The UNM Green Fund is a student-led collection of resources aimed at empowering innovative young minds to promote all types of sustainability, and the group is asking students to submit proposals for sustainability projects.
Earl Shank, a senior business and economics major and the acting sustainability coordinator for the Green Fund, said this is the first year the Green Fund will accept project proposals. The fact that it is so new is exciting because it means they can fund almost anything, he said.
“A number of green funds are being developed at universities across the nation,” Shank said. “We saw there was a tremendous opportunity in creating a Green Fund at UNM with the potential to be really meaningful for our students and for the University’s sustainability efforts.”
Shank said one aspect of the initiative that makes UNM’s Green Fund unique is that the voting committee that decides which projects receive funding is comprised entirely of students.
“This is a student-led initiative to fund projects that might not otherwise be funded,” Shank said. “There are faculty advisors that sit on the board, but they are truly in an advisory role when it comes to the decisions on the projects. They don’t have votes.”
Genevieve Huff, a freshman political science major, serves as the chair of the committee that endorses the student proposals, which are then sent to the general council for final approval. She said the purpose of the Green Fund is to serve as a tool to assist UNM students in funding long-term efforts aimed at increasing sustainability.
“The main thing is getting students to feel responsible for sustainability on campus and letting them know they can have a part in it too,” Huff said.
For her, the most important aspect of the project is that it is run by students, because she said some might not feel empowered or have the resources to get involved with sustainability otherwise.
“The Green Fund helps students have an outlet to carry out their ideas,” Huff said. “Being a freshman and seeing the issues that UNM faces with environmental action, it means a lot to me to be a part of propelling the University in a good direction.”
Shank said student projects could potentially receive up to $50,000 in funding, depending on the quality and uniqueness of the proposals.
Students are encouraged to think creatively in their project proposals and not limit themselves solely to environmental sustainability. Projects that incorporate the “Three ‘P’s” — people, planet and profit — in the most innovative ways would likely be successful, he said.
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“It’s a new way to look at sustainability,” Shank said. “We want to make sure that the physical changes are being made in a way that can be maintained for years to come.”
Mary Clark, sustainability manager for UNM, said the Green Fund is supported by a portion of student fees that can be used to fund both educational and infrastructural projects and initiatives.
Funding is intended to stimulate long-term sustainable practices both physically on campus and in the minds of students, she said.
Clark said the Green Fund is ready and open for proposals. Applications are due by Dec. 1 and are available at sustainability.unm.edu/greenfund.html
Tomas Lujan is a staff reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @TomasVLujan.
