Sustainability Blog

In an effort to reduce plastic waste on campus and in the community, MTU’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience has started a new plastic film recycling program! This separate recycling stream allows us to collect a host of stretchy plastics like bags, bubble wrap, and shipping envelopes that would otherwise go in the landfill. Anyone is welcome to use the receptacles for plastic films generated at home or on campus. Bins are located across campus in most major academic and residential buildings.

Through a partnership with Tadych’s Marketplace, the collected plastic goes to Trex, a composite decking manufacturing company, to be made into long-lasting, sustainably sourced decking materials.

Accepted Plastics Include:

Grocery Bags • Ice Bags • Resealable Food Storage Bags • Cereal Box Liners • Case Overwrap • Bread Bags • Newspaper Sleeves • Dry Cleaning Bags • Bubble Wrap • Plastic Shipping Envelopes

All items must be clean, dry, and free of food and organic residue.

For more information and a complete list of acceptable items, visit NexTrex.

Questions? Follow @sustainablemtu on Instagram and send us a message!

Location: Van Pelt and Opie Library, 2nd Floor. Michigan Tech Campus.

The Opie and Van Pelt Library has recently added a new resource, the Sustainability Collection! Here you’ll find a variety of books, information, and campus resources regarding sustainability topics of interest. The collection is made up of recommendations from students, staff, and faculty with many of our books doubling as required texts for fall and spring semester courses. The collection is constantly rotating its inventory and is always open to suggestions for new material, so stop by and check out a book!

Here’s an closer look at the informational graphics featured in the Sustainability Collection.

Reach out to the Office of Sustainability and Resilience on Instagram: @sustainablemtu

Interested in learning more about possible careers in sustainability and want to meet other students from across the region? Then, this event is perfect for you! This panel will include people working in the corporate, government, social enterprise and non-profit sectors. Confirmed panelists are Suzanne Savanick Hansen, Environmental Sustainability Manager for Alina Health and Rob Garcia-Gradoville, Sustainability Manager for Cargill.

The panel will be Held Monday, February 13, 7:15-8:30, Wads G42, snacks will be provided
Career Panel: Introduction to Sustainability Careers

This watch party is a wonderful opportunity to ask questions/learn about how sustainability is practiced in industry!!

Know someone who is passionate about sustainability and is improving campus or the community through their teaching, research, or service?  Please consider nominating them for the second annual campus sustainability leadership awards!

Self-nominations are welcome; nominations from others are encouraged. Please submit nominations via our submission form by Feb. 15. Award recipients will be informed by March 4 and recognized at an Earth Week lunch event April 19.

The awards will recognize a faculty member, a staff member, and a student on campus who has made significant contributions to advancing sustainability.  A public ceremony will be held to celebrate their accomplishments in early April.

Last year’s winners are listed below, and a 3 minute video on their contributions is on the sustainability website.

Undergraduate: Kendra Lachcik

Graduate: Rose Daily

Staff: Larry Hermanson

Faculty: Sarah Green

Awards are made possible through the Tech Forward Initiative on Sustainability and Resilience

Everyone is welcome to be apart of a more sustainable future. The third Thursday of each month from January through May, a highly acclaimed sustainability-related film will be shown at G002 Hesterberg Hall, U.J. Noblet Forestry Building on Michigan Tech’s campus. Films will be facilitated by an expert in the field, and showings are free with a suggested $5 donation to help support future events like these. Donate here!

The Office of Sustainability and Resilience is on Instagram! @sustainablemtu

We are thrilled to announce the competition for the second annual Frank Chernosky Campus Climate Ambassador Award that will support the development of Michigan Tech undergraduate students into the climate change leaders of tomorrow.  This alumni-funded award is named after Frank Chernosky, a former professor and advisor at Michigan Tech.  Mr. Chernosky was an early advocate for sustainability principles who impacted many students before dying tragically from a rare form of Heart Cancer in 1971. 

This award in his name consists of three forms of student support: a partial tuition scholarship, funds for professional development and/or applied work, and a formal mentorship by campus and/or external professionals.  One recipient will be chosen annually.

The award for 2023-24 will be $9,600 – a scholarship amount of $8,000 spread over fall and spring semesters, and a professional development and applied work fund of up to $1,600 to be used by August 2024. Awardees will also receive active mentorship from campus and/or external professionals to help them develop networks and skills for their future work.  The overall timetable for the award is flexible to accommodate opportunities such as a co-op or internship.  Applicants and award recipients will solidify the details on the timing of the award, as well as the nature of mentorship and professional development, through the application process and dialogue with the committee.

To be considered, an applicant must be a full-time undergraduate student at Michigan Tech with the equivalent of at least three semesters of full-time enrollment at Michigan Tech by the fall of 2023. They must also have a minimum of two semesters of coursework remaining, though there is potential for flexibility to accommodate an internship or coop into the award timeframe.

Applications are due March 15th, with interviews to follow. The committee will make a decision by April 14. Interested students are encouraged to draft their application early discuss their ideas with Alan Turnquist before applying at alturnqu@alturnqu

Full details of the award and a link to the application are available in the PDF document below.

There are a host of events happening in October for the sustainability passionate or curious. See the poster below for the details.

Interested in participating in Sustainability activities on campus and throughout your community? Sustainability month offers a variety of fun opportunities! From craft nights, award winning documentary viewings, community tree identification, and more! See the attached flier and follow us on instagram @sustainablemtu for individual event details.

Class schedule? Check! Room assignment? Check! Dorm supplies? Um… Missing a few things for your dorm? Don’t worry, Michigan Tech’s green move-in program has you covered! 

Husky Exchange has collected donations from your fellow Huskies this past spring, and now we’re giving it all back! Stop by Wadsworth Hall to check out all the back to school supplies we have available to you. 

*Items available on a first come, first serve basis. All items are either free or priced for a donation.

Where: Wadsworth Hall, room G41

Opening weekend: Fri. 2-7pm, Sat. 10am – 5:30pm, Sun. 9 – 11am

Presented by the Office of Sustainability and Resilience

Follow us on Instagram: @sustainablemtu

Sarah Green, Interim Department Chair and professor in the Chemistry Department at Michigan Tech, is excited to announce the opportunity of a lifetime for students interested in attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27)!

Michigan Tech will be sending a delegation of students to COP27, which will be held in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, this fall on November 6-18, 2022. If you are interested in attending or would simply like more information on the opportunity, please fill out the google form here. Space is limited!

Important Notes:

• Michigan Tech students will join the YEAH group, which links Colorado State, Boston University, U Connecticut, Vaderbilt, and others.
• Students will collaborate to present student-led events at COP. You will be expected to actively participate in delegation activities.
• COP is 2 weeks; most students will attend for 1 week only.
• The Michigan Tech group will be limited to about 5 each week (we do not know our UN assigned quota yet.)
• Priority will be given to students enrolled in UN5400/UN4400.
• If potential participants exceed the number of badges available, a secondary selection process will be implemented

Contact Sarah Green for more information at sgreen@mtu.edu

Follow the Office of Sustainability and Resilience on Instagram! @sustainablemtu