A banner year

An open invitation to join in Virginia Commonwealth University’s strides toward sustainability now greets people on the university’s Monroe Park Campus.

In honor of its Year of the Environment, VCU placed a banner on the West Broad Street Parking Deck with graphic representations of the university’s many green initiatives.

“The VCU Year of the Environment is a yearlong series of events and activities designed to raise awareness of the need for a commitment to environment stewardship and sustainable practices,” said Leonard Smock, Ph.D., director of the VCU Inger and Walter Rice Center for Environmental Life Sciences. “The banner is a great way for the university community — and really the Richmond community — to be reminded of that commitment.”

Cynthia Schmidt, director of University Marketing, agreed.

“We have some very visible, high-traffic opportunities that we want to take advantage of,” Schmidt said. “We wanted to do something that was energetic and people would have fun looking at and picking out objects.”

The banner depicts a variety of VCU’s sustainable initiatives, from wildlife conservation research at the Rice Center and community gardens throughout Richmond, to recycling and alternative transportation.

“As an urban university, there are a lot of opportunities to promote the natural environment,” Schmidt said. “People don’t always associate cities with green, but in reality we have everything from recycling, to green buildings and rooftops, to creative uses of storm water run-off.”

An interactive online guide also helps the VCU and Richmond communities learn more about the programs shown on the banner.

When the Year of the Environment concludes in the fall, VCU will repurpose the banner — as well as the banner from VCU’s 40th anniversary celebration in 2008 — into tote bags, carrying the goals of the initiative forward.

“One of our concerns was, here we are creating a banner about sustainability, but are we really being green?” Schmidt said. “The bags let us continue to use the banner and make sure we’re not wasting the material.”

Smock also hopes the many ideas behind the Year of the Environment carry on into the future.

“The VCU Year of the Environment will be successful if it raises the level of awareness and action among the university community, both at work and at home, and if that awareness continues far beyond this one year,” Smock said.