Dell Medical School received the highest level Green Grounds Certification for eliminating synthetic pesticide and fertilizer use on its campus.
The Platinum Certification comes from Re:wild Your Campus; a youth-founded, women-run organization aiming to increase sustainability and biodiversity on college campuses. Sheina Crystal, the director of communications and campaigns for Re:wild Your Campus, said Dell is one of four schools certified at the top level.
“Unfortunately, it is the norm at colleges across the country to use (fertilizers) to maintain campus aesthetics, lawns and landscape beds,” Crystal said. “Being part of the Green Grounds Certification shows that a school is participating in the newest and best practices to maintain a beautiful campus while also protecting human and environmental health.”
Justin Hayes, a landscape supervisor for the Dell Medical district, said the University built Dell in 2014 to be a completely health-oriented environment. The University collaborated with the American Society of Landscape Architects Fund and the United States Botanic Garden to create the Sustainable SITES initiative, a set of guidelines and a rating system used for sustainable design and landscape maintenance. The rating system gives points based on the sustainability of the campus.
“(The University) didn’t want synthetic pesticides and chemicals being used throughout the district; they didn’t want non-native plants because the health district is supposed to represent health,” Hayes said. “They wanted to have an environment that would be healing, and there’s a lot of research about being in nature, being in a forest area, being in an environment that is green, helping you heal faster.”
Hayes said Dell’s Green Grounds Certification shows other campuses worldwide that it is possible to implement these green landcare practices. He said he teaches classes for private businesses and homeowners to encourage cleaner landscaping.
“We grow a lot of our own plants in the greenhouses, moving towards electrical equipment, rooftop gardens (and) rainwater collection. All of these things we do so that we can find methods that work,” Hayes said. “Then you can teach others how this worked and how they can do it to mimic what you’re doing.”
Crystal said Re:wild Your Campus provides many opportunities for students to get involved with making their campuses greener, including virtual events and online student networks.
“I think a lot of times students take the landscaping around them for granted and aren’t really aware of what goes into the manicured lawns that they are used to sitting on, and they don’t realize that those lawns may be covered in a pre-emergent herbicide or spot treated to control weeds,” Crystal said. “I think it’s really important that schools integrate this aspect of sustainability into the work that they’re doing because it can help.”
