In April, the Office of Sustainability led a vibrant Earth Week (April 20-24) at the University of Houston that showcased how the University is sustaining a greener campus. The Office of Sustainability, housed within Facilities/Construction Management, worked to ensure the University stewards its operations and resources in an environmentally conscientious way.
Beatrix “Bea” Madersbacher Eide, who oversees the Office of Sustainability, arranged this year’s Earth Week, which takes place every year in late April. Madersbacher Eide organized several events throughout the week in collaboration with several campus partners and vendors.
Go Green! at Cougar Woods Dining Commons
UH Dining Services hosted its Go Green! event at Cougar Woods Dining Commons, which
showcased the benefits of eating more vegetables and not wasting food. The Go Green!
event sought to educate and entertain students on how to reduce food waste.
Students could participate in various interactive activities, ranging from a food storage “Polar vs. Pantry” quiz, to creating “compost trail mix” as an edible science lesson on decomposition, to “Compost Education” presented by representatives from Zero Waste Houston, on how to become certified for hot composting.
Diners were also treated to a special menu that included green additions to well-known dishes that boosted their flavors. There were many options, including pesto pizza with arugula, spinach cheese quesadillas, green coconut shrimp curry, basmati rice with peas and roasted broccoli, and several more offerings. All of the desserts featured matcha as well.Whether learning how to store food properly, or how to compost leftovers, students came away empowered to take better care of the planet.
Student Center Plant Swap
The Office of Sustainability partnered with UH Wellness and the Student Center’s Sustainability
Committee to host a Plant Swap event. Facilities Planning staff who helped facilitate
the event included Madersbacher Eide and two Facilities Designers, Ireland Brock and
Gabriela Guerrero.
The Plant Swap was open to the UH community. Students and staff alike had the opportunity
to learn more about plants and the different benefits they each have, while also providing
them with free plants to green up their spaces. Participants, including students who
had never had a plant of their own before, were able to take home species that included
succulents, snake plants, chili plants, mint, Vietnamese spinach, and pothos.
“It was phenomenal,” said Madersbacher Eide. “I loved the event and having the opportunity
to showcase the variety of plants people can actually keep in their homes, not just
for aesthetic purposes, but also edible plants that can help students improve their
culinary skills. We had some students walk out with four different plants to take
care of.”
Sustainability Lunch & Learn: Outer Space Design Edition
A Lunch & Learn education experience co-hosted by Madersbacher Eide, the Student Center’s
Sustainability Committee, and UH Research Professor Olga Bannova, also the director
of the Space Architecture Graduate Program. Bannova presented on the UN’s Sustainable
Development Goals, with a focus on outer space design. Key takeaways from the event
included the need for industry and infrastructure to integrate materials management
at the start of the life cycle of the design process. Early integration into design
ensures smooth and efficient processes, rather than waiting for the end of the cycle
to decide on end-of-use.
UH Dining’s Teaching Kitchen
UH Dining Serviced held a Teaching Kitchen, open to the UH community during Earth
Week. Thompson Hospitality’s Mike Rivera, regional executive chef, co-taught the class
along with Beth Casey, regional vice president of Joint Ventures, and Susan Griffin,
director of UH Wellness & Sustainability. They led 11 participants to create kale
shaker salads, as well as presented topics ranging from cost-saving tips to the health
benefits of growing food at home. The Teaching Kitchen demonstrated yet another impressive
example of UH Dining Services’ commitment to sustainability as well as the UH community.
City Nature Challenge Walk across Campus
Earth Week at UH concluded with a City Nature Challenge walk across campus, in collaboration
with the UH Institute for Ecological Resilience and the UH Coastal Center. The City
Nature Challenge is an international competition that empowers civilians and scientists
to document the presence of wildlife in cities using the iNaturalist app.
“It went well,” said Madersbacher Eide. “When you walk from one place to the next you often don’t realize what is around you, in terms of fauna and flora. We walked across campus and even saw a hawk who was sitting high up in the trees. It was a great way to close out Earth Week by appreciating the nature that UH provides to all campus users.”
Over the years, more than 1,200 species of both plants and animals have been registered on UH’s campus thanks to the City Nature Challenge. Readers can learn more about the UH wildlife report at https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-nature-of-the-university-of-houston.
All the events and vendors demonstrated not just creativity, but community coming together to make the campus more beautiful and sustainable.