WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.000 [bubbling water fountain] 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:06.000 [Gary Cocke] Hi, my name is Gary Cocke. I'm our Director of Sustainability, 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:10.000 working remotely during the COVID pandemic 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:14.000 and my contribution for our Digital Earth Day this year 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:17.000 --I wanted to speak a little bit about sustainability 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:23.000 and what that means broadly and how we support sustainability at UTD. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:26.000 So first, when we when we talk about sustainability, 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.000 what we're talking about is the ability for us to meet the needs of today 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.000 without sacrificing the needs of future generations. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:38.000 We are looking for holistic answers to complex problems, 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:43.000 and we need to make sure that we provide attention to environmental needs, 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:47.000 but also the social needs and the economic needs 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:51.000 that we need to address to come up with these holistic solutions. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:54.000 Whenever we talk about sustainability, 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:59.000 the best framework that we have is the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:04.000 This is a set of 17 goals that are broad, audacious, 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:09.000 and they are internationally agreed upon and applicable. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:11.000 So we're talking about things like 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:20.000 ending poverty, climate action, equity, sustainable cities and communities, well-being. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.000 These are things that I think we can all agree are our values 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:29.000 that we can get behind and they require us to take holistic action. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:32.000 If we're going to address any of these issues, they're interconnected 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:37.000 and we need to think about the social, economic, and environmental components of those problems. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:40.000 With the Sustainable Development Goals, 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.000 we frame a lot of our initiatives at UTD 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.000 to make sure that we are addressing these issues holistically 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:52.000 and bringing in the people that have these diverse expertise and interests. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.000 And when we talk about sustainability in higher education, 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:02.000 What we do is we track our effectiveness through AASHE, which is 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:05.000 the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.000 and a reporting framework that is provided. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:14.000 It's utilized by several hundred universities across the country and internationally. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:17.000 It's the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS), 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:23.000 and they categorize sustainability in higher education into four categories: 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:28.000 There's Operations, where that's really where we walk the talk 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.000 with regards to sustainability. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.000 It's also the foundation for our sustainability program at UTD. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.000 We have Bee Campus USA certification, 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000 which ensures that we are doing all sorts of things 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:44.000 to provide habitat and education for pollinators. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.000 We have an integrated pest management program. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:49.000 We have wildflower areas. 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.000 We provide service learning and all sorts of other things to protect pollinators. 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:59.000 We have a Tree Campus USA certification, so we've adopted a tree care policy. 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:01.000 We have a committee that oversees what we do with our trees. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:03.000 We have over 7,000 trees on campus 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:07.000 and you can actually look at all of them through an online viewer 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.000 that we have on the Sustainability website. 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:12.000 We have a robust recycling program. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.000 We also collect special streams 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:19.000 --things that you can't necessarily put into your single-stream blue bin. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:24.000 We collect plastic film, ink toner, clothing --all sorts of other things. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.000 Essentially, if it is recyclable, we do our best at UTD to recycle it. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:34.000 We also have a robust food waste program. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.000 All of our food waste at our dining hall is sent for composting. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.000 Last year, we composted over 100,000 pounds of food waste. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:46.000 That means that not only are we keeping that material from going to the landfill, 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:49.000 but we're also making sure that all of the resources 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:52.000 that went into the production of that food do not go to waste. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:56.000 We can at least salvage that and make sure that it becomes a soil amendment 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:02.000 and has a circular life to the food that was produced. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:08.000 We also have our 8th LEED certified building that is in progress right now. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.000 And we do all sorts of things to promote 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:14.000 energy efficiency and water efficiency in our operations. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:19.000 As a university, I take a lot of pride in what we do in our operations, 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:23.000 and we really look at that as kind of the the first step. 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:26.000 That is how UTD walks the talk. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:34.000 Now we also need to worry about the second category of the AASHE STARS report: Academics. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.000 So what are we doing to actually train students to address these issues going forward? 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:43.000 We offer over 200 courses that are focused or related to sustainability 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:49.000 and we have over 200 researchers that are working to come up with cutting-edge solutions 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:52.000 to issues related to sustainability. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.000 With regards to our reporting, we actually earned full credit 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:59.000 --the maximum credit that one institution could earn-- 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:01.000 with regards to sustainability research 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.000 and then we also are doing our very best 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:07.000 to introduce every student to sustainability. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:09.000 We have the Comets to the Core program 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:13.000 which requires all students to take this course, 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.000 and it's our assessment tool to better understand 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.000 how we're teaching students to write better, read better, and do all these things, 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.000 and the lens through which we explore this is sustainability. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:27.000 Every student that comes through UTD should be walking away 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:32.000 [dog woofs] better able to engage with society to address these issues. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:37.000 The third component of the AASHE STARS report is Engagement. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:40.000 This is perhaps the most important part, 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:42.000 and it's something that I take a lot of pride in. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:45.000 [dog woofs] [videographer laughs] 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.000 [Gary laughs] 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:50.000 We need to we need to make sure that every student understands 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:53.000 that they have a role to play in addressing sustainability. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:59.000 We need diverse talents, interests, and voices all contributing to these solutions. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:01.000 We have an Eco Rep program 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.000 where student students can serve as peer educators and project leaders. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.000 We have a Sustainability Service Honors program 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:11.000 where students can enroll and provide service in the community, 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:13.000 and they can apply their talents to serve the community, 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:18.000 complement their education, and graduate a more responsible citizen. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:21.000 We have the Student Government Green Initiative 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.000 which provides student leadership and funding to sustainability. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.000 We also have the Sustainability Committee 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:31.000 which invites all members of our UTD community 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:34.000 to participate in the conversations around sustainability, 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:40.000 and provide input to University leadership on what we could be doing to be better. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:45.000 Finally, the the 4th category of our AASHE STARS report is Planning and Administration. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:49.000 So this is really --What are we doing to institutionalize sustainability? 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:53.000 What are we doing to make sure that we're providing equity, affordability, 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:57.000 and prioritizing well-being as a university? 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:02.000 We have all sorts of offices that are dedicated in supporting these initiatives, 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:05.000 and it's an area where we really excel as a university. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.000 When we put all this together, it essentially means 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:15.000 The Office of Sustainability serves as the champion for advancing sustainability. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:18.000 We drive sustainability with a lot of what we do as an office, 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.000 and then we also collaborate across the University 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:24.000 because essentially what we need to be doing 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.000 is we need to integrate sustainability into everything that we do. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:32.000 We need to work with those people that are teaching the classes, 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.000 that are engaging with our students, 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.000 that are working on affordability and diversity. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.000 We need to make sure that they understand their role in sustainability, 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.000 and we need to make sure that 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:44.000 every faculty, staff, and student understand that they have a role. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:52.000 What I'd like to do is invite everybody to participate in sustainability. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.000 Reach out, get engaged, provide service, 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:01.000 apply your interest, apply your talents, and become part of the conversation. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:04.000 It's going to be the lens through which you apply your education, 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.000 and I hope that the Office of Sustainability can complement that. [dog woofs]