Office of Sustainability

SDG12 SDG14 SDG15 SDG2 SDG3 STARS

Food & Dining Assessment: Auburn University’s STARS Report

By Bella Wright Food is essential to the survival of all living beings on our planet. How this food is grown, processed, and distributed significantly impacts the environment. Auburn University has extensive dining services across campus, offering a variety of choices for nutrition and dining. Where food on campus is…

ContributorApril 17, 2024

SDG11 SDG12 SDG14 SDG3 SDG6 STARS

Waste Assessment: Auburn University’s STARS Report

By Hannah Schwartz Reducing waste is a cornerstone of sustainable practice for universities worldwide. By minimizing their ecological footprint, institutions not only contribute to a cleaner, healthier environment but also demonstrate a commitment to responsible stewardship. From conserving natural resources to saving costs and inspiring future generations, waste reduction in…

ContributorApril 15, 2024

SDG11 SDG14 SDG6 STARS

Water Assessment: Auburn University’s STARS Report

By Hannah Schwartz Conserving water is crucial for the health of our planet and future generations. With water scarcity continuing to be a pressing global issue, every drop saved makes a difference. By reducing water usage, we protect ecosystems, wildlife, and agricultural lands that rely on this precious resource. With…

ContributorApril 6, 2024

Guest Posts SDG14 Updates

A DARKER SHADE OF GREEN

By Savanna Wooten In many ways Earth Day celebrations invite us to think of green: tree plantings, the advent of spring, conversations about renewable energy, convening at green spaces. And they should. Green – shown to benefit us mentally and physically – is, generally, good for us. But… is it…

ContributorApril 3, 2023

Guest Posts SDG13 SDG14 SDG15 Updates

The Big and Small ways to Celebrate Earth Day

by Becki Retzlaff Every Earth Day I am reminded of two things. The first is when I was a teenager, and my friends and I volunteered to plant trees at a park near my home in Michigan. We labored all day to carefully plant little pine tree seedlings in long…

ContributorMarch 13, 2023

Guest Posts SDG14 SDG15

Salt Marshes are Beautiful, Stinky, and Uncomfortable Places to Work

By Sam Bickley. The marshes that hug the banks of Alabama’s bays and bayous are smaller than some of their Louisiana or Georgia cousins but are no less beautiful. When the sun is setting over the black needlerush, the dominant marsh plant in our neck of the woods, and you…

ContributorMarch 21, 2022

Guest Posts SDG14 SDG6

Water Quality: Lessons from a Crayfish

By Molly Kilpatrick. What do crayfish and global water quality have to do with each other? As it turns out, a lot. In 2015, 193 countries adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This agenda provides a framework for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, from now and…

adminFebruary 2, 2022

Guest Posts SDG14 SDG17

Cooperation for Conservation: How Communities that Depend on Coral Reefs are Responding to the Climate Crisis

By Kelly Dunning. Coral reefs are the most colorful, lively, beautiful locations of life below the water, and yet they are the most threatened. Human burning of fossil fuel for heat, energy, and industry has led to a warming ocean, and with it, corals that turn a bright white color…

adminOctober 5, 2021

SDG14

Campus Changemaker: Tony Moss

By Grace Reilein. It is hard to imagine that the beautiful planet that we call home is 71% water. As humans, we occupy the land that only takes up around 20%. It can be easy to disregard the ocean and only focus on our stretch of land, but that would…

adminOctober 5, 2021

Director's Corner SDG14

Spaceship Earth & the “Ultimate Life Support System”

“I am a passenger on the spaceship Earth.” ~ Buckminster Fuller Imagine yourself on the International Space Station (ISS). You’re up there captivated by views of our beautiful planet, doing experiments, completing assigned tasks, living, and floating weightless. Hurtling around the world at over 17,000 miles per hour, there is…

Mike KenslerOctober 4, 2021