As we dive into this fall semester, many things are different than usual. The Diag is less crowded, the libraries seem deserted, and classrooms are largely left empty as COVID-19 continues to push us towards a new normal. But what do all these changes have in common?They all have to do with students and faculty spending more time at home. … Read More
The Planet Blue Ambassador Program launched in 2011. Nine years later it has grown into a vibrant community of thousands of students, staff, faculty, and alumni members. Without all of you, we would not be able to work towards our mission of engaging the campus community in sustainability, advancing the University of Michigan’s sustainability commitments, and moving towards a campus-wide … Read More
Carbon neutrality is not always achievable by simply reducing energy consumption and converting to renewable energy. In some situations, the use of fossil fuels is unavoidable, like for commercial air travel and other scope 3 emissions. As universities, cities, and even entire countries attempt to achieve carbon neutrality, they will look to use carbon offsets to compensate for areas of … Read More
Sustainabilibuddies is a new peer-mentorship program open to all Planet Blue Ambassadors. The aim is to foster a sense of community among our Ambassadors across campus. We hope to introduce Ambassadors to others in the campus community who are passionate about sustainability, with the idea that participants will make new connections, share success stories and challenges, and learn from each … Read More
Hi! I’m Jordan, a UX Research Student in the School of Information and a Planet Blue Ambassador Program Assistant. I’m excited to take you along for a day in my life to show you some sustainable features of my day while working from home. These are three topics that I touch on in the video that I wanted to make … Read More
What is Queer/Ecofeminism? Queer/ecofeminism is an orientation to the world that looks at gendered and sexed power relations within a wider field of discriminations and exclusions. Some topics discussed within queer/ecofeminism include how ‘land’ became gendered in heteronormative frameworks, how National Park conservation reinforced discrimination against black and indigenous people, how plant taxonomies and plant collections come to us through … Read More
Planet Blue Ambassadors are the champions of sustainability around U-M’s campus. But, it’s important that, as an Ambassador, you keep expanding your knowledge! Test your know-how with this sustainability quiz. Then, bring it to your next staff meeting, house meeting, or family dinner to see how everyone does!
In elementary or middle school, you may have learned about the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. A lot of attention is given to recycling in order to reduce carbon emissions and conserve natural resources; however, there are still significant environmental costs associated with recycling. For example, recycling trucks that pick up curbside recycling use fossil fuels, and a lot … Read More
I often get asked during PBA trainings, “How clean do my recyclables really need to be?” So, I put together this instructional post based on cleaning a peanut butter jar. There are a few different ways you can do this, but this is the one I use. It balances getting the peanut butter jar clean without using too much water, … Read More
The President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality (PCCN) Spring 2020 Progress Report was recently released, and because this is a lengthy report at 38 pages, one of our Ambassadors asked us to summarize it and provide some possible actions they could take regarding the PCCN. So, while we encourage you to read the full report for yourself, we hope you will … Read More
