Discover(ing) Sustainability

Sustainability is in the news today, starting with a New York Times article — “Majoring in Renewable Energy” — about how colleges and universities, anticipating the demand for sustainability-related technical skills, are offering degree programs in the field. While we’re not mentioned in the article, UNH offers many courses related to renewable energy, natural resource [...]

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In February, UNH joined 90 other colleges and universities across North America piloting a new sustainability tracking and rating system called STARS that is being developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). UNH is the only New Hampshire campus piloting the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS), which launched February 4th. [...]

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Last week, the New York Times blog post “When Big Business Eats Organic” included an animated graphic depicting the organic foods industry and consolidation by big businesses and investment groups. This and other graphics, created by Dr. Philip H. Howard of Michigan State University, provide an interesting perspective on an expanding segment of our food system. [...]

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Here at UNH, upwards of 70 percent of the research dollars we receive go to research on environmental issues. This week brings news of two environmentally important projects by faculty. First, professor of natural resources Bill McDowell and research scientist Jody Potter were among several co-authors of an article published in the journal Nature that [...]

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Last week the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) honored UNH’s Wildcat Transit system for its increase in ridership. We are very proud of UNH’s transit system – the largest in the state of New Hampshire!  Wildcat Transit ridership has increased at double digit rates for five years — 150% over the 1999-2007 period — and from July 1, [...]

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Reducing waste at UNH dining halls has been an ongoing effort now for years. In 1998, the UNH Compost Program was established to collect food scraps from UNH kitchens and turn them into compost, a beneficial soil amendment. All the dining halls at UNH now collect both pre- and post-consumer waste, delivering around 200,000 pounds of [...]

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It has been 1 year since 164 towns in New Hampshire adopted the New Hampshire Climate Change Resolution organized by the Carbon Collation at their annual town meeting. NHPR recently aired a story detailing what some of the communities have accomplished in the past year. The Resolution is a great example of people “seeing things whole” and acting in a sustainable manner. At its [...]

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It pays to be green in New Hampshire. Business NH Magazine just announced its inaugural “Lean and Green” Awards, and UNH led the winners with the Overall Judges Award, which recognizes our extensive sustainable practices, from our cogeneration plant and reuse of purified landfill gas to power the Durham campus to transitioning its extensive public transit system to alternative fuels. “This Lean and [...]

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The term biodiversity usually conjures up images of rainforests, which are known to be among the most ecologically diverse yet endangered ecosystems in the world. But did you know that agricultural biodiversity is also increasingly threatened? According to the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, 93% of American food product diversity has been lost since 1990. [...]

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The UK recently dedicated a day to saving energy. Though largely unsuccessful – probably due to the short time frame, lack of publicity, and large scale – it does go to show that many people are beginning to think more about their personal energy use. Here at UNH we have 3 programs aimed at illustrating the link between [...]

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