Houston Universities Participate in Fundraiser for Native Prairie Parks
The Katy Prairie Conservancy recently launched a fundraiser, called Grassroots for Change, to build pocket prairies at Houston-area universities, including the University of Houston, Rice University and the University of St. Thomas. The funding will be used to install and maintain native plant areas on campus.
Michigan State U Applies Organic-Based Liquid to Combat Ice & Snow
In alignment with the university's strategic framework, Landscape Services recently began using a liquid deicer derived from beet juice in an effort to reduce chlorides in the environment. Sidewalk snow removal teams are also equipped with special brooms that are now used during lighter snow events, which has helped cut down on salt use as well.
U Connecticut Constructs Wildlife Corridor
A new road that links the Storrs campus to a local route was engineered with a wildlife corridor that enables critters as small as salamanders to larger ones such as white-tailed deer to cross the road without danger from vehicular traffic. Further, the path of the road was designed to minimize destruction of surrounding wetlands.
Smith College Students Test Permeable Surface
A student design will transform a 12-car parking area into a laboratory to test the effectiveness and effects of permeable pavement. Instrumentation will collect data from runoff and compare water quality between the permeable asphalt and traditional asphalt surface.
Georgia Piedmont Technical College Partners for Tree Planting Event
The college and Trees Atlanta teamed up to plant 30 trees across one of its campuses in an effort to make the college a more environmentally-friendly and beautiful place for the campus community. Planted species include hornbeam, ginkgo, crape myrtle, cypress, linden, oak and blackgum trees.
U Colorado Boulder Expands Pollinator-Friendly Landscaping
The specialized landscaping across campus, totaling about 10,000-square-feet of land, is pollinator-friendly, can withstand heavy heat and minimal water, and enables pesticide-free practices to continue. The project was funded by the campus' sustainability fund and involved students from the university's Environmental Center and permaculture class.
Edge Hill U Earns Keep Britain Tidy Green Flag Award
(U.K.): The award recognizes the university’s efforts in minimizing the environmental impact of its activities, maintaining natural habitats through its commitment to biodiversity, and developing a sustainable campus for the enjoyment of students, staff and the local community.
Pennsylvania State U Students Plan Student Farm
Dozens of students are now involved in planning a student-centered farm initiative that includes plans for a new minor in sustainable food systems. Students are involved in strategy for the future farm including what farming techniques will be deployed, research about financial resources and workforce of other student farms, and fundraising.
North Carolina State U Students Establish Bee Habitat & Garden
This year students from the university's College of Veterinary Medicine have been busy as bees establishing a habitat for bees and a community garden on campus with the help of a $7,000 grant from the NC State Sustainability Fund. Featuring an assortment of pollinator-friendly and native plants, the garden is an educational space for future vets to learn about medicinal & toxic plants.
San Francisco State U Showcases Water-Efficient Irrigation System
The campus recently installed a centrally-controlled irrigation system that reduced water consumption on athletic fields by 30 percent by calculating the amount of moisture in the air and soil to determine water needs. The system will be expanded to help the campus meet the governor's 25 percent water-reduction mandate.
Rice U Earns Tree Campus USA Honor
Arbor Day Foundation recently granted the university Tree Campus USA designation for its commitment to managing campus trees, developing connectivity with the community beyond campus borders to foster healthy, urban forests, and striving to engage their students and community in forestry efforts.
Morehead State U Earns Tree Campus USA Designation
The university was recently honored with 2014 Tree Campus USA recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management. The dedication celebration included a tree walk, tree planting, and a chalk it up event where students wrote and created art about what benefits trees provide.
U Kentucky Adopts New Sustainability Policy for Campus Landscapes
The university will use the principles and resources developed by the Sustainable SITES Initiative™ as guidelines for integrating the institution’s commitment to sustainability with projects that impact campus landscapes. Contribution to air quality, water filtration and management, wildlife habitats, energy, and human health all define sustainable landscapes through the SITES program.
Southern Oregon U Named First Bee Campus USA
On April 8, 2015, the university and Bee City USA will announce the launch of the national Bee Campus USA program, designed to marshal the strengths of college campuses for the benefit of pollinators. The university collaborated with Bee City USA to develop the guidelines for certification after being inspired by early adopters of Bee City USA, such as SOU’s hometown of Ashland, Ore.
U Kentucky Conducts Campus Clean-Up
A beautiful campus and a litter-free campus go hand-in-hand, and groups at the University of Kentucky will be able to care for their own piece of Wildcat country during the month of April. A new element of the Pick It Up campaign, the Adopt-a-Spot program encourages registered UK student organizations, UK offices and other groups to participate in weekly clean-ups to eliminate litter at UK.
U Maryland Receives Funding to Restore Campus Creek
Thanks to a $50,000 grant from the University Sustainability Fund and $1.5 million from the Department of Natural Resources, the waterway notoriously troubled with flooding, sediment and trash will be restored to improve the creek's stormwater output and general functionality.
Berry College Holds Tree Campus USA Honor
In the past year, in addition to meeting the Arbor Day Foundation's requirements for the designation, the college started growing trees from seed and grafts for the sole purpose of replanting its grounds with species that are healthy and native, ensuring that trees of historical or good quality endure for years to come.
Portland State U Earns Tree Campus USA Designation
Its 49-acre urban campus recently earned the designation for meeting Arbor Day's Tree Campus USA 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.
Wesleyan U Students to Build Living Wall
The university’s Wild Walls student group recently announced its plans to build a vertical plant wall on campus this semester focusing on redesigning conventional campus landscaping while promoting self-sustaining ecosystems.
U Arizona Students Redistribute Campus Fruit Tree Produce
(U.S.): A campus with nearly 8,000 trees including citrus, olive, fig and pomegranate, members of the university's LEAF organization, Linking Edible Arizona Forests, have recently begun collecting and distributing edible fruit growing on campus that otherwise would go to waste.
Georgia Tech Manages Invasive Species with Sheep
During the month of November, the university will be using sheep to control kudzu rather and chemical herbicides, which can produce toxic runoff and leave behind tender leading to a potential fire hazard. The university plans to bring the sheep back in spring for a second grazing period.
Bowling Green State U Approves Landscape Master Plan
Approved by the university's board of trustees, the new plan, outlining 53 projects, includes the following guiding principles: keeping the landscape simple and elegant, creating places for people to enjoy, developing outdoor spaces as a learning laboratory, and creating a memorable and beautiful environment.
Emory U to Protect Bees
The university’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives recently released a new campus pollinator protection policy that will protect pollinators to further its sustainability vision to reduce the university's impact on the local environment.
North Carolina State U to Save Trees
To prevent cankerworms from damaging university trees, volunteers will wrap and attach polyfill fabric and special paper around tree trunks this fall, and later they will slather the bands with a sticky paste to prevent eggs being laid.
Hastings College to Create Green Space
The college plans to create a pedestrian mall to replace a busy intersection located between residence halls and the student union by next summer to unite the campus and improve college experience while promoting an increase in green areas.
U Central Florida Patents Innovative Soil Media
A soil product recently created by the university to keep grass and plants firmly rooted and thriving while also providing significant filtration and reduction of storm water runoff is now on 50,000 square feet of roofs in Florida.
U Michigan Relocates Tree Older than University
After a petition urging the university to save the 200-year-old tree located where the business school expansion has been planned, donors factored the relocation of the tree into the overall cost of the project.
Auburn U Restores Campus Creek
Giving students, faculty and the community the ability to learn more about water resources, facilities recently restored the ecological function of the creek and included an outdoor classroom.
U Wisconsin Stout Makes Way for Green Space
A building was demolished recently to make a green space and outdoor recreation area for the 925 students who live in four of the university's north campus residence halls. Plans for the lot will most likely include volleyball courts, outdoor seating, grilling areas and a pedestrian walkway.
Vassar College Earns Tree Campus USA Designation
(U.S.): The college earned the new credential by creating a tree committee, which includes faculty, staff, students and community members, creation of a campus tree care plan, observing Arbor Day, and a service-learning project.
Western Illinois U Calculates Value of On Campus Trees
(U.S.): Students from an urban forest management course recently used free U.S. Department of Agriculture software, i-Tree, to estimate benefits of the university's tree canopy including carbon dioxide sequestration, energy savings and shade cover for people enjoying or working in the outdoors. The tree canopy is estimated to cover about 35 percent surface area of campus, which the program equates to roughly $26,000 of annual benefit to the surrounding area.
SUNY Cortland Becomes Tree Campus USA
The establishment of the university's urban forest with 53 tree species recently earned it the designation and will be celebrated by a tour during the school's Green Days festival.
Cleveland State CC Earns Tree Campus USA
The community college was recently honored with 2013 Tree Campus USA recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.
North Carolina State U Spreads Homemade Mulch
A new pilot project between university Grounds Management and the Horticulture Field Labs has resulted in a new type of mulch blended from campus landscape debris and wood chips donated by a local tree company, which will result in cost savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions associated with long-distance hauling and delivery.
U Georgia Uses Goats for Species Control
Over the next couple of months, the goats will help restore the ecological quality of a creek running through campus by munching away at the kudzu, English ivy, privet and other invasive plants that cover the stream banks. Students will have the opportunity to learn about urban water quality and invasive species.
Berry College Attains Tree Campus USA Status
The college was honored by Arbor Day with the new recognition after following the guidelines set forth including the creation of a comprehensive tree management plan for its 27,000 trees.
