Global Institute of Sustainability News
Sustainability Literacy program engages, educates ASU employees
April 13, 2011
Arizona State University not only is the first institution in higher education to create a School of Sustainability that educates students, but also extends sustainability education to all of its employees through its Sustainability Literacy Education interactive online program. The electronic platform informs ASU employees with examples of sustainable practices that currently are happening at ASU, the university’s sustainability goals, what they can do in large and small ways to support ASU’s promise to become more sustainable, and arms them with the necessary facts to fulfill the sustainability requirement of their yearly work-performance evaluations.
“The literacy program is based in the basic concepts of sustainability and individual responsibility to contribute to implementation,” says Ray Jensen, Associate Vice President of University Business Services and University Sustainability Operations officer. “Our successes as a university in sustainable practices are directly related to how each individual employee plays a role in sustainability within their day-to-day activities.”
Tempe Burrito Lovers Raise Green for ASU School of Sustainability Students
Institute Press ReleasesApril 13, 2011
Tempe-area Chipotle locations to co-host fundraiser to benefit the newly established Chipotle Sustainable Food Systems Scholarship
At least one ASU School of Sustainability student to be awarded a $1,000 scholarship annually from new Chipotle fund
Who:
Chipotle (Chi-POAT-lay) Mexican Grill, the chain of burrito restaurants committed to serving food made with more sustainably raised ingredients; Arizona State University (ASU) School of Sustainability students; and all Tempe big burrito lovers.
What:
In 2011, Chipotle established the Chipotle Sustainable Food Systems Scholarship for ASU’s School of Sustainability. Through the fund, Chipotle will annually award at least one $1,000 scholarship to a School of Sustainability undergraduate student, with the first award to be given in May 2011.
To raise funds for the Chipotle Sustainable Food Systems Scholarship, the three Tempe Chipotle locations will host a fundraiser on Earth Day, Friday, April 22, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. During the fundraiser, for customers who stop by one of these locations, purchase some grub and show a fundraiser flyer, event graphic on their smart phone, or just mention they’re dining at Chipotle in support of the fund, 50 percent of their purchase will go directly to the Chipotle Sustainable Food Systems Scholarship.
Where:
- Tempe Marketplace Chipotle – 2000 East Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, Ariz. 85281
- Rural & Baseline Chipotle – 815 East Baseline Road, Tempe, Ariz. 85283
- Mill Avenue & 11th Street Chipotle – 1038 South Mill Ave., Tempe, Ariz. 85281
When:
Friday, April 22 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
ASU Sustainability Scientists part of Planet Forward PBS special
April 8, 2011
Gas prices. Nuclear worries. Oil spills.
Are there any new energy innovations out there to help us kick our petroleum habit?
The answer might lie in a microscopic single-cell plant, a landfill or an iconic building.
For the last few months, You have shared your innovations to help improve how we use or generate energy.
We narrowed down a pool of hundreds to just seven finalists.
Who will be named Planet Forward’s Innovator of the Year?
Earth911, Inc. Joins Sustainability Consortium, Looks to Standardize Recyclability Reporting
April 4, 2011
Recycling information leader to aid members in making sustainable recycling and end-of-life decisions
(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) – Earth911, Inc., the nation’s leading consumer recycling information provider, recently joined The Sustainability Consortium, an independent group of scientists and engineers working to develop a global database of information on the lifecycle of products.
A major focus of the Consortium is to develop Sustainability Measurement and Reporting Standards (SMRS) that will define, for a particular product type, what product manufacturers should measure, how to measure it and how to report it to a common database.
Institute's headquarters renamed for Julie Ann Wrigley
Institute Press ReleasesMarch 21, 2011
The Global Institute of Sustainability headquarters building on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus was renamed in honor of Julie Ann Wrigley. ASU President Michael Crow, along with Rob Walton, chairman of the board of Walmart and co-chair of the Board of Trustees for Sustainability at ASU, a crowd of community and business leaders, and the ASU community, honored the Institute’s founding benefactor as the university celebrated the newly named Wrigley Hall.
Clean Agency joins Sustainability Consortium
Institute Press ReleasesMarch 14, 2011
PASADENA, CALIF. (March 14, 2011) — Clean Agency, a research-based consulting firm that provides consumer product companies with life cycle assessment, carbon footprint and product packaging solutions, has become a member of the Sustainability Consortium. Clean joins a diverse group of retailers, manufacturers, government, academic and public interest groups working to reduce the environmental and social impacts associated with global consumption.
“Joining the Sustainability Consortium is an important step in our continued effort to leverage the power of business to create impactful solutions to global environmental issues,” said Seri McClendon, chief executive officer, Clean Agency. We’re eager to contribute our research expertise and to work with other consortium members to reduce negative impacts on our natural resources and influence consumption towards a more sustainable future.”
Tree experts envision the return of Phoenix's oasis of green
March 11, 2011
In the early 1900′s, the Valley was an oasis of green with lush trees sprouting tall along wide canal banks that crisscrossed Phoenix and its suburbs.
Cottonwoods, among the more common of the area’s trees, dug in, drinking water that seeped from the dirt-lined canals.
By the 1950s, as families flocked to the Valley in post-World War II bliss to create a modern community, the oasis withered.
New catering menu offers Decidedly Green options
March 9, 2011
This month, ARAMARK / ASU Catering launched its new sustainable catering menu, Decidedly Green. The goal of the menu is to support a more sustainable food system – one that benefits health, communities, and environment.
Decidedly Green includes a farmer’s buffet, box lunches and sandwich buffets, cold and hot hors d’ouevres, break buffets and delicious desserts.
Student takes steps toward greener future
February 16, 2011
ASU junior Kim Pearson is making strides far beyond ASU’s campus to reduce her carbon footprint and help others do the same.
The sustainability and Spanish literature student has taken charge of several projects to spread the word about sustainable living and promote fair trade in developing countries.
Researcher's sustainability work earns NSF award
January 24, 2011
Promising research that could help provide a source of clean energy and improve environmental safety has earned an Arizona State University senior sustainability scientist support from the National Science Foundation.
The NSF has given a CAREER Award to Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.
CAREER awards recognize young engineers and scientists who are demonstrating potential to be research and education leaders in their fields. The award will provide more than $430,000 over five years to help fund research Krajmalnik-Brown is conducting in the Center for Environmental Biotechnology in ASU’s Biodesign Institute.
'Cadillac desert' withstands test of time, technology
December 14, 2010
TEMPE, Ariz. – In 1986, Marc Reisner published “Cadillac Desert: The American West and its disappearing water,” a foundational work about the long-term environmental costs of U.S. western state’s water projects and land development. It sounded an alarm about the direction of the American West and how it was using its most precious resource. Now it all appears to becoming true.
Researchers applying modern scientific tools and mapping technologies, unavailable during Reisner’s time, find his conclusions for the most part to be accurate and scientifically correct. As a result, current water practices are not sustainable and many dramatic initiatives will be needed to correct the current unsustainable path the West is on.
A positive step in the face of uncertainty
December 14, 2010
Patricia Gober, Decision Center for a Desert City
TEMPE, Ariz. – Enormous uncertainty. These two words describe the condition of Phoenix’s climate and water supply in the 21st century. Reservoirs have dipped to their lowest levels, continuous drought has plagued the state and forecasts for even warmer summers are predicted. Despite this uncertainty, professors at Arizona State University say there’s no need to be fearful because positive impacts can be made.
ASU professors Patricia Gober and Craig Kirkwood working in conjunction with Decision Center for a Desert City (DCDC), which specializes in decision making under uncertainty, assessed the climate’s affect on water shortage in Phoenix. Their results were published in the Dec. 14, 2010 issue of the Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A special section in this PNAS issue focuses on what the 21st century climate in the Southwest will mean in terms of sustainability.
ASU and Mexican experts design sustainability program to save biodiversity
December 1, 2010
School of Sustainability faculty members (L-R) Hallie Eakin and Arnim Wiek outline workshop activities and outcomes with three of their collaborators from the National Autonomous University of Mexico — Patricia Guereca, Institute of Engineering, Luis Zambrano, Institute of Biology, and Marisa Mazari, Institute of Ecology.
Mexico is one of the most biodiverse regions of our planet. In number of species, it currently ranks first in reptiles and amphibians, third in mammals, and fourth in plants.
To help protect this legacy, ecology experts from Mexico’s largest university met with ASU sustainability faculty and staff on Nov. 18-19 to collaboratively design a new international master’s degree in sustainability that will train the next generation of Mexican ecological practitioners and policymakers.
The two-day workshop is a key part of a collaboration between ASU’s School of Sustainability and the Institute of Ecology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (IE-UNAM), one of Latin America’s most prominent university systems. It was co-organized by School of Sustainability faculty members Hallie Eakin, who also manages the project, and Arnim Wiek, one of the project’s principal investigators.
Kristin Mayes chosen to head new program on law and sustainability
December 1, 2010
Kristin Mayes, Law Professor
Kristin K. Mayes, an Arizona Corporation Commissioner who has helped Arizona become a national model for energy innovation, has been chosen to head the new Program on Law and Sustainability at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
Mayes will serve as Professor of Practice and Faculty Director of the new program, created in partnership with ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability, where Mayes will be Senior Sustainability Scientist.
“Kris Mayes is a major national innovator in developing new paradigms for how utility companies and utility regulators will need to operate in the coming decades,” said College of Law Dean Paul Schiff Berman. “Kris joins Dan Bodansky, hired last year, and together they immediately will catapult this new program to a position of international leadership in an area of law and policy that is crucial both to our nation’s economic future and our planet’s long-term survival.”
Gila River Indian Community embraces sustainable design practices
December 1, 2010
The Gila River Indian Community is a member community in the Sustainable Cities Network, a Global Institute of Sustainability project to help local governments tap into ASU research and expertise while sharing sustainability knowledge and best practices among peers. Speaking on behalf of the Gila River Indian Community are Joseph Manuel and Casey Turgeon.
Student pursues sustainable living, organizes efforts campuswide
November 22, 2010
Natalie Fleming, a junior majoring in sustainability, is one of about 200 ASU students living in Sustainability House at Barrett (SHAB), the sustainable-living community at Barrett, the Honors College. Her push for the environment extends campuswide, however, as she organizes events and leads a team for the student-led Center for Student Sustainability Initiatives, which she helped found.
‘No Impact Week’ encourages students to live greener
November 15, 2010
Arizona State University kicked off its No Impact Week on Sunday, November 14. The eight-day initiative, sponsored by the Global Institute of Sustainability, encourages students on the Tempe campus to live greener through daily themes including: consumption, waste, transportation, food, energy, and water.
Energize Phoenix Revs Up $25M in Grants
FeaturesInstitute Press ReleasesNovember 2, 2010
The city of Phoenix began accepting funding applications Tuesday from multi-family housing owners along a 10-mile stretch of the Phoenix light rail corridor. $25 million in grants are available under the Energize Phoenix program, a joint public-private program that seeks to provide energy efficiency measures for about 2,000 homes and more than 30 million square feet of commercial and industrial space.
Scientists From Around the Globe Convene to Address Urbanization, Land, and Climate Change
Institute Press ReleasesOctober 12, 2010
ASU hosts two international conferences to advance sustainability efforts and progress
PHOENIX/TEMPE, Ariz. – Reinforcing its role as a leader in interdisciplinary global environmental and climate change conversations, Arizona State University (ASU) will host conferences for both the International Conference on Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (UGEC) and the Global Land Project’s (GLP) Open Science Meeting.
How have humans changed the Earth’s surface? How do urbanization and global environmental change interface? What are new pathways for sustainability that link urbanization and land change? How can we adapt to changes that have already occurred?
These themes play significantly in both of the groups’ individual and joint conferences. They are also top of mind among next-phase thinkers in the fields of environment and sustainability and are expected to play prominently in upcoming agenda-setting reports.
ASU Classroom and Chef Serve Up Sustainability
September 24, 2010
This year’s crop of plant biology students will use more than their brains to learn, if Arizona State University professor Jeffrey Klopatek has a hand in it.
Klopatek, a culinary savant and climate change professor in the School of Life Sciences in ASU’s College of Liberal Art and Sciences, is attempting to cultivate undergraduates’ gut instincts. To do this, Klopatek has planted a fork in the proverbial scholarly road. He has veered from the norm to create his own menu for a dynamic, hands-on plant biology curriculum built around sustainability and food choices.