University of Missouri, Kansas City
EN-2: Student Orientation

Roos Fest Sustainability Orientation Each semester the campus holds Roos Fest to orient incoming students as to what is available on campus. The UMKC Sustainability Office has an educational table about the campus sustainability efforts and has a sign-up for students who are interested in joining the sustainability team and want more information. UMKC is going green, and Residential Life is ready to join in the challenge! In Fall 2009, the first LEED®-Certified building on the UMKC Campus was opened - Herman and Dorothy Johnson Residence Hall. Some of the features of this certification included: construction activity pollution prevention access to public transportation parking space for alternative fuel vehicles maximizing open space light pollution reduction water efficient landscaping optimized energy performance recycling and reuse of construction materials, and a green cleaning program. The largest source of carbon emissions at UMKC is from students, faculty and staff commuting to and from campus. Campus housing plays a large role in decreasing these emissions by providing comfortable housing close to campus. The Residential Life Department supports the goal of making recycling and other sustainability efforts become the norm for the UMKC campus community. How you can help The University has taken many steps to decrease our footprint on the earth, but we still need the help of the campus and the community in making Kansas City a greener place. Here’s how you can help us protect the environment: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – In December 2009, UMKC reflected a recycling rate of 50% of our total waste. By recycling paper products alone, UMKC has the potential to annually save 7000 trees, 12 tons of air pollution and 3 million gallons of water. Try using reusable cloth bags when going to the store, register online to stop junk mail, avoid products with excessive packaging and buy in bulk. Conserve energy – Johnson Hall features motion-activated lights in the hallways and windows that offer additional daylight for the breezeways in order to reduce energy usage. Remember to turn off lights and other electrical items when leaving a room, unplug items that you are not using, and take the stairs to avoid using the elevators. Save water – In the landscaping for Johnson Hall, careful consideration was given to maximize water efficiency, in addition to water reduction strategies used in the construction of the building. Don’t leave water running while brushing teeth or washing dishes, take short showers – every minute you take off your shower time saves three gallons of water – and wash only full loads of laundry (not much of a challenge for the average college student!).