.
This Sunday’s campus cleanup event kicked off UW-Madison’s 2012 Homecoming Week—a suitable precursor for UW’s first Campus Sustainability Day on Wednesday. The Office of Sustainability will have a presence at all events on Wednesday, educating the campus community on sustainability initiatives, distributing water bottles, and supporting other organizations involved in the day’s activities. Several of the events are outlined below, but be on the lookout for events related to sustainability all week!

Campus-Wide Trash Audit (Wednesday ~12pm, Engineering Mall): The Office of Sustainability, WE CONSERVE, and Waste and Recycling are coordinating a campus-wide trash audit to show UW how much trash we throw away. Volunteers will be auditing all of campus’ waste receptacles, separating trash from recycling in an effort to show the amount of recyclable material that is not being diverted from the waste stream through a comprehensive recycling program. Several sustainability organizations will be collecting trash beginning at 7am, with the event wrapping up around noon.

Student Engagement Fair (Wednesday 9am-3pm, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery): The Office of Sustainability will be showcasing their office and their partners, including Rethink, Global Health Institute, the Morgridge Center, Sierra Student Coalition, and WE CONSERVE.

Blood Drive (Wednesday 8:30-10:30am, Ogg Hall): The Office of Sustainability will be handing out their sustainable water bottles to the first 100 donors. The water bottles have several relevant facts printed on them to educate campus about why sustainability is so important.

Badger Games (Wednesday 8:30-10:30am, McClain Center): While the Homecoming Committee collects for their clothing drive, the Office of Sustainability will be passing out water bottles to keep game participants hydrated.

Slow Food Café (Wednesday 11:30am-2pm, The Crossing): Join the Office of Sustainability and Slow Food UW at their Slow Food Café lunch! The Office of Sustainability will be passing out their water bottles to attendees.

Blood Drive (Thursday 8:30-10am, Red Gym): The Office of Sustainability will again be passing out water bottles to the first 100 donors!

Homecoming Parade (Friday 4-7pm, Langdon Street): Come to Langdon for the Homecoming Parade, which boasts several floats created by sustainability organizations here on campus. The Office of Sustainability will be passing out water bottles.

Support UW Homecoming by checking out a few of these events to find out what you can do to make campus more sustainable. The Office of Sustainability wants to remind students that “the university can take all the steps possible to become more sustainable, but that is only one aspect of sustainability—it’s also important that students learn about the advantages and actually take steps to living sustainably!”