Sustainability is not a new concept but a new term to address three current problems facing us globally today: climate change, dwindling oil supplies and carbon emissions. Rather than a destination, it is a process. Sustainability is:

• An opportunity to transform/reinvent the community, organization and the world
• A capacity for an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems
• Meeting today’s needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs

Sustainability involves actions such as designing green, purchasing local foods, reducing emissions, purchasing wisely, educating green, conserving energy and minimizing waste. UAF has done much over the last decade to move towards a move sustainable campus. Many of these efforts have been driven by student enthusiasm and energy.  

UAF has an Office of Sustainability and a director ready to create a campuswide network and engage the community in a sustainable future.

• Robert Holden, Chair, Associate Director, Business and Auxiliary Services
• Michelle Bartlett, Summer Sessions
• Tom Delong, GVEA
• Gary Newman, SFOS
• Channon Price, Physics and Honors
• Eli Sonafrank, SCTF
• Mahla Strohmaier
• Susan Todd, Natural Resources
• Adrian Treibel, VP, ASUAF
• Richard Wies, Electrical Engineering
• Linda Zanazzo, Director, Facilities Services

“Each of us has a part to play in sustainability. What piece of the puzzle do you hold?”

       —David J. Skorton, Cornell president, Newsweek, June 2008

With the lofty goals of changing the standards on which UAF was built, the Chancellor's Sustainability Task Force left UAF a comprehensive starting point for becoming a national leader.

The Chancellor's Sustainability Task Force could be considered the first building block towards truly changing how UAF looks to the future regarding environmental, social and procurement policy.

The task force, while short lived, leaves as its legacy two documents outlining the future direction UAF must take in order to change from a traditional and wasteful institution into an example-setting, environmentally friendly university.

The task force looked into nine major categories in which nearly all new sustainable policies and projects would fit. Those categories include: Energy, Transportation, Purchasing, Waste Management, Built Environment, Food, Education and Curriculum, Social Sustainability, and Institutions.

Each of the categories was accompanied by solid recommendations, both large and small. These recommendations can be found in the "Commitments and Policies" documents linked to our menu at left.