Big Blue Goes Green (and Sustainable)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 10, 2010) - Big Blue Goes Green (BBGG) returns Sept. 15 for the fourth year with the popular, interactive showcase of the University of Kentucky’s sustainability initiatives.

Featuring more than 40 displays and exhibits, the Big Blue Goes Green Sustainability Showcase is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15, in the Frank Harris Grand Ballroom of the Student Center. In addition, UK’s Sustainability Coordinator Shane Tedder will introduce first-year students to “Sustainability 101: What every students needs to know about sustainability” at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. in the Center Theater.

Organized by the UK Division of Facilities Management, BBGG 2010 will introduce students, faculty, staff and the public to the wide variety of current and on-going sustainability-related initiatives, programs, and research of the university’s individuals, academic departments, campus support units and student organizations. 

The showcase participants are as disparate as this campus, ranging from the UK Solar Car crew to the College of Agriculture’s Motor Pool, from UK Greenthumb to Parking & Transportation, from Sustainable Agriculture to the College of Design, from the Tracy Farmer Institute for the Environment to the UK Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing.

In conjunction with BBGG, the UK Student Sustainability Council will host the fifth biannual Sustainability Lecture Series event featuring Robert Koester, the director of the Center for Energy Research, Education and Service at Ball State University. Ball State has one of the largest ongoing geothermal projects in the country. Koester will speak at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 in Memorial Hall. Previous Sustainability Lectures have featured Robert Kennedy Jr., Vandana Shiva and Tom Fitzgerald. The event is free and open to the public.

To encourage an interactive experience for Showcase visitors, organizers have created a “questing” game for attendees. When visitors arrive, they will receive a list of questions about the Showcase participants, the answers to which can be found at the exhibits. For example, one of the questions might be “In the Fall of 2009 the Student Sustainability Council partnered with the Student Activities Board to present a lecture by this world-renowned author and activist.” Visitors who successfully complete the game can submit their entry for a chance to win some great prizes.

“We genuinely believe we have put together a diverse and educationally valuable events, and we look forward to using this way -- and others -- to more fully integrate UK’s sustainability initiatives into the undergraduate and graduate curriculum,” said Ernest Yanarella, a member of the UK President’s Sustainability Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Acting as co-sponsor of BBGG, PSAC encouraged faculty members to incorporate BBGG activities into their course study by offering students extra credit for attendance and completion of assignments derived from what the student experience at BBGG, the Sustainabiltiy 101 presentation or the Sustainability Lecture Series.

Based on past experience, as many as 1,000 people are expected to attend all or part of the BBGG extravaganza. “This is a great opportunity to introduce our campus community to everything UK does to promote environmental stewardship, social well-being and economic prosperity on our campus, in our Commonwealth, and beyond,” said Tedder.