10/09/2026
October is Campus Sustainability Month and SUNY Cortland's Sustainability Office started their celebration in Baltimore at the Association of the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
Matt Brubaker, the university’s chief sustainability officer and energy manager, and Megan Swing, the university’s energy and sustainability engagement coordinator presented on Red Dragon ReUse, the donation collection and subsequent sale on campus each year. The presentation was part of 'Lightning Talk', new to the conference this year, on reuse and zero waste. "Each panelist shared their journey on waste reduction and building up the circular economy! It was so inspiring to learn about what is happening to reduce landfill waste and create avenues to maximize resources giving them a second life, while also sharing our own story", commented Brubaker
Swing was also part of two other presentations at the AASHE Conference. One presentation was done with Stony Brook University's sustainability coordinator Erin Kluge titled, "Growing Pains: Inter-Generational Sustainability Workplace Conversations". During this session, Swing and Kluge guided attendees through open conversation on how to best approach sustainability in higher education from an inter-generational lens and help build institutional knowledge. The other presentation was a networking session for Early Career Professionals with Skidmore College's sustainability coordinator Celia Darling and Boston University's sustainability Data Manager.
"Attending the AASHE Conference has been on my professional bucket list since my senior year of college," commented Swing, "I have so many ideas for initiatives and projects to do on Cortland's campus after seeing other universities present on what they are doing."
One notable highlight was the trip to Swarthmore College to explore hands-on approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through heating and cooling on campus, decarbonization, and sustainability. The visit to campus included a tour of their geoexchange plant, providing renewable-powered heating and cooling to campus buildings. “Swarthmore is one of the leaders of the decarbonization,” said Brubaker, “It was exciting to see their new central energy plant as SUNY Cortland works to implement similar solutions to provide similiar heating and cooling as part of our Clean Energy Master Plan.”
Another highlight of the conference was the tour of Baltimore on foot during the "AASHE Fun Run". Both Swing and Brubaker ran a five-mile loop with their sustainability peers around Balitmore's inner harbor, including see a local celebrity, Mr. Trash Wheel, a semi-autonomous trash interceptor which pull hundreds of tons of trash out of the water each year.
"Connecting with people working in higher education sustainability all over the world is one of the best motivations to keep up the hard work, second only to our students", Swing reflected.