'Green' Student Group Formed

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A new campus group wants to make every day Earth Day. From purchasing local produce to powering the UA campus with solar and wind energy, the Students for Environmental Sustainability hope to effect changes both small and large that make a difference.

“It’s all about changing habits, and change is not easy,” said Lauren Bennett, a senior communication major. Keeping your car tuned, turning off computers at night, and unplugging appliances that charge phones and MP3 players are just some of the actions that save energy, she said.

Bennett and long-time friend Shannon Wallace, a third-year landscape architecture student, cofounded Students for Environmental Sustainability this spring in response to the Campus Climate Challenge, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition. The UA group, which counts 60 students from across campus on its mailing list, will launch education and service efforts this week by cohosting “Earth Day Every Day” April 18-20 on the Union mall. Expect solar-powered music, carbon footprint calculators and a street theater visualization of carbon emissions involving balloons and Hefty trash bags.

To celebrate Earth Day, the students will plant trees at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 22, at the Willow Heights subsidized housing located at 10 S. Willow Ave. in Fayetteville.

“It’s a terrible site, so exposed to the wind,” said Shannon Wallace. “There’s nothing growing there. We're going to plant the trees near the playground area so children can play in the shade and their parents can watch them in a comfortable setting.”

The students collected eight trees in the tree give away at the Fayetteville Farmers’ Market and are seeking donations from local nurseries.

“Native species would take the least water but we can’t be picky — we’ll take what we can get,” Wallace said.

"I’m impressed by these students’ passion for sustainability, and pleased that they’re launching activities now. April is national landscape architecture month, and I can't think of a better time for them to engage in education and service that support sustainability on campus and in the community," said Fran Beatty, head of the landscape architecture department.

Next year, the group plans a survey to determine what changes students would most like to see on campus. Their proposed initiatives are ambitious, ranging from a “green” retrofitting of the entire UA campus to use of bio-diesel fuels on campus buses.

“These changes are big; some might require changes in the student fee,” Wallace said. “We’d like to promote one action that could make an impact.”

Wallace and Bennett have already met with Mike Johnson, associate vice chancellor of Facilities Management, and Jon Johnson, director of the newly created UA Center for Applied Sustainability. They were heartened when Chancellor John White signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment in February. White was among the first 100 college leaders in the nation to sign the commitment, which is a pledge by the presidents to reduce and ultimately neutralize greenhouse gas emissions on their campuses.

“It seems like we’ve come along at the right time, because there’s a sustainability buzz on campus,” Bennett said. “Ultimately, we hope to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future to meet their needs.”

The new student group is one of many sustainable initiatives taking place on the University of Arkansas campus. To learn more about green research and project development at the university, visit http://sustainability.uark.edu.