University of Chicago

Green Campus Initiative (GCI)

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Group Website: http://envirocenter.uchicago.edu/gci/about.html

About GCI:

Spurred by the new wave of construction that was about to happen in the University of Chicago , the Green Campus Initiative (GCI) was formed in 1999, as an outgrowth of the Environmental Concerns Organization (ECO), which is a part of the University of Chicago's Environmental Center. The goal of this green initiative was to influence the design of these buildings in order to make them more energy efficient. In 2001, GCI was revived, and started expanding its areas of focus.
Past projects include:

• Expanding campus recycling to include batteries and printer cartridges
• Writing a green guide to the University where students can learn how to reduce their environmental impact while at school
• A proposal for the purchase of Wind Energy, submitted to Facilities during the winter of 2003. Ultimately, the University decided against many of the recommendations in the report.
• The creation of the Sustainability Council
• Working with campus dining services to provide more organics in the dining halls
• The creation of a native plant garden located behind Rockefeller Chapel, across from the GSB

We plan to continue to encourage the University to green its practices and look forward to new suggestions and ideas that you may have.

Current Projects

•No Trash Bash: Will take place November 20th, 8-11pm.  Will be a showcase for what environmental and sustainability initiatives on and around campus, as well as an example of how an event can go green.

•Recycle Bin Audit: Taking stock of recycling availability in residential halls

•Dump and Run: Check out www.dumpandrun.org/ for more info!

Previous Projects:

• Vermicomposting: Want to drastically reduce landfill waste and live more sustainably in an easy, smell and mess proof way? Worm Composting is the solution!

• Vermiculture Workshops Offered During Earth Week: 60 Worm Bins were given out for free to those who sign up for the workshops. Sessions were held on how to take care of your worms.

• The Battle of the Bulbs: This is a competition between dormitories to see who can reduce their energy use by the highest percentage over the month of February. There was an event where we provided food and talked about what happened during the competition and ended with a celebration!

• Brown Bag Lunch Series: This series of brown bag lunches aims to introduce University professors to GCI, with the hope of engaging them in greening the campus. We invite professors who study environmental issues to discuss their work with GCI members over lunch. We aim for two lunches a quarter.

• Native Plants Garden Project: In cooperation with the Religion and the Environment Initiative (REI), GCI currently maintains a native plants garden on the southwest corner of 58th and Woodlawn. GCI and REI propose approximately doubling the size of the current garden by adding a second plot on the same corner. With the help of professional landscapers from Greencorps Chicago and by involving Hyde Park community members, we hope to create a showcase garden that will serve as a catalyst for increasing the number of native plants used in campus landscaping as a whole. We also plan to educate the community about Illinois's native plants by installing educational signs and creating a self-guided tour of the University's landscaping.

Contact Information

Group Leader: Adrienne Yuen
Contact Email: ayuen@uchicago.edu

Environmental Law & Policy Center 35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 1300 Chicago, Illinois 60601 www.elpc.org