New sustainability report outlines UNL's Earth-friendly activities

April 22 is Earth Day, and do you know how 'green' your university is?

A new report on sustainability, completed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln last week, outlines 70 Earth-sustaining projects and practices in the areas of transportation, facilities management, recycling and waste reduction, natural resources conservation and management, energy and utility operations, research areas and publications.

"Given the national interest in sustainability, interest from the media in UNL's activities, and interest from our students, faculty and staff in increasing our focus on sustainability and Earth-friendly practices, we put together the list of sustainability initiatives that are happening right now at UNL," said Christine Jackson, vice chancellor for business and finance. "We hoped to get as broad a view as possible within the Division of Business and Finance, Housing and Dining Services. Additionally the Office of Research provided a list of some research initiatives, programs and events, and publications that focus on sustainability."

Jackson said the summary, which will be updated annually, will be helpful to outline areas of strength and to provide some focus for improvement moving forward.

Ted Weidner, assistant vice chancellor for facilities, management and planning, said the report is a broad list and focuses on activities universitywide (e.g., composting agricultural research manure and using mulching mowers to providing discounts on bus and commuter passes to using new Earth-friendly T8 lamps and fan walls; installing energy-efficient windows and HVAC systems, and encouraging the serving of locally grown foods).

"Hopefully what this summary can do is help get more people interested in sustainability and especially ways that we can be more Earth-friendly in ways that are cost-effective as well," he said. Larger areas of emphasis have been in recycling, cutting back on energy use, construction designs that meet and exceed LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) measures, managing water and chemicals and making good decisions that protect the Earth for the long term.

"What we try to encourage faculty, staff and students to think about is what they're using and not taking more than what they're going to use, and throwing away the rest. Recycling and sustainability is everyone's responsibility," he said.

The report is available at http://bf.unl.edu. Click on the "Sustainability Initiatives" link.