Keeping Campus Waters Clean

Getting to know UF’s Clean Water Campaign

In 2003, a collection of faculty, students, and staff started the UF Clean Water Campaign to educate the campus community and raise awareness about stormwater and water quality issues at UF.

Since that time, the campaign has monitored 20 sites across campus for 12 key physical and chemical water quality parameters. Data from the monitoring program indicates that Lake Alice has higher nitrogen and phosphorus levels than comparable local water bodies such as Bivens Arm.

In addition, two creeks on campus have nitrate concentrations that are potentially toxic to some freshwater fish and invertebrates and may contribute to algal blooms in Lake Alice. Efforts are now underway to more clearly identify the source(s) of elevated nutrients and implement actions to reduce inputs.

The UF Clean Water Campaign has sponsored education and outreach events such as labeling of storm drains with markers reading, “Keep it Clean – Drains to Lake Alice”, and hosting campus creek clean-ups.

Clean-ups, monitoring, and other activities are slated for Fall ’09. If you would like to volunteer to help with the UF Clean Water Campaign, please contact John Linhoss or visit the campus water quality website.

Personal Appliances Circumvent Energy Efficiency

Help colleagues pitch in today

While Physical Plant Division and Facilities Planning and Construction have gone to great lengths to minimize energy consumption in primary facility systems (HVAC, lighting, kitchen appliances, and so on), personal appliances brought into buildings by employees can lessen these efficiency efforts.

How much does it cost to operate personal appliances per year? Let's use a mini-fridge as an example.

Assuming an electricity rate of $0.10/kWh and a total annual energy consumption of 1,360 kWh, it would cost $136 per room or cubicle. If every staff member at UF chose to have their own fridge it would cost UF $1,669,672 each year!

* Article adapted for Office of Sustainability. Permission to use this article has been granted by Tech Resources, Inc. and Progress Energy.

Local Foods Cookoff

Iron Chef celebration on Earth Day

The last day of spring classes in April was marked by competition as Fresh Food Company's chefs battled Iron Chef-style using local, sustainable ingredients. Almost all proteins and produce were sourced from Florida and nearby in Georgia. Broward Dining's customers tasted, tested, then chose the selections of the winning chef!

A number of campus and community groups tabled with activities and information on their sustainability efforts, including Sweetwater Organic Coffee, Artie's Tempeh, Greeks Going Green, Indigo Green Store and Produce Distribution Center. Prizes and giveaways included providing the customer with the highest participation rate in Gator Dining's Reusable To-Go Program a free bicycle and gifting the winner of April's Sustainability Scavenger Hunt a free 50-Block Commuter Dining Plan for Fall 2010, worth $661.00.

The past few years' competitions have been exciting. Interested in videos from past events? View the videos section at Gator Dining Services' Gator Dining Sustainability Site.

NWEI Reading Group

Explore the issues further

This summer, some UF Green Team members are participating in a reading group based around Northwest Earth Institute's Choices for Sustainable Living. From early June through mid-July, participants are gathering weekly over lunch to discuss a wide diversity of readings that challenge them to explore what sustainability means and how their personal choices impact the planet. As the opening quote of the book states, "The character of a society is the cumulative result of the countless small actions, day in and day out, of millions of people."

Thus far, readings and discussion have varied widely-from the onset of cannibalism in the Easter Islands resulting from ecological and social deterioration-to campus anti-smoking policy, the society-wide implications of peak oil production, and our personal sense of optimism that our culture will make a successful transition to a sustainable one.

Group participants also bring diverse life experience to the table, from a 20-something Sustainability Coordinator from Gator Dining Services to a grandmotherly House Director from Kappa Delta Sorority, a Reitz Union shift director, campus faculty and more. Yet all share enthusiasm for learning and for our planet. Our shared reading and discussions will surely impact all of us.

Interested in participating in a future sustainability reading group? Would you like help starting a group in your own department or club? Please contact the Office of Sustainability’s Green Team Coordinator, Jason Fults.

Prizzia Named Director

Brings experience, passion to Office of Sustainability

Anna is the Director of the University of Florida’s Office of Sustainability. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Biology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a Master’s of Science in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation with a Certificate in Tropical Conservation and Development from the University of Florida in Gainesville. She has experience in natural resources management, habitat assessment, volunteer coordination, facilitation in the areas of education and the environment, and program development in education and marketing.

Prizzia worked as UF's Sustainability Outreach Coordinator from March 2007 through May 2009, and before that she was Watershed Action Volunteer Coordinator for Alachua County, Florida, implementing community water education programs. Previously, she worked with the St. John's River Water Management District and the City of Gainesville to craft water education campaigns. She has also worked in private environmental consulting and was a Peace Corps volunteer who worked in the Melanesian Republic of Vanuatu on community based natural resource management and small business skills.

Prizzia serves on the boards of Sustainable Alachua County, Sustainable Florida and Slow Food Gainesville. She has also worked on a number of field biology projects throughout Florida, and was involved with developing the Community Education Program for the University of Florida.

UF Swap Meet

Post and find needed items

Asset Management has worked with Facilities, Planning & Construction and Office of Sustainability to create an online swap meet, a place for UF staff and faculty to repurpose unneeded or unwanted office supplies.

Looking for extra reams of paper, print toner or a keyboard and monitor? Most anything you can think of may be posted to the site or found there for your use!

A Blooming Garden

Student leaders wanted

The UF Ethnoecology Society, which began in the 1980's following a visit by the eminent ethnobotanist Richard Schultes, is seeking expanded student involvement. During the last several years, the Society has been active in bringing speakers to campus, organizing journal discussions and field trips, and, most especially, planting and caring for the educational/experimental ethnoecology garden on the UF campus, located near the bat house.

The garden has blossomed in the last two years, and at last count was home to 100-plus unique species. The Society maintains extensive trellis systems, a vermiculture box, a small nursery, and an active compost program using coffee grounds from Starbucks in Library West. The garden also is the venue for weekly gatherings for work, socializing, and eating.

The Society and the garden are ripe for more student involvement. Leadership is needed to ensure the continuation of the group's mission and gardens. If you are interested in Ethnobotany, Ethnoecology, Economic Botany, Agroforestry, Permaculture, etc., please consider becoming involved.

Visitors are welcomed to the garden Fridays from 5 PM to sunset. E-mail ethnoecology@gmail.com to join the Society’s e-mail list or inquire about future activities.