Named one of America’s Greenest Universities as well as earning LEED gold status by the U.S. Green Building Council, Grand Valley State University’s sustainability efforts have managed to turn an ordinary college campus into one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible.

To localize a nation-wide effort in promoting sustainability, GVSU’s Office of Sustainability Practices dedicated Wednesday, Nov. 19 as Campus Sustainability Day and hosted a Sustainability Fair in the Henry Hall Atrium on the Allendale campus.

The mission of the Office of Sustainability Practices is to provide GVSU students, faculty and staff with skills and opportunities to become a more responsible global citizen.

“The purpose of the sustainability fair is to offer resources for students to actually live a more sustainable lifestyle,” said Devan Dodge, campus dining sustainability event coordinator. “All too often, we are just preached at rather than offered the avenues to achieve something. I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen with this.”

Campus Sustainability Day is meant to recognize not only GVSU’s efforts, but the nation’s success, challenges and innovations of sustainability among higher educational institutions. In honor of celebrating sustainability accomplishments, campuses around the country were encouraged to host events to draw people together to exchange knowledge and ideas in enhancing sustainability efforts.

Wednesday’s Sustainability Fair featured booths by various environmental non-profit organizations, sustainability-focused campus organizations, the Office of Sustainability Practices as well as other ‘green’ campus departments. Brought together under a common goal, the participatory organizations aimed to educate attendees on different ways of making an environmentally responsible impact in the community.

“I really am hoping for attendees to discover at least one way to improve their impact,” Dodge said. “Maybe this will be by deciding to not use plastic lids and bags, or to volunteer with organizations focused in this issue.”

The Student Environmental Coalition, Sustainable Agriculture Project and Soil and Water Conservation Society are among a select number of organizations students can join in making GVSU a greener campus.

The organization in charge of hosting the fair, the Office of Sustainable Practices, is directly affiliated with campus dining and holds strong influence when it comes to decision making in that department. Incase students missed out on the fair, the organization has a lineup of opportunities planned for the winter semester.

“Starting next semester, waste-streaming education will resume, which we are extremely excited about,” Dodge said. “We are also planning a 5K during the week of Earth Day, which of course will be properly “green” themed.”

For those interested in expanding sustainability impacts around the community, sparking classroom discussions can be the first step.

“Be sure to ask questions,” said Kimberly Schoetzow, graduate assistant at the office of sustainability practices. “Demand sustainability to be a topic that is a part of conversation in classrooms.”

GVSU is an institution always striving to go the extra mile towards improving overall campus sustainability. In response to new efforts the college is taking to achieve more than its handful of sustainability awards, Dodge said there is always room for more growth.

“We are looking at additional composting locations in dorms and downtown, having zero-waste events at more than just football games, eliminating plastic bags on campus and growing our farm-to-campus program even more,” she said.

For advice on how to contribute to GVSU’s sustainability efforts, even in the most minor way, Dodge said it’s as simple as being responsible.

“The little things that you do on a daily basis make the biggest impact,” Dodge said. “Take the extra five seconds to sort your waste properly, turn off the kitchen light or say no to a bag. Encourage your friends to do the same and the movement will begin.”

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