Rutgers U Greek Students Embark on Weatherization Initiative
Rutgers University (NJ) has partnered with the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group’s Energy Service Corps for a “Green the Greek” initiative. The program targets on-campus sorority and fraternity houses for weatherization projects, and teaches residents the basics. Once completed, sorority and fraternity members help with additional energy audits around campus.
Texas Christian U Encourages Student Indoor Gardening
Organized by its Wesley Foundation and Community Renewal, Texas Christian University is providing students with resources to learn about indoor gardening. Students pick their own seeds and plant them in containers for their rooms as part of a "Garden in a Tight Spot" workshop.
Western Washington U Students Design Green Dorm
Western Washington University students have designed and proposed a sustainable dorm pilot program. The project would work to get energy-efficient lights, low-flow faucets, power meters and new appliances installed in a test room. If approved, the room would serve as an educational space for students.
Clarkson U Students Win Int'l Renewable Energy Technology Contest
A graduate student Environmental Design Team at Clarkson University (NY) recently earned the first place platinum award at the 2012 International Capstone Design Contest on Renewable Energy Technology in South Korea for its integrated food and waste management system. Housed in a passive solar building with an aeroponic growing system, LED lights and extensive sensors and controls for energy efficiency, the cold climate greenhouse converts campus food waste into heat, electricity and fertilizer. The international competition is sponsored by Mokpo National University and Offshore Wind Energy Center.
Iowa State U Students Petition for Renewable Energy
Members of Iowa State University’s ActivUs student organization recently held a press conference urging administrators to eliminate the burning of coal on campus. The organization has collected 2,500 signatures calling for the use of renewable energy resources instead.
Northeastern U Students Protest Chick-Fil-A on Campus
Based on student concerns, Northeastern University (MA) has announced that it won't consider restaurant chain Chick-Fil-A for a spot in the student union. Based on reports that the company has donated to groups that lobby against measures that promote equity for gay people, the Student Government recommended the ban.
Obama Selects 'Campus Champions of Change' Finalists
The University of Massachusetts Amherst's Permaculture Committee, recently featured in AASHE's Sustainability Student Diary series, is one of 15 finalists in President Barack Obama's Campus Champions of Change Challenge. Online voters will choose five projects that "best embody the president's goal to win the future." Other finalists include a program that provides local produce, breads and dairy to faculty and students at Brown University (RI); a food pantry for students in crisis at the University of Arkansas; an educational reform coalition at Princeton University (NJ); and a mentoring program for youth at the University of Missouri.
U Virginia Students Lead Hunger Strike in Support of Living Wages
Twelve students at the University of Virginia have begun a hunger strike in support of a Living Wage policy for university employees. The Living Wage Campaign at the university has seen 14 years of teach-ins, concerts, film showings, marches, seminars, reports and community outreach with no success. The campaign is demanding a fair minimum wage for direct, contracted and subcontracted employees.
Temple U Students Use Art to Promote Safe Bird Migration
To raise awareness about bird collisions on campus buildings and offer potential solutions to the problem, graphic and interactive design students at Temple University (PA) have created decorative window film panels that enable birds to recognize windows as an obstruction. Nearly 1,000 birds die from building collisions each year on the campus, which sits in the middle of a migratory path.
U Michigan Establishes Student Clean Energy Venture Challenge
The University of Michigan has partnered with DTE Energy to establish the Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge. The program provides student teams interested in clean energy entrepreneurship the education, mentorship and resources to accelerate their ideas forward. Sixteen student teams from six universities statewide have been selected to present their business ideas and will compete for more than $100,000 in prizes. The competition is part of a national effort to encourage young entrepreneurs to develop renewable energy solutions through President Obama’s Startup America campaign.
Washington U St. Louis Students Push for Renewable Energy
Students at Washington University in St. Louis (MO) have launched Renew WashU, a new initiative to push the university to invest in renewable energy. With wind and solar energy, the students say that the university has the potential to use 100 percent renewable energy.
Boise State U Students Aim to Break Veggie-Power Speed Record
A Boise State University (ID) student team has announced plans to break the land speed record of 215 miles per hour for a vegetable oil-powered truck. The Greenspeed team broke the record for a truck in its class last year, and now has its sights on a modified 1998 Chevrolet S-10 pick-up truck. The team will compete during Speedweek at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah this August.
Purdue U Student Art Exhibit Supports Campus Renewable Energy
Students at Purdue University (IN) have created a windmill art installation to represent student support for renewable energy on campus. The exhibit is designed to encourage students to comment on the university’s Comprehensive Energy Master Plan. Officials are asking for public comment on the plan, which proposes cutting coal use and increasing reliance on natural gas for heating and cooling.
Southern Polytechnic State U Launches USGBC Student Organization
Southern Polytechnic State University (GA) has formed its first U.S. Green Building Council student organization. Membership is open to all students interested in new technologies, systems and materials that aid in sustainable design and construction. The organization provides members with opportunities to build and foster relationships both on campus and in local communities.
U North Carolina Chapel Hill Launches Social Innovation Incubator
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has launched a pilot Social Innovation Incubator program. Supporting the Innovate@Carolina Roadmap, the university’s plan to help North Carolina become a leader in launching university-born ideas for the good of society, the program will provide student teams with organizational resources to build their social ventures.
San Diego State U Opens Student Sustainability Center
With the goal of enabling students to take action, San Diego State University's (CA) Center for Regional Studies has opened a Student Sustainability Center. Students will work with faculty at the center to create action plans to ensure the school reduces its carbon footprint. The action plans will be informed by research conducted by student interns on the successes of energy efficiency programs at other institutions.
College of the Atlantic Students Install Campus Solar Panels
As part of a “Practicum on Solar Energy” course, students at the College of the Atlantic (ME) helped install a solar energy array on campus. The class developed a budget, chose the panels, learned how to assemble them and completed the installation within eight weeks. The students also worked with a local organization to educate the public about solar energy and increase private funding for the systems. The connection maximized the college’s original grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, allowing the campus to double the size of the array.
U Michigan Students Turn Recycled Car Parts into Sandals
University of Michigan students have begun creating sandals out of junkyard car seat belts and abandoned tires. The launch of the students' Treads Motor City Sandals is part of a class that requires aspiring designers, engineers and business students to collaborate to create a marketable product out of recycled materials that could be manufactured by someone with entry-level skills. A local nonprofit is working to turn Treads Motor City Sandals into a small business.
Unity College Students Help Build Campus Root Cellar
With the help of student volunteer labor, Unity College (ME) has constructed a root cellar on campus to store vegetables for campus dining services. The traditional underground structure regulates temperature and humidity without the inputs needed for refrigeration. The cellar will also be used by local hunger relief organizations.
Appalachian State U Students Promote Water Conservation with Art
Discovering a lack of public awareness or concern of water conservation issues in their university's town, graphic design students at Appalachian State University (NC) responded with a water conservation poster campaign. Banners that appear on local buses urge town residents to save five gallons of water by cutting their shower time by two minutes. The campaign was funded by a Sustainability Arts Grant from the university's Sustainability Council.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Students Lead 'Turn Em Out' Campaign
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo's student Green Campus Program recently led a month-long campaign to reduce campus electricity bills. The "Turn Em Out" campaign urged campus community members to turn off lights and other electric appliances when not in use. In an effort to raise awareness and promote positive sustainable habits on campus, the campaign asked students and faculty to submit photos of themselves creatively switching off lights for a chance to win gift cards, power strips and a pumpkin pie party.
Connecticut College Student Gov't Passes Solar Panel Initiative
Connecticut College's Student Government Association has approved the use of the college's Renewable Energy Fund (supported by a $25 increase to the college's comprehensive fee) for the purchase and installation of solar photovoltaic panels. Students hope the college will match their contribution to help offset additional costs. Three of the proposed panel installations would generate 0.9 percent of the campus' electricity needs. If the administration approves additional funding, the total energy generated would increase to 3.6 percent, which would save $108,000 per year in electricity costs.
U Tennessee Chattanooga to Sponsor Sustainability Garden Program
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Environmental Task Force has approved funding for a sustainability garden program starting in spring 2012. Twelve multidisciplinary students will be selected to sustain two raised bed vegetable gardens as well as attend workshops offered by local organic farmers. The university hopes to become part of the emerging local food movement in Chattanooga.
U Texas San Antonio Solicits Student Campus Sustainability Ideas
The University of Texas at San Antonio, with support from the United Negro College Fund's Institute for Capacity Building, has launched a contest that invites students to submit implementable and sustainable ideas toward campus sustainability efforts. Winners of the "Campus Greening Idea Contest" will receive prizes including $1,500 for first place.
Temple U Fraternity Participates in Energy Audit
As part of a partnership between Temple University's (PA) Office of Sustainability and the Intrafraternity Council's Greeks Go Green organization, members of Kappa Delta Rho recently participated in an energy audit of their fraternity house. The fraternity members will replicate the energy-saving tasks they learned from a representative at the Philadelphia-based Energy Coordinating Agency in nine other fraternity houses in the Interfraternity Council.
Indiana U Debuts Green Dorm Room Certification Program
In its inaugural month, the Green Dorm Room Certification Program at Indiana University Bloomington has yielded 40 "green" dorm rooms. The self-certification program gives students access to 40 criteria for earning a “green” certification. The initiative aims to connect students to sustainability-related community and campus organizations, and provide a framework for educating their peers about sustainability.
Appalachian State U Expands Sustainable Teaching Farm
Appalachian State University (NC) students now have the chance to live and work at the university's new Sustainable Development Teaching and Research Farm. The program has relocated to the larger property with a three-bedroom residence and turkeys and cattle, giving students the opportunity for around-the-clock livestock research. The student caretakers have also received a grant to make their residence 90 percent solar-powered with the installation of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic panels on the roof.
Johns Hopkins U Students to Create Community Garden
Johns Hopkins University’s (MD) student-run group, Real Food Hopkins, will plant a 4,000-square-foot garden this fall to serve as a model for urban gardening and sustainable agriculture. Students, staff and faculty will be able to sign up for individual plots or work with a neighborhood community group beginning next spring. Plot managers can keep what they produce as well as donate a portion of the crops to the university’s Campus Kitchen, which donates surplus food to those who are in need in the Baltimore area.
Syracuse U Student Creates Sustainability Group
After being turned away from the faculty-only Sustainability Division of Syracuse University’s (NY) Energy Systems and Sustainability Management department, a freshman policy studies major recently started her own sustainability student group. Fourteen students from different majors including geography, international relations and civil engineering have signed up to get involved in campus issues like food waste, recycling, consumption and plastic water bottle waste. The group will kick off its efforts with the proposal of one pilot water refill station to test student reaction.
U Michigan Students Place Third in Int'l Solar Car Challenge
A team of engineering students at the University of Michigan took third place in the World Solar Challenge competition with their solar car, Quantum, which was the first American car to the finish line. The 20-member team, which raced across the Australian continent, included a meteorologist whose forecasts, made possible by a satellite link, predicted cloud cover and helped develop strategies for power supply management.
San Diego Students Pursue LEED Gold for Aquatics Center
The new San Diego State University U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) student chapter is collaborating with University of California, San Diego students to pursue LEED Gold certification for an aquatics center that is jointly owned by the two universities. The center has undergone upgrades including the installation of enough solar photovoltaic panels to support 100 percent of its energy needs. Students are working on an audit of the center's conditions, which they will present to USGBC.
Temple U Students Create Sustainability 'Ad Campaign'
A class of advertising majors at Temple University (PA) were recently tasked with creating a university-wide campaign to promote Campus Sustainability Week, held October 24-28. The winning campaign promoted simple ways for students to make small differences.
U Findlay Students Plan Energy Retrofits for Student Housing
Students living in two University of Findlay (OH) houses are developing and implementing ways to save energy and create less waste. Instruments were installed to measure water, electricity and natural gas use. Grant funds will be used to install either solar or wind power, which will be planned and scheduled by students in the university's environmental, safety, and occupational health program.
Yale U Management Students Form Sustainability Team
Students at Yale University's (CT) School of Management (SOM) have formed a new Student Sustainability Team to assist the SOM community with environmentally friendly practices. Ranging from reducing electricity use in buildings to running "zero-landfill" events, SOM's first student-run effort aims to implement green initiatives to act as a model for the rest of the university to adopt.
Clemson U Students Debut Bike Trailer for Tailgating
With the goal of reducing the carbon footprint of tailgating by removing the classic car aspect, a group of Clemson University (SC) students has debuted a bike trailer for tailgating. The trailer folds out to include a table and chairs, a grill and a cooler. The group also has created a larger unit that can accommodate up to six families. In related news, the President's Commission on Sustainability and Clemson Recycling have partnered to provide more recycling bins and trailers at football games.
Georgia Tech Students Design Electric Vehicle System for Atlanta
A team of undergraduate students at the Georgia Institute of Technology are helping the City of Atlanta toward its goal of becoming the first region in the country to have 50,000 electric vehicles on its roads. The city will use funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to implement the students’ proposal, which outlined electric vehicle adoption and marketing strategies and emphasized ways of reducing the cost to the city government.
CA Institutions to Launch Student Clean Technology Competition
The California Institute of Technology, University of Southern California, OnGreen and University of California, Los Angeles have received a $360,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to accelerate clean technology innovation through student entrepreneurship. A new Western Regional business plan student competition will work to double the number of student groups engaged in clean technology production.
Indiana U Rolls Out Student Sustainable Computing Contest
Indiana University has launched a competition designed to make its computing more sustainable. Students will work in groups to create a tool, system or process that addresses at least one of three sustainable computing areas: waste reduction, leveraging IT for campus-wide sustainability gains, and campus sustainability metrics.
Maharishi U Mgmt Student Promotes Sustainability with T-Shirts
A student at the Maharishi University of Management (IA) recently launched a line of organic cotton T-shirts with messages designed to educate about sustainability. His best-selling shirt has a solar power design on the front and a simplified schematic of how solar power works on the back. A percentage of the sales are donated each month to a charitable foundation or community project.
Whitman College Students Create Vermicomposting Program
Students from the Campus Climate Challenge at Whitman College (WA) have launched a new vermicomposting initiative. Thousands of worms will break down campus food waste into compost for campus landscaping. The college expects the vermicomposter to be able to process about 100 pounds of food waste per day.
Temple U Students Initiate Bike-Powered Concerts
Verde Styles, an environmental student group at Temple University (PA), is expanding its bike-powered concert initiative. The idea has grown from a single bicycle that powered part of the sound system during Earth Day to a four-bike setup that recently powered the sound at two local green-awareness events. Next year, they plan to power a bigger concert with 50 to 60 bikes. The bikes were funded in part by a $5,000 grant from Hewlett-Packard.
U Massachusetts Students Debut Farmers Market
The University of Massachusetts Amherst has launched a student-run farmers market. Leafy greens, ripe tomatoes, garlic and squash were among the student-grown and organic selections for sale during its debut. The Student Farming Enterprise, a six-credit course at the university, also runs a community supported agriculture (CSA) program.
NY Times: Fordham U Administrators Shutter Farm Share
Fordham University's legal counsel ordered the shutdown of the School of Law's farm share program this month, reports the New York Times. Founded by third-year law student Michael Zimmerman, Farm to Fordham allowed students, faculty and staff to buy a share of a harvest from a local farm for $150 per semester. Objections to the project remain “perplexing” to Zimmerman. Law school administrators declined to comment on the university's decision.
City College Students Construct Solar Roofpod
Students from City College (NY) have designed and built a Solar Roofpod to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. The 750-square-foot pod has a solar trellis that collects energy, computer-controlled heating and ventilation systems, and windows and blinds that are programmed to automatically open and close. Additional features include a built-in alert system to let the occupant know how much water and electricity is being used, and a rainwater harvesting system that supports an incorporated garden.
Lafayette U Students Working toward Campus-wide Food Loop
Lafayette University's (PA) Society of Environmental Engineers and Scientists student group is working on the implementation of a campus-wide food loop. The project involves composting food waste from campus dining halls that is then used to fertilize crops grown at the college's organic gardens, which are then used back in the dining halls. The goal is to compost up to 1,000 pounds of the 1,300 pounds of food and yard waste produced by the campus per day.
Cornell U Students Design Garden that Cleans Toxic Waste
Featuring ferns, grasses and black elder trees that absorb lead and arsenic from fertilizers and lead arsenate from pesticides, five landscape architecture graduate students at Cornell University (NY) have designed a garden with plants capable of cleaning up hazardous waste sites. Focusing on plants that draw in, store, and in some cases convert, toxic materials into benign compounds, the students' garden includes more than 50 plant species including sunflowers, cabbage plants, rice and willows.
Duke U Students Create Guide to Green Living on Campus
Students at Duke University (NC) have created a new Green Book, an online guide to living in an eco-friendly way at Duke University (NC) for first-year students. Many incoming students will also receive a hard copy of the book, printed on recycled paper, as they are distributed during Orientation Welcome Week. The book was created in collaboration with campus offices including Sustainable Duke, Duke Recycles, and Duke Parking and Transportation to develop a comprehensive guide to sustainability resources on campus. Students will find information about dining, recycling, alternative transportation and other aspects of green campus life. The book also provides information that is useful to students before they arrive on campus.
Ecotech Institute Launches Student Mentorship Program
The Ecotech Institute (CO), a trade school focused entirely on renewable energy, sustainable design and green technology that opened its doors at the start of this year, has announced a new student mentorship program for incoming students. The program pairs the new students with a continuing student to help with the course material and often unfamiliar surroundings.
Inside Higher Ed Covers Rise in Student Farms
The efforts of the University of Montana and Prescott College (AZ), among others, are profiled in a recent Inside Higher Ed article that looks at the current growth of student-run farms on college campuses. The article highlights the new book, "Fields of Learning: The Student Farm Movement in America," in which Iowa State University Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture's Frederick L. Kirschenmann says that student farms play a critical role in training the next generation of farmers.
U Alaska Anchorage Debuts First Student Campus Garden
Student members of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Sustainability Club have constructed a raised-bed garden and whiskey barrel planters for the first student garden on campus. Students planted swiss chard, radishes, spicy salad mix and lettuce. The whiskey barrels are being used to grow potatoes, zucchinis, herbs and berry shrubs. The Sustainability Club plans to harvest the produce and hold a community feast.
