WECAN, West Virginia University’s sustainability program, is teaming with the Student Government Association and multiple colleges and departments across campus for the 2013 Spring Sustainability Awareness Week in an effort to raise awareness and promote sustainability as well as demonstrate WVU’s commitment to sustainability.
The event will kick off on Sunday, Feb. 24 with SGA and WVU Greek Life holding a Campus Cleanup.
“SGA and the Greek community on campus felt it was important to clean up areas near campus where wind and water deposit trash, and they’ll also be separating out recyclables,” said Traci Liebig, conservation specialist at WVU. “Clean-up events help students see that they can make positive differences in the larger Morgantown community, and that they aren’t just passive part-time residents.”
Throughout the rest of the week, Feb. 25-March 1, there will be numerous events at various locations on campus to showcase the many different ways that WVU students and the larger community can practice sustainability in their daily lives. Some of those events include: “Students 4 Sustainability,” where WVU Sustainability interns highlight their current and ongoing projects; “Taste Not Waste” where student Eco-Reps and Dining Services team up to raise awareness about the recent dining waste audit and reducing food waste in dining halls; “Green Career Fair,” where WVU Career Services will spotlight employers with green career opportunities; and “WEGO Alternative Transportation,” where the Department of Transportation and Parking will highlight all of its alternative transportation programs.
Each day of Sustainability Awareness Week is designed to offer a sustainability theme that is different and exciting for the students and community. There will be lots of information and demonstrations, games and prizes, pledge signing opportunities, appearances by Evive, U92 radio and more.
WVU is working toward being a campus that practices sustainability. Raising awareness and engaging the campus community on the economic, environmental, and social fronts is vital to reap the often un-tapped spectrum of benefits, both in the present and future.
For more information about Sustainability Awareness Week and a complete listing of the week’s events visit http://wecan.wvu.edu.
