NAU.GreenFund
NAU Green Fund
Possible Project Proposal and Research Grant Topics
In need of inspiration for a project proposal or research grant to make our campus a more sustainable place? Green Fund committee members have compiled lists of some things we’d like to see happen on campus, which can be found below. If one of these projects or research questions sound like something you’d like to do, submit an idea summary for it!
For an overall idea of what projects and research the Green Fund would like to see, review the request for proposals.
Accordion Open
Project Ideas
- Expand the yellow bike program.
- Expand the E-Bike program
- Create a dashboard for campus waste.
- Start a paper towel composting program.
- Add glass recycling bins (1899, Tinsley, Honors, Reilly, McConnell, etc).
- Expand E-waste, universal waste, and plastic bag recycling drop off locations.
- Start a printer ink cartridge recycling program.
- Set up a system to collect coffee grounds and food scraps from dining locations outside of the Hot Spot and Dub.
- Expand composting to make food scraps recycling easily available to all students, especially to students who live in apartments with kitchens.
- Start a dorm garden!
- Create a zero-waste event supplies kit, event guide, and/or plant-based catering order guide to loan out to events.
- Pollinator Campus USA Certification
- Encourage the use of eco-friendly paints in some way.
- Sponsor an art exhibit or mural somewhere visible on campus that teaches people about an aspect of sustainability/spreads awareness of some issue.
- Install solar tubes in a building to reduce energy use.
- Get a sustainably/responsibly-made spirit clothing line sold at the bookstore.
Accordion Closed
Research Ideas
- Analyze our waste stream.
- How can the Food Recovery Network program grow and where can it be expanded to make an impact?
- How are sustainability and equity tied together at NAU?
- Where do we need weather retrofits?
- How does NAU compare in terms of science communication? Do we have strong science communication?
- Look into the diversity of STEM and how NAU can further promote diversity in STEM fields.
- Analyze participation in sustainable initiatives at NAU among students and faculty, why do students prefer one opportunity over the other?
- There’s so much scrap paper on campus! Is there anything creative that can be done?
- What would be the impact of making all lights on campus motion-sensing?
- What font would reduce the amount of ink we use?
- Could we limit junk mail and what would the impact be?
- What are the most commonly used single use items on campus? What alternatives are available and are students open to them?
- Analysis of our campus biodiversity and how to increase it.
- To what extent could the purchasing department incorporate sustainability into criteria to promote environmental and social sustainability, while still remaining economically sustainable?
- Measuring the heat effect that is occurring at NAU; are our buildings capturing and holding a lot of heat due to the materials they’re made of? Is NAU ‘hotter’ than other areas of Flagstaff?
- What would the impacts of incorporating traditional indigenous knowledge into our landscaping be?