Utah Valley University (UVU) is leading sustainability initiatives to make UVU and Utah County greener.

Utah County government, sustainability thought leaders, and business community members gathered at UVU on Friday, May 20, for the first annual Utah County Sustainability Summit. The theme of this year’s summit was “Making the Business Case for Sustainability.”

Frank Young, associate vice president of Facilities and Planning at UVU, said that the summit helped establish UVU as a leader in community efforts toward environmental sustainability.

“UVU wants to be the knowledge base for sustainability in the community,” Young said. "It’s exciting that we’re going to take that leadership role in helping communities solve sustainability issues.”

The Utah County Sustainability Coalition and Utah Sustainable Business Coalition worked in conjunction with Hilary Hungerford, geography professor, UVU Sustainability Committee member, and creator of the Environmental Initiatives Hub at UVU, to host this first-ever sustainability event.

The underlying goal of the summit, according to Hungerford, was to create partnerships between UVU and different cities within Utah County to help them reach their sustainability goals.

“When we talk about environmental issues, it becomes politicized really quickly,” Hungerford said. “That didn't happen at all during the summit. It was a gathering of people who really care about their cities, care about their communities, and want to think about the reality of what we're facing now.”

The summit’s theme, “Making the Business Case for Sustainability,” was chosen to rally businesses, not just individuals, to join the cause for greater sustainability in Utah County.

“I think one of the amazing things about Utah is how innovative we are,” Hungerford said. “We have the strongest economy in the United States, right? Let's think about how we can leverage that to make a difference in environmental issues in our community. It’s not just an altruistic thing, but it’s asking ourselves, ‘how can we make sure that businesses think about [sustainability]?’ And ‘what are some opportunities in the world of environmental stewardship?’”

The event’s keynote speaker was UVU alum Stephen Colvin, founder and CEO of Bobelo, a self-carbonating, sugar-free drink mix company.

Bobelo’s mission stems from the belief that protecting the planet is everyone’s responsibility. In pushing against disposable lifestyles, Bobelo’s stick packs and bottles are made to be 97% less wasteful than the average bottled beverage.

Colvin began working in the soft beverage manufacturing business but left when he saw how much plastic waste companies were producing. Now, he’s making a living and fulfilling a consumer need, but doing so in a sustainable way that keeps the environment at the core of his mission. His success proved that sustainability and profit are not mutually exclusive but can be the foundation of success.

“It can be really overwhelming, and you don't even know where to start,” Hungerford said. “There's so much to sustainability, like water conservation, air quality, energy, food. No one can do everything. The strength of a summit like this is we can bring together people that are working actively working on these issues to help people who want to start working on them. I think that's really powerful. There hasn’t been a network to help create sustainable solutions in Utah County — so we're providing it. We're providing a space for people to come together and also demonstrating the great things that UVU is doing.”

Click here for more information about what Utah Valley University is doing to create a more sustainable future for the university and the region.