SGA celebrates Campus Sustainability Day

West Virginia University's Student Government Association will celebrate National Campus Sustainability Day in effort to spread awareness of the need for increased sustainability on campus.

"Campus Sustainability Day is a time to focus the national eye, and our campus, on the success of the sustainability movement in higher education," said Isabelle Shepherd, green ambassador for the Office of Sustainability.

Informational booths will be available in the Mountainlair and will give students the opportunity to play games that teach them about sustainability, win prizes and sign the Sustainability Pledge.

The Sustainability Resolution, which was introduced and signed by the SGA, will also be on display.

"Sustainability Day is to make sustainability a part of students' consciousness of day-to-day thinking," Shepherd said.

WVU has already made many efforts in moving toward becoming a more sustainable university, Shepherd said.

The University provides a unique mass transit option for students with the PRT. WVU has also renovated Olgebay Hall through the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, saving WVU nearly $30,000 in energy costs each year.

WVU Dining Services has also recently gone tray-less, in efforts to increase sustainability.

But, Shepherd said there is still more that students can do, such as becoming more aware of the amount of materials they consume and the effects of their consumption from an economic standpoint.

"What it boils down to isn't just saving resources and going green, but looking at it from an economic standpoint," she said.

Students interested in learning more about how they can improve sustainability may stop by one of the booths at the following locations: the Mountainlair from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; the Engineering Sciences Building from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the Student Recreation Center from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.