Student leaders from various contracted independent organizations across Grounds met to discuss sustainability and its relation to their organizations at the first full meeting of the University Unity Project yesterday.
Andrew Greene, sustainability planner for the University Architect's Office, opened the meeting of the Unity Project - the theme for which this year is environmental awareness - by speaking about how the University interacts, both positively and negatively, with the environment.
"A good way to create sustainability," he said to a room full of student group representatives, "is to work for a generation that's able to meet its own needs."
Later, Unity Project Co-chair Garrett Trent said Green's talk highlighted an important part of what the Unity Project hopes to accomplish.
"We hope to be more than just another committee," he said. "Instead, we want to work on education and awareness for programs that already exist. We have a vision of the community as a whole; how we as students can contribute to sustainability."
After Green's introduction, students broke into several small groups to discuss how each representative's organization could improve awareness about ways students could become more sustainable. Although Student Council initially launched the Unity Project last year, the project is now independent of Council's leadership and is directed by the goals of different CIOs across Grounds. A student will represent Council like other University organizations, but the Unity Project will not include grants from Student Council.
Co-chair Sheffield Hale said organizations already focused on the environment or sustainability will benefit from the Unity Project because they can coordinate with other groups, helping to ensure that their efforts are not overlapping. Lack of communication can prevent students from working together or directing their efforts toward different projects, he noted.
"There was another group working on that [recycling at fraternity houses]," he said in regards to a group with which he was previously involved. "It was a while before we figured that out and could start working with them or putting our energy somewhere else."
Other students, though, represent educational or athletic groups not yet explicitly involved with sustainability efforts. Second-year College student Ryan Deneault noted that the University crew team, of which he is a member, rows in the Rivanna Reservoir, which is created by a dam that may negatively impact the ecosystem.
Deneault said he thinks that making people aware of the resources their activities require is a positive step. Students can then go back to their organizations and talk about what might be done to improve sustainability on Grounds.
Several group representatives also expressed desires to coordinate with similar groups at other colleges and universities. Unity Project members plan to discuss the specifics of potential initiatives at future meetings.
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