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UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition
Our mission is to promote environmental sustainability on campus and in the Farmington community. Students, staff, faculty, and community organizations collaborate to reduce our energy use and carbon footprint, minimize waste, and educate ourselves about sustainability. We are always open to new ideas even if you are new to the SCC. You are welcome to come to any of our meetings to express your ideas, thoughts, or concerns.
Learn more about the SCC
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Local Food Day: The Maine Fiddlehead Festival
When: Saturday April 28th- 9 AM to 6:30 PM
Where: Emery Community Arts Center at UMF and surrounding Farmington area
What: The inspiration of the UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition and the Farmington Downtown Association,
the Maine Fiddlehead Festival celebrates the agricultural heritage of Maine and today’s renewed
interest in support for local food production, specialty products and unique regional delicacies.
Increasing our consumption of local foods is also seen as a way to create healthier communities,
provide economic stimulus, and be kind to the planet.
(Participants may attend all or part of the day.)
8:30 a.m. Local Food Producers & Retailers set up tables at UMF Emery Community Arts Center
9:00 a.m. Registration at UMF Emery Community Arts Center
10:00 a.m. Welcome at UMF Emery Community Arts Center Performance Space –
UMF President Theo Kalikow
Keynote address: Understanding Maine’s Food System
Mark Lapping, Director of Muskie School of Public Service
11-11:45 a.m. Morning Break Out Sessions in Ricker Addition and Mabel Hastie Lounge (Ricker 116)
Presentation: Facts on Fiddleheads: The Fern, the Harvest & Food Safety with Dave Fuller, UMaine Cooperative Extension.
Panel Discussion: New Farmers Start Up – A panel for novice and aspiring farmers with Marble Family Farms, Island Farm, Potato Hill Farm, and Caleb & Sarah Dorr
Field Trip: Farmington Grange Kitchen, Bridge Street, Farmington
12:00 noon Local Food Specials offered by UMF Dining; the Homestead Kitchen, Bar and Kitchen (with music by the Franklin County Fiddlers); and other area restaurants. Prices ranging from $5 to $7 with coupon available at registration.
2:00 p.m. Afternoon Breakouts
Field Trip: Ostrich Fern Fiddleheads: Heritage, Tradition & Sustainability with Dave Fuller, UMaine Cooperative Extension **Appropriate footwear recommended, e.g. rubber boots
Panel Discussion: The Biology of Food: Nutrition & Bio Ag at Sandy River Farms, Rt. 27 with Bussie York of Sandy River Farms, Consultant Mark Fulford of Teltane Farm and Bob St. Peter of Food for Maine’s Future
Field Trip: Ready for Planting – garden prep with Master Gardener and owner of Iron Rock Landscaping, Richard Plouffe
4-5:00 p.m. Local Food Appetizers and Spirits at The Homestead
**Cash Bar
4:30-6:00 p.m. Community Discussion: Next Steps for Supporting a Franklin County Food Systemat the Homestead Banquet Room **Sponsored by the Franklin County Ag Task Force with guests from Food for Maine’s Future.
The Maine Fiddlehead Festival is sponsored and organized by the UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition,
which promotes sustainable practices on campus and in the community; the UMF Partnership for
Civic Advancement; Farmington Downtown Association; Western Mountains Alliance; Food for
Maine’s Future; and Franklin Savings Bank.For more information contact Valerie Huebner:
huebner@maine.edu or 207-778-7258
The SCC meets Mondays at 11:45 in Education Center Room 113
News Stories:
UMF SCC wins President’s Campus Leadership Award
The UMF SCC was recently awarded the President’s Campus Leadership Award presented by Maine Campus Compact at Bates College. The award recognizes a student organization or campus department at each MCC member institution for contributions to community service, service learning, and/or civic engagement efforts on their campus.
Unity Representatives Visit UMF for Tips on Composting
Food for Thought: Campus Sustainability Day at UMF
October 26th marked National Campus Sustainability day, a nationwide day designed to promote awareness and education of sustainability at the university level. Click to read more
Trash Day: Garbology 101
On October 12th, many UMF students, faculty, and staff could be found on Mantor Green, picking throgh 24 hours worth of residence hall trash for the annual Trash Day event. This is an event designed to promote awareness and education about recycling on campus, and also to progress in terms of what is being recycled and what is being thrown out. Click to read more
Moving Planet: Farmington Supports Alternative Transportation
On September 24, 2011, UMF students, staff, and faculty, as well as Farmington community members gathered on the UMF Mantor green for a 350 Day event entitled “Moving Planet” in celebration of the Global Day of Climate Awareness. Click here to read more
A Better View to Saving Energy by Kelsey Ottmann
September 2011- As temperatures drop and people’s thoughts turn to heating their homes through another long Maine winter, Nancy Teel ’10 keeps warm by helping others stay warm.On any given Saturday this fall (and later this spring), Teel can be found in a workshop off Route 27 in Farmington, coordinating the Community Energy Challenge—a volunteer-based program that constructs and installs interior storm window panels for households throughout greater Franklin County. Click here to read more
Aramark, UMF’s Dining Service, is committed to being green.
Informal Audits on Campus Buildings by Ben Engel
February 2011 – The idea for conducting informal audits came in spring 2010 when there was significant talk about eliminating several of the “stick frame” buildings on campus in an attempt to cut costs in tough economic times. Although not experts, the members of the SCC realized that collectively we had the power to assess many of the issues that can affect the energy efficiency of a building. Click to read more
How would you like it if someone turned you on and left? by Kelsey Ottmann
December 2010 – This is the question that the Light Brigade is asking, outfitted to look like light switches, and demanding to be turned off. On any given night during the week, students, faculty, and staff might be surprised at a group of students running around campus in bright tights and superhero costumes, chanting “THINK BRIGHT! TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS!” Click to read more
Making a List, Checking it Twice by Kelsey Ottmann
Winter 2010 – It’s 8 p.m. on a blustery, early winter Wednesday night, and Rachel Fritschy ’11 (left) and Jourdan Merritt ’12(right) are making the rounds in Purington Hall, stumping for sustainability. They knock on a residence-hall door, one of 15 they’ll politely tap tonight, and ask, “We’re with the Sustainable Campus Coalition, and we’re wondering if we could ask you about your sustainable living in your room?” Click to read more
SCC Meets the Most Sustainable Hannaford in the Country by Kelsey Ottmann
November 2010 – It was a blustery evening in November when the ten members of the Sustainable Campus Coalition from University of Maine Farmington stood huddled outside of the Augusta Cony Hannaford. There was a reason they had made the 40-mile trek to Augusta- and they were standing on top of it. Click to read more
Talkin’ Trash at UMF by Pam Green
October 27, 2010 FARMINGTON – A mound of garbage bags holding 24 hours worth of residence hall trash covered a bright blue tarp on the campus green recently as UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition members sorted through to find that about 40% of the waste could have been recycled. Recyclable content was consistent with the 35-40% estimates since starting Trash Day in 2006, but there were a few surprises this year. Click to read more
Connecting with Community through the Built Environment by Pam Green
April 12, 2010 – The University of Maine Farmington’s Sustainable Campus Coalition (SCC) promotes ecologically healthy lifestyles that support a sustainable environment through collaboration of students, faculty, and the community. UMF demonstrates its commitment to environmental stewardship through its pledge of LEED certified new construction and renovations on campus. Click to read more
