University of Utah students make campus a greener place

SALT LAKE CITY (Deseret News) — From turning out the lights and planting more trees to replacing light bulbs with new magnetic induction technology, University of Utah students are hoping for a cleaner, greener world — at least on their 1,534-acre campus.

"Little by little, we want to show and hopefully prove that this is applicable across campus," said environmental engineering graduate student Thomas Walsh. He and colleague Dasch Houdeshel designed a bio-retention garden featuring drought-resistant, native plant species, which will pool rain water, store it underground and re-channel it for better use to help alleviate the burden of the U.'s current irrigation system.

On Wednesday, a handful of Earth-conscious U. students gathered to dig, plant and style the new "rain garden" at the southeast corner of the U.'s Civil and Material Engineering building. It is the first and most notable project to be built with funding from the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund, which is being collected as a portion of student fees.

Last year, students voted to assess the fee of $2.50 per student per semester, taking the campus green initiative into their own hands.

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