The University’s Committee on Sustainability hosted its annual Sustainability Day Tuesday, during which students were able to attend events promoting sustainability efforts on Grounds.
Programs included a workday at Morven Kitchen Gardens, a recycling initiative, a sustainability project exposition, Green Career Conversations with the Career Center, local food stands and a UBike Workshop.
The University Committee on Sustainability’s Events Task Force — which is comprised of the Office for Sustainability, Parking and Transportation, U.Va. Dining, Student Council Sustainability Committee, Madison House, the Career Center and others — coordinates Sustainability Day in the fall each year.
This task force also coordinates Earth Week in the spring, Nina Morris, Office of Sustainability Outreach and Engagement manager, said.
“The goal is to have one day to highlight impactful ways for U.Va.’s community to get involved with sustainability efforts on Grounds,” Morris said.
At the Think Global, Act Local Project Expo, students from the Global Sustainability course presented projects promoting solutions to improve sustainability on Grounds. Topics ranged from improving transportation to promoting education.
Fourth-year Architecture student Deborah Park, whose group focused on transportation, said sustainability is an impactful subject, and she has learned a lot about how it can be implemented.
“We are working on a semester-long project that goes into different areas of where sustainability impacts, but then digs a little deeper,” Park said. “The workshops are split up into different subjects to get more detailed about sustainability.”
Dana Schroeder, Office for Sustainability Outreach and Engagement coordinator, said students frequently follow up with their project proposals, and many are eventually implemented.
“For a long time, Facilities Management has been working with Phoebe Crisman’s Global Sustainability introductory class, so these are all students who’ve been working all semester on these really hands on sustainability projects that we hope to all implement on Grounds,” Schroeder said.
The solar charging table behind Observatory Hill dining hall is an example of one of these projects, Schroeder said.
Sustainability Day also offered students the opportunity to meet with University alumni and Career Counselors in an office-hours style setting to discuss green careers.
“These events are well attended, and there never seems to be a problem when we say we are going to talk about sustainability,” Christie Julien, assistant director for Science, Engineering and Technology for the Career Center, said.
Third-year College student Zach Perkins said he is glad the Career Center provides the opportunity for him to explore green careers and that the event for Sustainability Day helped him think through steps to take during and after college.
“I feel like when I go to career events, they’re only targeted toward people who want to go into medicine or law or business, and I feel I’m getting overlooked sometimes,” Perkins said. “So a green career series like this makes me realize there are opportunities available to me.”
Park said she has been pleased by the University’s awareness campaigns surrounding sustainability and encouraged students to consider sustainable solutions on an achievable level.
“You hear sustainability and immediately you think of the big picture ideas of what sustainability is,” Park said. “But I think in order for it to feel more accessible to students you should show them that sustainability can be a part of their everyday lives, like recycling or composting or even being more aware of your environment.”
Perkins also said the University has done a good job addressing sustainability, but that there is always more to be done by all community members.
“There are endless opportunities for improvement, but U.Va. is also doing a great job with raising awareness and getting stuff done,” Perkins said. “[As for students,] you can take actions by yourself and help educate action, and if you spread the word and get others to take action, there’s a chain reaction, and little things can add up to make a big difference.”
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