UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Green Bag Lunch Series, consisting of four webinar presentations over the academic year, was created by Penn State’s Sustainability Institute’s Green Teams program. The presentations cover several topics, including energy, recycling, composting, the definition of sustainability and social justice. More than 100 Penn State Green Teams are hosting watching parties in their units that are open to all employees. The webinars are held via Adobe Connect and participants can register themselves or their group online through the Center for Workplace Learning and Performance website.
Did you know that chewing gum is compostable? Did you know that plastic containers with mouths wider than the base are considered miscellaneous plastic? From noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, Al Matyasovsky, program manager of solid waste operations at Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant, will present “Mastering möbius: The What’s and Where’s of Composting and Recycling.”
Participants will learn about what goes into each bin, additional resources on campus and the importance of recycling and composting. Möbius is a program that allows Penn State to commit to “closing the loop” on its solid waste. The program is currently being rolled out at University Park.
Jeremy Bean, of Penn State’s Sustainability Institute, will present “Sustainability Lives Here” on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Penn State has adopted sustainability as a foundation principle creating a strategic plan for sustainability and its own definition of the word.
The Educational Equity Green Team, from the Office of the Vice Provost For Educational Equity, will present on the connection between social justice and sustainability. More information will be available soon.
The first installment, “Making Your Home Smarter: Energy Efficiency with the National Energy Leadership Corps (NELC)” was held in October. Anthony Magliozzi, a current NELC intern, spoke about home energy efficiency and energy auditing opportunities. The NELC provides free home energy assessments to homeowners.
“We hope that faculty, staff and students will join together to watch the Green Bag webinars, either in real-time, or at their convenience,” said Lydia Vandenbergh, associate director of employee engagement at Penn State’s Sustainability Institute.
Penn State now has 102 Green Teams, with more than 850 faculty, staff and students volunteering to take specific actions to help their organization (college, department, building, etc.) operate in a more efficient, innovative and healthy way. For more information on how to join a team or to access the recordings of the Green Bag Lunch series, visit www.sustainability.psu.edu/greenteams. For more information about sustainability at Penn State, visit www.sustainability.psu.edu.