UB Sustainability hosted Campus Garden Work Day on Friday as part of Climate Week, giving the UB Campus Garden a new home outside the Statler Food Commissary.
The event was a part of several Climate Week events from Sept. 23-27, such as the Environmental Network Free Clothing Pop-Up and How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate. The Campus Garden Build Day closed off the week, as five students helped move the campus garden from the lawn between Greiner Hall and the Student Union to the Statler Commissary, a “more environmentally friendly” area.
Derek Nichols, UB Sustainability engagement coordinator, said the garden will be “better maintained” at the new location.
“Right now, it’s in the middle of no man’s land. It was hard to water, it was in direct sun, it took a lot of [maintenance],” Nichols said. “By the time spring comes, the beds will be ready and we’ll plant in them, so we’re not planting anything this season, but we’re getting set up and ready to go.”
Nichols plans to collaborate with students from UB Sustainability’s fellowship program to decide the garden’s layout. He said it will most likely be a “plot-based model” where UB clubs and organizations can own a spot and take care of it.
“A student club could have a little bit of raised beds space, an office on campus has a little bit of bed space,” Nichols said. “That way, there’s a direct ownership into that space and that organization is required to take care of it.”
Students helped build two beds and fill them with soil. Nichols said this is phase one of a bigger plan, and UB Sustainability may host another day where students can come out and fill the beds with more soil.
Michael McDonald, a senior at the School of Management and student assistant at UB Sustainability, said it was exciting to see students come together and be involved in creating a sustainable environment.
McDonald said the garden’s location is important because it creates an ecosystem for bees on campus.
“If we lost bees, that’d be devastating for the planet. So it’s kind of nice to have this realm of sustainability over here,” McDonald said. “Now we have our office that overlooks the solar strand. … We have the bees and the new community garden. So it’s a good way to tie it all into one area on campus.”
Kenneth Creaser, an environmental studies major, said he feels events like Campus Garden Build Day help spread awareness for sustainability.
“I think adding cool s--t around here is going to help bring people more into it,” Creaser said. “I’m literally involved in every environmental group on campus and the numbers should be bigger. People need to be more worried about this.”
Alexandra Moyen is the assistant news editor and can be reached at alexandra.moyen@ubspectrum.com and on Twitter @AlexandraMoyen.
Alexandra Moyen is the senior features editor of The Spectrum.
