Projects 2023

Updates: 2/3/2023

For the Spring of 2023, I’d like to focus on groups of projects and divide students into these groups. There is lots of stuff we could do, but the projects below have the most likelihood of happening.

I’ve made shared folders for the projects for Spring ’23 projects on my account. This is important, so I have copies of stuff for the future. I’ll share folders once we determine who is working on what projects.

Team Everyone:

  1. Team Campus Habitats
    1.  Sub Team Plants & Agriculture: Evelyn, Jay, Manga
      1. Campus Habitats: Student Bioretention Cell & other Native Plants – Proposal
      2. Labyrinth Proposal
      3. Assessment of lawn care products and proposal to limit chemicals that harm pollinators (see Bee Campus proposal below)
      4. See Perennial Gardens project (below)
    2. Sub Team Animals and Insects
      1. Campus Habitats: Bird Habitat on Campus – Proposal – Eddy, Ryan, Ernest
      2. Chimney Swift Tower: completion, signage, tile (art) project, event: Roni, Olivia, McKenna, Eddy
      3. Bee Campus OWU / USA: Proposal (Ashley Bahrey, F ’22): Eva, Manga, Lee, Jocelyn, Jay, Evelyn
    3. Proposal for a Campus Habitats Student Group, funded student position (via Bio, ?)
    4. Collaboration with Delaware Preservation Parks: campus as an urban park
    5. Collaboration with Seminary Hill Farm, Stratford, Sackett Farm, OWU Biological Sciences, etc.
    6. Delaware Run
  2. Team Waste and Discards
    1. Composting proposals (Alex Clemetson, Price Farms, ABM): SK, Connor, Graham
      1. Dmitri Ashakih Proposal (Fall ’21)
      2. Together We Compost Proposal (Fall ’21)
      3. Price Farms Organics Proposal (Spring ’23)
    2. Recycling upgrades (ABM & RTS): Savannah, SK, Connor
      1. Recycling Audit – Fall ’19
    3. May Move Out: manage and upgrade for Spring of 2023: Logan, Graham, Manga
    4. Reuse Center (David Soliday and ?)
  3. Team Food
    1. Collaborate with AVI and Ryan Boland and Food Recovery Network
      1. Assess current AVI initiatives
        1. Fall ’19 initiatives PDF here
        2. New: List of AVI sustainability responsibilities (2018) is here.
      2. Revise and reintroduce past food initiatives
        1. Regional food networks and sources (with AVI Kenyon and Seminary Hill Farm): Abby, Khalil, Savannah
          1. ROAR Food Aggregation Proposal (Fall ’21)
          2. MORPSE Local Food Plan (2010)
          3. Ohio Smart Ag Plan (2019)
        2. Beefless Monday Project and Slides (Madison Valentine, Peyton Hardesty, F ’19)
        3. Reusable food containers
        4. Proposal: The “Ugly Mug” Project (Brooke Fogt, F ’22)
      3. Gardening on Campus
        1. Mobile Gardens: Jocelyn, Eva, Lee, Abby, Kahlil
          1. Proposal: OWU Campus Gardens & Food: Fall 2017-Spring 2018 (link fixed!)
          2. Proposal: Mobile Raised-Bed Container Gardening at OWU (Payton Kutz)
        2. *new* Perennial Gardens
          1. Perennial Garden Project (Spring ’17)
          2. Perennial Garden Project Presentation (Fall ’17)
          3. Perennial Garden Data (Fall ’17)

Reviewing 23 Years of Sustainablity and Environmental Projects at OWU

Engaged campus sustainability in what is now the Department of Environment and Sustainability began in the Spring of 2000. As we take on projects this spring, it’s good to look back at the projects from the past (some are still with us, some faded away, and others are proposals).

Efforts started and were moved forward in a few courses, including GEOG 360: Environmental Geography and ENVS 399: Sustainability Practicum.

A page at this blog includes efforts that were planned for the ill-fated Spring of 2020 when covid struck. It’s worth looking at what we thought we would do.

Projects also happened as independent project work, internships, and work with various community and regional partners. OWU also contributed in certain cases, such as the campus arboretum, nature preserves, Small Living Units, and support for theory-into-practice efforts via the OWU Connection.

This summary effort serves several purposes:

  1. Document key sustainability successes
  2. Revive stalled efforts that were working before Covid
  3. Review substantial proposals and move them forward
  4. Review a large array of smaller efforts and consider reviving them
  5. Contribute to a substantial revision of our campus sustainability plan
  6. Feel damn good about the successes of our largely grass-roots efforts
  7. Decide what to take on for the Spring of 2023

The ENVS Hall Poster summarizes many of the key successes and proposed efforts:

(click for a larger version)

Communication & Educational efforts

Student Organizations & SLUs

Partner Organizations

Tangible efforts with real outcomes:

Other efforts began but were stalled or partially stalled (Covid).

  • Reusable Food Containers (born Fall 2015)
  • Ugly Mug Program with AVI (born Spring 2020)
  • Regional Food Network with AVI Kenyon

Other efforts led to substantive proposals.

  • Updating OWU’s Sustainability Plan
  • OWU Habitats: Animal & Plant Habitat (proposal)
  • Composting with Together We Compost (proposal)
  • Campus Mobile Gardens
  • The 46 Environment & Sustainability Complex (proposal)
  • Green Roof Bike Racks and Building Green Roof (proposals)

Campus Partners

Finally, some important efforts are the purview of the OWU Administration and Buildings and Grounds and companies employed by OWU, including AVI (food service) and ABM (housekeeping, waste, recycling, etc.).

It is important to strengthen the communication between the Administration, AVI, and ABM, and the Sustainability Task Force meetings serve as a primary means of fostering communication.

Ideally, a collaboration between these campus partners and students and faculty working on sustainability and environmental projects will move our efforts forward.

  • OWU Energy and Sustainability (B&G and Administration)
  • Campus Food, Food Waste, and Composting (WCSA and donor)
  • Campus Recycling (ABM and new partner)
  • OWU Campus Grounds (lawns, animal and plant habitat)