University of Mount Union
PAE-19: Community Sustainability Partnerships

Mount Union President Richard F. Giese and Alliance, Ohio Mayor Toni Middleton signed an agreement to work together on sustainability issues. The partnership has resulted in shared research on sustainable operations including energy efficiency, purchasing, fleet management, waste management, and related items, and the securing of fudning sources. As a result, members of the Mount Union community serve on the Mayor's Green Task Force, and the community is represented on the University's Sustainability Management Advisory Committee. Mount Union participated in the inaugural Sustainable Alliance Festival held September 24, 2010 through October 3, 2010. Throughout the week, residents from the Alliance area and surrounding communities were invited to attend various events including bike and bus tours, family-friendly games, numerous learning experiences, food, music, and all things sustainable. Mount Union involvement included the showing of the movie WALL-E in the Mount Union Theatre, a tree planting on campus, a lecture entitled, "Saving the Future: The National Ash Seed Collection," as well as Family Nature Games at the Nature Center, a live viewing of "Dirt! The Movie," and a faculty panel regarding how to include sustainability across the curriculum. Additionally, Mount Union President Reichard F. Giese joined Alliance Mayor Toni Middleton and a panel of experts as a speaker at the Alliance Leadership Seminar on Sustainability Planning. Ohio Solar Tour For the second consecutive year, Mount Union participated in the Ohio Solar Tour, a statewide event that featured tours at 10 local sites in Stark County featuring solar, wind, geothermal, green design and energy-saving technologies. As part of this event, a special exhibition with demonstrations was held at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex on the University of Mount Union’s campus. Technical representatives were available to answer questions. The Silver-LEED-certified Gartner Welcome Center was a stop on the 2009 tour. For additional information: www.mountunion.edu/2010-solar-tour Community Networking Mount Union has hosted the superintendant of facilities of two local school districts – Alliance City Schools and Louisville Local Schools, as a means of sharing strategy and successes. Fuel-less Fridays For the second consecutive year, the University of Mount Union partnered with the Mayor’s Green Task Force to sponsor Alliance's Fuel-less Fridays effort. The effort encourages Alliance community members to walk, bike, car pool or take the bus on Fridays as a means of reducing emissions from vehicles. John T. Huston-Dr. John D. Brumbaugh Nature Center Programming Mount Union’s 142-acre Nature Center continually offers community programming related to sustainability. The Nature Center partners with local elementary schools, whose students plan, cultivate and harvest a community garden. Wind energy is harnessed to pump the water that is used to irrigate the garden, and crops are often donated to local food pantries and assistance organizations. The Nature Center also offers tours of local water treatment waste management plants, and frequently partners with Alliance and other Stark County Parks for programming related to environmental and sustainable initiatives, including Earth Day celebrations. During the past few years, additional events have been held related to ornithology, herbs, composting, plant life, earthworms and insects, soil, cheese making, waste management, food dehydrating and gardening. For additional information: www.mountunion.edu/nature-center Raider Relief In 2009, Raider Relief, a student-driven organization at the University of Mount Union, collected new or gently used shoes. The effort was the result of a partnership with Soles4Souls, a non-profit charitable organization that donates shoes world wide to those in need. Raider Relief also sold purple shoelaces for $2 to help offset the cost of shipping the shoes to those in need. More than 4,500 pairs of shoes were collected. This year, the group has launched H20 (Help 2 Others). Participants are selling small test tubes of purple tap water for $10 through a partnership with Living Water International, a faith-based, non-profit organization dedicated to providing 884 million impoverished people worldwide who lack access to safe and clean drinking water. For additional information: raiderrelief.wordpress.com Community Recycling Project Mount Union’s second annual move-out day benefit sale and recycling project, “Clean the MUC,” raised $1,037 to benefit area United Way agencies and promoted sustainability on campus and in the community. The sale, held on May 5-6 on campus, was instituted to empower every student, staff and faculty member at Mount Union to address the issue of waste reduction/recycling, as well as serve the Alliance community. Donated items such as clothing and accessories, appliances, electronics, furniture and other valuables were available for purchase at the sale. Remaining items were disbursed to community partners including Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, Alliance Food Pantry, YMCA, Alliance Domestic Violence Shelter and the YWCA. For additional information: www.mountunion.edu/clean-the-muc-recycling-project-raises-more-than-1-000-for-area-united-way-agencies-promotes-sustainability Technology Recycling The Office of Information Technology at Mount Union recently partnered with Alliance Computer Exchange to recycle more than 10,000 pounds of obsolete electronic equipment.