May 21: Litter Pick-Up While Walking or Jogging
Join Ohio State Facilities Operations and Development (FOD) Landscape Services team on May 21 for some campus “plogging” fun to pick up litter while walking, jogging or running. Time slots are available from 11 a.m. to noon and noon to 1 p.m. Share your #BuckeyeLove for the environment while enjoying the benefits of physical activity and spending time outdoors.
Register online and meet at Meiling Hall on May 21 to pick up supplies.
Celebrate World Bee Day and the Earth Day Park Grand Opening with Ohio State’s Green Team Employee Resource Group, featuring our new bench made from recycled materials from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center! We’ll also recognize Claire Bollinger, PhD, recipient of the “2024 Woman of the Year” Green Team ERG award in recognition of her outstanding commitment to education and excellence in sustainability.
When: 9 a.m. May 20
Where: Earth Day Park (348 West 8th Ave. behind the 9th Avenue Parking Garage)
To build the bench, the Green Team collected #6 plastics (Solo cups, CD cases, clear plastic drinking cups) from some Ohio State staff and worked with Marble Plastics to rework and build the bench from those materials. Each bench requires about 150 pounds of #6 plastics. There are plans for future benches to be added to the park, but the cost of this initial bench is covered by an Ohio State Energy Partners Wexner Medical Center Sustainability grant.
#6 plastics aren’t typically recyclable through conventional recycling programs. If you’re looking for another way to recycle these plastics, you can check out the Hefty ReNew program, which has partnered with Rumpke Waste & Recycling in central Ohio.
The Ohio State University’s Environmental Professionals Network is holding an event from 4:45 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 22, examining “our place among Ohio’s native food web and explores the work of leading gardeners, educators, herbalists and foragers, amateurs and other groups stewarding native plants for food.”
Learn more about the free event, available in-person but also livestreamed, at epn.osu.edu.
Earth Day, a nationally recognized day that seeks to inspire and garner appreciation for the environment, is on Monday, April 22. This year, the Green Team Employee Resource Group is hosting some virtual and in-person events in honor of Earth Day.
Join us in celebrating Earth Day this month by participating in these activities throughout The Ohio State University during Earth Week 2024 and throughout the month of April…
Available to all:
For Ohio State employees:
We hope you’ll join us for these events and help us celebrate Earth Week. If you’re interested in making a difference in our environment and receiving updates, sign up to be part of the Green Team. For questions, reach out to sustainability@osumc.edu.
In celebration of Earth Day April 22, the Green Team ERG will be hosting a variety events all month, including webinars, plant giveaways, and a cooking demo. Become a member via this link to receive our newsletter with more details.
To start Earth Month, join the Green Team from noon to 1 p.m. April 5 for a webinar with Vidya Raman, MD, MBA, FASA, FAAP, on sustainability in the operating room.
Some topics that will be covered:
– Sustainability as whole
– Health care contribution and perioperative operating room impact
– Anesthesia and surgery carbon footprint
– What we are doing at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center
– Future plans at the Wexner Medical Center
Dr. Raman is a clinical professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. She has held a faculty appointment since 2007 and transitioned her clinical practice from Nationwide Children’s Hospital to the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center in 2022. She’s completed training in pediatrics, anesthesiology and pediatric anesthesia. Her research interests center around perioperative sustainability. She has given many national talks, podcasts and papers on the topic and hopes to make an impact on climate action through her work on perioperative sustainability. She has not only helped with decreasing Ohio State’s operating room carbon footprint, but also cost containment. Her work has saved over $100,000 in in 2023. She looks forward to making more of an impact and moving clinical engagement of sustainability beyond the perioperative spaces into other clinical areas.
Register for the webinar here.
Can’t make the webinar? A recording will be sent out to registrants and posted on this site.
Not part of the Green Team yet? You can join here: go.osu.edu/greenteamsignup
— By Judy Gregory
Do you have a New Year’s resolution to start your own garden or do you just want to hear tips on how to improve your current garden?
Join the Green Team ERG on Tuesday, March 19, from 1-2 p.m. where Tim McDermott, DVM, will give us tips on planning and planting the spring vegetable garden.
Dr. McDermott joined the Ohio State University Extension at Ohio State in 2017 as an agriculture and natural resources educator after 20 years in private practice veterinary medicine and surgery. His area of specialization is local food production systems, and he is passionate about teaching people how to grow their own food.
The webinar will cover the following topics:
Register for the webinar here.
Dr. McDermott will be available to answer questions at the end of his presentation. Feel free to submit questions ahead of time to Judy Gregory, our new webinar moderator and Green Team education chair, at gregory.177@osu.edu.
Not part of the Green Team yet? You can join at go.osu.edu/greenteamsignup.
— By Judy Gregory
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is hosting the Run for the Trees Happy Little 5K event again this year.
Inspired by the late artist Bob Ross and his love for the beauty of nature, this 3.1-mile virtual event will take place between Earth Day (April 22) and Arbor Day (April 26). Participants can complete the 5K on foot or by bike, skate, paddle or mobility device at any pace and any place outdoors.
Registration is $36 and participants will receive a Happy Little T-shirt (if registered by March 1), a commemorative bib number, and a finisher’s medal. Registration is encouraged by March 1 for these items to be delivered in time for the event. Registration closes April 1.
Grab some friends and get moving for the trees!
— By Beth Strausbaugh
Join Green Columbus at Studio 35 for a Green Drinks Movie Night, featuring “Canary,” the story of Ohio State professor Lonnie Thompson, PhD, whose research has advanced our understanding of Earth’s climate system and climate change.
Dr. Thompson is a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and a Senior Research Scientist in the Byrd Polar Research Center at The Ohio State University.
The event begins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Studio 35 (3055 Indianola Ave. in Columbus). The screening is free, and concessions (including alcohol for those 21+) are available for purchase in the Studio 35 lobby.
The screening begins at 6:30 p.m. and is followed by a Q&A with Dr. Thompson and his wife, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, PhD, a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Geography in the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State.
Visit GreenCbus.org/GreenDrinks for more information and to sign up for emails about future events from Green Columbus.
UPDATE: This webinar has been postponed. We’ll update the website with a new date once the presentation is rescheduled.
In this month’s webinar from the Green Team ERG, Andrew Neil, MESM, assistant director for Sustainability with Facilities Operations and Development at The Ohio State University, will review the university’s resource stewardship goals as we approach 2025 and look into the future, identifying bigger goals for 2030 and beyond.
Register for the webinar here.
Andrew has been with Ohio State for over five years, with his work focusing on advancing the university’s sustainability goals on carbon, energy, water, ecosystem services, transportation, water, food and procurement. He earned a master’s degree in environmental science and management from the University of Rhode Island (URI) in 2014, focusing on spatial analysis and remote sensing. Previously, he worked on coastal and marine issues with the URI Environmental Data Center, the U.S. National Park Service and CSA Ocean Sciences.
Andrew will be available to answer questions at the end of his presentation. Feel free to submit questions ahead of time to Judy Gregory, our new webinar moderator and Green Team education chair, at gregory.177@osu.edu.
Not part of the Green Team yet? You can join here: go.osu.edu/greenteamsignup
Hosted by the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) Climate and Health Education Collaborative, a Climate and Health Education Summit will be held March 14-15 on the CWRU campus.
Event organizers “welcome individuals and teams form academic health centers that include faculty and trainees from one or more health professional schools.”