Sustainability

By Sydney Murray, Sustainability Office Dr. Brian Eisenhauer is the Director of the Office of Environmental Sustainability, and professor of environmental sociology at Plymouth State University. Combining his personal affinity for the outdoors and his academic background in studying people and human society, his research interests center around environmental communications, sustainability, conservation, and grassroots activism. […]

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office. This article was first published in @theU on March 10, 2023. For hundreds of years, libraries have provided free access to knowledge, literature and ideas. But alongside the books, magazines and journals available for loan, some libraries have also begun lending seeds. Today, over 450 seed libraries exist around the […]

By Sydney Murray, Sustainability Office “Oftentimes we think about the mining, oil, and gas industries in black and white terms,” says Dr. Jessica M. Smith, professor in the Engineering, Design, and Society department at the Colorado School of Mines. “Especially when it comes to questions of sustainability.” However, when we broadly critique these industries, both […]

By Sydney Murray, Sustainability Office The impacts of pollution are felt all around the world, but they are not felt equally. Low-income and minority communities are often deprived of resources and political protections, leaving them to face the brunt of environmental pollution and its health consequences including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. On Tuesday, February 14 at […]

By Sydney Murray, Sustainability Office Respondings to climate change has entangled social, cultural, political, and environmental  implications. Often, when these implications are overlooked or disregarded, researchers, policymakers, and community members face “maladaptive outcomes,” or consequences of adaptation efforts that don’t go to plan and incur negative outcomes.  On Tuesday, Jan. 31, Dr. Amanda Bertana, assistant […]

This article was originally written by Kate Whitbeck and published in @theu on Feb. 5, 2020. It was updated in 2023 by Maria Archibald. Want to stay warm this winter while reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions? Consider participating in our program Heat People, Not Spaces! If you are a U faculty, staff, or student, […]

For me, every January begins full of hope. A new year. A fresh start. This will be the year we accomplish our goals–the year we change the world! Then, of course, life happens. We break new year’s resolutions, we experience hardship, we endure tragedy. It gets harder to feel hopeful.   But hope is a funny […]

Cold Weather Cranking! It’s winter, and many people don’t have bicycling on the mind. But keeping the cranks rolling during the colder months is a great way to stay active and reduce stress during the holidays. Winter bicycling is not just for the hardcore go-getters. Anyone can enjoy winter biking—if you prepare appropriately. How do […]

By Sydney Murray, Sustainability Office Research shows that disseminating scientific information is, in itself, an insufficient way to prompt meaningful dialogue among the general public. Rather, the way in which science is communicated has more of an impact to promote change.  For scientific findings to catalyze social change, they must be communicated in accessible and comprehensible […]

By Sydney Murray, Sustainability Office Achievements in human development often come at the expense of the natural environment. From metropolitan expansion to the development of agricultural land for food production, environmental conservation efforts have historically conflicted with human “progress.” Over the past 20-30 years, however, the field of conservation has adopted the idea that conservation […]