The Center for Sustainability recently launched a new “Lunch and Learn” series, which will be held from noon-1 p.m. each Tuesday for the rest of the quarter in the Center for Sustainability (JMAC 142). Presentations will focus on issues such as transportation, local food, gardening and green office certification, and are available to the entire DU community.

“Basically we’re providing a forum for bringing people together, which is one of the main goals of the center,” said Chad King, DU’s University Sustainability Coordinator.  “The goal is to keep doing these sorts of educational periods on how to plug in to the sustainability efforts around campus.”

The Center for Sustainability partnered with the Human Resources Wellness Campaign for its employees to host the Lunch and Learns.

King said this was a “natural pairing because a lot of the sustainability issues are also wellness issues.”

He pointed out that getting people to ride their bikes for health reasons also reduces their carbon footprint, and similarly, eating local food for sustainability reasons also contributes to personal health and wellness.

“We see a lot of overlap and it makes a lot of sense for us to co-program with some of these issues,” said King.

Other sponsors of the Lunch and Learn Series include the Transportation Center and the Bike Depot, a local bicycling nonprofit.

The sponsors fund various aspects of the program, including coverage of food when it is brought, as well as the fee to bring speakers to campus.

According to King, the Lunch and Learns are just one of many initiatives currently being launched and promoted by the Center for Sustainability.

Other upcoming programs include working with a Daniels student sustainability group in the graduate program that is interested in making businesses sustainable, a bike commuting challenge over the summer, three documentary movie screenings about topics such as food and a speaker series about sustainable issues that is being co-sponsored by Korbel and was launched last week.

“We are really trying to expand our outreach and education on what is going on, both on campus and in the community in terms of sustainability, so that people can see the opportunities they have to participate in the programs,” said King.

Additionally, King said the center is trying to work with sustainable initiatives already happening at DU, such as gardening on campus and a green office program in which offices around campus can compete with each other to take the most “green” initiatives and become the most sustainable.

The center will also host a book discussion in April about author Michael Pollan’s book, “In Defense of Food,” which focuses on society’s relationship with food and nutrition, and discusses healthy alternatives to the current American diet.

The discussion will take place in anticipation for Pollan actually being on campus in May to speak to students.

King says the Center for Sustainability will help promote this event, which will be co-sponsored by the University College and the Tattered Cover Book Store and is currently open to registration on the University College website.

“It’s exciting for me to see us promoting a cross-disciplinary conversation,” said King.  “There’s a lot happening out of the center right now.”