UConn Goes Green

Welcome.

Thank you for visiting my site. I am a 6th-semester Journalism major at the University of Connecticut. This semester I worked at a dining hall that had a menu shaped around local, organic food. In a campus as large as UConn’s, I became familiar with the faces during my 8-hour week. The room buzzed with energy. As I was mopping right before punching out for the day, a group of 3 students halted my work. The passion in which they spoke about the precious state of the environment warranted my attention. I spoke with them for about 10 minutes, up until my student manager abruptly interrupted. I somberly went back to mopping with the discussion lingering pleasantly in my head.

That is the reason why this website is here. Because that voice deserves to be heard.

I spoke with undergraduates, graduates, and professors about the state of UConn’s green effort. At times I was inspired, other times swollen with dejection. The campus is making a concerned effort though. “There’s been quite a push over the last few years, on the part of the University, to create a more sustainable campus,” Jennifer Sayers, Sustainability Coordinator at the Office of Environmental Policy said. Below are only some of the faces with the passion to preserve our good Earth.

Jennifer Sayers

“There is a special peace that one can get from spending time in the natural world that really can’t be matched by anything else,” Sayers says. As the Sustainability Coordinator at the OEP, Sayers is responsible for overseeing Campus Recycling Outreach, coordinating the Sustainable Offices Program, and promoting sustainable practices across campus.

Catherine Pomposi

“I joined EcoHusky because I had seen Inconvenient Truth in one of my classes,” Pomposi says. Pomposi is currently interning at the OEP. She is an undergraduate at UConn majoring in Statistics and Environmental Science.

Zbigniew J. Grabowski

“If we change the system we live in, we change the world we live in,” Grabowski says. As a graduate student, Grabowski is the CFO of the Office of Environmental Policy. He is responsible for greenhouse gas inventory for the Storrs and regional campuses. His focus is on pushing sustainable agricultural growth.

Nate Wallshein

Wallshein supports a “complete overhaul of construction of campus” to a more green, sustainable environment. He is an undergraduate at UConn majoring in Environmental Science. He has appeared on UConn’s radio station, WHUS 91.7 fm, advocating environmental awareness.

Richard Parnas

“We produce about 50 gallons of ASTM grade Biodiesel per week in my lab over in Engineering,” Parnas says. Only 50 gallons of Biodiesel make up the 25,000 gallons of fuel running UConn’s transportation system. Non-reusable Waste oil accounts for the majority of the fuel used.

All photos, except for Parnas’, are credited to the OEP’s website. Parnas’ photo is credited to UConn Biofuel Consortium’s website.

I can be reached at jason.bagley@uconn.edu.

I also made a Facebook group, UConn’s Green Effort, where you can message me.

December 2008.