(September 20, 2012)

GreenHouse boosts sustainability efforts among campus organizations

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary's GreenHouse, a sustainability living learning community, is leading the charge for student-led organizations to "go green" this fall by offering sustainable living challenges. GreenHouse media specialist Karley Aiken is spearheading efforts to boost sustainability awareness among students.

"I originally came up with the idea over this past summer as a way to boost internal education about sustainability among those not directly involved in GreenHouse," said Aiken. "The idea is to provide students with a hands-on experience to learn about sustainability as well as participate in Centenary's goal to achieve a more meaningful and responsibly productive life."

Through this new incentive program, organizations are given baseline challenges such as decreasing energy usage and waste or increasing recycling efforts. At the end of the semester, organizations involved in the challenge will present detailed reports of their sustainable behavior and how they tackled the challenges. A panel of judges will determine the top three "green" organizations and provide monetary awards to use toward the winning groups' needs.

Though just in its second year as a living learning community, GreenHouse students have already instituted composting and recycling across campus and have cultivated a community garden.

Centenary's living learning communities enable students who share a common interest to live and study together, as they join with faculty, professionals, and community members to identify a problem, understand it, and take steps to overcome it.