MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
MAY 27, 2010
Green for good—on campus and around the world
NOTES FROM ISRAEL
"Green" and "sustainable" aren't just
buzzwords at Michigan State
This is the third column in a series in
University. They're part of a mission
which Charles Salmon, the Ellis N.
that is rooted in the university's
Brandt Endowed Chair in Public
land-grant beginnings and today
Relations at MSU and former dean of
extends from energy-efficient campus
MSU's College of Communication Arts
facilities and operations to world-
and Sciences, shares stories from Israel, where he is
leading sustainability research and
on sabbatical.
academics to food and even to fashion.
Two weeks in April
"Part of our mission is to look at our
April 12
resources and use them in the most
commands attention in Israel. On Holocaust
sustainable way so they'll be there for
Memorial Day, which typically falls in April, the siren
the future," says Jennifer Battle,
assistant director of the Office of
Campus Sustainability. "As we figure
The unmistakable wail of a loud siren
—
sounds sharply at 10 a.m. to remind Israel and the
MSU graduate Jillian Granz designed an environmentally sustainable gown that was
selected by Suzy Amis Cameron to wear to the Academy Awards.
out how to do that, we can share it
with everyone."
While Spartan scientists and leaders conduct research
The country briefly and immediately comes to a
and renovation projects meet Leadership in Energy
standstill at the sound. Even on the normally
and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards.
bustling and congested Namir Road, adjacent to
and create circumstances that help develop a
A major contributor to the greening of MSU's campus
sustainable future around the globe, thousands of
is the new Surplus Store and Recycling Center, which
MSU faculty, staff, and students also work every day to
opened last September and accommodates three
reduce the environmental footprint of the campus.
times the amount of materials as the former recycling
This spring, MSU began a new tradition with its first
green commencement ceremony. May graduates
wore caps and gowns made from recycled plastic
bottles, which saved 16,500 yards of fabric. Each cap
and gown was made from 13 bottles, which means at
least 58,500 20-ounce plastic bottles were recycled to
outfit the 2010 spring graduating class. Other green
measures included handing out token diplomas made
from 30 percent postconsumer content paper and
printing commencement programs on 100 percent
postconsumer content paper.
Commencement ceremonies happen twice a year, but
other efforts to improve sustainability on campus are
evergreen. Many are part of the university-wide Be
Spartan Green initiative, which works to decrease
MSU's energy consumption and to reduce, reuse, and
recycle. The initiative takes a systemswide approach to
sustainability, which includes reducing electricity and
water use, incorporating greener transportation
methods on campus, and making sure new building
world of losses suffered in the Holocaust.
facility.
"The university is like a living lab," says Battle. "We can
make changes quickly and try innovative approaches."
Students play an important role in the initiative,
helping conduct research and energy audits on
campus as well as providing education and raising
awareness. They're also proving that sustainability can
be fashionable.
my Tel Aviv flat, vehicles stop in their tracks at the
sound of the siren. Drivers stand quietly at atten-
tion next to their cars in the middle of traffic lanes,
while pedestrians stand on street corners, for one
minute, oblivious to the traffic signals.
When the siren ends, semi-organized chaos—oth-
erwise known here as traffic—abruptly resumes on
roads throughout the country following this
somber moment of reflection and respect.
April 19
—
At 8 p.m., a loud siren once again sounds
throughout the country. Here, in the crowded
courtyard of a high school in Ramat Aviv, an elderly
man walks arm in arm with a teenager toward the
Jillian Granz, a Canton native who graduated in May
platform, striding in cadence with the solitary beat
with a degree in apparel and textile design, won the
of a drum. As they climb the steps, another teen-
worldwide Red Carpet, Green Dress contest to design
ager reads the name of the man's son, who died in
an environmentally sustainable gown for Suzy Amis
combat. Photos of the son, his wife, and his children
Cameron, wife of Avatar director James Cameron, to
appear on two big screens on either side of the
wear to the Academy Awards. Granz, whose design
platform: bittersweet mementos of a life and a
used a material known as peace silk—which allows silk
dream that ended all too soon.
worms to complete their life cycle—and a no-waste
pattern, traveled to Los Angeles to attend a fitting
with Amis Cameron as well as a pre-Oscars party to
unveil her creation.
After the first pair crosses the platform, another
climbs the steps, a new name is read, and new
photos appear. It is Memorial Day in Israel, and
somber celebrations like this are occurring at high
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