UGA is working to address UN Sustainable Development Goals through focused research, teaching, service, and stewardship on campus, across the state, and around the globe. Some examples of how students, faculty, and staff are addressing Goal #12 are listed below.
The UGA New Materials Institute is advancing a paradigm shift in waste management: that a material’s useful end-of-life should be considered at the design stage and that Green Engineering principles should be part of this process. NMI faculty are committed to creating safer, environmentally-healthy products, as well as systems that generate less waste.
Swap Shop at UGA encourages reuse, repair, and circular economy practices at no cost to campus community members. Keeping the items we bring into our life for their entire lifespan and then more is essential to solve the waste crisis we are currently facing. Swap Shop at UGA is a place to trade personal items, which keeps usable goods out of landfills and recirculates them back to the campus community.
Faculty in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising, and Interiors bring a range of expertise that spans merchandising and residential design to polymer, fiber, and textile science. Its Innovative Materials Research Team is working to develop sustainable alternatives to traditional plastics, textiles, and materials.
Dining Services, in partnership with the Facilities Management Division and the Office of Sustainability, has diverted food waste from the landfill since 2014. This food waste is pulped and transported to the University’s Bioconversion Research and Education Center, where it is composted and reused in campus landscaping projects and at the UGArden.
The Sustainability Certificate incorporates applied learning in interdisciplinary settings and equips students with critical skills to address global sustainability challenges through real-world solutions.
