Center for Sustainable Living

The Center for Sustainable Living provides a living and learning laboratory and meeting space for our community. Located on the Kenosha Campus, it includes a 1,884 square-foot house, outbuildings and a gazebo. The flooring is made from cork and sustainably harvested wood. One room is dedicated to showing recycled and sustainable interior decorations. A sustainability library provides books on green topics. The grounds include a natural prairie, creek bed and many types of trees, providing a habitat for birds and wildlife.

Learning Opportunities

The Center enables outreach to the community through tours, youth summer camps, workshops and group activities, as well as supporting outreach to K-12 school districts through field trips.

The Building

The residential building provides an environment for students and the community to learn about green building and decor and allows engagement on cross-disciplinary demonstration projects and topics.

The Grounds

The grounds are as diverse as the region--an environmental backdrop including a small orchard, forested area and prairie and urban farm where Greenhouse Operations students plant and raise vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Bee Barn

The Bee Barn is an education center created to raise awareness about the dramatic loss of bees. Features include a mural, bee-friendly gardens and hands-on programs (There are no actual bees in the Bee Barn).

Bat Exhibit

The Bat House exhibit showcases the importance of bats in our lives, from agriculture and insect control to pollination and pesticide reduction. The exhibit is located in the old pump house and is accessible while walking the grounds.

Butterfly Gazebo

The Butterfly Gazebo is surrounded by flowers that attract butterflies and its ceiling is covered in displays teaching a butterfly’s life cycle.

Nature Trail

A ¼ mile Nature Discovery Trail includes five stations with activities involving solar energy, recycling and composting, birds, trees and insects.