The panel “Learning by Doing: Doing Sustainability at UVU” focused on educating students and the public about how they can personally make a positive environmental impact in their community.

Panelists included Kaile Akina-Schiess, program director of outreach with the Center for Social Impact, Gabriel Toscano, a UVU alumni who studied sustainability in technology, Jeremiah Harrison, director of excellence and innovation at the Innovation Academy, and Michael Stevens, professor of biology and director of the Capitol Reef Field Station.

Visitors practice sustainable habits at the Capitol Reef Field Station by using solar panels during the day and energy efficient light bulbs at night, passive heating and cooling, on-site water treatment and increased awareness of individual water usage and trash production.

During the question and answer portion of the panel, experts discussed the most significant actions each person can take for the environment. Suggestions include:

• Having a reusable water bottle;
• Recycling;
• Becoming more aware of personal energy and water use;
• Working on projects that recognize indigenous impact on lands;
• Bringing your e-waste to places that can properly break them down and reuse their parts.

One point stressed repeatedly by speakers was simple, but necessary for residents to remember — big changes don’t happen all at once.

“(At the Center for Social Impact) we address social issues and see if there’s an underlying system that its connected to. And then we teach people how to address those issues through multiple pathways. We don’t believe that there’s any singular moment, action or individual that’s going to create long sustainable social change. We believe that it takes a calculated and engaged mobilizing and organizing, and all of those facets are important,” Akina-Schiess said.

The panelists also encouraged the community to take classes and engage in projects that can help make a positive difference in their communities.

“I teach a general ecology course and I get a lot of students coming up to me and being like, ‘What can I do?’ Like, these are big, big problems, right? What can I do today in my life, and it’s such a big thing to think about,” Stevens said.

The Center for Social impact and the UVU Innovation Academy both offer avenues for students to collaborate with each other and work on a project of their choosing.

“We partner with businesses in the area, and with students on campus to create projects, and then we pay students a wage to complete the project. So it builds their resume, and it allows for students to complete projects that they’re passionate about,” Harrison said. “Some of our students are passionate about things that are more into the realm of sustainability and social impact.”