Employees urged to think outside box for sustainable strategies
July 17, 2008
University Park, Pa. – Participants in Penn State's second Forum for the Future this month were urged to think differently by creating new opportunities for people to make a difference in improving the environment.
Outlining what he called "easy, effective sustainability strategies," Sal Genito, director of Buildings and Grounds at the University of California at Davis, said sustainability is all about thinking differently.
"What seems to be the smallest, most ordinary idea can turn into something special," he noted. "There is no better place to solve the problems on sustainability than at a university. Some of the smartest people in the world work here. Opportunities are here for us to change behavior and we need to take advantage of them."
Some 200 representatives from units at University Park and from other Penn State campuses took part in the forum on Wednesday, July 16, in the HUB Robeson Center Alumni Hall on the University Park Campus. Sponsored by the Finance and Business Environmental Stewardship Key Initiative in partnership with several other University units, it focused on environmental stewardship in departments and administrative units.
Genito, whose programs and efforts have won national awards for excellence, said that the most important thing anyone can do relating to sustainability is to communicate its importance to faculty, staff, students and the community.
"Most universities, for example, have a tremendous green resource in their landscapes," he added. "Landscape benefits, including carbon dioxide reduction, erosion control, and electricity use reduction from shade trees, can be measured and should be communicated. We can communicate how we are improving the environment by investing in these assets."
Genito outlined a number of sustainability efforts at the University of California Davis, highlighting a major program dealing with the University's 1,500 olive trees on campus. The dropping of olives created hazardous conditions on walkways and bike paths and required extensive cleanup annually by university grounds crews.
Using the talents of various university units and partnering with local industry, a program to harvest the olives before they fall and produce olive oil was developed.
"UC Davis Olive Oil has been on the market for four years," Genito said, "and this year we sold out 10,000 bottles in four weeks. This is a great example of sustainability at work. We were spending money to solve the problem and now we are making money. There is zero waste involved and there is no spraying.
"Our olive oil, which has won national and international accolades, is a success because we thought differently and everyone pitched in and turned a problem into a product that became something special for the university. It led to the establishment last year of the UC Davis Olive Center, which already has received $2.5 million in support and grants."
Following Genito's presentation, a panel of Penn State leaders outlined various opportunities for stewardship. Panelists included Andrew Lau, associate professor of engineering and associate director of the Center for Sustainability; Kim Berry, senior director of Business and Operations at Penn State Berks; Janet Swim, professor of psychology, and Steve Maruszewski, deputy associate vice president of Physical Plant.
Planners said another forum to focus on students will be held in the fall.
For more information on Penn State’s sustainability efforts, go to http://www/green.psu.edu/ or http://www.takecharge.psu.edu/.
Contact
Bill Campbell
E-mail: wjc1@psu.edu
Paul Ruskin
E-mailt: pdr2@nw.opp.psu.edu