Science
Cornell Botanical Gardens Natural Area Project Advances Lawn Sustainability
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The Botanic Gardens has a Natural Lawn program that has resulted in greater sustainability and increased biodiversity and resilience.
The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/carbon-neutrality/)
The Botanic Gardens has a Natural Lawn program that has resulted in greater sustainability and increased biodiversity and resilience.
The Cornell Botanical Gardens further environmental goals towards a carbon-neutral campus through modern initiatives.
“I think we’re all adults here,” said School of Industrial and Labor Relations Representative Noah Chovanec ’18. “We should decide how we take notes effectively.”
Howarth explained that methane is 30 percent more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, making it a significant contributor to global warming and a much more dangerous gas.
“Every student, every member of the Cornell community, should have a fundamental understanding why we are pursuing climate neutrality and the importance and urgency of climate change,” she said. “Those are things that we already invest in as a campus, so this report builds on an existing plan of action.”
“If we are going to look at options for achieving climate neutrality, we have to consider both the costs and the benefits of different paths to carbon neutrality,” said Sarah Brylinsky, the sustainability communications and integration manager of SLCAG.
Geothermal energy utilizes heat stored within the Earth, such as hot water, gases or rocks located beneath the Earth’s surface. This energy is renewable and environmentally friendly, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“We’re not advocating for one side or another,” explained Ulysses Smith, Employee Assembly chair. “We just wanted to have a conversation” on a potentially tobacco-free campus.
“When you have a goal you know you can fail,” said Prof. David Shalloway, molecular biology. “It’s important to know you can fail, it’s important to be uncomfortable. We have confidence that we can do it but we have to work hard.”
In recent months, many campus conversations have focused on Cornell’s commitment to adopt 2035 as the end date for achieving carbon neutrality on the Ithaca campus. The degree of interest in our progress, spurred by strong direction from Cornell’s shared governance groups, shows that fostering sustainability remains a powerful realization of our core value to develop and disseminate knowledge that helps solve the world’s most complex problems.
Cornell is dedicated to leading in the research and educational efforts to combat climate change, and our campus serves as a living laboratory to create, test and demonstrate solutions to the global crisis. Cornell has a superb history in making bold investments in sustainability, most notably our lake source cooling system, which operates with a fraction of the electricity use and environmental impact of traditional systems, and our recent commitment to renewable energy via geothermal heat and solar panels on Roosevelt Island. Because of creative, collaborative approaches to energy generation and conservation, our Ithaca campus has seen a 30 percent reduction in CO2 emissions since 2008, and no increase in building energy usage since 2000, despite a 20 percent growth in square footage. We added solar panels to the rooftops of two campus buildings over the last three months, and we have shaped fresh approaches to harnessing solar energy through our two new solar farms. We also continue to pursue hydropower, wind and other renewable energy sources to meet our campus electricity needs.