Welcome back, Auraria! We hope you enjoyed some good rest and relaxation over break and have returned with new energy for the semester ahead. We here at the ASCP have been very busy and we want to tell you about it.
New Sustainability Coordinator: The ASCP has hired a new Sustainability Coordinator! This means the ASCP is now up to two full time staff members, which means we can accomplish even more! The Sustainability Coordinator will focus on education and outreach efforts to reach a higher % of our campus population through programming and marketing. The February newsletter will go more in depth on this new hire and the other staff that comprise the ASCP's awesome team!
Green Offices Pilot Launch: The ASCP will be launching a Green Offices program this semester to work with 10 academic and program support offices to make their offices more sustainable! Participants will receive compost bins, LED light bulbs and behavior change ideas to reduce their ecological footprint and will walk through an office audit to identify other opportunities to increase sustainable practices. Interested in becoming a Green Office in the future? Email scp_contact@ahec.edu to get more information and to get on the wait list for next semester.
Water Action Plan: Together with MSU's One World One Water Center and the Brendle Group, the ASCP has been working on developing a Water Action Plan to identify water conservation measures for our campus. Over the past several months we developed a baseline to understand current use and trends. By June we hope to have a first draft of strategies to reduce water consumption! Stay tuned for information on a design competition this spring...
5 New Reusable Water Bottle Filling Stations: We've installed five new reusable water bottle filling stations in the Science building! This brings the total count of ASCP-funded water bottle filling stations to 34! Look out for new stickers on these stations in February that teach us why it's important to decrease plastic use. This project, like many of our projects on campus, was initiated through a proposal by MSU student, Kalli Hawkins.
Solar Panels on the Library: The ASCP/AHEC is currently fielding proposals from solar companies to spec out the proposed 700 kW array that will be installed on our Library (hopefully this summer). We are very excited to move this project forward!
Zero-Waste/Compost Expansion Pilot: We are in the process of launching a pilot of some new zero-waste/compost infrastructure, signage and waste sorting education. See article below for more information and how to get involved. We need your help!