by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Although UNM has made progress in sustainability by doing things like shutting down heat to several buildings during winter break, there is still work to be done, said Barbara Widhalm, coordinator of the Sustainability Studies program.
"As a university, UNM has a lot of responsibility, not only because of its education mission, but also because of its size," she said. "It consumes a lot of resources and also has a lot of purchasing power. It could and should be one of the state's most important models for sustainability."
The program will host a monthly lunch to give faculty, staff and students a chance to discuss how UNM can use its resources more efficiently.
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The first lunch will be held Thursday at noon in the University Honors Program lounge.
"This is an opportunity to start creating a culture and a community around sustainability on campus," she said. "We're hoping that this will ripple into all kinds of new areas of discussion, new ideas for courses and new ideas for student groups."
Bruce Milne, director of Sustainability Studies, said the program is working to create a minor in sustainability, which he is trying to have approved by the Board of Regents by the end of the semester.
"We've got agreements across campus that this program will complement other programs on campus," he said. "The idea is that people can get this minor with whatever major they have, and then after they graduate, they'll take that background in sustainability with them in whatever they do."
Finding ways to use resources more efficiently is an important way to respond to climate change, Milne said.
"One of our vision statements says that the world is in the midst of the greatest transformation since the Industrial Revolution started," he said. "We have to respond to that in a creative way. I think a lot more people are coming to accept that."
Milne, a member of the New Mexico Climate Change Advisory
Group, said there are several ways UNM can use resources
more efficiently.
Faculty and staff could turn off overhead fluorescent lights and use lamps instead, he said.
"I think it's fair to say that we're going to address buildings, especially in terms of energy and water use," he said. "We want to do small projects that people can kind of do on their own and also do some big projects in terms of policy and design."
Widhalm said she sees opportunities to make UNM more efficient every time she walks
across campus.
"There are lights and heaters left on and that kind of thing," she said. "I would say there's tremendous opportunity for more engagement and action."
Sustainability is getting more attention at UNM than it used to, she said.
"I think it's beginning to be taken very seriously," she said. "There's no way around it. There's pressure from students, professors and the government. There's a lot more opportunity to get better, but I'm very optimistic."
