In the last five or six years, the prevalence of workplace wellness programs and sustainability initiatives has increased tremendously. A 2012 RAND report sponsored by the US Department of Labor and the US Department of Health and Human Services notes that “92 percent of employers with 200 or more employees reported offering [health and wellness programs] in 2009.” A 2011 KPMG report notes that “sustainability has moved up the corporate agenda over the past three years.” According to the report, “sixty-two percent of companies surveyed have a strategy for corporate sustainability, up from just over half in February 2008…” The American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) now has nearly 700 signatories (including APUS), indicating the increasing environmental consciousness within the educational community. … Read the rest
Tag Archives | Earth Day
A Special Earth Day Project: Maintaining Green Roofs
by Dr. Carol Pollio
Program Director, Environmental Science at American Public University
Earth Day in Washington, D.C. this year started out a chilly 41 degrees. But the weather did not stop eighteen motivated folks from doing a service project to recognize the significance of the day. At 9 a.m., recent APU graduate Laura (Stopper) Batts led a team of National Park Service staff members, including APU student Tonya Watts, and me in weeding the Office of Natural Resources and Science’s green roof. … Read the rest
NWF Campus Ecology Program
by Kelly Wenner
Campus sustainability can sometimes feel like an isolated endeavor. However, there are groups that exist such as Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and Second Nature that attempt to bring campuses and their sustainability pursuits together. Another one of these groups I recently found is through the National Wildlife Federation. Their group, named Campus Ecology, was started over twenty years ago and works with colleges and universities to improve their overall green educational programming and onsite sustainability.… Read the rest
5 Ways to Reduce Your Environmental Impact in the Office
In Part 2 of our series, Tatiana Sehring, Strategic Manager Environmental Leadership and Sustainability, gives us 5 quick, easy ways that we can minimize our environmental impact in the office. As we celebrate Earth Day tomorrow, the world will turn its focus to issues related to the state of our environment. With Tatiana’s suggestions, however, we can carry the spirit of Earth Day past tomorrow and integrate sustainable practices into our daily lives throughout the year. Happy Earth Day!
… Celebrate Earth Day by Reducing Your Environmental Impact
With Earth Day right around the corner, many of us are thinking of ways that we can lead more sustainable lifestyles. If you’re looking for a way to reduce your carbon footprint, check out the podcast below. We interviewed Tatiana Sehring, Strategic Manager Environmental Leadership and Sustainability at American Public University System (APUS) about how we can live more environmentally-friendly lifestyles. This is Part 1 of a two-part Earth Day special focused on tangible actions we can each take to reduce our environmental impact.… Read the rest
After Earth Day
by Ryan Harding
I am confident that, with Earth Day on the immediate horizon, the nation’s biggest publications have begun to compose those bannerheads that will run on April 22, as the whole news media takes up its annual tradition of, for a day, fixing its gaze on environmental issues. For one day, we will collectively turn our eye to the issue of sustainability, reading retrospectives on the environmental movement, which trace its genealogy, and connect the movement’s past to its present and future, or op-eds on environmental degradation, carbon emissions, and water scarcity.… Read the rest
APUS Celebrates Earth Day
by Beth Gray
Thursday, April 22nd was Earth Day. Americans have been celebrating Earth Day for the last 40 years as a day to recognize the importance of preserving our environment and its health. For a brief history of Earth Day, see our article posted last week.
This year’s Earth Day happened to coincide with Bring a Child to Work Day, an initiative administered by the Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Foundation. Bring a Child to Work Day is a program designed to encourage young people to learn more about what the adults in their lives do in their jobs. Students who participate gain not only a better understanding of their adult sponsors’ jobs but also job opportunities that they may not have previously considered. This year, several dozen young people participated in this event at American Public University System’s (APUS) two locations.Â
APUS’ Sustainability Committee saw the opportunity of having so many young people on campus to take some time to talk about sustainability with them. A Committee member made a brief presentation to the group about the school’s sustainability efforts specifically and the importance of “going green†in general. Needless to say, the creative minds of these young people impressed the group; the students provided some great ideas for how to be good stewards of the environment and were excited to share their own efforts to “go green†at home and in their schools.… Read the rest
Earth Day 2010
by Beth Gray
Today is the 40th anniversary of the celebration of the first Earth Day. While today Earth Day and the sentiment surrounding it is a part of our everyday lives, the notion of a day to acknowledge the importance of being good stewards of our environment was not always so commonplace.Â
In the early 1960s, Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin) began to formulate ideas for what would eventually become the first Earth Day. Disturbed by the fact that in the midst of other significant events of the decade, “the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country,†Nelson proposed to President John Kennedy that he undertake a national conservation tour. Convinced by Senator Nelson’s argument that the environment was a key issue that was being overlooked in the political sphere, President Kennedy began his conservation tour in September 1963, traveling through 11 states in five days. Senator Nelson himself acknowledges that the tour itself failed to achieve his ultimate goal of putting the state of the environment at the top echelons of the nation’s political agenda. He continued to advocate for environmental protection, however, and it was in 1969 that the idea of Earth Day finally occurred to him.… Read the rest
Earth Day 2010
This week on Thursday, April 22, America will observe its’ 40th Earth Day Celebration! In the spring of 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin created Earth Day as a way to focus attention on growing environmental concerns across the country and “force this issue onto the national agenda.” On that first Earth Day 20 million Americans demonstrated in different U.S. cities. To commemorate and carry on this historic call, Earth Day Network, the organization that coordinates all events for Earth Day, is holding a Climate Rally on the National Mall in Washington on Sunday, April 25th, with performances by Sting, John Legend, The Roots and many more acts to raise money and awareness for climate issues.… Read the rest
- Composting in the Work Place and at Home
- Adopt-A-Highway
- Reverse Vending Machines – The Future of Recycling
- SS Credit 4.1- 4.4: Alternative Transportation
- SS Credit 6.2: Stormwater Design—Quality Control
- Exploring the Psychology of Behavior Change
- Hydro-Fracturing News
- Hazardous Waste Management and Liability
- APUS Celebrates Earth Day and Wellness
- College Campuses Celebrate Earth Day
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