University of Wyoming students Branden Hayes and Ashley Perkins explained UW's resident
hall sustainability efforts during a recent national conference in Denver.
Hayes, a senior in energy resource science from Pueblo, Colo., and Perkins, a second-year
law student from Fort Collins, Colo., presented "The 4 R's: Residents Reduce, Re-use,
& Recycle" at the recent Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher
Education (AASHE) conference.
"At UW, we are making great strides to achieve sustainability. Because the residence
halls have the highest concentration of people in Wyoming, we feel we have an obligation
to educate and encourage students to become more sustainable in their everyday lives,"
Hayes says. "We've had many successes in implementing our programs, and AASHE was
an opportunity to share our experience with others in higher education."
The AASHE conference is North America's largest campus sustainability conference,
attended by more than 2,000 participants with approximately 100 presentation sessions.
"Any full-time professional would be proud to present at such a prestigious national
conference; for students to warrant such a distinction is clearly a testament to the
quality of UW's student leadership," says Associate Director of Residence Life, Tony
Earls. "It was clear that those attending Branden and Ashley's presentation were impressed
by the sustainability activities of the residents on the UW campus. Both had to stay
for quite a while after the presentation was over to answer questions."
UW is a member of AASHE, which consists of colleges and universities that are working
to create a sustainable future.
