F&S Director of Sustainability, Morgan Johnston, asked the ALUFS SWATeam for their input regarding the forthcoming "Low Mow Zone" sign updates.  She said, "I would like to talk with you about the “No Mow Zones” on campus and our efforts to better name them as “Low Mow Zones.”  Brent and Ryan Welch are working on updating the locations in a map form and our F&S communicators (primarily Steve Breitwieser) are developing a message about the updated words and locations. 

As part of this effort, we are also going to be updating the signs, and I am hoping to get your help with taking a look at the specific sign locations (once we have the updated map).  We need a volunteer to visit each Low Mow Zone and note the

• How many signs do we have in the existing locations?
• Do any of them need to be moved for better visibility?
• Do any of them need to have taller sign posts?
• Where should signs be placed in the new zones?"

The SWATeam chair, Brent Lewis, indicated she would be included in the first spring semester meeting.

Logan’s final paper. Pretty fun.

Highlights:

• “[Bicycle fleets] promotes positive social interactions.”
• “..I think most of these worries go away [about bike fleets]… one issue that  I saw coming up almost every time a discussion …was money. While totally understandable, it is also frustrating that there is a lack of desire to spend even a low amount of money to purchase one bicycle for employee use.”
• “…If they [departments] truly don’t have the money to spend, then perhaps the University as a whole should be assigning a sustainability budget specifically to each department that they can spend at their discretion in the name of sustainability.”
• “Bicycling on campus is the fastest mode of transportation; however, that would not be the case if the bikes are not located conveniently right outside your door or at least at a building next door. For bike sharing dock-style to match the convenience of a dedicated bicycle at the department’s building, the docks would have to be ubiquitous across campus, quite literally outside every building. Financially and logistically, I don’t think that is possible. To me, departmental bicycle fleets would be entirely more convenient for staff needing to get around campus quickly and efficiently.”

And, lastly, “In my opinion, the benefits are so numerous [for bike fleets] that the University should be aggressively funding and initiating bicycle fleets on campus.”

~per Lily Wilcock