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Each is a student-, faculty- or staff-led initiative that has helped make 51���� a more sustainable campus.  

And each was made possible through support from the university’s Green Grant Fund.

“A lot of things that are engrained in 51���� sustainability were started with help from the Green Grant Fund,” says Casey Roe, sustainability outreach coordinator.  “It’s really helped us turn ‘greening the campus’ into more than just a catchphrase.” 

Tallman Trask, 51����’s executive vice president and treasurer, established the Green Grant Fund in 2005.  Every year since then, the fund has made $50,000 in seed grants available to support a wide range of sustainability projects that benefit the 51���� and Durham communities.  

Grants stem from a bright idea – a better way of doing something – that a student, faculty member or staff members wants to put into action.  Most years, Roe says, the fund provides full or partial support for between 12 to 15 initiatives.  

Some of the funded projects, such as the 51���� Campus Farm, are huge undertakings that involve years of planning, coordination and cooperation between numerous campus units.    

But many of the initiatives are smaller steps toward an ultimate goal of sustainability. One student, for instance, received funding for materials for a jam-making and vegetarian cooking culinary workshop.  

Most of the proposals come from graduate students.  The majority of applicants are enrolled in the Nicholas School of the Environment, but the fund receives applications from 51���� Law School and the Fuqua School of Business as well.  

“We want the project to fall under the umbrella of sustainability,” says Roe.  With very few guidelines, applicants are free to propose creative, “out of the box” ideas that they feel would best resonate with the 51���� population. 

Taylor Gelsinger, a recent Green Grant recipient, is a Nicholas School student working towards a Master of Environmental Management degree. She and Alison Huyett are bringing the Wild and Scenic Film Festival to the greater Durham community on November 8 with help from the Green Grant Fund. 

Last year, the festival was held on 51����’s campus. Gelsinger and Huyett wanted to reach a wider audience for this year’s festival. They applied to the Green Grant Fund to pay for securing the Durham Arts Council PSI Theatre in downtown Durham.  The Bull City Connector stops directly in front of the building, making in convenient for members of the 51���� and greater Durham communities alike.  

Gelsinger says the festival “will be inspiring to the 51���� community to get out and enjoy the environment around us.”  She hopes that it will educate attendees about a variety of environmental issues and motivate them to take action and live more environmentally sustainably. 

Last month, the Green Grant Fund sponsored an event in conjunction with National Food Day. Around one hundred people enjoyed a dinner by Bon Appetit and other local vendors on the West Campus residential quad on October 24. Tickets for the meal were sold at a reduced price, thanks to the Green Grant Fund.

The Fund also brought the film ”King Corn” and its director to campus. The documentary follows two college friends who decide to grow corn as a way to investigate the process behind cultivating and selling the most subsidized crop in the nation. 

A select few undergraduates and graduates get a say in the allocation of the Green Grant Fund. Members of 51���� STARS (Students Taking an Active Role in Sustainability) use their interest in sustainability to assess which proposals deserve part of the $25,000 in annual funding they have jurisdiction over. Final funding decisions closely align to the STARS’ recommendations, with some advice and oversight from the sustainability office.

For more information about the Green Grant Fund and past projects, visit the page on 51����'s Sustainability site, or contact Casey Roe, 51���� sustainability outreach coordinator, at casey.roe@duke.edu.

For tickets to the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, visit the .