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APU Kellogg Campus

Spring Creek Farm
Palmer, AK
~Center for the Study of Nature and Sustainable Living~

Sustainability at the Farm

One of the primary objectives of Spring Creek farm is to serve as a demonstration site for alternative energy and sustainable design. Each day we are taking steps toward a more ecologically friendly facility. As of now, the following are practices we follow and technology we have available in sustainability.

A 100ft wind monitor, on loan from the Alaska Energy Authority for one year, to gather data on wind patterns that can be used to determine our true wind generating capacity.

The solar panels, donated by BP, provide energy to over half of the student housing.

We encourage all visitors to Spring Creek Farm to compost suitable materials. It is one of the best ways to reduce food waste and keep our soil rich. Composting bins can be found throughout the facility.

Visitors are requested to recycle and bins can be found throughout the facility.

In 2005 APU signed onto the Talloires Declaration. In 1990 a group of University Presidents met to assess the state of the natural environment and discuss the role of education on limiting human impact on the Earth. At the end of the conference they pledged mutual support as each began making changes at their own Universities. Other schools are encouraged to sign the Talloires Declaration. At Spring Creek Farm, as well as Alaska Pacific University, we try to adhere to the Declaration and encourage others to make steps in reducing human impact on the environment.

The Talloires Declaration

We, the presidents, rectors, and vice chancellors of universities from all regions of the world are deeply concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of environmental pollution and degradation, and the depletion of natural resources. Local, regional, and global air pollution; accumulation and distribution of toxic wastes; destruction and depletion of forests, soil, and water; depletion of the ozone layer and emission of "green house" gases threaten the survival of humans and thousands of other living species, the integrity of the earth and its biodiversity, the security of nations, and the heritage of future generations. These environmental changes are caused by inequitable and unsustainable production and consumption patterns that aggravate poverty in many regions of the world.

We believe that urgent actions are needed to address these fundamental problems and reverse the trends. Stabilization of human population, adoption of environmentally sound industrial and agricultural technologies, reforestation, and ecological restoration are crucial elements in creating an equitable and sustainable future for all humankind in harmony with nature. Universities have a major role in the education, research, policy formation, and information exchange necessary to make these goals possible.

The university heads must provide the leadership and support to mobilize internal and external resources so that their institutions respond to this urgent challenge. We, therefore, agree to take the following actions:

Use every opportunity to raise public, government, industry, foundation, and university awareness by publicly addressing the urgent need to move toward an environmentally sustainable future.
Encourage all universities to engage in education, research, policy formation, and information exchange on population, environment, and development to move toward a sustainable future.
Establish programs to produce expertise in environmental management, sustainable economic development, population, and related fields to ensure that all university graduates are environmentally literate and responsible citizens.
Create programs to develop the capability of university faculty to teach environmental literacy to all undergraduate, graduate, and professional school students.
Set an example of environmental responsibility by establishing programs of resource conservation, recycling, and waste reduction at the universities.
Encourage the involvement of government (at all levels), foundations, and industry in supporting university research, education, policy formation, and information exchange in environmentally sustainable development. Expand work with nongovernmental organizations to assist in finding solutions to environmental problems.
Convene school deans and environmental practitioners to develop research, policy, information exchange programs, and curricula for an environmentally sustainable future.
Establish partnerships with primary and secondary schools to help develop the capability of their faculty to teach about population, environment, and sustainable development issues.
Work with the UN Conference on Environmental and Development, the UN Environment Programme, and other national and international organizations to promote a worldwide university effort toward a sustainable future.
Establish a steering committee and a secretariat to continue this momentum and inform and support each other's efforts in carrying out this declaration.

For more information or to bring a group out contact:
Steve Rubinstein
Instructor of Outdoor Studies
Director, Master of Science in Outdoor Environmental Education
907-746-2700
srubinstein@alaskapacific.edu

This website is a product of Active Learning. Content by Laura Willoughby.

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