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UCCS Office of Sustainability Newsletter

 April 2016  

Couldn't attend our latest event? No worries! Check out what you missed by visiting our 
Join us for the following events: 
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Mountain Metro
Try out Mountain Metro for free for the week of April 11-15. Show your UCCS ID and get free fare.

4/12
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Berger Hall
Join us for a screening of the captivating documentary Pump
.
How do we escape our dependency on oil? Come engage in this very important topic
.

4/21
9:00 - 10:15 AM
4 Diamonds to Columbine Hall
Do you bike to campus? Do you WANT to bike to campus? Take on the challenge to beat the hill. Two races: 9 & 10.
Meet at 4 Diamonds Shuttle Stop. Race ends at Columbine Hall. All participants receive a t-shirt, bike swag, and a free lunch ticket. Lunch will be served at 12 on the West Lawn. 

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
West Lawn
Join us in a day to celebrate the earth! We'll have lawn games and sustainable organizations to engage. Eat some Solar S'mores and relax with friends.

4/22
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Meet at UHall Lot 100
Join us to give back to the community in our semesterly clean the stream. Free food for participants. Please wear sturdy closed-toe shoes, sunscreen, and bring a water bottle. Gloves, bags and other materials will be provided.

Clean Ride to Clean the Stream
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Meet at S.O.L.E. Center
Join us on a bike ride through the COS greenway trails while giving back to your community. We'll bike and pickup trash along with the clean the stream crew. Free bike rentals for all participants.

5:00 - 7:00 PM
Roaring Fork
Plant-centered menu focused on nutrition and sustainability with Guest Chef, Lyn Harwell from SEEDS Community Cafe.

7:15 PM
Roaring Fork
Kettle Creek
Watch this documentary that shows the health and mental well-being benefits for eating an all-vegetable diet. Panel discussion to follow.

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Sustainable Economics
Economists have always been interested in sustainability, but they traditionally framed it in terms of investment in capital goods...By the 1970's, environmental economists recognized the "spillover costs" of pollution from treating nature as "free." More recently, ecological economists have fully integrated nature into economic thinking.



Campus Conservation Nationals: Residential Students Reduce Energy
 
This February marked the 3rd Annual Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) at UCCS. Campus Conservation Nationals is a month long conservation challenge that encourages students living in the residence halls to decrease their energy and water use. During the campaign, our residence halls had an overall electricity reduction of 3.19%. That is 1.12% increase from last year's reduction. In terms of electricity, students reduced use by 8,771 kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to averting roughly 15,947 lbs. of CO2 from entering our atmosphere. All in all, the combined efforts of our students helped save $831 in electricity costs. 
 

Hyperloop - Sustainable Transportation of the Future
How would you like to live in Colorado Springs, eat dinner in Denver, and be back to your house in time to get a good night's sleep, all while not driving?
Impossible? Not for the HyperFalco team! 

In January of 2016, a team composed of UCCS and Air Force Academy (AFA) students took part in the SpaceX Hyperloop design contest( http://www.spacex.com/hyperloop), working together to get a jump on the promising technology. Radu Cascaval, associate professor in the Math Department, served as one of the faculty advisors for the team. "Hyperloop is a proposed new form of transportation...consisting of pods traveling through low-pressure tubes at high speeds," explains Cascaval. 

Green Action Fund: Green for Green
Want to see more renewable energy at UCCS? Have a desire to decrease out campus' water use? Do you have an idea for new technology that will help decrease our carbon footprint and emissions? The Green Action Fund wants your ideas and projects!
 
The Green Action Fund (GAF) supports student, staff and faculty driven projects designed to increase sustainable development, operations and practices in the UCCS community. A student fee of $5 per student per semester provides the funds. So, if someone on campus has a sustainable idea - GAF has the funds. 

Students for Environmental Awareness and Sustainability Update

S.E.A.S. was founded in 2003 by a group of impassioned students, including our very own Linda Kogan, that wanted to bring sustainability to UCCS. S.E.A.S. is a student-run group that aims to educate the campus about conservation and sustainability practices. S.E.A.S. has been actively initiating change at UCCS, including taking the lead on the first UCCS LEED gold building, implementing the successful Take Back the Tap campaign, establishing the Heller student garden, and leading the UCCS divestment campaign.

  • Meetings: Every other Thursday 9:45 a.m. @ Sanatorium Grounds in University Center
  • Student Garden - Located in the Heller Center, the Student Garden is aimed towards forming a permaculture with sustainable design, promoting the importance of mindfulness when it comes to the environment.
  • Find us on Facebook
  • Check out our website: http://www.uccs.edu/~seas/
 Volunteer Spotlight

Kylie Miller
An Ecology and Evolution major at UCCS, Kylie can often be found at Sustainability events and behind the scenes planning them. The Office of Sustainability  thanks you for all of your hard work and dedication, Kylie. We couldn't do it without you and  your beautiful spirit!
Thank you, Kylie!
 
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