Student Initiatives

Students are the driving force of UTEP’s sustainability efforts. There are several ways for students to actively become involved in sustainability actions. Testimony of these actions is the service learning project “Water Matters”, where a group of students installed rainfall harvesting systems for a community with limited access to clean water. At UTEP, students’ simple actions can lead to a big impact.

Green Fund

Green Fund (GF) is a fee referendum that costs $3.00 per student per semester, raising up to $40,000 per year for campus sustainability projects. These projects will help UTEP's sustainability initiative and the environment by:
⦁ Investing in renewable energy such as solar panels
⦁ Promoting environmental sustainability in campus and the community
⦁ Providing educational opportunities such as student internships
⦁ Increasing energy efficiency
⦁ Conserving water and other resources

Who and how are projects chosen?
The Green Fund Committee will oversee the funds. It will consist of five students, two administrators and one faculty member appointed annually. To choose the projects, students, faculty or staff can submit proposals asking for funding, and the GF Grant Making Committee reviews the proposals and selects them based on The Green Fund Bylaws.

How will I know where my money goes?
The GF Grant Making Committee will report all GF projects to the Student Government Association annually and the projects will be made available online.  

Green Fund > Projects

http://sa.utep.edu/greenfund/projects.html

Green Fund > Proposal Application

http://sa.utep.edu/greenfund/proposal.html

Green Fund > Contact

http://sa.utep.edu/greenfund/contact.html

Student Organizations Supporting Sustainability

There are numerous student organizations supporting sustainability on campus. Among them are:

• Green Team
• Engineers for a Sustainable World
• SEEDS Environmental Advocates

Green Team

UTEP Students Green Team enables students to make a difference in the sustainability practices and policies in our campus and region by promoting volunteering, outreach and education in an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability. Our various projects such as Earth Week and Eco-takeouts promote student involvement on campus sustainability.

Engineers for a Sustainable World

Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) is a non-profit network dedicated to creating solutions to local and global sustainability challenges. ESW mobilizes student members through educational programs, sustainability-oriented design projects, and volunteer activities that foster practical and innovative solutions to address the world's most critical challenges, while helping to create the next generation of technical leaders.

Sustainability Events

Students have been supporting and participating in Earth Week, Sustainable Solutions Competition, and Forums

Earth Week

From traditional recycling efforts to exploring innovative ecological research across the globe, The University of Texas at El Paso continues to implement and explore numerous eco-ventures in its efforts to help preserve the planet’s natural resources.

Learn more here

Sustainable Solutions Competition

This year's SSC was held on April 19-21st. With the help of Dr. William Hargove - Director of CERM, Mr. Jesus Licona - Assistant Director of Custodial and Grounds Operations, and Sarah Ponce De Leon - ESW Vice President, teams were judged based on the sustainability, feasability, and marketability of their projects. This years winner was the Green Pi's team, with Alexis Lopez, Fernando Garcia Castillo, and Erick Martinez-Maya. They won $500 and ESW will work with their team to implement their project idea. Thank you for everyone who participated and we hope to see you again next year!

Learn more here!

Service Learning Projects

Students have been participating in environmentally sound service learning projects such as Project Water Matters, Project Delta, and Project Mine-Rcycler.

Project Water Matters

Project Delta

Project Delta was created to evaluate and enhance UTEP’s current recycling system. To do this we implemented a student initiated recycling project to lower the amount of waste output on campus. By implementing recycling shifts in which students meet with Dr. Perez, Campus Sustainability / Energy conservation Manager from the Center for Environmental Resource Management, to pick up recyclable material from designated areas around campus. These 30-minute recycling shifts revolve around student availability and provide a flexible schedule to facilitate student involvement. Some of the locations around campus that we collect from are Bell Hall, UGLC, Office of International Programs, and E-LEAD Office to name a few.

 

Project Mine-Rcycler

MINE-RCYCLER aims to create a sustainable culture among UTEP’s community by producing filament and 3D printed consumer goods from plastic waste such as water bottles, storage containers and failed 3D printed parts. Moreover, MINE-RCYCLER will help reduce plastic pollution on campus and at the same time add value to waste that otherwise would be disposed of in landfills

SEEDS Environmental Advocates

Community Outreach “Rio Bosque Awareness Day”

Workshop “Rain Water Harvest Training”

Campus Outreach “Go Vegetarian Day”

SEEDS Environmental Advocates and Animal Place, an off campus nonprofit organization partnered to show UTEP students the benefits of choosing a vegetarian or meat reduce lifestyle. Additionally, we also partnered with the Sierra Club of El Paso and the Students Green Team at UTEP. We discussed how animal agriculture plays a role in global warming to the earth. We also shared free tasters of almond milk and vegan cheese. Additionally, we gave students the chance to explore the cruelty that occurs to animals in agriculture and factory farming by participating in the “Brave the Cage” challenge. A giant cage, provided by an Animal Place. In this activity student can briefly cram themselves in the cage to mock what is done to animals in farming and agriculture.