{"id":34862,"date":"2024-10-25T14:24:33","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T18:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=34862"},"modified":"2024-10-29T08:59:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T12:59:24","slug":"eco-fest-highlights-sustainability-efforts-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/eco-fest-highlights-sustainability-efforts-on-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Eco Fest highlights sustainability efforts on campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under a clear blue sky, staff and volunteers celebrated Eco Fest by sharing Furman University\u2019s sustainability practices with students on Thursday outside of the James B. Duke Library.<\/p>\n

Student Eco Reps greeted people passing by, while Shi Institute staff shared information with others about the bicycle rental program on campus. Custodial manager and sustainability advocate Jim Benes, known as \u201cMr. Jim\u201d on campus, warmly welcomed students to Eco Fest while handing out stickers bearing his face and the words \u201cSustainability is super duper.\u201d Under a nearby tent volunteers handed out free snacks and drinks.<\/p>\n

\"Two

Students paint reusable tote bags with FUSAB during Eco Fest.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt brings a different energy, and I think it catches folks we may not normally see,\u201d said Laura Bain, associate director of sustainability assessment.<\/p>\n

The Shi Institute<\/a> for Sustainable Communities originally planned a Sustainability Week packed with events that were derailed by Hurricane Helene. Those efforts were channeled into Eco Fest.<\/p>\n

Ellie Howard \u201925 is the Alternative Transportation Fellow and oversees the Furman University Paladins on Bikes<\/a> program. She was out during Eco Fest promoting the university\u2019s new rentable bikes \u2013 a grant from the Student Government Association allowed FUPOB to buy 17 new bikes to replace aging campus bikes. For $80 a semester or $150 for the academic year, students can rent a bike along with a helmet and bike lock.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to reduce driving to classes on campus and promote biking,\u201d Howard said. \u201cFurman is a very bike-friendly campus, and we\u2019re connected to Greenville and Travelers Rest through the Swamp Rabbit Trail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students have options closer to home for practicing conservation and sustainability. The Shi Institute has about 30 student Eco Reps, who live in residence halls alongside their peers and help educate other students about how they can live more sustainably on campus.<\/p>\n

\"Two

Students celebrate seeing Mr. Jim (and the stickers he’s giving out) during Eco Fest.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cStudents might ask, \u2018How can I recycle or compost on campus? How can I eat more sustainably?\u2019 Your Eco Reps can answer that,\u201d said Joy Baker, associate director of sustainability programs.<\/p>\n

That kind of engagement is key, Bain said. Seeing that other students, faculty and staff care about the environment helps inspire people to take action. Furman recently ranked third out of 355<\/a> colleges for campus engagement<\/a>, according to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting students who care more and are engaged more with sustainability topics, and we have to be able to provide that for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eco Fest highlighted sustainability efforts on Furman University’s campus, offering students fun activities while learning about The Shi Institute and its programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":34853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,27,9],"tags":[2993,3090,2756,198],"class_list":["post-34862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shi-institute-for-sustainable-communities","category-student-life","category-sustainability","tag-bicycle","tag-recycle","tag-shi-institute-for-sustainable-communities","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34862"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34921,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34862\/revisions\/34921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}