What is Circular UGA?
Our goal is simple… build a better Georgia through a culture of sustainability, circularity, and zero waste.
We want everyone on campus to think before we buy and to maximize the value of our resources through circular materials management. We want to create systems that enhance circularity on campus and beyond to strengthen Georgia’s economy and enhance quality of life for all.
The UGA campus functions as a living laboratory where students, faculty, staff, and partners innovate solutions that starve landfills and promote thriving, both now and in the future. Inspired teaching, research, service, and operational innovations will collectively create a Circular UGA.
How does it work?
Circular UGA is an interdisciplinary experiential learning initiative, modeled after successes of Watershed UGA. Faculty and students partner with staff practitioners to design and implement sustainable solutions to real challenges. Through focusing our collective efforts on one big idea, we can create meaningful and beneficial change.
- UGA faculty provide tangible experiential learning opportunities for students.
- UGA staff collaborate to address pressing waste-related challenges on campus.
- Students apply disciplinary depth and interdisciplinary innovation to develop sustainable solutions.
The Circular UGA steering committee – comprised of interdisciplinary faculty, staff, and students – curates opportunities for the UGA community to create positive change.
How can I get involved?
Anyone on campus:
- Attend a Circular UGA Workshop.
- Email [email protected] to inquire how your class, department, or student organization can best support a Circular UGA.
Students
- Apply for a circularity-focused Sustainability Internship
- Submit a circularity-focused Campus Sustainability Grant proposal
- Engage your student organization to implement circularity and zero waste practices in your events and club activities.
Faculty
- Incorporate a circularity project or module into your course syllabus.
- Partner with a UGA staff member to apply classroom learning to real-world challenges on campus.
- Participate in UGA Green Labs Waste Diversion programs.
Staff
- Collaborate with faculty and students to develop innovative solutions to current sustainability and waste reduction challenges in your unit.
- Commit to host zero waste events for your department.
- Apply to participate in the Sustainability Leadership Program and implement a circularity-focused project within your area of influence.
