Sustainable Living on Campus

This presentation will introduce the concept of sustainability and why it is important to students' lives, provide information about the sustainability goals the University and President Pastides have set, will encourage students to adopt new green habits, and tell them how they can get involved with sustainability on campus. It is hoped that after hearing the presentation students will have a better understanding of sustainability and what they can do to be more sustainable while on campus and once they leave USC.

Learning Outcomes

The Sustainable Living on Campus presentation supports University 101 learning outcomes:

III. Prepare Students for Responsible Lives in a Diverse, Interconnected, and Changing World
c. Describe and demonstrate principles of responsible citizenship within and beyond the campus community.
Knowledge of sustainable practices and an awareness of environmental issues are increasingly expected from responsible citizens on and off the University campus.  With more and more focus on issues like energy use and the amount of trash we produce, people will be expected to understand recycling and conservation and how these things impact not only their lives by the lives of others.  This presentation educates students on what sustainability is, how it relates to their life on campus and how what we do here at USC can impact people in other countries, and how they can become environmentally responsible citizens with just through small habit changes.

II. Help Students Discover and Connect With the University of South Carolina
a. Identify appropriate campus resources and opportunities that contribute to their educational experience, goals, and campus engagement.
The presentation will highlight many ways to get involved with sustainability or environmental issues on campus.  It describes student organizations like EcoReps, Net Impact, and SAGE and how to join, promotes the Green Learning Community and tells students about the Student Sustainability Fund, which is money available to fund student-proposed sustainability projects on campus.  The presentation also describes ways in which sustainability has been increasingly incorporated into businesses and how knowledge of sustainability could impact their career choices.

As a result of attending this presentation students will:

• Describe what the term sustainability means
• Explain University sustainability goals
• Be able to state current University sustainability initiatives
• Examine their own lifestyle for potential improvements in eco-friendly habits

Presentation Outline

1.What is Sustainability?

• ACTIVITY: To me, sustainability is… Definition of sustainability
• Why should you care?  Describe the economic, health and human rights implications of sustainability

2. Campus Wide Sustainability Initiatives

• Where we are – overview of current metrics for the University like water use, energy use and recycling rate
  
• Where we want to go
  • Achieve carbon neutrality by 2050
    
  • Become a zero waste campus by 2050
    
  • Current initiatives

3. The importance of you!

• Green Stereotypes
• Carbon Footprint
• What can you do?
• How to get involved on campus
• Questions

Presentation Length 
50 minutes