Three DOTS parking enforcement vehicles feature truck beds filled with plants this semester. Officials said they hope the stunt helps shed light on sustainability initiatives.
When Shuttle-UM driver Maria Louzon watched trucks from REI, an outdoor gear store, drive by with plants on top of them, she saw more than a strange traveling garden. Rather, she saw an opportunity to educate the campus community about sustainability.
The senior government and politics major was inspired by the trucks more than a year ago, spawning an idea to recreate the concept with Department of Transportation Services trucks at this university. Three of DOTS’ enforcement trucks debuted truck beds full of plants this semester, an effort officials hope will shed light on the department’s green initiatives in an inventive way.
Although the plants do not decrease greenhouse gas emissions, officials said they hope they’ll serve as an educational tool to teach the campus about the benefits of sustainability and DOTS’ appreciation of it.
“Our garden on wheels is another way to keep green options fresh in students’ minds,” Beverly Malone, DOTS’ assistant director, said in a statement.
While the truckloads of plants serve minds,” Beverly Malone, DOTS’ assistant director, said in a statement.
Although the truckloads of plants serve as an educational campaign, Louzon said she hoped the initiative won’t just pass off as a marketing venture aimed to promote DOTS’ green outlook.
“It’s very easy to look at this initiative and say, ‘DOTS is trying to give themselves a good reputation by simply having a truckload of plants.’ The challenge is to use this quirky technique to educate the campus about the need for green measures,” she said.
Green roofs on-the-go may be a first for the university, but they’re nothing new for buildings across the campus; green roofs top the Stamp Student Union, Cumberland Hall and the building that houses 251 North, all of which indirectly reduce storm water runoff, insulate the summer heat and winter cold and attract wildlife, according to Scott Lupin, Office of Sustainability director.
In addition, the $128.8 million physical sciences complex, set to be completed by fall 2013, will also have a fully furnished green roof, among other lighting- and ventilation-efficient systems, according to the Office of Sustainability website.
In the past two years, DOTS has become increasingly eco-friendly: The department installed 10 electric ChargePoint stations in February 2011, began an online carpooling program to encourage green commuting and added four hybrid buses to the Shuttle-UM fleet, according to its website.
Biker registration and alternative commuting have also been on the rise in the last year, Lupin said, although official numbers are pending per the release of this year’s sustainability report.
Louzon said this tiny, out-of-the-box initiative could help change campus attitudes and foster environmentally sustainable habits. Some students have even recommended other techniques, such as giving out flowers and growing herbs on the truck, she said.
“It may be something to get someone to look at the truck and think, ‘What’s up with that’?” she said.
