New Sustainability Wall showcases campus efforts to go green

Efforts to increase campus sustainability continue with a new Sustainability Wall, which will be completed in the near future.

“The wall was envisioned as a way to communicate to the campus the many different ways UVU is working on becoming a sustainable campus,” Val Peterson, vice president of finance and administration, said.

The Sustainability Wall will include a variety of new recycling bins and an interactive TV that will allow students to see the current energy usage numbers for different buildings.The TV will be located across the hall from the Grande Ballroom in the Sorensen Center.

Other elements that will be highlighted include the different ways UVU has pushed forward with sustainability, such as green features, geothermal energy, recycling, transportation, water and energy service company projects.

“UVU’s campus was built with sustainability in mind, utilizing geothermal heating and cooling,” Peterson said. “We believe that UVU has a great story to tell the members of our campus community.”

Peterson’s last four interns have been working on this project. His current intern, McKenna Finch, a senior history major, feels lucky to be apart of the final stages of the wall.

“The Sustainability Wall is important to UVU to allow students to understand just how sustainable UVU is,” Finch said. “A very visible aspect of sustainability is recycling, but sometimes, because it is so visible, we forget that sustainability also deals with air, transportation, water usage, waste and energy.”

The Sustainability Wall is one of the many ways UVU is reaching out to educate students and staff on how the campus can have a positive effect on the environment, according to Finch.

“There are a few ways the university is trying to be ‘eco-friendly’ including turning papers in online, which is reducing printing or encouraging reusable water bottles by having the new water fountains,” Abby Standstorm, a senior communication student, said. “However there are many ways UVU is failing—such as recycling bins that are not consistent throughout the school or having paper towels in most bathrooms instead of dryers.”

The estimated completion date for the wall is January 2018.