Northwestern U Students Construct 'Tiny House'
Students and alumni of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University (IL) have begun construction on a Tiny House project that will serve as a display to the community. Part of a movement stemming from high energy prices and an increased interest in sustainability, the tiny zero net-energy house - with a toilet in the shower - will produce its own electricity using solar panels and collect all of its water. The tiny house movement, which emphasizes living simply and creatively using the space one has, is defined by some enthusiasts as less than 140 square feet. Construction began in the spring and the team intends to complete the home in the fall.
Clark U Student Orchestrates Bike Initiative for Campus Police
A student at Clark University (MA) has launched a University Bike Patrol initiative on campus. Funded by the university's Big Idea Contest, one officer was outfitted with a patrol bike and uniform. In a show of support, the Police Department purchased a second bike and uniform. In addition to increased safety and officer visibility among students, the bike patrol will help decrease the university's greenhouse gas emissions with fewer sports utility police vehicles.
Dartmouth College Greek Community Creates Sustainability Council
Two Office of Sustainability interns at Dartmouth College (NH) have begun working to initiate a new Greek council on sustainability. The council will provide a forum for Greek organizations to share ideas and work together to promote efficient use of resources. The current council has identified short and long-term goals, the first of which is to increase recycling in Greek houses. Long-term goals include conducting energy audits, energy-efficient lighting and ensuring that there is insulation in place for the winter. Additionally, the council hopes to organize a competition that would award a prize to Greek organizations for improvements in sustainability.
New Jersey IT, Rutgers U Students Build Sustainable Home
A group of architecture, planning and engineering students from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University (NJ) have built a one-story house as a submission to the 2011 Solar Decathlon, an international green technology contest staged every two years by the U.S. Department of Energy. The 940-square-foot house features a modular structure, precast concrete walls and an inverted roof to catch water and sunlight. Solar and thermal technology is integrated into every exposed surface of the house, which produces enough energy to power all of its appliances and maintain a comfortable temperature year-round.
Indian Youth Climate Network Reports on World Environment Day
From a plastic waste removal event to an environmental march, the Indian Youth Climate Network has documented the efforts of its chapters for World Environment Day in June. Its Jammu chapter created awareness through a movie screening and Green Campus Challenge and the Gwalior chapter organized a painting competition themed "Go Green" where students were asked to imagine how they would promote messages like "Go Green" and "Save the Environment."
Korea U Students Launch Organic Farmers Club
With the objective to teach themselves about organic farming techniques, a group of Korea University (South Korea) students have created the Seed Folks group. The group will provide students with the chance to plant and grow vegetables on campus and learn about organic farming through a Real Garden School workshop. So far, the workshops have attracted about 60 students.
La Trobe, Melbourne U Students Help Farmers with Sustainability
Australian students from La Trobe University and Melbourne University have traveled to Indonesia to work with farmers. The program links institutions and growers to help improve the sustainability of agricultural practices. The students held meetings with area farmers to talk about sustainable practices including storage, use of chemicals and diversifying crops.
London Metropolitan U Students Build Solar Decathlon Home
London Metropolitan University (United Kingdom) students have created an energy-efficient home for the 2012 Solar Decathlon Europe competition. Using techniques in digital design and manufacturing, the team of students designed a home to demonstrate the technology available in today’s market that offers a new way of sustainable living. The curved design has been specifically configured to work with its surrounding environment to reduce its energy consumption. Photovoltaic panels to power the home are being placed using precise solar data and parametric techniques to optimize energy generation.
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Students Plan to Green Campus
Students at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) have announced plans to help make the campus become more sustainable. Doctorate students will focus on transportation, water, alternative energy and urban planning. The students will also work alongside local businesses to improve infrastructure and environmental practices in the community.
U Tampere Students Pilot Endangered Lichen Green Roof Project
Students at the University of Tampere, known as the first and only fair trade campus in Finland, are pioneering a green roof project to promote the growth of endangered lichen and mosses on limestone beds. The project is an effort to preserve a threatened habitat in Finland, as the majority of limestone beds have been mined for fertilizer.
Lakeland College Student Club Launches Green Roof Project
The Lakeland College (WI) Environmental Club has initiated a green roof project. The club is looking for answers concerning native grasses and plants and how they cope with the climate. Several varieties of grasses and perennials were planted with different levels of soil. With the help from the carpentry department, the club cut and assembled four structures with sloping roofs to help with irrigation. The club plans to water the plants at first and then see if the gardens can maintain themselves and survive until next year.
U Kansas Students Create Solar-Powered Autoclave
University of Kansas engineering students have designed and built a five-foot, funnel shaped metal autoclave to sterilize medical instruments using solar energy. The project was specifically created for a doctor who is working in Zimbabwe. Another group of students will continue testing and fine-tuning the autoclave. The project cost $1,500 and is expected to be ready by next May.
U Michigan Announces Planet Blue Ambassador Program
The University of Michigan has announced the creation of a new seminar-based program that will provide the necessary skills and training for Planet Blue Ambassadors. The ambassadors will model and teach sustainability practices and serve as Eco Reps to the university community. The program hopes to create a culture of sustainability across all university units. The two-credit seminar is open to all students living in university housing and will meet every two weeks during the fall 2011 and winter 2012 semesters for classroom education and training. Students will also dedicate an additional three hours per week to working on various projects. The Planet Blue Ambassadors pilot program will accept a total of 25 students, with 10 staff members participating.
U Utah Student Initiates Solar Ivy Installation
An environmental studies major at the University of Utah has initiated the installation of a new product called Solar Ivy, a composition of small photovoltaic panels shaped so that they can be installed in an attractive arrangement, much like ivy growing over a building’s surface. The panels generate electricity that is consumed by the building, offsetting the amount of power the building purchases from the utility company. The majority of the project’s funding was provided by the university’s student-led Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund. The Solar Ivy project was awarded a grant for approximately two-thirds of the $42,000 cost.
Harvard U Freshman Pilot Vermiculture Project
Harvard University (MA) freshman group Green 14' recently debuted a vermiculture project in the Thayer Hall dorm. The students placed vermiculture bins, which use the natural composting abilities of earthworms, on each floor. To raise awareness, the group brought food like strawberries, grapes, bananas, celery, peanuts in the shell, bread and peanut butter to study breaks to show which foods could be composted.
Clark U Recognizes Student Sustainability Leadership
Clark University (MA) recently handed out its first Leadership in Sustainability award to a student. Hannah J. Tirrell-Wysocki, who served as an Eco Reps coordinator and founder of the Clark Sustainability Collaborative, raised sustainability awareness as an orientation coordinator, peer adviser and campus tour guide.
Linfield College Students Embark on Sustainability Road Trip
Six students from Linfield College (OR) are traveling cross-country this summer in a renovated veggie oil bus to promote sustainability. Dubbed "The Self Express," the bus features donated bamboo boards, solar panels and used veggie oil from Community Plate in McMinnville, Ore. Enviofuel of Corvallis, Ore. donated the labor to install a new veggie oil system. The students will stop first in Salt Lake City for the sentencing of Tim DeChristopher, convicted for disrupting an oil-and-gas lease auction by bidding when he wasn't planning to buy in an attempt to protest policies on climate change. The bus hopes to connect with other forward-thinking youth, nonprofits and media there. The students also plan to visit Appalachia to see the environmental and social devastation of mountaintop removal coal mining.
Santa Clara U Students Create Carbon Calculator
Inviting their peers to consider the connections between their actions and carbon emissions, Environmental Ethics Fellows at Santa Clara University (CA) have created a Carbon Footprint Calculator for students to measure their impact on the environment. The students developed the calculator with open-source programming to allow other universities to adopt the same model.
Shoreline CC Students Perform Energy Audit
Shoreline Community College (WA) students performed an energy audit for the Parent Child Center building on campus. The students presented their findings and made recommendations that would reduce the amount of energy loss and save energy costs. Recommendations included a new heat ventilation air conditioning system, Energy Star Rated appliances, low-flow plumbing and a rooftop garden to reduce the heat gain in the summer.
U California Riverside Students to Develop Solar Clothes Dryer
A team of students from the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside have been selected for a $15,000 grant from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency to develop a system that will use heat from the sun to operate a clothes dryer. The system will harness solar thermal heat from a rooftop solar heat collector and heated air from the attic. The students are working to implement the concept at a 30-home zero net energy, urban agriculture-focused community planned for 10 acres. The heated air can also be directed through air ducts for space heating applications in the house as needed to reduce the electric and natural gas heating costs. The students estimate that using the system will save nearly $6,500 in a 20-year period. In April 2012, the students will travel to Washington, D.C. to find out if they won the $90,000 phase two grant that would provide funding to commercialize the idea.
Virginia Tech Students Win EcoCAR Challenge
A team of 30 mechanical engineering students from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University have won first place in the three-year “EcoCAR Challenge,” co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors. An engine from a 2009 Chevy HHR was donated by General Motors to the participating schools. The Virginia Tech students added a battery, an electric motor and eliminated engine idle with stop/start. The end result is a car that can travel 50 miles on its battery, another 155 on gasoline and gets 82 miles per gallon. The redesigned car boosted the fuel achievement of the stock engine by 70 percent. The team consisted of 30 mechanical engineering students.
Cornell U Students Hosts 'Dump and Run' Event
Cornell University (NY) students recently organized a Dump and Run event, which has raised and donated nearly $200,000 over the past eight years. The event collects household goods, clothing, working appliances and electronics, sporting items, toiletries and nonperishable food to benefit local charities. Donations will be sorted over the summer and sold at the Dump and Run community sale in August.
Babson College Eco Reps Create Freshman Sustainability Class
Student Eco Reps at Babson College (MA) have created a sustainability class as part of the First Year Seminar (FYS) curriculum starting this fall. Designed to help entering students realize how their behaviors can make a positive impact on campus and in the world, the class gives an overall view of the college's sustainability efforts and encourages students to become change agents for a better planet. The Eco Reps developed "A Student's Guide to Sustainable Behavior," a case study, quiz and optional extra credit for the class, as well as a Teacher's Guide for FYS instructors.
Morgan State U Students Design App to Encourage Recycling
To encourage campus recycling, Morgan State University (MD) students have created a mobile phone application that sends alerts to users’ phones when they are in the proximity of recycling units on campus. Born out of the lack of emphasis and notification about where to recycle on campus, the solution also required the development of special transceivers to transmit signals from the recycling units and receive signals back from the cell phones. Funded by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant, the student research team that developed the app ranged from history to industrial engineering majors.
Syracuse, SUNY ESF Students Hold Sustainability Showcase
Syracuse University (NY), in collaboration with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, recently organized a sustainability showcase in an attempt to engage a broader campus audience in sustainability efforts. From highway design alternatives to algae biofuel to several sustainable product prototypes and proposals for ecotourism and lifestyle changes, the Showcase 2011 Green Museum featured more than 100 graduate and undergraduate sustainability ideas.
Tufts U Students Win Dow Sustainability Innovation Award
Three teams of Tufts University (MA) graduate students have each won $10,000 from the Dow Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge Award program. The students’ research included the development of a silk-based biosensor to detect highly toxic bacterial compound in drinking water, a plan to analyze water consumption for energy-producing technologies in 177 countries, and a plan to develop a solar powered energy system for urban Pakistan.
Hartwick College Art Students Recreate Tree Planting Initiative
Inspired by the social and environmental implications of German artist Joseph Beuys’ "7,000 Oaks" project, Hartwick College (NY) students enrolled in "Contemporary Art History" recently recreated the artist's tree planting initiative. Beuys erected a stone pillar beside 7,000 individual oak trees planted in Germany, providing the viewer with a juxtaposition between growth and stability. The students planted one tree alongside a basalt pillar on campus. Each class member was involved in the project in a variety of different roles including sourcing materials and seeking administrative approval. Beuys claimed his original intent for the "7,000 Oaks" project was to continue and extend the project around the globe. The students intend to continue the legacy and also hope that the project at the college can be continued by future generations.
Johnson County CC Students Create Sustainability Sculptures
Johnson County Community College (KS) has unveiled five student-made sustainability sculptures. The installations display students’ personal experiences with waste, recycling and reuse, and will remain on display into the fall to encourage discussions amongst the campus community. The sculptures were funded by a grant from the Student Sustainability Committee.
U Iowa Students' Move-Out Donation Diverts 2 Tons from Landfill
A recent student sustainability class project at the University of Iowa resulted in the diversion of more than two tons of household items and clothing from landfills. The waste reduction initiative brought together representatives from Goodwill of the Heartland, Habitat Restore, the Crisis Center, and the university's Office of Sustainability and Housing and Facilities Management departments. Student volunteers collected unwanted items acquired over nine months of living on campus for distribution by the nonprofit agencies.
Old Dominion U, Hampton U Students Build Solar Decathlon Home
Students from Vermont-based Old Dominion University and Hampton University have designed and assisted in the construction of a solar home. The house will compete in the Solar Decathlon, an international green technology contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Sustainable features of the home include solar panels on a slanted roof and retractable windows to let natural heat and breezes in. The total cost of the model is expected to run between $280,000 and $330,000. Once the contest is over, the solar home is expected to become a permanent studio on campus.
U California Davis Plans for Campus Food Cooperative
The University of California, Davis’ Flatland Food Collective, a student group, has launched a campaign to bring locally grown, organic food to campus. The collective will run a pedal-powered smoothie cart in fall 2011. Local farmers will donate fruit for the smoothies. After generating enough revenue, the student group hopes to start a café directly on campus. The Flatland Food Collective is sponsored by Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, a national nonprofit organization that provides resources for groups on college campuses to start food co-ops.
U California Los Angeles Students Use App to Monitor Trees
The University of California, Los Angeles' student-led Sustainable Living Program’s Action Research Team has begun using an Android application to catalogue trees on campus. The phone application inputs data on the species and condition of trees. The information is uploaded to a website that records their geographic position. The five students are working with the Geography department to help the university better manage the resources it needs to take care of its trees. Once all of the trees have been catalogued, the Facilities Management department will use the application to manage the care of trees and ensure energy is not being wasted on watering trees that do not need it.
U Washington Students Break Ground on New Farm
Students at the University of Washington recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for an expanded campus Farm. The UW Farm, a registered student organization that grows produce, has expanded to include a new location. The group received a $78,306 from the Campus Sustainability Fund for the new site, which will allow the farm to produce more food to sell to campus Housing and Food Services.
U Central Florida Students Propose Campus Solar Farm
Engineering students at the University of Central Florida have presented an idea for an on-campus solar farm that would help make the campus climate neutral by 2050. Presented at the Progress Energy Senior Design Symposium, the three-acre farm would eventually produce 15 percent of the campus' power requirements. Upcoming seniors will have the chance to work on the solar farm project this fall semester, but whether the project is realized depends on potential funding sources.
Youngstown State U Students Participate in Green Energy Challenge
A team of Youngstown State University (OH) students have completed an energy audit of a campus dormitory as part of the National Electrical Contractors Association Green Energy Challenge. The students will begin drafting potential solutions and will present their proposals with cost estimates and possible funding sources to a panel of contractors. The national competition challenges teams to identify residence halls on their campuses that need energy-efficiency improvements.
Cornell U Students Use Art to Promote Waste Reduction
Cornell University's (NY) Sustainability Hub has installed two new pairs of trash receptacles brightly decorated with local art near campus to help reduce litter and promote proper waste disposal practices. The student-run waste reduction project, Collegetown ART (Art, Recycling, and Trash cans), has raised about $6,485 through funds, grants and sponsorships, and plans to raise an additional $2,200 to decorate two more locations with trash receptacles. Local stores can help the urban art project through the sponsorship of a trash can.
Villanova U Students Expand Campus Biodiesel Production
After two years of producing biodiesel on campus, chemical engineering students at Villanova University (PA) have begun converting the glycerin byproduct into soap. The student group developed the idea of making soap as a sustainable way to dispose of the byproduct rather than putting the glycerin in the compost or paying to dispose of it. The bars of soap have been used as promotional items and have garnered interest from local businesses to sell in their shops.
Antioch U New England Student Video Wins Energy Video Contest
Antioch University New England (NH) environmental studies students have won the My Energy Video Challenge 2011. The nearly four-minute video explains the Antioch Commuter Transportation initiative as part of the university’s effort to reach carbon neutrality by 2020. The contest was sponsored by Clean Air-Cool Planet, a nonprofit organization working to solve climate change through civic engagement, education and policy.
Catholic U America Students Invent Solar-Powered Table
A solar-powered picnic table designed by students at the Catholic University of America (DC) has recently been installed on campus. The six students received scholarships from Washington Gas Power Solutions Inc. as winners of a campus contest for the table, which is capable of charging laptops and other electrical appliances.
Rochester Community Tech Students Raise Recycling Awareness
Students at Rochester Community and Technical College (MN) recently organized two campus-wide Waste Sort events to raise awareness and provide information on the school's waste and recycling streams. Olmsted County staff and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency partnered for the event, part of a statewide commitment to significantly increase recycling rates and reduce the state's generation of waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
Southern Methodist U Students Build 'Living Village'
Engineering students at Southern Methodist University (TX) have built a “Living Village” on campus to learn lessons in engineering, humanity and sustainability. They compacted plastic recyclables on campus to make “bricks” that were then used as the insulation for a hut that was sealed with mud and grass. Twenty engineering students will live in this mock refugee camp for 20 days, and the public will be invited to tour the village.
U California Santa Barbara Students Start Campus Food Bank
Spurred by tight student budgets, Associated Students (AS) leaders at the University of California, Santa Barbara are launching a campus food bank. The governing student body's president says that the effort is closely tied to the budgetary circumstances with the University of California and the state. Amid increased student fees and budget cuts, hundreds of students responded in a recent AS survey that they skipped meals on a daily basis to afford school expenses. Starting this month, undergraduate and graduate students will be able to pick up nonperishable food and other items at the University Center. The pantry has garnered donations through the placement of collection bins at high-traffic areas around campus and the university will apply to be a member of the Santa Barbara Food Bank, which gathers food from various grocery outlets around Santa Barbara.
College of Marin Begins Organic Farm Apprenticeship Program
The College of Marin's (CA) Indian Valley campus is collaborating with the Fresh Run Farm to offer an apprenticeship program for aspiring organic farmers. The program will provide classroom instruction as well as paid farming positions. There will be 1,800 hours of experiential training and 11 courses for students enrolled in the apprenticeship.
USA Today Features 'Eco Fashion' at Santa Clara U
USA Today recently spotlighted students in Santa Clara University's (CA) Green Club, who produced an Eco Fashion Show on campus. The featured creation was a "wearable dress" with a paper bag bodice and fanned newspaper tutu skirt.
Syracuse U Students Kick Off Campus Sustainability Campaign
The Students in Free Enterprise group at Syracuse University (NY) launched its DOT ("Do One Thing") for Sustainability campaign with a tabling event to introduce the campaign to the campus community. A DOT is one small commitment to better the world in the area of environmental, economic or social sustainability like shutting off the lights when leaving an empty room. The idea is that connecting a billion DOTs will bring about a movement of change. The group hopes to collect around 20,000 DOTs from the campus community and create a successful model program that can be rolled out at other institutions.
McGill U Students Win Canadian Campus Sustainability Competition
A student team from McGill University (QC) has received $20,000 by taking first place in TD Friends of the Environment Foundation's Go Green Challenge. Along with the prize money, the winning students will receive a paid internship with the foundation this summer. This year's fourth annual competition focused on sustainability and environmental stewardship on campus. The winning team’s proposal, "Integrated Energy and Food Greenhouse," plans to redirect the waste heat from McGill’s Ferrier powerhouse, which is the greatest greenhouse gas producer on campus, to power a greenhouse that will produce local food and carbon neutral biodiesel. The foundation will also award $100,000 to the university for campus greening efforts.
Grist Covers Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive
The Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive (CoFed), a new national training program and research institute empowering students to create ethically-sourced, cooperatively-run sustainable food storefronts and cafés on college campuses, was recently featured in Grist Magazine. The article profiles a recent University of California, Davis graduate and regional CoFed organizer who sees campus co-ops as a way to radically reduce overhead and offer sustainable foods at affordable prices for students with a model that cuts out the middleman, uses volunteer or member labor, and hooks into university resources such as subsidized rent and student entrepreneurial funds. Co-ops also serve as working classrooms and events spaces, and can introduce concepts of food sovereignty and food access to an audience whose adult lives are still taking shape.
Cornell U Greek System Implements Sustainability Rating System
Cornell University's (NY) Greeks Go Green has launched LEAF, a new rating system that grades Greek chapters on their sustainability efforts. Through LEAF, chapters can receive up to 100 points for their sustainability practices. LEAF awards points in categories such as water conservation, energy conservation and green purchasing. Every 20 points represents a leaf, making the highest achievement earning five leaves. The system also recognizes environmental awareness education and sustainability-related service events, so chapters that do not have physical houses can still gain points.
Cornell U Students Improve Water Treatment in Honduras
The student engineering team AguaClara at Cornell University (NY) is working on adding three more water treatment plants to the five they have already built in Honduras. The six-year-old team researches and designs gravity-powered, non-electric water treatment plants for Honduran communities and works with the Honduran nonprofit Agua Para el Pueblo to help bring their designs to life. Based on home stays with Honduran families to learn how the existing plants were serving their communities, the team is now working on a stacked rapid sand filtration system, which would be a final cleaning step before the water is chlorinated and sent to taps. The new system does not require electricity.
Students Help Dickinson College Farm Become USDA Organic
On the heels of the announcement of its plans to raise cattle, the Dickinson College Farm (PA) has been certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Students were instrumental during the three-year process, which concluded recently in collaboration with the college's assistant professor of international business and management, who integrated the certification inspection into her first-year seminar course, "The Business of Organic Food." Managed through Pennsylvania Certified Organic, the certification is recognition that the college farm adheres to a USDA-approved approach of agricultural food production that involves building and enhancing the soil naturally, environmental protection and the avoidance of toxic or synthetic substances such as pesticides.
