Light Bulbs: A Bright Idea for Teaching and Learning Sustainability

Abstract

One by one, thousands of lights at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been turned off, taken down from their fixtures, and safely disposed of. In their place, energy-efficient fluorescent lights and light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been installed. These actions were undertaken by leaders at the university physical plant in the interests of lowering costs and reducing environmental impacts. Unnoticed at first, however, was that these lighting upgrades also provided a means to bridge academics and campus operations. Collaboration among members of the physical plant and faculty has recast the lighting upgrades as content in an introductory environmental science course that employs a campus-based approach to sustainability teaching and learning. This article chronicles the lighting upgrades, connects them to larger national trends, and describes the collaborative process between academics and campus operations that brought the lighting upgrades into the classroom, illustrating how a university campus can be a living-learning laboratory for sustainability.