face it... green looks good on you.

Take a moment to learn what some of your campus peers are doing to become environmental stewards on the campus of Michigan State University and beyond.

reduce

Born and raised in China, Mumu knows how important it is to reduce our environmental impact. Mumu has been very enthusiastic about “going green” and sharing her stories of how Chinese people reduce the consumption of energy, water and waste.

With a population of over 1 billion people, China has a large impact on the environment. Just like in China, Mumu brings her own silverware or uses reusable chopsticks. She takes her water in bottles or mugs so she doesn’t have to use disposable cups.

As Mumu grew up, she walked 30 minutes every day to her elementary school, middle school and high school. Eighty (80) percent of her hometown did not drive cars - instead people took buses, subways, bikes, or walked. At MSU, Mumu continues to reduce waste by using reusable bags and bottles and turning off her lights when she leaves. She takes the bus to and from her apartment on to campus and gets plenty of exercise walking around campus and to work.

Mumu’s Grandma also taught her some special tips to save water and energy. She would make the best use of every drop of the water in her house. She would first use the water to clean the vegetables before she cooks them, then use the water again to wash the dishes. And Mumu used to be disciplined by her Grandma if she left the lights or any electronic devices on when she left the room.

While at MSU, being Spartan green comes naturally. And best of all, she knows that her Grandma would be proud of her!

reuse and recycle

A few years ago recycling was the furthest thing from the mind of Marcus Coleman. Marcus attended Southern University, a historically black university in Louisiana, where recycling wasn’t readily available. “At our school, students did not really focus on recycling because resources were limited. It wasn’t a big deal like it is at Michigan State University. We as students just were not educated institutionally on the importance of recycling.”

When Marcus began his Masters program in Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics at MSU, his attitude about recycling changed. “Recycling was readily available and convenient. The recycling bins are right outside my office door. You can literally trip over them as you walk in the hallway.” In addition to the containers everywhere, he was constantly being educated through posters and signs on the recycling bins on what and how to recycle. The extra $0.10 back from the grocery store also helped.

As a student in a sustainable agriculture field, he sees the importance of conservation. “It’s good to make use of resources over and over again instead of using new ones. This helps to make our environment sustainable for years to come. This also helps to ensure that the children of the future have a clean and attractive environment to live in.”

Now Marcus recycles paper, cans, and everything in between. He plans on continuing his new ‘green’ behavior after he leaves MSU.

"It became routine in their lifestyle"

Kallie, a junior in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State, is a regular reuser and recycler. Kallie's parents raised her in a home that recycled on a regular basis where she learned the values and practices of becoming more eco-friendly.

She's kept it green at MSU in many ways.

Kallie and her roommate started recycling everything from magazines to old homework assignments when they realized the residence halls provided all of the necessary containers to do so during their sophomore year. It was something that once made available and easy became routine in their lifestyle. Kallie was happy that she was able to return to her old recycling ways.

Additionally, Kallie, like many college students, has a daily need for caffeine; Diet Coke in aluminum cans is her caffeine product of choice. She makes sure she is environmentally conscious about the choice though, by recycling her cans regularly, keeping the cans out of the landfill and collecting some change to feed meters … and her caffeine habit.

While Kallie recycles materials whenever she has the chance, she first tries to reduce waste by reusing things. One easy thing Kallie does to reduce waste is use a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water. Not only is this good for the environment, but cost-effective as well. Now that Kallie is living off campus, she and her roommates make use of their roadside recycling and continue her 'green' habits.

research and reeducate

How does Amol Pavangadkar, multi-media expert and Communications Arts & Sciences instructor, teach students about environmental stewardship? Simple, he leads by example.

Pavangadkar, like many instructors balances teaching obligations with developing new projects and proposals and looking for funding. He also knows how important it is to help students prepare for a “green” future. As a result environmental stewardship is incorporated into his classes through simple actions.

Because Pavangadkar’s classes work with specialized production equipment, he shows students how to use simple steps to manage power use. Additionally, all assignments and grading are done electronically to minimize paper consumption.

Should you visit his office, you will see a nearly paperless office, with his reusable water bottle perched on his desk. He also takes advantage of the natural light in his space to work.

By incorporating simple acts into his lectures, Pavangadkar’s is teaching his students about environmental stewardship and how to incorporate it into their lives and their future professions.

redesign

You don’t have to be a decorator to redesign an old space into a green one. Skye Black, a sociology senior, made her room comfortable and energy efficient by changing all of her lights to compact fluorescent light bulbs.

If Skye is hanging out at home, she makes popcorn and snacks in an Energy Star rated microwave, which she unplugs after cooking to conserve energy. When Skye heads out to meet friends or to study, she turns off her lights when leaving her room. But it doesn’t stop there.

Skye has also been volunteering for a garden project at an inner city elementary school. The program teaches young students how to learn a new way of growing and cooking their food. She teaches young children how to grow their own food, how to cook, and the importance of sustainability. She also uses some of the vegetables to make food for herself.

During her time in South Africa, Skye noticed that to reduce waste and promote reuse, people are charged for grocery bags to promote people bring in re-usable bags. Since her return, Skye always carries her re-usable grocery bags when going to the store. Not only does she help the environment, but she even saves money!

While Skye has made many individual changes in her lifestyle, she has a dream of one day working on the political side of environmental issues and inspiring people to change.

"No one owns the light"

When imagining a sustainable office spaces you may think of grass spouting from the floors and criminal punishment for excess paper use. When it was time to update the Finance and Operations and Investment and Financial Management suite after over 30 years, Christine Carter and others had a tall task.

Christine, along with the finance and operations staff, investments and financial management staff, Herman Miller, the MSU Physical Plant and MSU Interior Design were charged with designing an open, collaborative, environmentally friendly space.

The VPFO office’s “greening” is in the details. ‘No one owns the light’ was the mantra for construction. Natural light flows into the entire office area through the utilization of glass dividers as opposed to cubicles. Lighting controls were installed so that if someone leaves their office for more than a few minutes, their lights automatically turn off.

The office made sure their conference rooms were equipped with the proper technology for video conferencing to minimize traveling. But if anyone in the office does need to go to a meeting nearby, the keys to two office bikes, rented from MSU Bikes are available.

On the user side, every office has a Watt Stopper, or a device that automatically turns off the equipment plugged into it after it senses that no one has been in the office.

Recycled products were also used in the remodel and one need not go far to find a recycling container. All of the old furniture was sent to the MSU Surplus Store and the new Herman Miller furniture was made out of recycled materials.

Most importantly is the message of sustainable work practices that resonates through the office. All employees are encouraged to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. By establishing an environmental message in the work place, energy use and waste has been significantly reduced.

The space helps enhance collaboration and communication as a more inclusive work environment and sets an example of how renovations can incorporate environmental practices.

How do you rethink your world? Share your stories and ideas with us at greenideas@vpfo.msu.edu.