The third annual Commons Unplugged environmental awareness week—from Saturday, Feb. 18, to Saturday, Feb. 25—will celebrate sustainability, natural resource conservation and energy conservation through various events focusing on Vanderbilt’s first-year student population. These events are presented by The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons in partnership with the Sustainability and Environmental Management Office, the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt and Students Promoting Environmental Awareness and Responsibility (SPEAR).
Throughout the week, first-year students will compete in a residence hall energy conservation contest to earn points in the yearlong first-year competition, The Commons Cup. The week will include three events that are open to the entire Vanderbilt Community: the Green Kickoff, the Green Fair and the Green Forum.
- The Green Kickoff will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, in The Commons Center Multipurpose Room and will feature interactive sustainability lessons organized by Vanderbilt students.
- The Green Forum will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, in The Commons Center, Room 335, and will feature Associate Dean Dan Morgan, who will discuss climate change and sea level rise in his talk “The Past, Present and Future of the Antarctic Ice Sheets.”
- The Green Fair, an organization fair focused on sustainability on campus and around Nashville, will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, in The Commons Center Atrium.
All events are free and open to the Vanderbilt community.
If your organization would like to participate in the Green Fair, contact the Sustainability and Environmental Management Office at sustainvu@vanderbilt.edu or 615-322-9022. If you have questions about Commons Unplugged, please contact Natalee Erb, assistant director of student initiatives for The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons, at natalee.erb@vanderbilt.edu.
Contact: SEMO, 615-322-9022
sustainvu@vanderbilt.edu