“We want to become a leader in sustainable technologies and practices, acting as a model for the community,” Raines said at the time.

Since then, the U of M has formed a Sustainability Committee. The 14-person committee, which includes two members from the community, is currently developing a campus-wide plan that will serve as the central administrative mechanism through which the U of M will seek to become a leader in sustainability.

“We envision a student and faculty/staff body that supports and participates in campus sustainability efforts,” said Dr. David Cox, committee chair.

The committee is developing a strategic plan to expand current campus efforts to become sustainable, assist the integration of sustainability into campus policies and curriculum, support the development of an environmentally conscious culture on campus and work with the greater Memphis community in fostering sustainability initiatives.

The committee will also encourage innovative interdisciplinary research that advances knowledge about becoming greener. Campus and building design, recycling, ecology, carbon emissions and energy consumption also will fall under the auspices of the committee.

Several efforts are already underway.  One is the well-publicized Terra House in downtown Memphis, which is near completion. In designing the house, architects with the U of M’s Center for Sustainable Design had the goal of producing a “healthy, high-performance house that embodies the principles of sustainable design and is complimentary to the neighborhood context.”

The Center for Multimedia Arts in the FedEx Institute of Technology is also making an effort to become “greener.”  

“We have added a new cooler and greener — but not greenish — high-output fluorescent lighting setup for our video/multimedia studio,” said Eric Wilson, multimedia producer/director in the Center. “The CMA has cut power consumption dramatically while decreasing the burden on the air-conditioning system and making the studio cooler for the people on camera.”

This Week, the University’s internal faculty and staff newsletter, recently switched from print to online. “We went green to save on costs and to be more eco-friendly,” said This Week editor Sara Hoover.

According to Hoover, going online saves about 118,000 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper annually.

On the academic side, Donalyn Heise, assistant professor of art, said she thinks of sustainability when teaching her classes.

“I teach art education majors, and my ‘methods’ class includes training these pre-service teachers how to teach art with no budget,” Heise said. “We create sculpture with found objects and engage in dialogue about re-use and re-purposing of materials, as well as its benefits for teaching at-risk youth. Transforming discarded items into a work of art is an important concept for students.”

A new Physical Plant computer-driven pumping system that was recently introduced is expected to save the University more than $400,000 a year. 

The new women’s dorm that will replace West Hall will meet LEED Silver Standards in terms of sustainability and design and be one of the first-such public buildings in Tennessee.

Last fall, the U of M’s Center for Biofuel Energy & Sustainable Technologies (BEST) hosted the campus’ first-ever Sustainable Technologies Awareness Day, which featured the numerous eco-friendly initiatives that have been developed by the University and by its community partners. BEST’s Biodiesel Production Unit, funded by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, is working to convert recycled cooking oil from the Tiger Den dining facilities into biodiesel fuel for use in University generators, vehicles and other Physical Plant motors and engines.

Last spring, the U of M partnered with Apple Computer to collect tons of old electronic equipment during a citywide “electronics recycling day.”

These efforts, as well as individual efforts — turning off office lights and shutting down computers and monitors at the end of the workday — will annually save the University thousands of dollars.