Create a park, get free stuff during Sustainability Days

Students turn a parking space into a park during Sustainability Days in 2010.

How many times have you passed by empty parking lots, taken a bus or thrown out random scraps of paper simply because you didn’t need them?

Did you know there’s always a way to reuse and recycle old paper and find quick ways of getting around downtown without using a bus?

That’s what UIC’s Sustainability Days are all about.

“These events are made to be fun and informative,” said Lisa Sanzenbacher, program coordinator for outreach in the Office of Sustainability.

“We started out small, with just a few events here and there a week. Now we have the ability to reach out to other departments to host events with them, and there’s at least 30 volunteers who come to help out.”

Sustainability Days, which runs through Oct. 3, is student-conscious, offering events at all hours and nearly every day.

“It was loads of fun going to these events as an undergrad,” said Shelby Egan, graduate research assistant in the Office of Sustainability.

“You definitely learn a lot about doing the right thing. It’s good for students to attend because it’s not just another typical learning experience.”

Upcoming Sustainability Days events include:

• Today: mention “Sustainability Days” at the Market Place Cafe in Student Center West to get a free water bottle

• Thursday: Transportation Extravaganza, lecture center plaza

• Friday: parking spaces on campus are transformed into parks

• Sept. 20: Like the new certified green Lincoln Hall? Learn how they made it

• Sept. 22-28: Take a car-free week pledge for a chance to win a new bike

• Sept. 24: Find an All-You-Can-Eat dining hall and treat yourself to PB & J Day

• Sept. 26/Oct. 3: Lose unneeded office clutter at the Campus Electronic Recycling Collection Program

View a complete list of events at http://bit.ly/14MWYPP