Conservation, efficiency and environmental awareness came to campus Tuesday afternoon when the Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series on Nature and the Environment began with "Greening the Campus: How Universities are Improving Environmental Performance and Sustainability." The talk was delivered by Julian Keniry, director of Youth and Campus Programs at the National Wildlife Federation.
Keniry spoke of many environmental projects that universities throughout the nation are using to reduce pollution and wasted resources while saving considerable amounts of money.
"Julian Keniry has been a national leader by helping transform college campuses into living models of a more ecologically sustainable," said Rich Miller, UConn's director of environmental policy in a press release.
"Greening the Campus" projects can include alternative fuels, recycling, composting, energy efficiency and landscaping techniques.
Keniry showed that universities and colleges generally want to conserve resources but few do so.
"Are we running our academics with the knowledge taught in our academics?" Keniry asked. Many schools are teaching their students about ecological problems created by humans while also ignoring those same problems at the same time.
Many successful conservation projects from other universities were used to show how simple acts could create dramatic changes such as replacing traditional showerheads and light bulbs in dormitories with more efficient models. Keniry pointed out that over 300 energy conversation projects saved the University of Buffalo $9 million a year, while students voted at the University of Colorado to increase tuition by one dollar to purchase a wind turbine and reduce electrical costs.
Keniry mentioned the lack of environmental education, as well, during her lecture.
"Only 8 percent of colleges and universities require all students to take an environmental course," Keniry said.
UConn's efforts to become an environmentally friendly institution have recently picked up speed.
"We have an environmental council in place, made up of faculty, staff and students, where we discuss problems throughout the campus," Miller said.
In the next few months the council is expecting to announce an environmental policy for the university, according to Miller.
A main theme for the lecture was the power students could gain if they organize themselves to accomplish a common goal. Locally, UConn students have not shown much support for environmental programs, according to Meghan Ruta, one of Miller's interns.
"They're not necessarily apathetic but unaware," Ruta said.
Keniry commented on the construction on campus, as well.
"There's going to be a lot of water runoff so there should be efforts to limit impeccable surfaces," Keniry said.
The loose water may pool into streams and cause not only flooding but pollution which would disturb the natural ecosystems, Keniry said.
New "water gardens" have been placed around the Towers dining hall and are being tested; they are designed to collect excess water for plants while adding a pleasing landscape to the campus.
The speech was free to the public and took place in the Biological Sciences & Physics building.
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