
Plymouth State University (New Hampshire) has unveiled its Ecohouse, a home for students dedicated to sustainable living and green renovation. Residents will gain hands-on experience with alternative ways of living in a house featuring solar panels for water heating and thermal window inserts that absorb heat.
5 Campus Projects Recognized as 'Champions of Change'
The White House has announced the five winners of its Campus Champions of Change Challenge. Selected through an online popular vote, the winners include a permaculture initiative at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; a food pantry at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville; a microfinance program that combats rural poverty at Grinnell College (IA); a donation program for the homeless at the University of California, Los Angeles; and an initiative to help local urban teenagers learn better financial skills at the University of Chicago (IL).
