SIU-Carbondale celebrated Earth Day by awarding almost $173,000 in Green Fund grants to 15 projects.
The projects included establishing a pawpaw research orchard to creating a multipurpose butterfly garden to adding more water bottle refill stations to improving energy efficiency.
The Green Fund Grant Committee, featuring four students, a staff member and a faculty member, reviewed 18 proposals.
With this latest round of funding, the university has now awarded nearly $3.64 million to 340 sustainability projects. The funding for the grants comes from a student Green Fee of about $10 per semester, adopted in 2009 as the result of a student-led initiative.
