May 10, 2010
Nick Rangel of Steamboat Springs, Colo., left, senior in business administration,
and marketing senior Eric Whiting of Glenwood Springs, Colo., examine some of the
furniture contributed to a recycling program developed by students in the campus sustainability
class. Furniture contributed by students leaving town in the spring will be available
to incoming freshmen next fall. (UW Photo)
Students in this semester's campus sustainability class completed projects ranging
from designing a storage shed on a student farm to installing equipment to reduce
energy used by campus vending machines.
In response to an increased demand for sustainability classes, the Haub School of
Environment and Natural Resources teamed up with the College of Business to offer
the increasingly popular Campus Sustainability class. Led by Deborah Paulson, associate
professor in the Department of Geography, and Melea Press, assistant professor in
the Department of Management and Marketing, students were challenged to develop and
pursue projects that support sustainability on the UW campus.
This class included students from the departments of Art, English, Biology, Kinesiology
and Health, Geography, Management and Marketing, Family and Consumer Sciences and
Political Science plus some from the architectural engineering program in the College
of Engineering and Applied Science.
Following are a few of the projects students completed:
-- Developed a system to recycle furniture contributed by students moving out of town
in the spring to give to incoming freshmen in the fall.
-- Designed a new storage shed with energy efficient features largely from recycled
materials to expand production for the ACRES Student Farm.
-- Proposed installation of vending machine misers to save energy (misers save energy
by turning off lighting and managing compressor cooling cycles when they are not needed).
-- Surveyed student athletes about recycling attitudes and practices.
-- Conducted research to connect local food producers to UW's food services.
-- Conducted awareness campaigns to promote sustainable behavior and bike travel.
"The class is a project-based course that develops students' critical thinking and
leadership skills through problem-based learning," says Paulson, a member of the Campus
Sustainability Committee. She says the class is offered each spring semester.
