Students can pledge to reduce their ecological footprints this Spring with Sustainable UF.
The Office of Sustainability will be giving out free hot chocolate and reusable mugs to kick off its Spring campaign, Turn Over a New Leaf, on Turlington Plaza on Feb. 10 from 9 to 11:30 a.m.
The campaign encourages UF students, faculty and staff to reduce their ecological footprints in one of the largest areas of resource consumption: energy, food, transportation and waste.
“If everyone lived the lifestyle of the average American, we would need the resources of almost five planets,” said Anabel Mendez, a 21-year-old UF public relations senior and intern at the Office of Sustainability.
Mendez said the main goal is to help people create lifelong habits that support a more sustainable lifestyle.
Laurel Nesbit, the Office of Sustainability program assistant, said the office is encouraging students to reduce their footprints one category at a time in order to make the process more simple.
“You’re going to be so overwhelmed,” she said. “You’ll quit at everything because it requires you to change every aspect with the way that you interact with the world.”
Nesbit said the Office of Sustainability is hoping to get 1,000 people signed up for the campaign.
“We’re hoping to get a lot of people signed up and actually engage in changing their behaviors,” she said.
People can sign up to pledge on the Sustainable UF website. They will receive biweekly emails with tips on how to lower their individual footprints.
Tonty Rutinel, a 19-year-old UF microbiology and cell science junior, said he pledged to reduce his food consumption.
“I know that the biggest environmental impact on the planet is from our inefficiency in our food system,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 1/29/2014 under the headline "Sustainable UF aims to reduce footprints"]
