{"id":20645,"date":"2017-06-16T10:41:15","date_gmt":"2017-06-16T14:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=20645"},"modified":"2021-05-21T07:47:07","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T11:47:07","slug":"arizona-state-university-sustainability-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/arizona-state-university-sustainability-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona State University Gaining Reputation for Its Sustainability Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arizona State University<\/span><\/a> (ASU) is rapidly gaining a reputation for its strong commitment to sustainability practices. It has won awards for various sustainability efforts three years in a row, starting in 2015 when it <\/span>received <\/span>two first-place Crescordia awards<\/span><\/a> at the Arizona Forward Environmental Excellence Awards, which honor projects focused on improving sustainability in Arizona. Those awards were followed in 2016 by the <\/span>USG NACDA Sustainability Award<\/span><\/a>, which is given to top athletic departments demonstrating sustainability practices. <\/span><\/p>\n

This year, ASU was <\/span>one of the eleven winners<\/span><\/a> of the <\/span>2017 <\/span>Best of Green Schools<\/span><\/a> award, which was given by the <\/span>Center for Green Schools<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>Green Schools National Network<\/span><\/a> to recipients whose organized projects represented some of the most diverse and creative sustainability efforts in the country. Each year, the two organizations team up to honor achievements in environmental work with the hope of building a more eco-friendly nation and education system.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cArizona State University continues to raise the bar in sustainability education and leadership,\u201d said Anisa Heming, director of the Center for Green Schools, in a statement. \u201cWe believe that every student across the country should have the opportunity to learn in and from a green school environment, and ASU is making that happen in its community every day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2017 Best of Green Schools award was presented to ASU under the category of higher education. <\/span>The award highlighted ASU\u2019s many sustainability programs for middle and high school students, such as the <\/span>Poly Garden<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> which produces locally grown food. Each semester, the Poly Garden leases three garden plots to ASU Preparatory Academy, a K-12 charter school, so its middle and high school students can learn to cultivate the garden. Some of the garden\u2019s produce is donated to a local food bank.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen students engage with the entire process of gardening from soil preparation to planting seeds to harvest, it gives them a unique sense of accomplishment and a true understanding of where food really comes from,\u201d said Susan Norton, program manager for University Sustainability Practices and Poly Garden manager, in a statement. \u201cIt generates firsthand respect for our entire food system<\/span>.<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The award also highlighted the university\u2019s two sustainability education programs aimed at K-12 teachers: \u00a0<\/span>the Sustainability Science Education program and the Sustainability Teacher\u2019s Academy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Sustainability Science Education<\/span><\/a> program is based in Arizona State University\u2019s Biodesign Institute. The program, which launched in 2011, was based on the theory that \u201cin <\/span>order to achieve a sustainable future, educators must systematically teach sustainability topics, problems, solutions, and divergent thinking in their classrooms at the elementary and middle school levels.\u201d The project provides \u201cconstructive style teaching methods\u201d and other technology resources to encompass the desired goal.<\/span><\/p>\n