Green Tour | Sustainability | SIU

Some of the stops on the Green Tour include:

• Student Center – Home to the Sustainability Office and the Sustainability Hub, the Student Center has been an early advocate for sustainable practices, featuring water refilling stations, a solar powered trash can/compactor, a LED lighting project supported by the Green Fund, compostable food containers, ample recycling, and green meeting guidelines for events.
• Big Belly Solar Trash Compactors – There are four Big Belly Solar Trash Compactors on campus and in just six months they collected a quarter ton of trash waste and almost 200 lbs of bottles and cans.
• Bicycle Maintenance Repair Stations - Located at various spots across campus, the bicycle repair stations were installed through a partnership with the Department of Public Safety, Saluki Spokes, and the Sustainability Office. Each station features tools to help cyclists make basic bicycle repairs, from changing flats to adjusting brakes.
• Green Wall / Vertical Garden (Agriculture Building) - Through a collaboration with the Architecture Fine Arts Lecture Series and the College of Agricultural Sciences, Professor Karen Midden was able to invite artists Laurent Corradi and Marie Steffanetti to SIU to construct a vertical garden. The vertical wall and design of the garden prevents water waste and special lights are used to simulate sunlight and provide energy for growth. The vertical garden is not only beautiful but it also works to purify the air.
• Elkay Refillable Water Stations - At least 30 water bottle refilling stations are installed across the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus. Some of these refill stations have been funded by the Student Green Fee. Water refill stations continue to be added to campus locations as other water fountains become outdated. According to research, about three-fourths of all plastic water bottles end up in landfills, where they can take up to 450 years or more to degrade. These refillable water bottle stations encourage reusable bottles, eliminating unnecessary plastic waste.

Want to see even more campus sustainability projects funded by the green fee? We offer virtual green tours that cover even more projects, including some listed below! Interested in a specific project? Ask us about it at sustainability@siu.edu! We will work to get the right information to you.