All posts by Maren McDonnell

Greenhouse, sustainability, Uncategorized

The Upham Greenhouse

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Ali Locascio, front, a business major from Loves Park, Illinois, and Richard Tazelaar visit the campus greenhouse on April 10, 2023. UW-Whitewater Sustainability offered tours of the greenhouse to share the plant varieties there and the opportunities to get involved. Sustainability’s Earth Month activities continue through April: https://www.uww.edu/sustainability/earth-month-2023. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)

Have you ever been to the Greenhouse on campus? Did you even know that we have a greenhouse on campus? Don’t worry… you are not alone.

The Upham Greenhouse is home to an array of plants, student orgs, and of course, the Sustainability Office. Students Allied for a Greener Earth (S.A.G.E.), Garden Club, and several others use the Greenhouse as their weekly meeting space, but our office also hosts many events down there! Plant workshops, tours, and special events have all been hosted in the space over the years.

Originally built in 1981, the Upham Greenhouse was meant to serve the Biological Sciences Department. While the Biology Department oversaw the greenhouse, the department curated a botanical collection of various exotic plants found in both desert and rainforest environments– and we still have most of the collection today! The collection was kept up by biology majors and volunteers until eventually the space became used for storage.

Eventually, the Sustainability Office started to overtake the space– we moved in, renovated, cleaned, and poured blood, sweat, and tears into the building, turning the greenhouse into the community space that it is now!

A number of student projects are conducted in the greenhouse in partnership with our office. This ranges from a graduate psychology student researching the effects of being surrounded by houseplants on mental health, an art student who grows and dries flowers for paints, and even a vermicomposting system being run by a student organization (S.A.G.E.).

Campus greenhouse manager Tress Dorfler, a geography major from Mundelein, Illinois, delights in one of the plant varieties as she waters plants in the greenhouse. Students returned to classes at the start of the spring semester on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)

There are actually three greenhouses in use:

  • Greenhouse 1 is used for our annual plant sale, when we sell hundreds of house plants, vegetables, and native prairie plants from our campus nature preserve. “GH1” also has table space that student organizations have borrowed, as well as student research projects (above).
  • Greenhouse 2 grows our houseplants. We provide plants for many events that we participate in, such as UC Live’s Succulent Workshop. Spider plants, Aloe, Kalanchoe, and succulent plants all live in Greenhouse 2.
  • Greenhouse 3 is where we keep the botanical collection that was started by the Biological Sciences Department! Cacti, trees, succulents, and more make up the 100+ different species of plants kept in the botanical collection.

The Upham Greenhouse has become the de-facto campus location for our office, providing an opportunity for us to better connect with students, partner with student organizations, and host events for the student body.

The Greenhouse is open for enjoyment whenever Upham Hall is open. As long as everyone follows a few guidelines:

  • Please do not touch, move, pick, or take any plants from the greenhouse. Our interns work very hard to keep our plants happy and healthy for plant sales and events! Plus, some of our plants are very sensitive and/or very sharp (from experience… not worth it to touch the spikes).
  • Since the greenhouse has become the Sustainability Office’s main workspace, please pick up after yourself and help keep the space clean.
  • Finally, we try our best to save energy here, so please turn off any lights that you turned on and close doors behind you to keep our temperatures regulated.

After many renovations, deep cleanings, and maintenance repairs, the greenhouse has become a part of the campus community, and provides a home to many different plants. During your time at UW-Whitewater, we hope you get a chance to enjoy the Upham Greenhouse, whether it be through events, student org meetings, or just exploring on your own time. 

Large numbers of students answered the call to “turn trash into treasure” by making terrariums in glass jars with plants, mosses and soil at the campus greenhouse on April 10, 2023. Students also toured the greenhouse to view the plant varieties there and learn about opportunities to get involved. Sustainability’s Earth Month activities continue through April: https://www.uww.edu/sustainability/earth-month-2023. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)

Directions to the Upham Greenhouse:

  1. Go into the main entrance of Upham Hall and enter the main lobby.
  2. Turn down the Physics Department hallway (Long hallway to the right of the lobby) and walk to the end of the hallway.
  3. Next to the Upham Recycling Nook and a bulletin board of flyers is the door for the greenhouse
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A Sustainable Spooky Season

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What is your biggest fear this Halloween season? Ghouls and ghosts? Witches on broomsticks? Zombies and skeletons? What about a warming planet?

Climate change is not a trick– but it’s also no treat. Every year the temperature of the planet rises due to human impact. When we burn fossil fuels– or support the companies that do– we contribute to climate change and warming temperatures… Now THAT is scary.

“But hey, how can I do anything about it? I’m not burning fossil fuels or dumping garbage down the drain?” Great question random reader… let’s talk about it!

Halloween typically begins the annual overconsumption epidemic that surrounds the holidays– costumes worn once, single-use decorations, and biodegradable leaves and pumpkins bagged for landfills. After these items are used and tossed into the garbage, they eventually make their way to the landfill. Landfills are notorious for accumulating methane (a greenhouse gas that is responsible for warming the planet) and only increase their emissions as the landfill grows. Finding ways to reduce their growth (AKA, not throwing things in the garbage) can help slow warming temperatures and better the environment. Now, what does this have to do with Halloween?

When I first think about Halloween, one word comes to mind– “Costumes.” Culture today often encourages a different costume for each Halloween appearance, requiring unique and expendable costume pieces (I myself have 2 costumes this year and do not judge). One of the best, and easiest, ways to reduce waste from costumes is to re-wear them! Creating unique outfits that reuse pieces and parts between costumes can reduce the amount of waste and provide each garment with a second life. Thrifting and/or sharing with friends are also great ways to reuse items. 

Costumes are not the only things going to waste after the Halloween season. Decorations, including jack-o-lanterns, often get tossed with the rest of the garbage at the end of the holiday. Reusable decorations that can be stored easily and used from year to year are great additions to the spooky season, while still reducing waste. Pumpkins and their seeds can also be composted to create fresh soil, instead of in a garbage bag taking up space at the landfill. Similarly, raking leaves into bags and throwing them out, versus leaving them to degrade on their own, can create other unnecessary emissions in landfills.

This Halloween, don’t let waste haunt you! Rewear, compost, and get creative — small actions can make a big impact. After all, the scariest thing this season isn’t a ghost… it’s an overheated planet.