Louisiana State University
ER-T2-6: Sustainability Events

(1) Spring Greening Day. Website: http://www.lsu.edu/campuslife/ In honor of Earth Day, LSU annually hosts a Spring Greening Day service project and Sustainability Expo in the heart of the university's campus, helping to accentuate the campus' beauty while also emphasizing the importance of sustainability. "Where stately oaks and broad magnolias shade inspiring halls." With the opening words of LSU's alma mater, it becomes evident that the landscape is one of the most visual memories for anyone who visits the university. Described as a "botanical joy" in Thomas Gaines' book "The Campus as a Work of Art," LSU's lush landscape is the campus' crowning touch. Spring Greening Day is held in late April in support of the Green Tiger Project, which seeks to coordinate and support campus beautification efforts. Spring Greening Day is being coordinated by Campus Life, a division of Student Life, and Landscape Services in the Office of Facility Services. Registered student organization volunteers work with Landscape Services and Student Life staff members to plant flowers, lay sod and spread mulch in prepared beds across the core of LSU's campus. "By pulling students outside their niches and into the open air to plant flowers for the LSU community, we can establish roots in organizations that would otherwise have no ties with green initiatives," said Elizabeth Hingle, member of the Spring Greening Day Student Advisory Committee. "Spring Greening Day events will also help students open their eyes to a brighter future for LSU's campus and the Baton Rouge community through sustainability in a fun and interactive way." Spring Greening Day will provide Landscape Services with volunteers to help at a time of year when the plantings need to be changed out for the summer, giving a high profile, visual impact to campus that can be achieved in one day rather than over several weeks. In addition, the event will have a unique LSU fingerprint, building on the beauty of campus' stately oaks to provide permanent improvements to ornamental plantings, like azaleas and camellias, and ground cover, like jasmine and ivy, to keep the seasonal planting to a minimum. Throughout the day, a Sustainability Expo also takes place on the LSU Parade Ground. The LSU community is invited to participate in interactive opportunities to learn about sustainability efforts on campus and discover interesting facts about recycling and sustainability. "Spring Greening Day is important because it further beautifies our already lovely campus while teaching students to care for and maintain their university," said Jan Martin. "It also sets an example for the larger community in regard to recycling, litter prevention and landscaping." In addition, the event normally features progressive, visionary, green record label bands. In support of the sustainable-friendly message of Spring Greening Day, Gulf South Solar will provide a free solar power collecting stage, which will help provide about half of the bands' energy needs for the day. "In my opinion, an event like Spring Greening Day gives the average student a sense of ownership over their campus," said Cas Smith, member of the Spring Greening Day Student Advisory Committee Member and director of sustainability for the LSU Student Government. "Additionally, the event’s sustainable message is a great opportunity to advocate for ways an individual can protect their planet." The Green Tiger Project is a movement that is led by Jan Martin and the LSU Foundation, and the Campus Beautification Fund allows LSU alumni, friends and fans to make gifts to help with campus beautification through the LSU Foundation. (2) LSU's Coastal Sustainability Studio Website: http://css.lsu.edu/?page_id=7 In Coastal Louisiana and the Gulf South, nothing is more pressing than the challenge of sustaining the ecological, settlement, and economic framework of the coastal region. The mission of Louisiana State University’s Coastal Sustainability Studio, initiated in 2009, is to address this challenge. The Studio is a place where scientists, engineers, and designers come together to intensively study and respond to issues at the intersection of settlement, coastal restoration, flood protection, and the economy. Often pitted against one another, these themes are in fact bound together through their primary relationship to the Mississippi River. The river is the shared backbone to our economy, environment, and way of life. The goal of the CSS is to envision and design sustainable systems that reduce vulnerability associated with increased storm strength, land subidence, habitat degradation, and global environmental change. The environmental and societal issues in coastal Louisiana mirror similar concerns in major river delta regions worldwide. At the same time the specific problems facing the delta are unique. To address these challenges the CSS was concieved as a laboratory to develop new strategies that reduce risk to social, economic, and natural resources. The results of this design experimentation provide a sound basis for major policy decisions that focus on adaptation through more sustainable regional land-use planning, protection, and education. Over the course of our first year CSS succeeded in engaging with communities, developed strong connections across the different disciplines, become a space for exchange on the LSU campus, and began to affect the discourse about the coast in the media, political, and academic realms on the local, state, federal, and even global levels. (3) Energy Summit and Alternative Energy Forums Website: http://www.enrg.lsu.edu/conferences, (4) LSU Environmental Film Series Website: http://sustainability.lsu.edu/index.html