Welcome back to school, Cyclones!
This is Molly and Maddie here from the Live Green Ten Year Anniversary. As some of you are “moving in,” we are excited to invite all of you to MOVE GREEN this month as we kick-off the Live Green! Ten Year Anniversary monthly themes and events.
Our Ten Year Anniversary celebrates all the remarkable sustainability initiatives and the significant changes Iowa State University has made over the past decade. Each month is dedicated to a different theme, event, and historic change on campus. There will be opportunities for you to discover education, engagement, and empowerment opportunities and experiences with every month of the Ten Year celebration.
Celebrate with Yoga on the Lawn
With the start of a new school year, it is especially important to get outside and stay active – sustaining yourself to sustain the world. We are excited to announce our August event, Yoga on the Lawn, in partnership with ISU Recreation Services. Free healthy snacks, water bottle refills and sustainability-minded giveaways will be offered as well as displays and tabling highlighting the diversity of ways Iowa State University has been moving green over the past 10 years. Students, faculty, and staff of all skill levels are invited to participate in moving green with us through yoga. We are excited to connect Iowa Staters to a fun twist on getting outdoors and staying healthy. We hope you can join us!!
What: Yoga on the Lawn (an event for all ages and experience levels)
When: August 29th, 6-8pm (Class 6:30-7:30pm)*
Where: South Campanile Lawn
Who: Iowa State University students, faculty and staff
How: Registration requested by RSVPing on the 10 Years of Living Green Facebook page
*Come early to fill your water bottle, learn more about social sustainability efforts at ISU, grab a snack and a mat (quantities limited) and find your perfect Zen spot.
Our Moves to a Greener Future
The past ten years have been filled with exciting changes surrounding greening our movement and healthy moving. Outdoor Recreation at Iowa State provides students, faculty, and staff with lots of fun ways to get active. There are dozens of fitness classes every week which are free and open to all. Students can also grab some friends and play intramural sports for a chance to move in a fun, competitive way.
Outdoor Recreation also offers outdoor trips for afternoons, weekends, or holiday breaks. You can participate in workshops for rock climbing, kayaking, and more. You could also plan your own trips and rent equipment through Outdoor Recreation. If you are looking for a new way to get active, this might be just the way to do it.
ISU WellBeing and Student Wellness offers fun ways to be active and well. Last year, they kicked off Friday Walk and Talks where students, faculty, and staff could participate in one mile walks around our beautiful campus. They are hoping for a similar program this fall, so keep following ISU WellBeing and Student Wellness for more information on how to be involved. Additionally, they offer many programs for employees and students focused on health including nutrition counseling, their Health for Every Body program, and more.
Another way to enjoy the beauty of Iowa State AND Ames is to check out all of our fabulous walking and bike paths.
Cyclones Moving Forward
Other ways students have been moving green on and off campus, over the past decade, include changes to CyRide, Car Share, and Bike Share. Iowa State’s hybrid CyRides, certainly have moved green by reducing 23,000 gallons of fuel and 464,102 pounds of CO2 emissions per year. Iowa State also greens our move by offering car sharing through Zipcar. We have offered car sharing opportunities to students, faculty and staff since fall 2011. Virtually, a 24/7 online rental car program, signing up costs only $15 a year for students (a bit more for faculty and staff) and includes the price of gas, insurance, maintenance, and 24-hour roadside assistance, along with a per hour or per day rental reservation. You can easily join and be a part of the largest car-sharing network, servicing more then 600 college campuses. Another ISU “green move” option for one time rides is by using our Campus Ride Share Program, developed and offered by ISU Student Government. Through these two programs, Cyclones are offered opportunities to easily rent cars, share transportation, reduce the amount of vehicles on campus and eliminate the hassle of having a car on campus.
Additionally, many campus services use “green transportation” to get around, contributing to a greener community. Nearly half of the vehicles provided for campus travel by ISU Transportation Services are zero or low emission, earning ISU the recognition of being named one of the Top 50 Green Fleets among universities and municipalities.
Clubs on the Move
As a part of our Ten Year celebration year, we are excited to also highlight student organizations each month that have supported (and continue to support) each month’s unique theme as well sustainability at Iowa State University.
Two clubs we would like to spotlight this month include Biobus and PrISUm. Both clubs are helping to MOVE Iowa State in a greener direction with sustainable research and knowledge. We are so happy to have both these groups and more on campus. Their executive team, advisors, and members all support our continued journey toward a sustainable future.
ISU BioBus Administrators gave us some insight on their mission and goals for the next ten years.
“BioBus promotes sustainability through making renewable energy derived from waste products. We take used cooking oil that would otherwise be thrown away and turn it into biomass based diesel that has lower carbon emissions and provides the same energy as petroleum diesel. We intend to increase production of renewable energy as high as possible over the next decade and promote living green across campus.”
Smeet Mistry, the President of PrISUm Solar Car student organization also gave us some understanding of PrISUm Solar Car and their initiatives.
“PrISUm Solar Car is a collective of students that are determined to change the way people think about sustainable transportation. We do that in two ways, we build practical solar cars that break barriers in peoples’ minds about what a solar car is and what it’s capable of doing, and we take those cars on outreach and educate the public on how students at ISU are changing what’s possible and why solar transportation is a completely viable alternative to fossil fuel transportation. Our latest car Penumbra demonstrates this perfectly because it is capable of almost everything a “normal” car on the road today is capable of: comfortably seating 4 people, connecting to your phone and playing music or taking phone calls, providing GPS navigation, storing groceries or luggage in the back, and even more, all while being powered by the sun.”
Mistry gave some ten year goals for PrISUm Solar Car and Iowa State University as a whole. “Our ten year goals for Iowa State regarding sustainability include more support and exposure for all the student initiatives related to sustainability, including PrISUm but not limited to just us. I know there are many other great clubs and organizations that focus their efforts on sustainability but a lot of people just don’t know about them. I hope that in ten years, Iowa State University becomes known not only nationally but also globally as a leader in developing sustainability focused programs and technology.”
We are striving for this same level of success by recognizing and supporting sustainability initiatives at Iowa State University. As we continue to celebrate and acknowledge our achievements, we move closer to our green goals.
Monthly Challenge – Moving Green
Thanks for learning about Moving Green at Iowa State University. We hope you get out and stay active! Here’s a challenge to keep you moving!!
For the month of August, students, faculty, and staff are “green challenged” to enjoy the outdoors at least once a week for the month of September. We recommend checking out a new walking path in Ames to celebrate moving green. There are dozens of beautiful options! Additionally, since it’s move in time, students are encouraged to green their move in. Some ideas include using reusable bags, recycling cardboard boxes, donating unneeded items to local charities, and buying needed items second-hand. Make this move in great!
What’s Next?
Next month, we will be exploring everyone’s favorite topic- Food! …specifically, Dining Green. Get ready to explore green dining initiatives and what students can do. We hope you are hungry for some knowledge! Remember to join our Ten Years of Living Green Facebook group for more information on events, giveaways, and all things live green!!
Live Green! 