If you have been near campus the past week, you may have seen some snappy Carolina blue bikes zip by. Come take a spin! Carolina launched Tar Heel Bikes on Wednesday, putting into service 100 bikes that you can pick up at 18 different hubs. It’s easy: all you do is download the Social Bikes app and ride. The daily plan, which is available to everyone whether or not you have a UNC affiliation, provides one free hour of riding and costs $6/hr., and is prorated after that.
Tar Heel Bikes is one visible element of our sustainability efforts. On September 25, Carolina celebrated Three Zeros Day, a time to recognize the progress Carolina has made to reduce the campus’ environmental footprint with three goals: net zero water usage, zero waste to landfills and net zero greenhouse-gas emissions. This year, we announced that:
- Carolina is now water neutral – we use less water than what falls on the campus annually.
- A solar power and battery storage project is being installed on the Carolina North campus that will collect and store excess solar energy to power campus buildings.
- The use of natural gas at the University’s cogeneration plant will increase over the next two years, cutting fossil fuel combustion by about 26,000 metric tons per year.
This fall also saw the launch of two other campus initiatives. On Tuesday, Chancellor Folt shared the new website for The Blueprint for Next, the University’s strategic framework that outlines the priorities that will guide decision-making and investments over the next decade. And earlier this month, Carolina announced For All Kind: the Campaign for Carolina, a fundraising campaign that seeks to raise $4.25 billion for these priorities by the end of 2022.
Have a great weekend, and Go Heels!
