UNC Sustainability
What Is It?
Where Is It Going?
Why Am I Involved Already?
Richard R Jurin, PhD
Environmental & Sustainability Studies
Karen S. Barton, PhD
Geography and GIS
Insanity is doing
the same things
in the same way
and complaining
each time
because the
outcome is
different from
what we thought
we wanted
Sustainability is about seeing things in a
different way that solve our
environmental problems and create a
better Quality of Life
I’m often asked: “Will we ever become
a Sustainable Society?”
I always answer: “Without a doubt”
Richard Jurin
It’s not about David versus Goliath, its
about helping Goliath to think differently
and supporting that new way of doing!
Living Better:
Applying sustainability
principles for a
healthier, happier, more
prosperous life.
Sustainability is NOT a half-life of
voluntary poverty and penance for our
environmental sins!
Our major problem is a
Pathology of Thinking Badly
Being less bad is still BAD!
“we are not blindly
opposed to progress,
but we are opposed to
blind progress.”
David Brower
Business
as Usual
(BAU)
A New
and Better
World?
Let’s visit the
EXPONENTIAL
FUNCTION
70/gr=dt
8
Let’s assume a constant growth rate of
say 3.5%
and
a doubling time of just 20 years
for an
essential non-renewable and finite
natural resource X
20
This is the amount of
resource used after the
first 20 years from when
it was discovered
and
the full screen is the finite
amount of resource X
20
40
20
40
60
20
40
60
80
20
40
60
80
100
20
40
60
120
80
100
100
We have
reached the
half-way point
of OIL use
(Peak Oil)
– so how much
time is left of oil
at current
growth?
70/gr=dt
100
120
but our RATE of usage is now
INCREASING?
Developing Countries are coming
on board
“Facts do not cease to exist because
we ignore them” Aldous Huxley
DISCONNECT
So where is the balance?
We have to
understand the
difference
between the
Standard of
Living (SOL)
and the
Modern Quality
of Life (QOL)
REAL THINKING - Sustainability
Everything is connected
Everything has to go somewhere
There are "no free lunches"
Every action has a consequence
BUT, which problems do we
solve first???
Water Pollution
Nutrient pollution
Sediment pollution
Toxic pollution
Groundwater pollution
Infectious agents
Thermal pollution
Air Pollution
Acid deposition
Global Climate Change
Urban air pollution
Ozone Depletion
Depletion of minerals
Poverty & health
Depletion of Oil
Root Causes
Physical
Food security
Starvation
Malnutrition
Obesity
GMO’s
Destruction of
farmland &
rangeland
Over-population
Over-consumption
Fossil-Fuel Dependence
Psychological
Inefficiency
Linearity
Frontier-mentality
Species Extinction &
Ecosystem collapse
Adapted from Dan Chiras, 1992, Lessons in Sustainability
Hazardous &
Solid Waste
PesticideHerbicide
contamination
Depletion of water
Groundwater overuse
Contaminated non-portable water
Future Trends?
• Make politicians accountable for our daily lives
• Growth isn’t bad
but it should mean BETTER not more
• Let’s get beyond $90,000/yr, for 90 hours/wk, at
90mph???
Achieving Sustainability and Regenerative
Community is about making CHOICES
You make those kinds choices all the time
It’s About Working Together
• for the Common Good
• as Citizens
• for Well-Being
• with Empathy
• to be Happy
• as Mindful Consumers
• as Mindful Producers
“Be the change you want to create” Ghandi
Imagine What Comes After
Green
Imagine Something Better
Sustainability,
Leadership,
and
Possibilities
Our vision is to infuse sustainability
concepts and practices into the
culture of UNC that will enhance the
future of our institution and the
community in which it exists while
providing a more complete education
for our students.
Our mission is to identify and create new
opportunities for the campus community to learn
about, conduct research on and adopt new
sustainable practices as a university or in
partnerships with the community.
We will also educate and inform the UNC
community and stakeholders about the current
activities related to and the status of sustainable
practices at UNC.
These practices will involve the facilities,
academic affairs, and all aspects of the broader
community with equity and social justice as a
connecting focus.
Definition of Sustainability at UNC
Sustainability involves making decisions that
support the environmental and social-cultural
systems on which we depend.
It requires a coordinated approach involving
personal lifestyles, workplace practices, and
planning and policy-making that fosters diverse and
flourishing ecosystems and healthy, diverse
human communities marked by social and cultural
integration with stable equitable economies.
Recycling
•All Aluminum, Cardboard, Paper & Plastic recycled.
•All useable furnishing and appliances sent to auction or
local/charitable entities.
•All mattresses and curtains are donated to local charities and
businesses when no longer up to housing standards.
•Every attempt is made to recycle or sell salvaged metal from
residence halls.
•Composting from dining halls.
•Cooking oil from dining halls into fuel.
Landscaping and gardens
•Xeric demonstration gardens show what is possible with little or
no-irrigation.
•Non-portable irrigation water retention pond.
•Community garden plots to promote local foods, food production
awareness and bio-dynamic farming and gardening
techniques
IN PROGRESS
Permaculture Demonstration Garden
Brought to you by the Environmental &
Sustainability Studies Students
Funded by
Faculty are working to create engaged field courses that explore the complexities of
agriculture, energy, poverty, and land use policies, allowing students to dig deeper and
reach across the aisle to initiate dialogue with stakeholders.
Clockwise from Left: JBS,
City Hall, Weld Food Bank,
Aurora Organic Dairy, Mineral
Resources Inc.
•UNC Board of Trustees signing of oil and
gas lease with Greeley based Mineral
Resources (2011) led to a series of faculty
and student initiatives designed to create
awareness, education and research
surrounding energy and sustainability.
•Schulze Interdisciplinary Speaker Series
event: Gasland Director Josh Fox (footage
here in Weld County), “Fracking the Social
Contract”, (November 2012).
•Co-sponsored Weld League of Women Voters/Geography and GIS
Department, “Hydrofracturing Roundtable”, featuring participants
from oil and gas, city staff, county commissioners, environmental
groups, faculty, students, community members.
•In 2013 UNC Faculty Senate approves formation of faculty and staff
hydrofracturing task force (Drs. Mark Anderson, Wendy Highby, and Marilyn
Welsh).
“We are requesting the formation of a Faculty Senate Task Force to
investigate our concerns for the welfare of the University. Our concerns are
for the health and safety of the students, employees, and community
members with regard to hydrofracturing and related surface activities
planned by Mineral Resources, Inc. We are particularly concerned about the
Midtown Directional site due to its proximity to the University Apartments,
Jackson Field, Parsons Hall, Foundation Hall, and Central Campus. We also
have concerns regarding the South Greeley Directional site and its location
near West Campus.”
•Since 2013 the task force has organized visits by COGCC (regulatory
agency), Mineral Resources Inc., Weld Air and Water, Dr. Thomas Hill, and a
variety of other stakeholders in oil and gas.
•UNC has been working with Marc Morton
of the COGCC (Colorado Oil and Gas
Conservation Commission) to create an
Energy Advisory Board based at UNC
where all stakeholders will meet monthly to
discuss concerns, policies, regarding
hydrofracturing. Garfield County’s EAB has
met with great success in terms of opening
dialogues.
•Students will also work with the COGCC to
create a website similar to Garfield County’s
“Community Counts”, an interactive site that
gives stakeholders a voice.
http://www.communitycountscolorado.com/
•UNC students will also work with the COGCC to create a website
similar to Garfield County’s “Community Counts”, an interactive site
that gives stakeholders a voice.
http://www.communitycountscolorado.com/
• A Community and University Symposium (Tentative Sept 9-10, 2014)
The gains from natural gas from Weld County are well known—jobs, energy,
and economic gains for secondary business and industry. A two-day
symposium, “Sustainable Futures: Balancing Energy, the Economy, and the
Environment in Weld,” explores the lesser-known aspects, such as the
historical, social-environmental, legal, political, and health issues related to
gas extraction. The conference includes a balanced series of topics, with
speakers and panelists including regional scholars, state-elected and agency
officials, corporate executives, and representatives from statewide
environmental groups, as well as community members and students.
• Dr. Bill Hoyt (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences), Dr. Mark Eiswerth (Econ), Dr.
Karen Barton (Geography and GIS) submitted Institute proposal to UNC
@Innovation funds to develop a UNC-based sustainability institute.
Imagine a place in Weld County where groups of science, social
science, humanities, business, education, arts, and health practitioners
and educators can gather with shared interests to study and create a
vibrant and sustainable community future in our place. Our region is
richly endowed with natural resources such as fertile cropland and
mountain runoff surface water to sustain plants, grazing land for livestock
industries, generally clean air and blue skies, subsurface minerals (sand
and gravel, hydrocarbons, uranium) and other abundant resources.
•What are some of the consequences of a rapidly developing, energy
intensive economy in northern Colorado
•What are the relationships between and conflicts among growing local
industries for competing natural resources?
•What are the relationships between and conflicts among real estate values
and the effects of extractive mineral resources?
The Environmental &
Sustainability Studies Program
Already a leader in Environmental thinking, the University of
Northern Colorado has had an environmental studies program
with a Degree Minor for over 44 years.
It expanded in 2011 with a new B.A. Degree Major in
Environmental & Sustainability Studies. The focus is to
develop students with an interdisciplinary framework, able to
foster an informed citizenry with the tools, knowledge and critical
thinking skills to make rational and informed decisions for positive
sustainable development.
Email: richard.jurin@unco.edu for more information.
 Talloires
Declaration – mid-1990’s
 AASHE (Association for the Advancement
of Sustainability in Higher Education)
 College Sustainability Report Card - UNC
not reported
(http://www.greenreportcard.org/)
 Sustainability rankings, e.g., BizWk
What are our peers in the
Big Sky Conference and
beyond doing with regard
to campus sustainability?
Signatory to the Talloires Declaration
 Sustainable Campus Committee since 2002
 Majority of campus uses geothermal cooling
 Steam plant generates heat for campus
 Waste material recycled from building renovation
 Dining services offers local products, uses
compostable materials and green cleaning supplies
 Local farm uses kitchen waste and scraps for feed
 Students actively involved in recycling and
sustainability efforts

Energy efficient and ENERGY STAR products
required for renovations and new construction
 Campus transportation master plan discourages car
travel, promotes carpooling and mass transit use
 Installation of 163 Kwh photovoltaic farm, using wind
and biomass
 Building to LEED standards
since 2003
 President set goal of carbon
neutral campus by 2020

All new buildings and major renovations built
according to LEED Silver standard
 Award-winning transportation program
 Participant of RecycleMania since 2006
 PSU Recycles! sponsors ReUse room for exchange
of used office supplies
 PSU Composts! engages food establishments in
waste reduction
 Purchased RECs for 20% of electricity in 2008

AASHE
Association for
Advancement of
Sustainability in
Higher Education
UNC became a member in 2010
STARS – Sustainability Tracking And Rating System
Sustainability Council
The Grassroots
is
currently doing a self- study using the STARS system to help us
understand points of best economic leverage for improving
sustainability on campus even more.
BUT, we need to know where we want to go –
What would a sustainable UNC look like if we
go there?
Each subcommittee has
representative plus
planning council rep, plus
presidents rep.
Sustainability
Officer
Sustainability
Council
(Sub-Committees)
Students
Faculty
Curriculum
Food
services/Dini
ng
Each subcommittee may delegate
ad hoc committees as necessary
for specific projects tasks
Responsible for
coordinating subcommittees and
oversight of all
sustainability
activities and
initiatives on
campus and
connections to
external
communities
Physical
Facilities
Recreation
Advisory to
University
Administration
Sustainability Plan
Res Life
Off-campus
Communities
Grounds
Keeping
Social Justice
Groups
Exempt Staff
Other
Let’s stick a pin on the Sustainability Map of where
we want to be!
How we get there is the future Sustainability Plan
Imagine What Comes After Green
A SUSTAINABLE
CAMPUS &
COMMUNITY
Let’s all create clean,
reliable, affordable
energy, a clean healthy
environment, and a
secure and prosperous
future…
Thank you for doing your part…
Questions-Comments?