Earth Month and Auraria's Climate Action Forum!

April Happenings at the ASCP

Welcome and Happy Earth Month!!

In this newsletter we invite you participate in our Climate Action Plan and other virtual Earth Month festivities; we also highlight our 2020 Annual Report, which outlines the amazing projects and programs we have been working on. Read on to learn more!

The Auraria Sustainable Campus Program (ASCP) is hosting a virtual Climate Action Public Forum during April’s Earth Month celebration. We’re looking for your feedback on recommended strategies to reduce our campus greenhouse gas emissions (and your own original ideas, if you have them!). Navigate to our Climate Action Planning page to learn how to participate. All participants will be entered for a chance to win a $50 gift card to a local restaurant, so be sure to submit your responses before April 30th! Want to learn more about this initiative before starting? Attend a public info session in the coming weeks to learn more and ask questions.

ASCP Earth Month Activities:

Earth Month Clothing Drive

To celebrate Earth Month, the Tivoli Student Union will have several boxes where you can donate clothing! The collected clothes will be donated to Urban Peak at the end of April.

Learn more about Urban Peak

2019- 2020 Annual Report is Live!

Our 2019-2020 Annual Report is here! Check out the Auraria Campus’s energy saving stats, the impacts of our projects and programs, and so much more sustainable information regarding our very own Auraria Campus.

Click here to view the full Annual Report!

Personal Care Recycling Bins Are Here!

In efforts to make recycling of difficult items more accessible, the Auraria Sustainable Campus Program has three hard-to-recycle programs (two of which are brand new!) Each program allows for greater waste diversion on the Auraria Campus and helps close the loop on commonly discarded products. Thus far, we've diverted:

5,522 lbs of waste!

Locate the Bins!

One Year of Virtual

It has officially been a year since the Auraria Campus went remote due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, and the ASCP team has been reflecting on our transition to virtual learning and working.

What we miss: all of the inspiring in-person events (and the free snacks that come along with them!), the Tivoli buzzing with students and ideas, and the excitement of coming to our

wonderful campus everyday.

What we are grateful for: the ability to accomplish finishing the Greenhouse Gas Inventory, the Annual Report, having TWO new bike shelters constructed, and starting the Walk The Walk sustainability competition on social media.

For April's WalktheWalk competition, we're asking you to participate in our Climate Action Public Forum! Auraria campus staff, students and faculty that participate will automatically be entered to win a $50 gift card to a local restaurant!

How to enter: Participation is easy! Head to our Climate Action Public Forum page anytime this month, create an account, and weigh in on some of our proposed recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Short on time? Just make sure to weigh in on the goals and benchmarks on the “Goals” tab.

For bonus entries submit a photo or video of you/your screen as you participate in the forum. DM us the image and/or tag us @aurariascp in your post and you'll be entered into the prize drawing a second time!

Not on socials? Email your submission to ascpnews@gmail.com

#WalkTheWalkASCP home page

Auraria Student, faculty, and staff are automatically entered to win a $50 gift certificate to one of our favorites for sustainable dining in Denver, Somebody People!

March's #WalkTheWalkASCP

winner is CCD student

(and soon to be CU Denver transfer student!)

Renna Munson!!

The competition was “How do you conserve water/keep waterways free of pollution?” and Renna submitted great information about composting, collecting rainwater, and so much more. Thank you for your submission, Renna!

Shoutout to everyone who entered.

We received some great tips about water.

In honor of Earth Month, the ASCP compiled behavior changes from all our previous Did You Know (DYK) behavior change campaigns. Want to participate in a sustainable week? Try and follow the call to action for each graphic during Earth Week, described in the blog below!

Click here for a week of sustainable action and to see our favorite Did You Know graphics!

Christina Foust (left) and Barbara Decker (right)

This month's Sustainability Heroes are Christina Foust and Barbara Decker. Christina and Barbara are both professors at MSU Denver and members of the ASCP's Faculty subcommittee (part of the ASCP's

larger Faculty Staff coalition).

In an effort to support the ASCP's focus on addressing environmental justice this academic year, Christina organized a virtual book club each semester; the club just wrapped up Braiding Sweetgrass and read Clean and White during the fall semester.

Barbara Decker stepped up to co-facilitate this book club and has invited the ASCP to speak with her Environmental Justice class for the past few semesters to help bridge the gap between classroom learning and the ASCP's applied work on campus. Thank you to both professors for your dedication to sustainability in your personal and professional lives!

Read on to learn more about our two March heroes 🙂.

Jobs and Internships On and Off Campus

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)

Marketing Intern (other positions available)

Virtual

Three interns are needed to join AASHE as we continue our mission to inspire and catalyze higher education to lead the global sustainability transformation.

Learn More

Auraria Higher Education Center

Energy Manager

The Energy Manager will develop a comprehensive Energy Management program for the Auraria Higher Education Center including evaluating and improving energy efficiency, working in tandem with the Facilities Trades Departments (HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing) and Auraria Sustainability Campus (ASCP) to develop best practices for all utility usage and conservation.

Learn More

City and County of Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency (CASR)

Electrified Mobility Administrator

Help the city reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by increasing adoption of electric vehicles in Denver to meet our goals that 30% of vehicles are electric by 2030 and 100% are electric by 2050.

Learn More

Scraps Mile High

Route Associate

Part time - Denver Metro Area, CO

The Scraps Route Associate position is for folks looking to work hard while doing good. As a Route Associate, your primary responsibility will be servicing Scraps members - picking up compost from residential and commercial customers - along your day’s route. You’ll be swapping out bags, keeping bins clean and organized, occasionally interacting directly with members, and serving as a representative and an ambassador of Scraps and our mission.

Learn More

Note: Earth Month is full of awesome Sustainability events both virtually and in-person. Tune into our ASCP events calendar! We will be continuously updating the calendar all April long.

click here for the full ASCP events calendar

ASCP Sustainability Workshop- Triple Bottom Line & ROI

April 15th

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm (virtual)

Focuses on what many sustainability professionals are charged with addressing: sustainability from an environmental, economic, and social perspective. It’s not enough to look at one of these factors as we often need to justify projects via all of these topics. Participants will learn about the Auraria Sustainable Campus Program and how it addresses these issues via our seven pillars and how that translates to projects on the Auraria Campus. Students will have an opportunity to fill out a carbon footprint calculator to determine the impact they have via their daily choices, which we will then tie to larger societal impacts.

Learn more and sign up

The Alliance Center's Earth Week

April 17th

9 am (virtual)

We’re celebrating Earth Week with our calendar featuring resources, activities, tools and events taking place in Colorado between April 17 – 25. We’re working with our expansive network of businesses, government entities, nonprofits and individuals so our diverse audience can come together and celebrate our planet.

Jack's Solar Garden

April 17th

10 am - 12 pm

Longmont

“Sprout City Farms will be hosting a groundbreaking event at Jack's Solar Garden on April 17th. It'll be an opportunity to see our solar panels in action before crops get planted on site and meet all the partners associated with Jack's Solar Garden”

Respect Your Mother: Setting Sustainable Goals

For You + For Earth

April 17th

10 am - 12:30 pm

Nuture Wellcare Market- Denver

We're kicking off Earth Day Week with a bang and we want you there!

Be one of the 30 people that join us for Jacki Carr's first in-person event post pandemic. The renowned speaker will be talking 360 goals setting on how to set sustainable goals and goals for sustainability in a 45 minute workshop.

Eco-Cycle's Equity, Inclusion, and Zero Waste

April 8th & 22nd

“April is Earth Month, and to celebrate we invite you to our first two-part virtual training, “Equity, Inclusion, & Zero Waste”, where we’ll delve into the intersection of natural resources and social justice. We will discuss the history of environmental justice and environmental racism, how those issues apply to natural resources and Zero Waste specifically, and how you can be a part of the solution.”