Sustainable Longhorn Band
Printable PDF of 2014-15 Green Fund Awards*
* Green Fee is now named Green Fund (change in 2018-19)
| Water Wise Wildlife Garden at Marine Science Institute | Funds will be used to install an environmentally beneficial and educational water conservation & wildlife garden at the Marine Science Institute. This is the first usage of funds at a satellite campus other than the Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center, and is granted to enhance the experience of the students, staff, and faculty that visit, work, and take classes at the center year-round. | $61,050 |
| Solar Radiation and Rainwater Harvesting Lab on the UT Main Campus | An existing solar energy monitoring station on the roof of ETC will be enhanced to include rainwater collection, and data collection of both types will be available to students. | $40,000 |
| Software Development and Training Workshops for Solar Stations | This project expands the usefulness and academic impact of the two Green Fee-funded solar charging stations on campus. A workshop series will be offered in 2014-2015 to develop methods for capturing and monitoring data for the stations. A new monitoring system will also be installed at the stations based on work completed by students in the workshops. | $30,600 |
| Green Labs Team | A group of six students will maintain and expand special recycling collections, most initiated by former Green Fee projects. These will include batteries, Styrofoam, steel and glass chemical containers, and nitrile gloves. Three students will be funded by Green Fee and the others will be part of the University Leadership Network. | $27,900 |
| MicroFarm Year IV | The MicroFarm grows organic vegetables on Leona St near the Child Development Center, and teaches these methods to students who are interested. Through outreach and Saturday community involvement events, the MicroFarm community has grown, and another year of funding has been granted to support student leadership positions and necessary supplies. | $15,000 |
| Medical Takeback Program at Forty Acres Pharmacy | The Forty Acres Pharmacy will pilot a community wide prescription-medicine takeback, which will anonymously tally and report on medicines safely recovered and diverted from landfill. The target audience is UT students, staff, and faculty but anyone may participate. Prescription medicine takebacks are important for the health of the soil and waterways throughout the region and worldwide. | $15,000 |
| Campus Environmental Center Year IV | As the largest environmental organization on campus for students, the Campus Environmental Center initiates and spearheads many sustainable projects on campus. The CEC also promotes on campus sustainability through outreach events, launching new programs, and sponsoring various campus-focused events. This year’s funding supports a Graduate Program Assistant, the Concho Community Garden, and expanding the Tailgate Recycling Program for football home games. | $21,200 |
| Green Tree Project | The Green Tree Project launches the sustainable reuse of campus trees that must be pruned or removed due to disease or space renovation. The campus avoids harming trees whenever possible, but some accumulation of wood is inevitable. These funds will pay for milling, preparing, and producing usable furniture to garner interest in a larger and more public program that is intended to be self-sustaining, while providing beautiful furniture and other items to the campus community. | $5,500 |
| Solar Window Film | These funds will cover the costs of applying light-screening window film to one of the highest solar-gain buildings on campus (read: hottest). The benefits were researched and proposed by undergraduate students as part of an environmental science course on campus, and the project was endorsed as beneficial by the Energy & Water Conservation Program. | $11,000 |
| Dark Sky UT: LED Streetlights | While the UT-Austin campus streetlights are not huge producers of light pollution, no concerted effort has been put into energy conservation efforts in this area. Students proposing this project were interested in moving the campus towards Dark Sky certification, and have proposed converting Speedway light fixtures into long-lasting LED fixtures that would be compliant with such a certification in the future. | $10,000 |
| Greenhouse, Farm, & Garden Collaboration | This project will launch a collaboration between the Concho Community Garden, UT Microfarm, and the College of Natural Sciences. The Painter greenhouse will be upgraded and opened for use by community garden staff and volunteers, and new educational programs such as ‘Faculty on the Farm’ will invite new learning opportunities for the campus. | $13,830 |
| Campus Sustainability Tour | These funds will cover necessary costs of finalizing curriculum for a comprehensive campus sustainability tour, and creating a prototype for an online/web/mobile version. The curriculum will be used on the web and also regularly transferred to University Admissions and Tower Tours. | $10,000 |
| Orange Bike Project | The Orange Bike Project will continue to be supported by Green Fee for outreach staff and necessary supplies to keep OBP open and useful to all students. | $10,000 |
| Zero Impact Band | These funds will continue and expand waste reduction initiatives within Longhorn Band, including alternatives to purchasing disposable materials, and recycling and composting other waste. | $5,200 |
| UT-each Outreach Year IV | Building upon the success of the previous three years of UTeach sustainability field trips, this funding will continue the offering of field trips to K-12 students in Austin. The field trip gives students a tour of UT and introduces them to research and facilities on campus in an effort to instill a passion and understanding for sustainability in the minds of young people. | $12,868 |
| Aquaponics | These funds are for use by a collaborative of students, staff, and faculty to install and test one or more aquaponics systems in accessible locations around campus. | $6,000 |
| Alternative Energy Challenge | These funds will be used for demonstration product building and prize money for an open alternative energy competition hosted by Engineers for a Sustainable World, to be held Fall 2014. | $3,500 |
| ESI Videos, Mapping, & Outreach | These funds support the development of three more videos highlighting Green Fee project accomplishments, and an interactive map of all Green Fee projects to date throughout campus. | $7,020 |
| Biodiesel Year II | Funds to support the student-led manufacture of biodiesel throughout the year, 2014-2015. | $7,400 |
| Consumption, Waste, & Model-Making | The School of Architecture will embark on a waste study of materials specifically produced in the model-making units of design classes, with the objective of avoiding toxic and non-recyclable materials, and assisting with increased recycling of the maximum volume of post-consumer material. | $2,000 |
| Campus Beehives | This group of students and faculty will explore the installation of beehives in or near the campus community gardens. | $6,480 |
| Bat House at Concho Community Garden | A bat house will be built at the Concho Community Garden, which will provide alternate housing for bats on campus as well as educate the university on the ecological role of bats in Austin. | $3,007 |
| Atmospheric Water Harvesting* | This research will study methods and feasibility of atmospheric water harvesting in the central Texas region. | $2,500 |
| Isotope Analysis in Waller Creek Water* | This project analyzes chloride isotopes in Waller Creek to better distinguish the potential sources of contamination in the water, including whether any are on campus. | $2,500 |
* As of 2013, students with faculty and departmental support may apply for small grants to directly support their research. Graduates are eligible for $5,000 and undergraduates for $2500.