Boston University
EN-3: Student Life

Boston University currently has 20 campus community groups, all student-goverened, related to sustainability of which three are directly focused on sustainability. The Environmental Student Organization strives to raise environmental awareness and create beneficial environmental change on campus as well as in the surrounding Boston community through outreach campaigns and community service. The BU Energy Club is a broad-based group consisting of graduates, undergrads, alumni and professors that serves as a link between scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, business-persons, and aspiring policy-makers & government officials at Boston University and other schools in the Greater Boston Area. They aim to synthesize energy-related ideas from a multi-disciplinary stream of educational and professional sources to advance our understanding of energy and its role within society, industry, technology and policy through empirical, objective energy-related education and outreach. The US Green Building Council Student Group (USGBC Students) recruits, connects and equips the next generation of green building leaders by empowering them to transform their campuses, communities, and careers. USGBC Students at Boston University allows both graduate and undergraduate students to contribute to BU’s mission to encourage sustainable construction and renovation building projects. Members also receive great benefits such as reduced student rates for LEED AP certification, networking and career support, seminars, and campaign resources. http://people.bu.edu/buenergy/bios.htm http://www.bu.edu/sustainability/what-you-can-do/join-a-club/usgb-students/

The Boston University Greenhouse sits atop the Stone Science Center at the College of Arts and Sciences where it has been utilized and enjoyed in various capacities since the building's construction in 1930. The space is currently shared between the Organic Gardening Club (OGC), a student group dedicated to growing plants and sharing knowledge, and a few faculty members of the Earth and Environment Department who incorporate hands-on greenhouse research into their coursework. The OGC is a group of students with varied experiences and skill levels united by an interest in growing plants and community without the use of harmful chemical fertilizers or pesticides. They meet regularly to garden, share tips, and socialize. Plants are grown in a wide variety of containers, including a 4'x12' raised bed. Plants such as tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, corn, sunflowers, carrots, radishes, peppers, and various kinds of lettuce and herbs are grown and managed collectively by students during periodic workdays, with a schedule for regular weeding and watering. Several worm compost bins provide a nutritious and renewable soil amendment to supplement purchased organic potting soils and fertilizers. The Greenhouse also houses a small library and serves as a meeting place for other green groups on campus. http://www.bu.edu/sustainability/the-secret-roof-garden-2/

sustainability@BU interns manage the Sustainability Help Desk, which promotes sustainability on campus while partnering with a local business. Two times a week, the Sustainability Help Desk gives students an opportunity to learn about recycling, with an emphasis on electronic waste management. It operates at high-traffic student areas in the George Sherman Union.

Throughout the year BU hosts many sustainable events on campus; these include guest speakers discussing issues ranging from plastics in the environment and renewable energy to global climate change . The annual sustainability@BU Festival and Earth Day celebrations showcase organizations of the Sustainable Student Network and other groups that are actively promoting a broad range of sustainable activities. The following is a list of some of the events held on campus that engage the Boston University community: Earth Week Earth Day Carbon Day Recyclemania sustainability@BU Festival (Charles River Campus) EcoRep Symposium

In 2013, from January through April, BU hosted Alternative Visions/Sustainable Future, a cross-disciplinary and collaborative project that responds to current environmental issues and the potential to effect change through critical dialogue and innovative practices. Boston University’s 808 Gallery served as the project’s hub to convene events, lectures, student-driven educational forums, and community outreach, and BU students were able to learn from artists that support and promote sustainability in their work such as Chris Jordan, Andrea Zittel and Amy Franceschini. In 2014, Boston University is hosting exhibitions by Cullen Washington Jr., as well as Shannon Cochrane & Márcio Carvalho, who all use recycling as their primary source of material, addressing the topic of material production and accumulation. Additonally, sustainability@BU and the BU Arts Initiative hosted to host a Sustainable Art Contest as part of the Earth Day Festival in Spring 2014. http://www.bu.edu/cfa/sustainability/ http://www.bu.edu/cfa/events/?eid=148159 http://www.bu.edu/cfa/events/?eid=148152&oid=40

The BU Outing Club (BUOC) is a student-led organization that plans dozens of outdoor events throughout the year including hiking, biking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, canoeing, and more. Their mission is to promote an appreciation for the natural environment through outdoor recreational activities.

The First-Year Student Outreach Project (FYSOP) offers incoming Boston University students a unique opportunity to get settled in their new community by performing a week of community service before classes begin. A focus on the environment is one of the service options available to applicants of the program. Students in the environment FYSOP group explore how environmental degradation impacts people and communities, and then use what they have learned to take positive actions through community service in the Boston community. The program aims to educate first-years and staff about the environment and to empower them to enact meaningful change.

The School of Education’s Pickering Library recently opened the Sustainability Resources Center, a collaboration between the library and sedGreen. The Center, which also serves as a Green Meeting space, features a conference table, curricula, books, films, dvds with a player and monitor, Kill-o-Watt meters, and other materials that will help the University become more earth systems literate and effective when teaching how to build a healthier, sustainable planet.

sustainability@BU employs students from the university to develop, promote and implement sustainable practices throughout the university. The student interns work with the Sustainability Director and the Outreach Coordinator, and collaborate with different organizations on campus throughout the year. Ranging from graphic design and metrics management to outreach and certification coordination, sustainability@BU offers its interns professional experience and individual responsibilities in University sustainability infrastructure. BU Dining Services employs a team of students as Sustainability Interns as well. From catering to food and waste management, they focus on increasing sustainable practices within the food system of the University and of its surrounding community. Branch Out, a BU organization that connects students with opportunities to learn about and be stewards of Boston’s urban ecosystem, employs a student to be their program manager. The Resident Assistant of the Earth House, a BU specialty community residence, is hired by the university to support its residents. Earth House members share a passion for the environment and an interest in exploring areas such as climate change, biodiversity, renewable energy, and environmental policy, and together they look to promote sustainablity and sustainable actions on campus. http://www.bu.edu/dining/about-us/sustainability/sustainability-coordinator/