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Changing a Bulb Changes Everything
By Emily-Sarah Lineback, Connections
How many students does it take to change a light bulb? Ideally, all of them, plus faculty and staff...and everybody reading this article (not to mention everybody else on Earth). And don't replace that incandescent light bulb with another one; make it a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). You'll find out why at the end of this article.
No, you didn't miss the punchline. It's no joke and instead a serious subject: sustainability--one that more universities, including UNCG, are tackling full force.
What is sustainability? Simply put, it's living in such a manner to utilize and preserve (instead of deplete and harm) the Earth's environment and resources.
"Sustainability is pervasive across everything the university does," says Dr. Anna Marshall-Baker, an associate professor in HES's Interior Architecture Department and chair of UNCG's Faculty Senate (this group's 51 members exercise the legislative powers of UNCG's General Faculty, the overall governing body of the faculty composed of all its members).
When Marshall-Baker became senate chair, she brought with her a sustainability initiative. "But if you had told me that I was going to attempt to change the culture of the university, I would have just laughed," she says candidly. Initially, she was just happy to have a larger forum in which to talk about it.
"An awareness developed," from early talks, "and that's exactly what we need--to raise awareness. It's working because we were able to unify conversations and efforts that were happening across campus but independently of one another."
What does this mean for higher education? "Sustainability affects every way the university operates--its mission, teaching, research...all of that can be impacted by it," acknowledged Marshall-Baker.
"If you look at sustainability in terms of human health," she says, pausing to give an example, "students in dorms have been asking housekeeping, 'What kinds of products are you using to clean our dorms?'" As a result of that, housekeeping looked at what they were doing and the products they used and decided to make some changes. "In terms of dining, what are the students eating? What are we feeding them? In that respect, there's an aspect of sustainability dealing directly with health." Other aspects deal with operations: Can UNCG purchase more renewable forms of energy? Can we construct green buildings on campus? The list is endless.
"It's what some people have described as a moral imperative," Marshall-Baker continues. "If you're teaching, it's just irresponsible not to deal with the issues...I had this concern when I started looking into the status of sustainability for higher education."
Marshall-Baker compares this growing concern to "a wave swelling and rushing to shore. Universities are getting engaged in this rapidly. It has caught fire across the United States." It has likewise caught fire on campus, as people realized individuals throughout UNCG were interested in and working on sustainability issues--"working, but not engaged with others--so part of this initiative has been to unify those conversations and create a coordinated effort toward sustainability at the university level. That's how this committee got started."
Last September, Marshall-Baker with Dr. A. Edward Uprichard, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Dr. Reade Taylor, vice-chancellor for business affairs, formed the UNCG Committee on Sustainability. It quickly grew to 54 members representing faculty, staff, students and administrators; its chair is Jenny Paige, the university's environmental and sustainability coordinator.
"We didn't have preconceived notions of what kind of groups we would need. We asked people to describe what their interests are in sustainability. For many individuals, they had been doing these things already, personally, and now they're translating into it what we can do at work."
The interests of the groups focused on eight indicators: Land Use, Waste & Recycling, Health & Safety, Academics & Culture, Communication & Outreach, Green Building, Dining Services and UNCGreen. By the end of the academic year, each working group will have identified two-year and four-year goals, prioritized and strategized how those goals will be accomplished and identified the stakeholders on campus necessary for the groups to achieve their goals.
"We are very excited about the level of energy that is in each of these groups," Marshall-Baker shares. "They're made up of half staff, half faculty and range from housekeepers to vice chancellors, lecturers to full professors; it's a microcosm of the university. Everybody is coming to the table, and it's a level playing field in each group. Individuals talk, discuss, collaborate and strategize how to move the university forward in a sustainable way."
One working group is the student group, UNCGreen. Taking a closer look at the way things are currently done on campus, and exploring change when needed, is part of this group's focus. "For instance, one thing they're asking is, 'Why are we selling incandescent light bulbs on campus when we could be selling compact fluorescent light bulbs? Let's ask them to only sell CFLs.' That's one of the consequences of bringing this group together. It's very rewarding to see this kind of conversation happen on campus."
"I teach in Interior Architecture," says Marshall-Baker, who has taught for the past 15 years and been with HES since 2001, "so we have been dealing with questions of sustainable design for a long time. It was easy for me to continue to do what I was already doing without realizing it. I'm embedded with people who have these same concerns, but with the larger population you say, Wait, we still have people who say there isn't global warming? This can't be approached only by a design perspective. It takes more than our knowledge about the built environment....We need to engage the university to change the culture of sustainability and better educate our students, because they're the ones who will be dealing with this head on. This is the future. If we're teaching the future, and we are, then it's our responsibility to teach them how to be prepared..."
"This is the story I tell my students," she begins. "It's easy for me to teach that if you buy a CFL, you'll save X amount of dollars and X amount of energy*--but the best way to use that CFL is to turn it off when you leave the room. Anyone can teach that. If that becomes the culture of our university, then that's just how we behave. Faculty don't turn over quickly, but the students do every four years...so if that becomes the practice of the university, then the students can not only have a formal education but also everyday exposure to sustainable practices." Marshall-Baker says she is confident sustainability at UNCG will continue and is excited that the university can be a leader in this effort.
"Sustainability can be realized on this campus in many ways, and all of them are beneficial not only to the university but to the general community."
*Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) use about 65% less energy than incandescent ones. CFLs initially cost about 30% more, but they can last up to 10 times longer.
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