UH SUSTAINABILITY FEST TO INFORM, ENTERTAIN UH COMMUNITY

One day to celebrate all the sustainability efforts happening on campus just wasn’t going to work this year, and neither was the name of the annual event: UH Green Day.

So for the first time in its history, this year’s event will be spread out over a four-day period and will now be known as UH Sustainability Fest. It will take place Nov. 1-4.

Much of the activity will be in Butler Plaza on Nov. 1 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will cover a broad range of subjects. Mixed in will be plenty of activities and games to make the learning fun.

“I hope people come out and have fun and enjoy themselves,” said Leah Wolfthal, program coordinator for the University of Houston’s Office of Sustainability. “I hope they’ll also have a chance to learn something about what’s happening on campus in terms of sustainability, and give us critical feedback.”

The UH Bookstore will be out in Butler Plaza on Nov. 1 with its prize wheel, which people can spin to try and win sustainability-oriented bookstore products. The Office of Sustainability will have re-used wooden doors that will be made available for people to use their creativity to paint their vision of a sustainable UH campus.

The UH Horticulture Society will have an area where people can make seed balls for the Hermann Park Prairie Project. The UH Center for Advanced Materials, which designs solar panels and investigates hydrogen among other fuels, will be out with demos. There also will be a chance to view and interact with College of Architecture student sustainable project models.

“The whole purpose of this event is to celebrate and examine UH’s past and future actions for sustainability,” Wolfthal said.

The change in the name better reflects everything that the event encompasses and what UH is trying to accomplish with its sustainability efforts, she said.

“The term ‘green’ was a little bit misleading in perhaps it made you think about the environment. And that’s part of what sustainability is, but it’s also about much more than that,” Wolfthal said.

So what else will be happening during the fest? A lot.
 
  • At Cougar Woods Dining Hall on Nov. 1, sample fair trade coffee, talk with the new campus nutritionist about personal sustainability, and learn about the energy- and water-saving measures that were built into the new facility.

  • Later that day, from 8 to 9 p.m., there will be an Office of Sustainability open house at Moody Towers.

  • Stop by the Blaffer Museum view artwork made from found and everyday objects by sculptor Tony Feher.

  • On Nov. 3, gather in Butler Plaza and take part in a trash-off campus beautification project from 9:30 a.m. to noon. TO RSVP for the cleanup, email davislarissa50@yahoo.com.

  • From 2 to 5 p.m. on Nov. 4, join others for a work session at UH’s Campus Community Garden, which is at the northeast corner of Wheeler and Cullen.