Sustainability
Who We Are
To live and work sustainably means to perpetuate the health and welfare of people, economies, and the environment. Sustainability is about ensuring that all people - today and into the future - can live in healthy communities and participate in productive local economies without sacrificing environmental integrity. It’s a simple yet powerful concept that ties together human happiness and well-being with the quality and health of environmental systems. Thus, sustainability issues incorporate such wide-ranging topics as biodiversity loss, climate change, social justice, and more.
West Chester University seeks to be a leader in local, regional, and global sustainability efforts. This website documents the university’s efforts in sustainability and provides numerous resources for individuals, organizations, and communities.
Join us as we carry out the single most critical task of the 21st century!
News and Upcoming Events
West Chester University Honored as a 2023 Green Ribbon School
The U.S. Department of Education recently named West Chester University a Green Ribbon School for 2023!! This honor was awarded for the university's efforts to reduce environmental impacts, improve health and wellness, and increase sustainability education and you all played a part in making that a reality. You Golden Rams sure look good in green! Read the full story in the WCU Newsroom by following the link below.
Electronics Recycling Project
West Chester University has recently partnered with PAR-Recycle Works, a nonprofit electronics recycler that provides transitional employment to people returning from prison, to offer faculty, staff, and students a personal electronics recycling opportunity! Bring your computers, phones, cables, routers, tablets, even those old dvd/cd players to a collection location in either the Sykes Student Union or the Francis Harvey Green (FHG) Library. See the list of acceptable items on the flyer and read more about the program in the WCU Libraries blog post linked below. And remember, these are personal items only. No university owned devices please!
Spring 2023 Sustainability Research and Practice Seminar
The Office of Sustainability would like to thank all of our speakers from the Spring
2023 Sustainability Research and Practice Seminar and offer up one last round of applause!
This semester hundreds of faculty, staff, and students joined us for conversations
on topics ranging from organic beekeeping, to student advocacy and greenhouse gas
emissions reduction in urban mass transit. While we're sad it's come to an end, we
look forward to announcing a fresh round of presentations for Fall '23! If you're
kicking yourself for missing a week, fear not! Recordings of the spring seminars
are available to you online through the Digital Commons website. Just follow the link below! And if you'd like to speak in a future seminar series
-- whether you're a staff member, student, or faculty member -- please reach out to
us at sustainability@wcupa.edu so we can add you to the program!
Speaker Schedule
2/1/23
Professor John Pisciotta, Biology - Sustainable and Organic Beekeeping in Chester County View Recording
2/8/23
Professor Jacqueline Alnes, English - Milk Diets, Grape Cures, and Bananas Galore: An Examination of Past and Present Wellness
Culture Turned Sour View Recording
2/15/23
Professor Jen Maresh, Biology - Saving the Eastern Gray Whale: How Science, Industry, and the Public are Coming Together
to Protect a Critically Endangered Species from Oil & Gas Activities View Recording
2/22/23
Joshua Filer, Finance ‘23 - Student Advocacy as a Catalyst for Sustainable and Social Change View Recording
3/1/23
Sari Steuber and Skip Shuda, Transition Town Media - What do Transition Towns Bring to the Table? View Recording
3/8/23
Professor Yingying Lyu, Geography and Planning - Walking Culture in China
3/15/23
SPRING BREAK
3/22/23
Professor Cassandra L. Reyes, Criminal Justice - Something Fishy about Crime: How to Teach Conservation and Sustainable Use of the
Oceans, Seas, and Resources for Sustainable Development in an Animal Cruelty Criminal
Justice Elective Course View Recording
3/29/23
Dr. Omosehin Moyebi, Health - Urban Mass Transit: New York State and the MTA Sustainability Initiatives on Greenhouse
Gas Emission Reduction View Recording
4/5/23
Professor Brent Ruswick, History - What's in a Name? The Politics of Commemoration from the un-naming of the Alexander
Graham Bell dorm at RIT to the Samuel Schmucker controversy at WCU View Recording
4/12/23
Professor Kurt Kolasinski, Chemistry - Energy Input and Economics of Silicon in Energy Storage and Generation View Recording
4/19/23
Professors Paul Sylvester, Early & Middle Grades Education, and Michael Di Giovine,
Anthropology, in conversation with Bradley Flamm - Offsets and the Path to Carbon Neutrality in Higher Education and Study Abroad View Recording
4/26/23
Professor Aliza Richman, Sociology - The State of Sustainability at WCU: Key Insights from WCU’s First Sustainability Census
View Recording
