Campus sustainability has roots in SNRAS

Michele Hebert led a workshop at Staff Appreciation Day.

At UAF Staff Appreciation Day May 19, Michele Hebert, UAF Office of Sustainability director, credited SNRAS with pioneering the sustainability movement on campus, specifically Associate Professor Susan Todd and her students.

The fairly new office was put in place because students wanted the campus to become more sustainable. They voted to institute a $20 per semester fee to fund the program, bringing in $500,000 annually.

Recycling containers and bins have been placed around campus already and some new initiatives on the horizon include:

• software that would shut down computers at night
• solar panels on the Student Recreation Center
• a filtration system for drinking water (Wood Center)
• purchasing a glass pulverizer so glass could be used to make sand

The students are developing a "green certification" program, based on one at Arizona State University. Anyone willing to help should contact Hebert.

Students are setting up a campus-wide recycling committee and volunteers are needed there also.

For more information, read the sustainability newsletter.