Big Blue Goes Green 2009: A Sustainability Showcase

of

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 10, 2009) -- Over the past two years the University of Kentucky has recognized its sustainability initiatives with a one-day showcase in the Student Center. However, this year's sponsors, the UK President’s Sustainability Advisory Committee and the Office of Facilities Management, reviewed all the new opportunities in research and teaching, business operations, and outreach and community engagement, and decided to greatly expand Big Blue Goes Green: A Sustainability Showcase – to a full two-week celebration Sept. 14-25.

 

 

The event's third year features an online showcase, interactive tours, hands-on learning, cutting-edge research, and world-renown advocate of sustainable living Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

 

 

Kennedy is a passionate speaker on the importance of environmental and economic awareness. His challenge to the world: Join me in the fight to protect our environment, our democracy and our American values. Kennedy will bring that message to the University of Kentucky at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, in Memorial Coliseum. His appearance, sponsored by the Student Activities Board and the Student Sustainability Council, is part of the Sustainability Lecture Series. Kennedy’s speech, titled “Our Environmental Destiny,” will provide the UK and Lexington communities with information on how to become involved global citizens. The hope of the program is to raise awareness about the social movement geared toward saving our planet.

 

 

Tickets are available now at the University of Kentucky Student Center Ticket Office, www.ticketmaster.com  and by calling 257-TICS. UK students are free with their valid student IDs, faculty and staff tickets are $5 with a valid UK ID, and general admission tickets are priced at $10. For special class seating call 257-TICS.

 

 

Kennedy's lecture is one of the first chances UK students will have to participate in a program that will award one lucky student a commuter bike. A special “passport” will be stamped for each BBGG event students attend, and students who attend five or more events will be eligible for a drawing for the commuter bike.  Passports must be turned into Wildcat Wheels during Bike Shop hours no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25.  For Bike Shop hours and location, visit http://www.uky.edu/HR/wellness/wildcatwheels.html.  Visit www.sustainability.uky.edu to download a copy of the passport. One stamp per event. 

 

 

The entire community can participate in the Sustainability Pledge. There are many things we can do daily that will simultaneously promote economic vitality, ecological integrity, and social justice. By pledging to undertake some of these activities individuals are making a commitment to building a sustainable campus for this generation and for generations to come. Visit www.sustainability.uky.edu  and click Take the Sustainability Pledge.

 

 

Everyone can donate denim garments (jeans, shirts, skirts, etc.) to be converted by Cotton Inc. into “Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation” and used in the construction of new homes and/or renovation construction with communities in need. Collection bins to accept used denim will be available at various locations throughout campus, including the UK Student Center. See www.sustainability.uky.edu  for a detailed schedule.

 

 

Dozens of other activities are planned during BBGG's first week alone – visits to the Arboretum to learn about gardening, rain gardens and invasive plants; a discussion of the meaning of sustainability; a trip to a farm to experience organic farming research and education; a viewing of UK’s Digital Village, featuring the Davis Marksbury Building, which is targeted to become UK’s first LEED-certified building; an inside look at many College of Engineering projects, including UK's award-winning solar car; a tour of the Cane Run Watershed; and a tour of UK’s Delta Room, the central monitoring and dispatch area for main campus. And don't forget to volunteer to clean up all the recyclables after Saturday's Kentucky vs. Louisville football game.

 

 

Unless otherwise noted, all BBGG events are free and open to the public. See www.sustainability.uky.edu  for a detailed schedule.