Week 2:
University of Iowa Office of Sustainability

January 28, 2013

Week two here at the University of Iowa’s Office of Sustainability was a bit busier than the first. There was more traffic in the office and around campus since everyone was now back from winter break. There were many people who stopped by who were completely unaffiliated with the sustainability efforts at the University of Iowa, who just wanted to see what they could do.

I wrote a story on the food pulper that the University of Iowa has in its dining hall. It is a sustainable and innovative device that turns food (both touched and untouched) into mush that is then used for compost, and it also presses and extracts water from the mush, and filters it in to order to wash the dishes.

I also blogged for the Sustainability website about president Obama’s second Inaugural Address. He addressed climate change and sustainability goals as important for his second term, which my peers in the office were very excited to hear.

My site mentor, Liz Christiansen, had me watch a short film called “The Story of Stuff” (link below) which detailed the reasons behind why we need to live a more sustainable lifestyle as individuals and as a country, and reasons why we do not already live that way (Hint: it gets a little political, but is a great and informative film).

This week there was a lot of planning for the Volunteer Fair, which was held on Thursday, January 24. The fair includes the majority of organizations on campus. They set up a table with information and a sign-up sheet for those who want to volunteer for the organization.

Other than the picture of the pulper, all of the pictures from this week are from the volunteer fair.