GVSU Sustainability Week: Making It All Count

For the third year in a row, Grand Valley State University will celebrate its commitment to being environmentally, socially and fiscally responsible with its annual Campus Sustainability Week.

This year's Campus Sustainability Week runs October 24–27. The theme for the festivities is "Make It All Count." The week's activities will include speakers and presentations, displays and demonstrations, awards and recognition, exhibits and community projects . The goal is to help people understand how each individual’s actions affect the world.

This year’s festivities include a talk by Jed Horne, a metro editor of The Times-Picayune. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his part in the paper’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Horne is the author of “Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City.”

Also appearing during and a concert by Adrienne Young, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who is such an ardent supporter of sustainable agriculture that she bundled seed packets into the liner notes of her Grammy-nominated first album. Her third release, Room to Grow, was released in May. Young has integrated a national responsible-farming awareness campaign and fund-raising effort into the release of Room to Grow, a perfect marriage between her convictions and her talent.

Sustainability relates to the environmental impact of human activity, the enhancement of social systems and the improvement of economic prosperity -- a triumvirate of factors commonly known as the "triple bottom line." The recognition of the required balance among these three issues has been characterized as sustainable growth.

As an institution of higher education and leadership, as well as a public university supported by tax dollars, Grand Valley has a responsibility to practice sustainable growth. The university does this by maintaining the quality of education offered to students, keeping costs low, protecting the environment, working to improve society and helping students shape their lives.

Events are free and open to the public. Presentations and activities are scheduled at various times throughout the week on both the Allendale and Pew Grand Rapids campuses. See www.gvsu.edu/sustainability for program information. Highlights of the week include:

• Jed Horne, author of “Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City, Grand River Room, Kirkhof Center, Allendale, 4-5:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 24

• Adrienne Young performs as part of Laker Late Night in the Grand River Room, Kirkhof Center, Allendale, which runs from 7-11 p.m. Friday, October 26

• Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell will discuss Sustainability in Grand Rapids 11:30 a.m. –12:15 p.m. on Thursday, October 25 in the University Club room of the DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus

• Ravines Cleanup as part of Make a Difference Day, Saturday, October 27 on the Allendale Campus

• In an effort to offset the environmental damage from international travel, a group of international students will plant 100 trees along the M-45 hill before the GVSU arch. The students will plant Michigan’s state tree, the white pine. The trees come from the Ottawa Conservation District. The planting will take place on Wednesday, October 24 from 9-11 a.m.