October is Campus Sustainability Month, and we will officially observe it for the first time with a variety of different events.
All month long, you can take part in “The People’s Ecochallenge.” Like ecochallenges before, you can join our “UNMC/Nebraska Medicine LiveGreen” team and pick topics and actions that are interesting to you. Maybe you want to pledge to use only reusable shopping bags, commit to a heart healthy diet of at least four cups of fruits and vegetables a day, meditate or even complete a home energy audit. The choice is entirely up to you, and you get to see your cumulative impact as well as a global one.
Come to the Fall Tree Festival on Oct. 3 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the green space of the Ruth & Bill Scott Student Plaza. LiveGreen will be planting trees from a grant from ReTree Nebraska, and you can get tree information, learn why trees are integral to health, take part in fun activities, get freebies, sample some free food, learn about rain gardens and ask a master gardener any questions you may have.
On Oct. 22, Jesse Bell, Ph.D., the Claire M. Hubbard Professor of Health and Environment in the UNMC College of Public Health will share his presentation on “Climate Change Impacts on Health Care” in the Sorrell Center, Room 2018 at noon. (Attendees can bring their own lunch.)
On Oct. 29, Julie Sommer, UNMC research resources manager, will speak about plastic. Sommer is one of two Americans selected as a crewmember of eXXpedition: Round the World 2019-2021. eXXpedition is a United Kingdom-based, all-female sailing voyage and scientific research mission with a focus on highlighting the devastating impact plastics from land-based activities are having on our planet’s oceans, ecosystems and on human health. Sommer has begun a plastic-free journey in her home and daily life and will present some details of the mission of eXXpedition, but she also will open up a dialogue with attendees about ways to reduce plastics in our daily lives.
October has lots of important topics that have their own “days,” so we’ll cover those in a special article series.
Due to scheduling changes, we will not be able to have the Sustainability Expo, nor is the University of Nebraska at Omaha able to host a personal electronic and paper shredding event. We will have both next spring during our Earth Month celebration.