UNC News Service

CHAPEL HILL — Prizes, pledges and a people mover promise to make 2009 Campus Sustainability Day on Tuesday a waste-free event to remember at UNC. The celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union Plaza includes free refreshments. If it rains, the event will move indoors to the union’s Great Hall.

At 1 p.m., Chancellor Holden Thorp will receive the biennial campus sustainability report from Cindy Pollock Shea, director of UNC’s Sustainability Office. Both Thorp and Shea will speak at the event.

“At Carolina, sustainability is not just an academic topic. It’s part of our culture,” Thorp said. “It’s reflected in everything from our construction program to how we conduct business every day.”

The 2009 report references many of UNC’s achievements in sustainability.

For example, Carolina received federal stimulus funding to create an Energy Frontier Research Center focused on the next generation of photovoltaic cells and solar fuels. The university dedicated a new reclaimed water system, which helped UNC win a national award for water reuse. And the new Education Center at the N.C. Botanical Garden is expected to be the first public building in the state to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, the highest level of certification for green architecture.

In September, Carolina submitted its Climate Action Plan with a strategy for achieving climate neutrality by 2050. UNC also recently received an A- on the campus sustainability report card issued by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, the highest grade given this year.

At the free public event, attendees will have the chance to record their “Carolina Green” pledge to be more sustainable, ride a Segway people mover, power a light bulb by pedaling the Energy Bike and register for prize giveaways.