It’s November 25th, and you’re beaming. You don’t mean to, but you can’t help yourself. You’ve gotten over the campus flu, and you passed all of your midterms. Your travelling is over, and now you’re sitting with your loved ones for the first time in what feels like forever. Someone is tending to the dishes; someone is checking the temperature … Read More
“In some Native languages, the term for plants translates to ‘those who take care of us.’” Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants Izhi-Minoging Mashkikiwan, or “Place Where Medicines Grow Well,” is the Anishinaabemowin name of a healing garden inspired by the traditional Ojibwe Medicine Wheel. The garden belongs to the Cheboiganing Burt … Read More
What would a carbon neutral U-M campus look like? Close your eyes and take a minute or two to think about it. Note the things that you see, hear, smell, feel, and taste. In your vision of this future, is there a gigantic array of solar panels in the shape of a block M? Are there goats on the Diag? … Read More
In the first week of classes, I was talking to one of my friends about the bus system here at the University of Michigan. The conversation went something like this: “Man, the bus system has been pretty bad. I hope they get this fixed soon,” I said. “Right?? Taking the bus sucks. I can’t wait to get my own car,” … Read More
A student-led project that recently received grant funding from the Planet Blue Student Initiative Fund aims to decrease the financial and environmental burden of menstruation by making reusable menstrual products free at the Maize and Blue Cupboard and University Health Services. The project leads were inspired to apply for this funding because the average person who menstruates will throw away … Read More
Picture this: the year is 2012, you’re wearing your UGG boots and your favorite cardigan, and you just got dropped off by your mom at the movie theater with your friends. What are you watching? Maybe The Hunger Games or Walt Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph? Nope, today you’re seeing a film adapted from a classic picture book in the school library: … Read More
Sustainability is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, and it is easy to understand why. If it wasn’t abundantly clear already, the recent release of the 6th report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that we are in a period of unprecedented climate change. Fortunately, we have some history with enacting large changes to … Read More
As the term has become more popular and as usage has become more widespread, most people now know that sustainability is about supporting the well-being of the planet and the wildlife that inhabits Earth. What immediately comes to mind are images of polar bears on melting icebergs, burning rainforests, or sea turtles caught in plastic trash. Although these devastating wildlife … Read More
The Planet Blue Student Innovation Fund (PBSIF), run by the Student Sustainability Coalition, provides grant funding for large-scale, student-led projects that increase sustainability on U-M’s Ann Arbor campus. The grant came into existence in 2011 after emerita U-M President Mary Sue Coleman approved many of the recommendations from the Campus Sustainability Integrated Assessment — a process that looked much like … Read More
Two sustainability-focused student programs at the University of Michigan, the Student Sustainability Coalition (SSC) and the Planet Blue Student Leaders (PBSL), participated in a virtual “Shark Tank” style event called Pitching In Together in April of 2021. Over the academic year, the PBSLs piloted creative environmental behavior-change campaigns with students across campus, and at this event, SSC heard pitches from … Read More
