2024 Louisiana Sustainability Summit Recap View the program: 2024 Louisiana Sustainability Summit Program Fête de la Terre is UL Lafayette's Office of Sustainability annual week long celebration of the Earth, and it was started in 2012, and it is filled with all sorts of fun events! This year’s festival kicked off on April 10th with the very first Louisiana Sustainability Summit! The Louisiana Sustainability Summit, sponsored by Keep Louisiana Beautiful(KLB) and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Office of Sustainability, was held from April 10-12 at UL Lafayette as a kick-off to t ..read more

Sustainability Practices in the Kitchen At the March 3rd meeting, Students for Sustainability presented a seminar regarding Sustainability practices that can be applied in the kitchen. Students learned how to track their food waste as well as reduce their food waste through multiple strategies such as waste auditing, meal prepping, donating food and maximizing what is already in their fridge. Students were also presented with creative ways to divert food scraps by composting, creating stocks and broths, and even making kitchen cleaners. Over consumption and reduction of plastic is another top ..read more

When the Mardi Gras festivities come to an end, what happens to all of the trash left behind after the parades? Discarded trash, litter, and beads from parades affect the beauty of our campus and community and can end up in our stormwater systems and waterways after heavy rains. On Thursday, February 15th, the Office of Sustainability hosted the 2nd annual UL Lafayette Krewe de Coulee Post Mardi Gras Clean Up to help clean up our city's parade routes and keep our coulees clean! We had 170 volunteers in the Krewe de Coulee who collected 1,085 pounds of litter. These volunteers were diverse me ..read more

Office of Sustainability has been listed on the "15 Best Los Angeles Sustainability Blogs and Websites"   The FeedSpot bloggers database reviewed thousands of blogs on the web and ranked by traffic, social media followers & freshness. The Office of Sustainability's blog was listed a spot number 8 in the ranking. We are very excited that our blog and website reviced this reconition and we will continue to share education, resources, and details about what we are up to on campus and in the community on our website, blog, and all forms of our social media. Stay pluggd in with ..read more

When the Mardi Gras festivities come to an end, what happens to all of the trash left behind after the parades? Discarded trash, litter, and beads from parades affect the beauty of our campus and community and can end up in our stormwater systems and waterways after heavy rains. On Thursday, February 23rd the Office of Sustainability hosted the 1st annual Krewe de Coulee Post Mardi Gras Clean Up to help clean up Johnson street and keep our coulees clean! We had 45 volunteers in the Krewe de Coulee who collected 45 trashbags of litter.  Impact of Litter: Litter poses a threat to wi ..read more

Quality of Life Survey  The results of the new student focused quality-of-life survey has been unveiled! One Acadiana, in partnership with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, conducted a survey to measure students’ perspectives towards the elements that have the greatest impact on their quality of life in Lafayette. At Civic Con on November 1, 2023, attendees learned about the survey's results and discussed how the findings can be used to strengthen the ties between UL Lafayette students and the wider community, improve the student experience, and help retain more UL Lafayette gradu ..read more

The Univeristy of Louisiana at Lafayette celebrated 2023's Energy Week October 23rd - 26th! Energy week started with Show Watt You Know: Energy Trivia, on Monday. Participants included Students for Sustainability and Sustainable Design Club students. Students competed on their knowledge of clean energy and energy conservation. Sarah, the president of the Sustainable Design Club, was the winner and won a sustainability grab bag complete with a tote bag, wildflower seeds, reusable straws, and two T-Shirts! Tuesday, the Office of Sustainability hosted multiple Bike Rides from Cajun Field to main ..read more

Glitter: Cradle to Grave  Glitter and confetti are both popular mediums used to celebrate special occasions and adorn materials but both damage the environment in many ways.  ‘Cradle to grave’ is a term that describes and evaluates the lifecycle of a product, and how it impacts the environment throughout production, use, and after being discarded. Looking at glitter and confetti through this lens can help to understand its impact on a bigger scale. Glitter is normally made of plastic, aluminum, and titanium oxide, and produced and shipped on mass scales. Traditional confetti are mad ..read more

Fast Fashion 101 Seminar Recap: Created by Lola Lancaster  Students for Sustainability presented a Fast Fashion 101 Seminar at their February 8th meeting. Students learned the standard definition of fast fashion, as well as many of the ways those production practices cause water and soil pollution, fossil fuel usage, carbon emissions, and landfill waste. The presentation also discusses the poor pay and working conditions that employees fast fashion companies face, as well as which companies qualify as fast fashion. Students talked about ways to buy ethically, such as purchasing locally an ..read more

When the Mardi Gras festivities come to an end, what happens to all of the trash left behind after the parades? Discarded trash, litter, and beads from parades affect the beauty of our campus and community and can end up in our stormwater systems and waterways after heavy rains. On Thursday, February 23rd the Office of Sustainability hosted the Krewe de Coulee Post Mardi Gras Clean Up to help clean up Johnson street and keep our coulees clean! We had 30 volunteers in the Krewe de Coulee who collected over 30 trashbags of litter.  Impact of Litter: Litter poses a threat to wildlife ..read more