Author Archives: Andrea

RSO Recycling Competition Registration is Officially Open!

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RSO Recycling Competition The University of Arkansas Office for Sustainability (OFS) will host a four-week recycling competition for Registered Student Organizations as a part of RecycleMania 2013 to increase recycling rates and student involvement in sustainability efforts on the University of Arkansas campus.

Participating RSOs will deliver white paper, mixed paper, plastic bottles, glass bottles, steel cans, and Styrofoam to the Sustainability House (located at 238 Harmon Avenue) during regular office hours, 8-4:30 Monday-Friday.

The competition will run for four weeks, beginning Monday, February 4th. The RSO with the largest amount of recyclables within four weeks will receive the grand prize, $350.00 cash and a traveling trophy. Second place will win $100.00 and third place will receive $50.00.

The competition is held in conjunction with RecycleMania 2013, and seeks to highlight the University of Arkansas’ sustinability minor, Zero Waste Goals, and the American College and University’s President Climate Commitment.

Official Contest Rules

  • Registration for the competition begins January 7th and will end January 31st. The competition will begin Monday, February 4th and end Friday, March 1st.
  • The competition is open to all Registered Student Organizations as defined by the UA Division of Student Affairs.
  • RSOs must register with the Office for Sustainability before January 31, 2013 by visiting this link.
  • President and vice president of the RSO must agree to participate, but any members can fill out the registration form.
  • Recyclables are limited to: White paper, mixed paper, plastic bottles, glass bottles, aluminum cans, steel cans, and Styrofoam.
  • Recyclables must be separated by type and bagged prior to delivery at Sustainability House. Bags do not have to be standard trash bags, i.e. reused plastic grocery bags will work.
  • Styrofoam must be clean and separated into bags. Styrofoam is worth ten times its weight.
  • Contamination (non-recyclable material) will result in a weight penalty.

RSOs are invited to register at this link. Good luck!

Photojournalist Intern Opportuntity

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Interns lovin life

This could be you!

Overview:

The Office for Sustainability seeks a Photojournalist Intern for the Spring 2013 semester. Intern will help document the University of Arkansas sustainability goals and will capture a wide-range of sustainability events and programs.  The intern will also leverage their experience and education to spotlight sustainability research of the natural, built, social, and managed systems at the University of Arkansas.   The intern will also assist, as needed, with the implementation of sustainability themed campaigns sponsored by the Office for Sustainability.

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Job Opening: UA Office for Sustainability Energy Corps Position

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You read that correctly: the UA Office for Sustainability has a job opening through the Energy Corps program.
AR Energy Corps

Arkansas Energy Corps members participating in the MLK Day of Service 2012 (Image via Arkansas Energy Corps Facebook page)

Energy Corps is a project of AmeriCorps “created to address unmet community energy needs by promoting sustainable energy consumption and education, fostering community sustainability and helping to mitigate the effects of global climate change.”

The Office has hosted two other EnergyCorps members before, with great success. You too can join a line of great change-makers by applying today.

Besides getting to work with the greatest people alive, working with the Office for Sustainability provides many unique challenges and opportunities to make a difference. This position is focused on public awareness, communications, and project development and management for energy, water conservation and recycling projects. The chosen applicant will work directly with a variety of departments and student organizations on campus to promote energy conservation and waste reduction campaigns such as Campus Conservation Nationals and RecycleMania.

More details about requirements, benefits, and application information can be found here. The deadline is Wednesday, October 10th, so please apply soon!

We look forward to your applications.

EPA Opens Registration for Campus RainWorks Design Challenge Competition

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has opened registration for student teams from colleges and universities across the country to participate in its new design competition, the Campus RainWorks Challenge, through which teams will compete to develop innovative approaches to stormwater management. This first annual competition, will help raise awareness of green design and planning approaches at colleges and universities, and train the next generation of landscape architects, planners, and engineers in green infrastructure principles and design. Stormwater is a major cause of harmful water pollution in urban areas in the U.S., impacting tens of thousands of miles of rivers, streams, and coastal shorelines, as well as hundreds of thousands of acres of lakes, reservoirs, and ponds.

Student teams, working with a faculty advisor, will submit design plans for a proposed green infrastructure project for their campus. Registration for the Campus RainWorks Challenge is open from September 4 through October 5, and entries must be submitted by December 14, 2012 for consideration. Winning entries will be selected by EPA and announced in April 2013. Winning teams will earn a cash prize of $1,500 – $2,500, as well as $8,000 – $11,000 in funds for their faculty advisor to conduct research on green infrastructure. In 2013, EPA plans to expand Campus RainWorks by inviting students to design and complete a demonstration project assessing innovative green infrastructure approaches on their campus.

EPA is encouraging the use of green infrastructure as a solution to help manage stormwater runoff. Green Infrastructure uses vegetation, soils, and natural processes to manage stormwater runoff at its source and provide other community benefits. Green infrastructure is increasingly being used to supplement or substitute for single-purpose “gray” infrastructure investments such as pipes, and ponds. The Campus RainWorks Challenge will help encourage the use of green infrastructure projects on college and university campuses to manage stormwater discharges.

More information on the Campus RainWorks Challenge:

water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/crw_challenge.cfm

July Meeting for the UA Sustainability Council

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The University of Arkansas Sustainability Council will meet Tuesday, July 24th, from 3:30-5  in Willard J. Walker Hall, Room 403.

To see the agenda, click here.

To RSVP to this meeting and make suggestions to the agenda, click here.

To learn more about the Sustainability Council and see minutes from past meetings, click here.

See you there!

Eco-Reps: Changing Dorms, Changing Norms

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The  Association for Advancement for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education  and the National Wildlife Federation released a document two months ago detailing how to create an Eco-Reps program on a college campus.

What is an Eco-Rep, you might ask? Eco-Reps (short for Eco-Representative) are student leaders and educators who engage other students on college campuses around sustainability. From its start at Tufts University in 2001, Eco-Reps has grown to include over 60 programs operating on campuses across the U.S. and Canada. These students participate in trash audits, sponsor energy saving competition among campus residents, and encourage fellow students to make changes in their lifestyle to promote sustainability.

The word “eco” originates from Greek, and means “home”, an idea central to the eco-reps program. These students are intended to live in dorms and engage around sustainable living practices – like an “eco” RA.

Quoting the newly published Eco-Reps guide:

The main motivation for the creation of such programs is a desire to extend outreach efforts for issues such as waste reduction and energy conservation to a broader student audience, beyond those students that are already “eco-minded.”

So, if we, sustainability coordinators in higher education, want to reach beyond “the choir” (those students who are already engaged with sustainability), should we be distinguishing between normal residence training and “Eco-Reps” programs?

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Rio+20 and the OCS

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Last week, Carlos and myself had a lively meeting with Sarah Dayringer, who describes herself as “a member of the Rio Delegation for SustainUS, which is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization of young people advancing sustainable development and youth empowerment in the United States.” Sarah had a lot to tell us about Rio +20, her organization, her work, and how we might collaborate for an exciting project.

Cristo Redentor do Rio de Janeiro

“Rio+20” is the 2012 United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development (UNCSD) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20 years after the Earth Summit, which happened in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.  The Earth Summit produced Agenda 21, and inspired the three UN conventions on biodiversity, climate change and desertification. (For more information about the history of the UN conferences, you can visit this site that Sarah shared with us.) Rio begins on June 20th, and Sarah will be there early coordinating a pre-conference preparatory event called Youth Blast, which will bring together over 2000 youth and children.

Sarah had a lot to share with us about the history of the UNCSD, and the structure of the representation. There are nine Major Groups who are represented at these conferences. SustainUS organizes under the Major Group of Children and Youth. Sarah’s work has focused on the policy positions of US youth through SustainUS and Youth from around the world in the Major Group of Children and Youth, drafting initial policy points, indicators and lobby points, and publishing articles in major news outlets. She is actively involved in helping to shape the future of sustainable development from the perspective of young people, which is something our Office is deeply engaged in. So we had a lot to talk about. Continue reading →