U Missouri Students Plan 'Sustainahouse'
The University of Missouri’s nonprofit, student-run sustainability program, Sustain Mizzou, aims to increase its on-campus visibility with a project dubbed "Sustainahouse." Four to eight students will live in a rented house near campus and work to become a model of a more sustainable living environment for students. Residents will take shorter showers and grow and cook with locally grown produce. Sustain Mizzou plans to create a service learning class and provide Sustainahouse tours to the public. The group will start looking for tenants in December for the 2011 - 2012 school year.
Emory U Uses Energy Savings for Haiti Relief Efforts
Student teams from Emory University (GA) are off to Haiti to work on earthquake relief efforts thanks to $33,000 in savings due to a reduction in campus energy consumption. Faculty, students and staff cut back their energy use by four percent as part of the Haiti Relief Energy Conservation Challenge. With the energy funds saved, students selected by the university's Global Health Institute are working through August in rural Haiti on the expansion of safe water access through a household water chlorination program and a project assessing mental health.
Swarthmore College Good Food Project Starts Campus Window Farm
Swarthmore College's (PA) student-led Good Food Project has built a campus hydroponic window farm. The farm is made from stacks of plastic bottles which each contain a dirt filter and a small plant. Water trickles down each stack until it reaches the bottom, where a hydroponic pump recycles it to the top of the stack. Window farms have low ecological impact while supporting edible produce and can operate year-round indoors with enough sunlight. The farm currently houses small lettuce plants. Organizers hope to grow small tomatoes and peas later in the summer.
George Washington U Acquires Bee Hives for Sustainable Food Ed
The George Washington University’s (DC) Mount Vernon campus has received four Italian honeybee hives from a local beekeeping cooperative. Spearheaded by student organization Food Justice Alliance, the initiative is an effort to promote sustainable food and gardening by exposing students in urban areas to the practice of keeping bees. The campus plans to offer beekeeping workshops to the university community.
Harvard U Students Weatherize Campus Building
Harvard University (MA) students recently improved the energy efficiency of the 100-year-old Phillip Brooks House in Harvard Yard. Participants helped weatherize the building by caulking storm windows, sealing a chimney, and installing low-flow plumbing fixtures, door sweeps, and insulating pipes. With 180 square inches of gaps in the building envelope filled, the weatherization is expected to save the University more than nine tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases and $3,750 in utility costs annually.
U California Davis to Open Honey Bee Haven
The University of California, Davis has announced plans to unveil the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven in September, 2010. The half-acre garden, planted last fall, is designed as a year-round food source for bees and other pollinators. Another aim of the garden is to create public awareness about the plight of honey bees and their importance.
Delaware State U Dedicates Sustainability Garden
Delaware State University has dedicated a new sustainability garden. The vegetables grown on the plot will be served in the school café and sold at the University’s farmer’s market. The surplus will be donated to low-income families.
Loyola U Chicago Purchases Retreat Center for Env'l Learning
Loyola University Chicago has purchased a 98-acre retreat center that will be used for a number of purposes. Among other plans for the facility, Loyola plans to use the center to introduce an Outdoor Adventure Program, which aims to provide students, faculty, and staff with opportunities to experience outdoor activities that are designed to promote positive lifetime skills and leadership development; encourage personal and interpersonal development; and increase environmental awareness by providing high-quality leisure education, outdoor, educational, and experiential programs. On the academic side, the University's biology department and Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy will also benefit from the purchase. With 20 acres of natural habitat that includes ponds, streams, woods, and prairie land, the property offers a unique learning opportunity for students and faculty interested in the sciences.
Northwestern U Plants Organic Garden
Northwestern University (IL) has planted a garden on campus. Students designed the organic garden last fall and planted it the second week of May. Students hope their gardening efforts will raise awareness about sustainable gardening practices.
U California Los Angeles Students Complete Green Projects
Students at the University of California, Los Angeles have completed Action Research Projects to help make the University a more environmentally sustainable campus. Over the course of two quarters, 70 students were divided into 11 groups that each took on a different project. Topics included bicycles and their benefits, drought landscaping, sustainable food systems, water conservation, green student orientation, composting in residence halls, promoting drinking fountains over plastic water bottles, paperless course evaluations, single stream recycling, and green graduate housing.
U Minnesota Duluth Constructs Rooftop Garden
University of Minnesota Duluth has constructed a vegetable garden on a campus rooftop. The newly constructed straw bale gardens are part of an on-going project that focuses on campus gardens that produce edible foods as well as develop educational opportunities for food-raising at the University. The garden will also serve as a temperature control, keeping the building cooler during the summer. The total cost of the project was $5,000.
Loyola U Chicago Students Travel to DC on Biodiesel
A group of Loyola University, Chicago students recently traveled to Washington D.C. in a van powered 100 percent by biodiesel, which was made by the students themselves. The students showcased their Mobile Green Energy Show (MGES), a mobile deep fryer and a generated powered through a closed-loop system, on the National Mall. The waste vegetable oil from the deep fryer is used to power the generator that provides energy for the deep fryer.
Loyola U Chicago Wins Arbor Day Video Challenge
Loyola University, Chicago (IL) has won the Arbor Day Foundation's Video Challenge to create a compelling video to convince people to plant trees. Loyola received $2,500 in free trees to plant on campus or in the local community.
Emory U to Hold Zero-Waste Commencement
Emory University (GA) has announced plans to hold zero-waste commencement events. The composting of food and biodegradable service ware and recycling of plastic water bottles will occur at multiple Commencement events this month. A total of 15 events during Emory’s Commencement celebrations are expected to be zero-waste, all of which support Emory’s sustainability initiative to achieve 65 percent waste reduction on campus by 2015 from 2005 levels.
Boston U Sustainability Website Receives International Award
Boston University's (MA) sustainability@BU website has been selected as a 2010 “Webby Honoree” in the Green category for the 14th Annual Webby Awards. Nearly 10,000 entries were received from all 50 states and over 60 countries. The Official Honoree distinction is awarded to the top 15 percent of all work entered that exhibits remarkable achievement.
College of the Holy Cross Releases Sustainability Video
The College of the Holy Cross (MA) has released "Don't Go Green," a video in which campus leaders urge the community to think seriously about their impact on the environment. The video, sponsored by the Presidential Task Force on the Environment, is designed to help enhance the culture of sustainability on campus.
Florida International U Garden Named 'People's Garden' By USDA
Florida International University's Organic Garden, located on campus and run by faculty, staff, and students, has been named a "People's Garden" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The special recognition is accorded to community gardens across the United States, an initiative started by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last year to promote sustainable, healthy, and local community food production in the country.
Humboldt State U to Hold Green Graduation
Humboldt State University (CA) has announced plans to hold a green commencement ceremony. The event has banned disposable plastic water bottles and will instead be offering chilled filtered water in compostable cups. In addition, all 1,400 graduate and undergraduate gowns sold by the HSU Bookstore have been made from 100 percent recycled plastic bottles. The campus will also print fewer Commencement programs per graduate this year, with an eye toward reducing the amount of paper used.
NWF Announces 2010 Chill Out Competition Winners
Five colleges and universities from across the United States have won national recognition in National Wildlife Federation’s annual competition Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming. This award program is a campus competition to promote sustainability and honor U.S. schools that are advancing creative approaches to reducing the carbon footprint on campuses. This year's winners are: Western State College of Colorado (Students in Action category), Central Florida Community College (Green Jobs and Education category), University of Arkansas (Campus-Wide Actions category), Georgia Institute of Technology (Best Video), and Boston Latin School (MA) (Innovative Research, Design, and Technology category). The Chill-Out webcast is available for viewing on-demand.
U Florida Commencement to be Carbon Neutral
The University of Florida has announced that its graduation ceremonies will be carbon neutral this year. The University plans to offset the utilities of the three facilities that will be used during commencement. Additionally, more than 350 graduating students signed the Green Graduation Pledge, committing to carry the values of sustainability with them as they move on from the University of Florida.
U Massachusetts Medical School Student Invention Wins Grand Prize
Max Fraden, a University of Massachusetts Medical School student, and project partner Charles Ishimwe, a business student at the Adventist University of Central Africa in Rwanda, recently won a global social entrepreneurship competition with their idea to replace dangerous kerosene with human pedal power. Based on advanced hand-crank technology, the Nuru Light uses a pedal generator similar to an incumbent bike to generate electricity, which is then stored in batteries. These batteries can be used to power lights, and eventually small household electronics, such as radios and cell phones. Currently, 90 percent of residents in Rwanda use expensive kerosene fuel to light their homes, exposing them to toxic fumes and other dangers. The two students will take home the $10,000 Grand Prize in the 6th annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC). Awarded by the Global Business Center at the University of Washington’s Michael G. Foster School of Business, the GSEC is a business plan competition in which students from around the world—and across fields of study—develop creative, commercially sustainable solutions to problems of poverty in the developing world.
Washington Post Covers Earth Day on College Campuses
The Washington Post has published an article on how college students celebrated Earth Day this year. The article mentions St Mary's College of Maryland; University of Georgia; American University (DC); Texas State University; University of Denver (CO); Gustavus Adolphus College (MN); Georgetown University (DC); Hamilton College (NY); University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Salisbury University (MD); Susquehanna University (PA); Dickinson College (PA); Harper College (IL); Sewanee: The University of the South (TN); and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Western Michigan U Completes Res Hall Energy Competition
Western Michigan University has completed a competition to see which residence hall can save the most electricity. Eco-thon ran during the entire month of February and tracked which dorm could reduce electricity usage by the greatest percentage during the month. The competition used last fall's average electricity consumption as a baseline. The Grand Prize winner, Valley II, received $500 for reducing its consumption by 7.97 percent. Overall, campus residence halls reduced their energy use by 3.08 percent.
2010 Renewable Energy Challenge Winners Announced
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has announced that, at the college level, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (NM) and the College of Menominee Nation (WI) have tied for first place in the 2010 Indian Education Renewable Energy Challenge to build the most efficient portable wind turbine system. The focus of the contest was to promote renewable energy development for Indian Country among students and teachers at the high school and college level. The challenge was a two-part contest. In Phase I, student teams organized by the schools were asked to submit designs for a portable wind turbine installation that generated energy, stored it mechanically or electronically and then used the stored energy to power an array of light emitting diodes. The best 10 designs were selected in the fall and those teams each received $1,300 to construct a prototype for Phase II.
Campuses Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Earth Day
Campuses across the U.S. and Canada celebrated the 40th anniversary of Earth Day this year. Events ranged from tree plantings and panel discussions to presentations on composting and electronic waste collections. Many schools expanded their normal day or week long celebrations to last 40 days in recognition of the anniversary.
Indiana U Launches Pilot Project to be Greenest in Big 10
The Indiana University Athletic Department has launched the pilot project Greening Cream & Crimson, an effort to become the greenest athletic department in the Big Ten Conference. As part of the initiative, IU will offset carbon produced by electricity use, transportation, and food consumption during the game by trading out 100 watt incandescent bulbs with the equivalent 23 watt Condensed Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) in the area. Other projects will include recycling during tailgating, recycling inside Memorial Stadium, reducing vendor waste, collecting cell phones for recycling, and offering valet parking for bicycles. In addition to these new green initiatives, campus environmental groups are invited to set up educational booths in Memorial Stadium during the game to highlight other on-campus sustainability efforts.
Michigan State U to Hold Green Commencement
Michigan State University has planned a green commencement ceremony. Student diplomas have been made from recycled paper, caps from one 20-ounce plastic bottle, and gowns from 12 20-ounce plastic bottles. In addition, the program booklets were printed with soy-based ink on recycled paper, and invitations were sent electronically rather than through the mail.
Quinnipiac U Students to Graduate in Green Gowns
Quinnipiac University (CT) has announced that students graduating this spring will wear caps and gowns made of 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. The only features not made of recycled materials are the tassel, the button on the top of the cap, and the gown's zipper. The company making the gowns estimates that it takes 123 bottles to make each gown.
Austin College Launches Green Effort
Austin College (TX) has launched a new sustainability initiative - Thinking Green. The initiative has been designed by students, faculty, and staff to encourage “greener” practices on campus and in the community. As part of the project, students are distributing free energy-efficient light bulbs, picking up garbage off-campus, and doing cleanup and landscape work for several area social service organizations.
CNN Posts Video on Sustainability at U Colorado Boulder
CNN has posted a video on sustainability initiatives at the University of Colorado, Boulder. "The Greenest University in America" covers the UC Boulder's composting program, zero-waste football games, biodiesel buses, hybrid campus vehicle, solar farm, water-bottled refill stations, the Campus Environmental Center, recycling center, and the University's effort to teach students to live more sustainably.
RecycleMania Announces 2010 Final Results
Over 600 colleges and universities participated in RecyleMania this year, recycling or composting over 84 million pounds of material during the course of the 10-week competition. California State University, San Marcos won the Grand Champion spot, barely nudging out New Mexico State University. The US Coast Guard Academy (CT) claimed the Per Capita Classic award; North Lake College (TX) received its third Waste Minimization title; and Ursinus College (PA) and Johnson & Wales University-Denver (CO) each claimed their first awards with the Bottles and Cans and Food Waste Organics categories respectively. Rounding out the list, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (MA) won the Paper category and Kalamazoo College (MI) won the Cardboard category.
Rice U Announces Green Dorm Initiative
Rice University (TX) has announced the Green Dorm Initiative, a program which encourages students to reevaluate their living habits by rating the environmental friendliness of their dorm rooms. When students register, they complete a questionnaire about their laundry habits, appliance and lighting usage, water consumption and recycling practices. For the next two weeks, participants complete a daily log about their energy and water usage. After the program finishes on April 22, students' rooms will be certified as bronze, silver, or gold and participants will receive prizes.
U Idaho Unveils Energy Audit Internship Program
The University of Idaho Sustainability Center and Environmental Science Program are partnering with the Idaho Small Business Development Center at Boise State University to fund student internships to conduct energy audits in nearby towns. Paid interns will work in teams to evaluate energy usage in at least 40 regional businesses. Based on their findings, teams will make recommendations for increasing energy efficiency, thereby reducing costs and energy-related carbon emissions.
U Michigan Releases New Sustainability Website
The University of Michigan has launched a new U-M Sustainability Website to showcase its ongoing achievements in sustainability research, teaching, and university operations, as well as to raise campus awareness of — and engagement in — related issues and activities. Designed as a central portal, the site provides a comprehensive overview of sustainability news, information, events, and activities from across the entire campus. It will highlight the work being done to set campus goals for sustainable operations, and will communicate new operational milestones, such as the purchase of renewable energy credits. Further, the site offers an events calendar, a collection of facts about U-M sustainability, and featured initiatives.
George Mason U to Start Organic Garden
George Mason University (VA) has broken ground on a new campus produce garden. The community garden will provide produce for the campus community and local food banks, as well as create a place for students to learn and practice sustainable gardening. FCRP, a partnership of nonprofit environmental groups, county agencies, businesses and individual citizens, has assisted Mason’s Office of Sustainability in securing funding and resources necessary for the garden project to take shape.
Mills College Approves On-Campus Organic Farm
Mills College (CA) has approved the creation of an on-campus organic farm. The plots will contain fruits and vegetables. The group managing the garden hopes to sell produce to the College's food service company. Future plans for the project include more on-campus work-study for students, the addition of a new course on sustainable horticulture and food production, and a possible farmers' market stand.
St. Mary's College Announces New, Larger Campus Garden
St. Mary's College of Maryland has created a new, larger campus garden. The garden is meant to teach College and community members about sustainable agriculture while producing local, organic, and nutritious food. The group that manages the garden, the Community Garden Club, hopes to be able to sell produce to the College's dining services provider.
Green Mountain College Launches New Sustainability Website
Green Mountain College (VT) has launched its new sustainability website which describes the College's environmental liberal arts tradition and charts GMC's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2011. Designed by a Green Mountain College alumnus, the site was built on the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), administered by AASHE.
U Florida Completes Water Conservation Competition
The University of Florida residence halls have completed their "Eco-Challenge: Battle of the Halls" water usage competition. Weaver Hall, the winner of the competition, saved 23.26 gallons of water per resident per day during the month of January, for a grand total of 122,580 gallons of water saved. In all, water savings ranged from 1.52 to 23.26 less gallons of water per resident per day.
U Michigan Graduate Students Win $10K in Sustainability Challenge
The winners of the 2010 Dow Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge, both of which were graduate students teams from the University of Michigan, have each received $10,000 for their contest submissions. The Challenge, administered by UM's Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, recognizes and rewards students for their innovation and research of sustainable solutions to the world's most pressing social, economic, and environmental problems. As part of the program, the student winners will attend an annual recognition event to celebrate their energy, commitment, and contribution to sustainable innovation.
U System of Ohio Releases Sustainability Website
The University System of Ohio has unveiled a new sustainability website, "USO Sustainability." The site is designed to be both a forum and a resource for faculty, prospective students, and anyone interested in sustainability efforts at Ohio's higher education institutions. The site offers a calendar of events, information and links to USO programs, a forum for discussion and input on the direction of the USO and sustainability, individual school sustainability profiles, and resources and links for research.
Marshall U Offers Sustainable Living Student Hall
Marshall University (WV) has introduced a green living-learning community in its campus residence halls. Students that are interested in living sustainably will be able to participate. The living area will consist of two dormitory floors where students will have access to recycling bins, will take field trips, and will help develop ideas for campus wide projects to promote sustainability.
Anderson U Students Dig Campus Garden
A group of approximately 30 students at Anderson University (IN) have dug a campus garden. Students plan to donate the food grown in the garden to local food banks and the college's food service.
Gustavus Adolphus College Releases Green Farming Video
Gustavus Adolphus College (MN) Professor of Communication Studies Martin Lang and Sophomore Political Science and English Major Ethan Marxhausen were awarded a Gustavus Presidential Faculty/Student Collaboration Grant, and over the past year they produced an independent film documentary titled Farming Forward . The film focuses on highlighting the possible solutions to sustainable farming. The film discusses how instead of using pesticides and other chemicals, sustainable farming promotes crop rotation, in which farmers change the crop in a specific field each year to literally stay ahead of plant-specific pests that can destroy harvests. Farming Forward is still in the process of being converted to DVD format, but the team hopes to continue showing the documentary and also distributing it to local farmers.
Stetson U Student Wins Grant for Campus Garden Activities
Stetson University student Heather Grove has won a Carter Academic Service Entrepreneur grant for $1,000 to help fund educational outreach activities for the Hatter Harvest organic garden. Hatter Harvest is a student organization dedicated to food, health, and environmental sustainability awareness and education. Outreach activities will include garden signage displaying concepts such as the nitrogen cycle in composting and the carbon cycle in plants, and workshops to be presented in the garden and off-campus to community organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club and local schools.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Holds Energy & Water Competition
Interns with the Alliance To Save Energy’s Green Campus Program at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo partnered with University Housing to host the Poly Canyon Energy Competition, an energy and water-saving competition held between nine apartment buildings in Poly Canyon Village. The competition, which spanned five weeks and involved 2,700 students, led to an overall savings of 16 percent, resulting in a total savings of 76,874 kWh, 14,619 gallons of water, 117,325 MBTU’s, and $9,778. The winning building received stainless steel water bottles and the student community advisors from the winning building received sweatshirts.
Louisiana State U Students Use Community Garden
Louisiana State University students can now have their very own nine-by-five foot plot to grow vegetables for $10 a semester at the campus farm. The four-acre Hill Farm will allow students to use eco-friendly gardening practices to grow food.
Unity College to Hold Green Commencement
Unity College (ME) has announced plans to hold a green commencement again this year. New environmentally-friendly features of the presentation will include e-invitations, composting, 100 percent post-consumer recycled diplomas, a limited number of printed programs, eco-friendly plaques, and caps and gowns made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.
Bowdoin College Student Visualizes Carbon Emissions with Art
A senior at Bowdoin College (ME) has illustrated what one ton of carbon emissions looks like in a new installation in a student lounge. Madelyn Sullivan roped off a cube with 27 foot sides that goes from the ceiling to the floor and across the lounge to show students the size of one ton of carbon emissions. The installation also provides educational information on the amount of CO2 emissions that an average U.S. citizen emits every two weeks and that Bowdoin College emits each year.
College of William & Mary Begins Sustainability Campaign
The College of William and Mary (VA) has launched the "Do One Thing for Sustainability" (DOT) initiative in which students can claim one thing they will do for the environment. This claim can be made on Facebook, on paper, or through a video. The campus art department plans to assemble an installation from all of the paper commitments that will be displayed in the campus library, and videos will be placed on YouTube.
