It’s time to add green to the palette of official Wake Forest colors, says Dedee DeLongpré Johnston. Should sustainability be its own academic discipline? Should sustainability be infused into courses across the curriculum? Yes and yes, says the director of sustainability, adding that as Wake Forest prepares students to lead the green jobs revolution, the institution is taking a variety of approaches to integrating sustainability into academics.
The green movement is about a change in the way the campus community views sustainability, and about creating a new mindset, especially among students, to look for creative ways to use the earth’s resources more efficiently, says DeLongpré Johnston. “It’s a way of thinking that will give Wake Forest graduates a competitive advantage in the marketplace,” she says. “College graduates entering the job market definitely have an edge if they have developed sustainability-related skill sets. A green job isn’t just a job with ‘sustainability’ or ‘environment’ in the title. From marketing to publishing to accounting to finance, sustainability is a way of thinking that has value across the job market.”
AN ECO-FRIENDLY FASHION SHOW
featured sustainable clothing, accessories and
beauty products modeled by students.
IMPACT: Raised consumer awareness.
“People get up and get dressed every day,” says
DeLongpré Johnston. “The event gave people
an opportunity to take a seemingly ordinary
activity and see it in a new way. To be conscious
consumers we need to focus on things other
than price as a value.”
TWO CONFERENCES,
“Energizing the Future” and “Taking it to the Next Level: Strategies
for Adaption across the Sustainability Curriculum,” drew business and higher education leaders
from across the country.
IMPACT: Reflects the university’s commitment to sustainable teaching, research and innovation.
REUSABLE TO-GO BOXES
offer
a sustainable carryout alternative to Styrofoam
in the Pit and Magnolia Room.
Containers are washed, sanitized and
reused. Sustainable practices in dining
areas include bulk condiment dispensers
and trayless dining.
IMPACT: Reusable condiment bottles
kept 20,000 bottles out of the landfill
during the 2009–10 academic year;
reusable to-go boxes decreased Styrofoam
box use by 58 percent, or 32,700
boxes. Trayless dining reduced water
consumption by 900 gallons per day.
A MEDITATION GARDEN
has been created
in what was once just a stormwater run-off area at
the corner of Faculty and Wingate Drives.
IMPACT: Walking paths and benches create an
ideal space for reflection, meditation and restoration,
and indigenous plants are being re-introduced to
this already biologically diverse area.
DURING EARTH HOUR Wake
Forest joined over 120 countries and
more than a billion people around the
globe in promoting energy reduction
actions by symbolically “flipping the
switch” on Wait Chapel’s spotlights.
IMPACT: Raised awareness about
energy consumption. Students, faculty
and staff signed pledges to reduce
consumption beyond just the hour
by unplugging unused chargers and
turning off unnecessary lighting.
A SOLAR-ELECTRIC HYBRID SHUTTLE
carries up
to 14 passengers to locations around the Reynolda Campus.
“Wake Forest offers a very walkable campus core. For those
students, faculty and staff needing a lift to or from the outer
edges of campus, the shuttle offers an alternative to driving
and parking,” says DeLongpré Johnston.
IMPACT: Fewer vehicles running through campus,
improved air quality.
GASOLINE-POWERED SHUTTLES
carry riders to and from Deacon
Boulevard, the University Corporate Center, Bridger Field House and selected
off-campus parking lots and apartment complexes.
IMPACT: Reduced number of vehicles on campus, less gasoline used, and
improved air quality. Shuttle service is far more cost-effective than building
additional parking lots.
THE ZIPCAR CAR-SHARING PLAN,
begun in January, offers vehicles for use by
students, faculty and staff, on an hourly or daily
basis for a small fee.
IMPACT: Reduced number of vehicles
on campus, improved air quality and a safer
landscape for cyclists and walkers.
WAKE UP TO FOOD WEEK
was
sponsored by Campus Kitchen to promote
local and sustainable eating. The event
launched the planting season for the
Campus-Raised Organic Produce (CROP)
program. CROP, a student-managed garden
off Polo Road, provides Campus Kitchen
with fresh, organic produce. The garden
also serves as an outdoor research lab and
classroom for faculty.
IMPACT: Increased awareness of sustainable
food systems.
ERASE THE WASTE
Ever wondered what happens to plastic bottles collected for recycling? Some 48,000 of them were worn at
Commencement on May 17 as the university offered earth-friendly graduation robes. Made from fabric spun from
molten plastic pellets, each robe saved about 23 bottles from the landfill. Robes returned to the company were
made into carpet fiber.
IMPACT: Increased awareness of sustainable design, and funding to support the campus sustainability
program. For each gown reclaimed and repurposed, the vendor made a donation.
