ENERGY

Solar Energy

Located at our Center for Environmental Education and Research (CEER), our solar array provides a significant proportion of the electricity needs of campus. The 14-acre site holds over 12,000 individual solar panels and provides 3 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 30% of campus operations. That’s equivalent to the electricity consumed in all of our dorms. Completed in the summer of 2018, it is the largest solar energy field associated with any college or university in Pennsylvania. We entered into a power purchasing agreement with WGL Energy Systems, which constructed the array and maintains it while selling generated electricity to us for the next 25 years.

In the spirit of the project, we have eliminated the need for fossil fuels to maintain the solar array by using a flock of sheep to act as natural lawn mowers. The sheep, provided from a local sheep farmer, are on site from April to October to keep the grass short and the weeds at bay!

View live data of production from our solar array.

Keeping the Landfill Less Full

From classrooms and offices to food service, residential facilities, and construction and maintenance activities, the campus is geared toward diverting as much material from landfills as possible.

Recycling receptacles for paper, plastic and glass are located throughout campus. The university’s recycling initiative has been dramatically expanded to include the recycling of e-waste, such as computers and cell phones, non-lead alkaline lithium batteries and battery packs, automobile batteries, steel, copper, mixed aluminum, sheet aluminum, aluminum wire, lightbulbs, and even grocery bags. To consolidate our waste infrastructure, trash bins have been removed from classrooms and relocated to convenient common spaces alongside recycling bins, thus equalizing the effort to use either receptacle.

And when it comes to recycling, student initiatives count. Spearheaded by an SU student, our TerraCycle program was established to collect normally hard-to-recycle waste—such as chip bags, oral care products, granola and power bar wrappers, beauty care products, cereal bags, and many more items. Each week, a group of dedicated students collects and sorts through the Terracycle items to prepare them to be shipped off and recycled.

Moving out of campus at the end of each academic year can create a lot of waste. To divert some of that from landfills, we’ve created Hawk Stuff, a free on-campus thrift store. Hawk Stuff collects gently used items during move out. We store those items all summer long then offer them to students in the fall. Thus reducing waste and saving money for our students!

Our dining services food waste diversion program entails collecting food waste from Evert Dining Hall and giving it to a local pig farmer. Roughly 60% of our food waste from our main dining room goes to this 12 pig operation. Thus decreasing what we send to the landfill and reducing the amount of feed that needs to be grown to feed the pigs. Additionally, students have the ability to bring their own mugs to on-campus coffee shops and water bottle filling stations are located across campus so students can use reusable water bottles.

It’s Awesome to Bee Here

Pollinators are responsible for cross-pollinating 30% of the world’s crops, worth about $16 billion annually. Pollinators are facing an uncertain future due to colony collapse disorder and other threats including herbicide, insecticide, and pesticide use, habitat destruction, and emerging diseases such as Acute Paralysis virus. We recognize that pollinator protection is vital for our society to continue to thrive. Our commitment to protect pollinators is demonstrated by our work toward becoming Bee Campus USA certified.

Our habitat plan and integrated pest management plan are our primary vehicles to ensure that our grounds promote a healthy pollinator population. Our Center for Environmental Education and Research (CEER) property is a large part of our pollinator habitat. No chemicals are used on this property that would have an adverse effect on pollinators and wildflowers planted on the property provide a source of food. Our undeveloped land provides ample habitat space for all kinds of pollinators. A Shakespearean Edible Herb Garden located between the library and Hassinger Hall provides another spot for pollinator friendly habitation. Additionally, we have 5 bee hives located near our apple and cherry trees that provide a hands-on learning opportunity for our Beekeeping Club.

Throughout campus, we make every effort to use plant species native to the region. Native plants offer habitat and bio-diversity benefits to campus. These plants have evolved to survive in our specific region with minimal inputs. Interested parties can use this Plant List to find native plants to plant on your own properties from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Sustainability, Security and Justice

We are committed to doing all that we can to assure food sustainability, security and justice for both the campus and the greater Selinsgrove community. We have taken the lead role in a collaboration between Susquehanna University, Bucknell University, the New York Pennsylvania Campus Compact, Union-Snyder Community Action Agency, and local community gardens to facilitate networking, food distribution and community building called Sowing Change. We’re excited to announce that Sowing Change is being transitioned into a Hunger Coalition through the Union-Snyder Community Action Agency to further address food insecurity in our region.

In addition, our Campus Garden, operated by students, produces food to donate to local organizations that feed the food insecure in our region and offers students hands-on opportunities to learn how to produce food. Volunteer garden hours are offered weekly to students, staff, and faculty who wish to help at the garden and get their hands dirty. The campus garden isn’t the only place on campus where we’re growing food. Next to the Blough-Weis Library, we’ve built a Shakespearean Edible Garden full of herbs mentioned in Shakespeare’s writing. The herbs are available to the campus community.

The university’s dining services program places a priority on obtaining locally sourced food from nearby farmers, growers and distributors—both through its own purchases and the food it obtains from Sysco, its major food supplier. Not only is sourcing sustainable food important, reducing the amount of food wasted means less wasted resources. To reduce food waste on campus, our main dining room instituted trayless dining over a decade ago and we’ve seen a significant reduction in food ending up in the landfill.