ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

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Campus Sustainability

Green Fund

The Green Fund is a unique program designed to improve environmental sustainability at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ by giving students a say in how their sustainability fees are spent. The Green Fund was proposed by the Student Government Association and passed by student votes. It supports projects proposed by students or student-faculty teams. Students even make up the majority of the Green Fund review board’s members (five students, three staff and one faculty member). This board reviews all proposals received and approves expenditures for those selected.

To learn more about submitting a Green Fund Project proposal, visit the Green Fund Projects site.

Students sitting at solar table

Below is a list of some student projects that were recently approved by the Green Fund Committee:

  • Composter for the Environmental Student House
  • Zero Waste Starter Kits – 400 incoming Freshmen received a reusable tote bag, utensil kit, and their choice of a reusable coffee mug, or water bottle to help them choose a sustainable lifestyle while attending ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½.
  • Bird Strike Prevention – Students in the Biology Department partnered up with Dr. Jeremy Corfield to identify “bird strike” hot spots (windows) throughout campus. Bird strike prevention film has been installed on several windows throughout campus that were identified to have high mortality rates.  The film consists of hundreds of little dots that break up the window’s reflected images.

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Apiary

  • Apiary Upgrades – The ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ apiary is home to thousands of honeybees. Students requested supplies to expand the apiary operations and help with honey harvesting.
  • Water Bottle Refill Stations – In an effort to reduce our use of single-use plastics on campus, students mapped out all existing water fountain locations and identified which locations needed water bottle refill station retrofits. Funding was awarded to retrofit all remaining locations ensuring that the ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ community can fill their water bottles everywhere on campus.
  • Sustainability Scholarship Fund - In 2024, the University Green Board (UGB) also known as the “Green Fund Committee” approved a Green Fund application submitted by an undergraduate student to continually fund sustainability-related educational opportunities for students at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½. Each calendar year 5% of the Green Fund’s annual fees will be reserved for ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ students to attend sustainability-related trainings, continuing education courses, and conferences.

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Garden Club

  • ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Garden Club Upgrades – The ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Garden Club has a community garden at the corners of Camden Ave. and West College Ave. A proposal was approved to purchase new raised garden beds and additional garden supplies for the ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Garden.
  • I Love ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Tree Plantings – The I Love ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ community event inspires students to give back to the local City of ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½. A student proposed the purchase of 100 trees to plant throughout the City of ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½.  Planting efforts were completed by student volunteers.
  • Conway Hall TV Studio Lighting Upgrades – A student submitted a proposal to replace the incandescent light bulbs in the Conway Hall TV studio with energy efficient LED bulbs. The proposal included an energy savings study which discovered that ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ would start seeing a financial payback after only four years.  In addition to using less electricity, LED lights also produce less heat when in use.  This means the air conditioning units in the TV studio will have to run less often during the summer months further reducing ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½’s energy use.
  • Bicycle Repair Stations – A student who was an avid cyclists proposed multiple bicycle repair stations to be installed throughout campus.