Boston University launches its annual Sustainability Festival

19 / 09 / 2019

By Marwa Nassar - -

Boston University launched on Thursday its annual Sustainability Festival to contribute to reducing the environmental footprint.

BU sustainability director Lisa Tornatore (CAS’02) says the point of the festival is to draw attention to the long-term fight to save the planet.

“Sustainability is something the University values, so educating our community is important,” Tornatore says. “In fact, BU aims to be net carbon neutral by the year 2040 and a zero waste institution by the year 2030. We cannot get there without the participation of our community in addressing our collective footprint.”

The festival will feature members of the BU Environmental Leadership Network and dozens of vendors, student environmental clubs, and BU departments and offices.

The festival will include lawn games, sustainability swag, a relaxation area, and of course, plenty of free food.

Bike safety will be a big focus of this year’s festival, which will offer free bike checkups, giveaways such as helmets and bike lights, and a chance to win a new bike.

A primary focus of the Sustainability Festival will be bike safety. Attendees can enter to win a free bike, as well as helmets and bike light giveaways from BU’s Parking & Transportation Services.

Also, new to this year’s festival is the rollout of the Wellbeing Project, a new campus-wide initiative aimed at supporting the health and wellness of the BU student body. “We want to encourage students to press pause, and think about the many ways which they can engage in their well-being through offerings on our campus,” says project cochair Carrie Landa, BU Student Health Services Behavioral Medicine director. “Engaging with your environment and the space around you, whether that means participating in sustainability efforts or taking a walk in a green space, is part of that.”

Throughout the year, the project, administered by the Office of the Provost, will host events and programs for students to “pause, recharge, and learn tools to help them thrive,” according to the project website. The initiative is a joint effort of Student Health Services, FitRec, Sargent Nutrition, the Dean of Students office, the Office of Graduate Affairs, Innovate@BU, the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Graduate Education, and the School of Medicine, which together will sponsor the Week of Wellbeing: Terriers Thrive Together, a series of events promoting mental health and well-being, from October 7 to 11.

“We are delighted to host BU’s Wellbeing Project as a new feature at this year’s Sustainability Festival,” Tornatore says. “Sustainability, health, and wellness are interdependent—the health of the body and mind are impacted by the health of our environment. These things cannot be separated and we are thrilled to be able to support this important new initiative at BU.”