Lane Community College
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

We want to help learners move beyond the popular focus on domesticated European honeybees to an awareness of the hundreds of native species right here in our bioregion. We hope to foster an understanding that native bees and other native insects are more efficient pollinators than domestic bees and that a diversity of wild bee and other insect species provides a greater chance of recovery from disease, extreme weather, and climate change. We also hope to foster an understanding that because growing healthy food depends upon pollinators, conservation of native species will play an important role in food security in the future.

Becoming a Bee Campus benefits Lane Community College by:

Addressing pest problems in a less toxic manner
Heightening awareness of seasonal changes
Improving food production in our edible beds around campus as well as in the Learning Garden
Ensures survival of vital animal species that surround campus
Stimulates the local plant nursery market by our increased demand of native, pollinator friendly plants & seeds
Educates visitors to our campus about the importance of pollinators in our community

The Bee Campus USA campaign has created a positive impact with staff, faculty and students that are actively engaged in the activities related to this campaign. Two planting events have taken place on the main campus with volunteers from all areas of the College participating in the creation of a more pollinator friendly environment.

https://www.lanecc.edu/sustainability/bee-campus-certification

The Green Office Certification Program is a tool for departments or divisions to use to improve sustainable practices and to keep with the College's Sustainability Core Value.

https://inside.lanecc.edu/sustainability/green-office-program

Small actions taken by departments translate into big positive impacts. For example, Lane does two times more printing per employee than comparator colleges. If we all work together to reduce our printing and copying, we could annually save 263 trees and 200 tons of carbon emissions and $400,000 in paper and printing costs. The Green Office Certification Program is a fun, easy, and rewarding tool that departments can use to contribute to these larger efforts.