Illinois Wesleyan U Earns Bee Campus USA Designation
A coalition of students, faculty and Bloomington residents transformed the university's Peace Garden into a safe haven for bees and other native pollinators, enabling the university to become a newly designated affiliate of Bee Campus USA.
Bowie State U Install Edible Landscaping
At the end of October, students, faculty and staff planted a fruit tree orchard on campus consisting of 25 apple and pear trees donated by a non-profit charity. Food from the trees will be used by dining services, while also combating hunger and enhancing plant services curriculum.
Colorado State U Curtails Landscape Irrigation
Through October and November, the university will curtail all landscape irrigation that uses domestic water and has voluntarily reduced raw water irrigation as well. This effort is in support of the citywide push for an early shift to winter levels of water use.
Wayne State U Pilots Composting
The university's Office of Campus Sustainability, grounds department and dining contractor began a collaboration in late September to collect pre-consumer food waste from Towers Café and yard waste from the university’s grounds department. The material will be composted and then returned to the university for use by the grounds department.
Pace U Earns Bee Campus USA Designation
The university's Pleasantville campus is now a certified affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program. The program is designed to increase public awareness of the role that pollinators in the ecosystem play, which the university aims to do by posting educational signage and hosting pollinator-focused events.
U Wisconsin Stout Begins Using Enviro-Friendly Weed Control Technology
The new technology uses 200-degree water and a biodegradable foaming agent comprised of a blend of coconut and palm kernel oils, rapeseed oil, glucose, polysaccharides derived from the natural fermentation of glucose, and glutamic acid derived from sugar beets. The Stout Student Association Sustainability Council paid for a portion of the cost of the machine.
Pennsylvania State U Plants Wildflowers on Solar Farm
In early June, National Pollinators Month, 32 million seeds were planted around and under 10 acres of solar panels. The wildflower varieties are highly attractive to pollinators such as native bees, honey bees and butterflies, playing a vital role in supporting food and flowering plants.
U Pittsburgh Becomes Bee Campus USA Certified
Earning the certification through the nonprofit Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, the university has committed to educating the community on pollinator conservation and to supporting pollinators by establishing native-plant habitats, providing nesting sites and reducing pesticide use. Efforts already underway include the student-led Bee Friendly Pitt project that placed seven bee houses around campus to shelter solitary bees; the existence of four student-designed pollinator gardens; and the university’s practice of prioritizing native varieties of perennials, shrubs and trees in campus plantings.
U Rhode Island Farm Receives Organic Certification
Three acres used to conduct crop research at the university was recently certified as organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organics Program. Now the acreage will be used to conduct research on organic production methods and for comparison studies of organic and conventional crop production. The land will also be used in classes on sustainable crop production.
Five University Hospitals Receive Tree Campus Designation
The Medical University of South Carolina, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, University of Alabama at Birmington Hospital, and University of Kentucky Healthcare earned the new designation by demonstrating a commitment to improving community wellness through tree planting, education and community engagement. This is demonstrated by distributing free trees to community members and using trees to create therapeutic landscapes on campus.
Boston U Student Research to Aid Carbon Reductions From Landscaping
The university aims to convert some of its mulched spaces to plants and trees after research from the Campus Climate Lab and an earth and environment undergraduate student revealed that mulch and the maintenance of grass lawns negatively impacts the campus’ carbon cycle.
Seattle U Earns Tree Campus USA Designation
The newly achieved certification signals the university's commitment to campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. It achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA’s five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project.
Washtenaw CC Earns Bee Campus USA Designation
The community college now boasts the pollinator-friendly certification after meeting the Bee Campus USA requirements, which include providing pollinator-friendly landscaping, eliminating toxic fertilization and eradication techniques, and providing educational events about pollinators.
