SUSTAINABILITY GRANTS FUND STUDENT PROGRAMS – The University of Tennessee at Martin Center for Sustainability has awarded the first Campus Sustainability Grants to fund student projects during the 2019-20 academic year. Student groups submitted proposals for the grant, and three programs were selected for funding. Benjamin Ort, of Medina, received two separate grants totaling $1,100 to recycle the large quantity of used notebooks discarded by students who move out of campus housing units each semester and to replace light bulbs in the apartments of incoming freshmen with energy-efficient LED bulbs. Ort works with the UT Martin Office of Housing and will coordinate with the housing staff to complete these two projects. Rebekah Hawthorne, of Dickson, submitted a proposal on behalf of the West Tennessee Association for Children’s Early Education Student Organization to fund a project to create a small-animal habitat, nature-based playspace and interactive flower bed at the Margaret Perry Children’s Center. Students then plan to create sustainability-focused lesson plans to teach children at the center about gardening, wildlife and the environment, among other topics. This project was funded in the amount of $1,160. Pictured in front of the Children’s Center are (l-r) Ort; Austin Avallone, an assistant on the housing project; Hawthorne; and Dr. Keith Dooley, faculty adviser for WTACEE and interim chair of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences.

###