Tuesday, October 30, 2007

VEG OUT


Get over to Earth House this Thursday for tastiness.
When: November 1. 6:30 pm.
Where: Earth House, corner of High and Lawn
What: delicious local vegan meal
Cost: $4
Bring: your utensil of choice.

More Green Corps

Sam Landenwitsch, an Assistant Organizing Director for Green Corps will be on campus to talk with prospective participants in the program. Come to an informal meeting to hear more about Green Corps and the work they do and how you can get involved.

Green Corps is a one year fellowship in environmental organizing that provides training and field experience running environmental campaigns.

TOMORROW:
What: Coffee shop hour with Green Corps
When: 10:30am to 11:30am Wednesday, October 31. Tomorrow!
Where: Pi Cafe
Who: Anyone who is interested, although particularly seniors.

Monday, October 29, 2007

greenguide

check out this website/ suggest it to faculty and staff who were asking about eco-friendly lifestyle tips. i found this while looking for stat's concerning dryer emissions, which by the way are absurd (buy a clothes rack now!).

Green Corps in the News!

Green Corps, the awesome field school for environmental organizing, was just in the Boston Globe yesterday! Check it out

If you're interested in applying to the program, here's their website

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Sustainability Website (!!!!!)

Even though we all got the email today, I wanted to point you in the direction of Wesleyan's Sustainability Website. If you didn't get a chance to sign the Community Climate Commitment before, or even if you did, there is now a link on your e-portfolio (just go to the Student Life at Wesleyan section on the bottom, below Financial Information and above Library Services). For more information about how to implement your personal commitment, check out this part of the website. There are great links included under each topic.

"I can compost anything"



Wow...just, wow. Thanks to Emilie for finding this piece of completely ridiculous video. I just want to note that you can't actually compost a cell phone...that would be bad. If you want to know more about real composting, check out this compost guide.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Gary Yohe is a winner!


Just in case you haven't heard (which you probably have), Professor Gary Yohe received the Nobel Peace Prize as part of the IPCC. That's pretty badass, if you ask me. Here's an article from The Wesleyan Connection (there's links to some other articles there, too).

Recap of Roth-Related Environmental Happenings

Okay, so a lot has been going on lately. I've been getting confused about what exactly has happened, let alone what happened when. Soooo I made a list-y thing:
  1. EON members met with President Roth to introduce him to the President's Climate Commitment and urge him to sign it.
  2. President Roth made that post about global warming, and a bunch of people commented on it.
  3. EON drafted a Student Climate Commitment.
  4. The Sustainability Committee unanimously voted to endorse President Roth's signing of the President's Climate Commitment, and requested that EON make our student commitment more inclusive.
  5. The Student Climate Commitment morphed into the Community Climate Commitment, which a bunch of people signed.
  6. President Roth made a post saying that he was looking forward to signing the President's Climate Commitment, but couldn't really write more specifically until he got some official recommendations. I got really excited.
  7. The WSA passed a resolution that 1) urges President Roth to sign the President's Climate Commitment, 2)urges students to sign the Community Climate Commitment, and 3)urges itself to think and act with sustainability in mind.
  8. A bunch of really important staff members as well as Jacob (representing EON), met with President Roth to officially recommend that he sign the document.
  9. President Roth is excited to sign the document and all set to promote sustainability at Wes...aka MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
  10. The Argus writes about it.
This is super exciting. Roth seems really interested in and committed to environmental issues. He's clearly thinking about sustainability when he writes in his blog (like his most recent post, in which he muses about environmental responsibility and congratulates Professor Gary Yohe on his Nobel Peace Prize), which is great, and he's also quoted about global warming in a recent Hartford Courant article (a link to which can also be found on the Wesleyan home page).

WSA Resolution

YAY! On Sunday night, the WSA passed an EON-backed resolution on sustainability at Wes. I'm making the font kindof tiny because it's long. Don't let that deter you from reading it!

Resolution on Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship At Wesleyan
Co-sponsored by Julien Burns ’10, Allison Quantz ’10, and Izaak Orlansky ‘08
I.
WHEREAS climate change is one of the foremost crises facing our generation;
WHEREAS in Wesleyan’s most recent strategic plan, “environmental stewardship” is one of the stated goals in being a socially responsible institution;
WHEREAS Wesleyan’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, made up of faculty, staff and students, unanimously recommended that President Roth sign the American College & University President Climate Commitment; and
WHEREAS the Commitment (available at www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org) presents a concrete but flexible approach towards achieving climate neutrality, and has been signed by 415 other presidents of American colleges and universities;
THEREFORE be it resolved that the Wesleyan Student Assembly urges President Roth to sign the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment as an indication of Wesleyan’s dedication to environmental stewardship and sustainable practices.
II.
AND WHEREAS the Community Climate Commitment represents an individual pledge to complement the institutional character of the President’s Climate Committee; and
WHEREAS the Community Climate Commitment represents an effort to engage students, faculty, and staff in taking personal responsibility for their role in averting harmful climate change;
THEREFORE be it further resolved that the Wesleyan Student Assembly urges students to sign the Wesleyan Community Climate Commitment to take personal responsibility for environmental stewardship on campus.
III.
AND WHEREAS WSA members have seats on several committees in which sustainable practices should be considered either directly or indirectly in decision-making; among others, the Sustainability Advisory Committee, the Molecular & Life Sciences Building Committee, and the Dining Committee;
WHEREAS the Student Budget Committee allocates funds to student groups for activities and resources in which the environment is impacted either directly or indirectly (e.g. recycling/preserving event materials, funding environmental initiatives on campus); and
WHEREAS the WSA Office purchases and maintains resources in which the environment is impacted either directly or indirectly (e.g. office materials for student workers and student groups, energy usage in the WSA office and 190 High);
THEREFORE be it further resolved that the Wesleyan Student Assembly calls upon all members to find creative ways to make sustainability a part of their decision-making and policies as an affirmation of the WSA’s commitment to environmental stewardship as an organization, and expect a report from the Organization and External Affairs Committee by year’s end summarizing these ways.

Environmental Tip of the Week

Tell at least one person a fact about recycling aluminum or work up the nerve to say this at the beginning of a class (I recommend asking the teacher if you are not on good terms with them...)

Here is a list to choose from:

- Americans throw away our entire commercial air fleet’s worth of aluminum every 3 months

- It can take 500 years for just one aluminum can to decompose.

but...

+ Recycling that single aluminum can saves the amount of energy to light one 100 watt bulb for 20 hours or run a TV for 3 hours.
+ A recycled 12oz. can saves the energy equivalent of 6oz. of gasoline.

+ A recycled aluminum can reappears on the shelf as a brand new coke can in about 90 days.

Go EON Go!

Brendan


These facts are quotes taken directly from: www.utenvironment.org/founding/dorm%20recycling%20guide.doc

Monday, October 22, 2007

Absentee Voting

Hey all!

Remember to register for your Absentee Ballet in the upcoming November election! Through voting for the environmentally conscious candidate you can, in theory, directly influence the public policy.

Happy Voting!

Brendan

PS

Look at the below post from Oct. 21 titled Vote Green if you are unconvinced of the value of voting.

Bottled Water Awareness

In addition to the Farmer's Market on Wednesday, EON is hosting a bottled water awareness event. We're setting up a water taste-testing table at the market. Come by and realize that bottled water is not the answer!

What: Bottled Water Awareness
When: 11-3
Where: At the Farmer's Market (which is outside Usdan)

Wesleyan Farmer's Market!!!

This Wednesday is the Wesleyan Farmer's Market! It'll be held right outside of Usdan from 11am-3pm. There will be tons of venders selling incredibly tasty and/or useful and pretty items:

White Gate Farm (East Lyme, CT):
Potatoes, onions, garlic, winter squash, parsnips, lettuce, braising greens, radishes, cabbages, rutabagas, alpaca yarn (ALPACA YARN! ahhhh...cool).

Four Mile River Farm (Old Lyme, CT):
Selling beef, pork, and eggs
Grilling hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch

River Tavern Restaurant (Chester, CT) and Feast Gourmet Market (Deep River, CT):
Cooking lunches made with all local ingredients
Selling homemade fresh pasta

Studio Farm (Voluntown, CT):
Jams, beeswax hand cream, beeswax candles, honey

Meriano’s Bake Shoppe (Guilford, CT):
Pastries, cannolis, cookies, breads (CANNOLIS! OMGOMGOMG)

Three Sisters Farm (Essex, CT):
Soaps, organic honey, lavender honey, lip balms, skin creams, beeswax candles, and eye pillows

Summer Hill Sauces (Madison, CT):
Sauces, marinades, pesto, dressings

Cato Corner Farm (Colchester, CT):
Farmstead cheese

Linda’s Sweet Memories Bakery:
Cookies, scones, sweet breads, pies

Killam and Bassette Farmstead (South Glastonbury, CT):
winter squash, cauliflower, apples, beets, pumpkins, jam, eggs, and homemade fleece scarves and hats

High Hill Orchard (Meriden, CT):
Apples, pears, cider, pumpkins

Sweet Smelling Savour Chocolates (Middletown, CT):
Truffles, chocolates, caramel apples

Beltane Farm (Lebanon, CT):
Goat milk cheese

Stan's Salsa (Old Lyme, CT):
Homemade salsa

Bon Appetit:
Free samples of local products supplied in the Wesleyan dining halls

I'm pretty sure this is going to be amazing.

US PIRG Career Info

If you're interested in a job in environmental organizing and activism, Molly Chafetz ('06) will be on campus TOMORROW at 7:30 in the CRC. She works for MASSPIRG (Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group). PIRGs are state-based non-profits who work on issues from global warming to youth voter mobilization (and probably tons of other things, too). Sounds good to me...

What: US PIRG info session
When: 7:30 pm
Where: CRC

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Vote Green!

In today's New York Times, Tom Friedman has an OpEd about the necessity for a top-down approach to energy issues, and our responsibility to elect leaders that will vote with an environmentally-conscious agenda. Take a look.

Also, please sign this petition calling on Congress to pass a version of the current energy bill with the most aggressive standards for renewable energy and fuel economy.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The Future of Food

So I'm basically posting most of the environmentally themed events on campus on Wesleying, but just in case you wanted to look at them on a different blog I'm putting them here, too.

Long Lane and the Environmental Studies program are sponsoring a showing of The Future of Food as part of the Robert Schumann Lecture Series.

"THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, THE FUTURE OF FOOD examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world's food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today." (from the website)

What: The Future of Food
Where: PAC 001
When: Thursday (10/18) from 8-10 pm

Green Series: Plants Walk


Yay! Josh has organized a really cool activity. Today (sorry for the late notice), Bio Professor Mike Singer is leading a walk featuring native, invasive, and edible plants in Middletown. The walk will last about an hour and the group is meeting at 5pm in the Exley lobby.



What: Native/Invasive/Edible Plants Walk
When: TODAY at 5 pm
Where: Exley Lobby

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

RIDE BOAAAARD

So when Davenport died, so did the Ride Board. Sad times, right? Kindof...except now there's an ACB-inspired ride board online! So if you want to do the environmentally responsible thing and carpool, check it out.

Monday, October 8, 2007

CALENDAR

EON now has a calendar! It's still under construction, but eventually you'll be able to go there to access info about environmental events at Wes and the surrounding area.

Heck yes!

It looks like President Roth IS going to sign the commitment! YAYAYAYAYA. Read about it here.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Are you ready to commit? (for real this time)

After some revision to make it more inclusive, here it is!

The Wesleyan Community Climate Commitment

In recognition of the global climate crisis, I strongly support President Roth's signing of the Presidents Climate Commitment, which commits Wesleyan do drafting and carrying out a concrete plan to reduce our environmental impact with the ultimate goal of climate neutrality. Whereas said document recognizes institutional responsibility, I affirm my personal responsibility to reduce my impact. As a member of the Wesleyan community, I pledge to live more sustainably at Wesleyan and at home, by committing (but not limiting) myself to at least five of the following actions:
  • I will shut off all lights, appliances, and computers when they are not in use.
  • I will reduce my consumption of bottled water by drinking tap water and using refillable bottles.
  • I will try to wash 90% of clothes in cold water (Bright Colors setting on campus laundry machines).
  • I will close all windows when buildings are being heated or cooled.
  • I will report to Physical Plant any inefficiencies in my Wesleyan residence, office, or workplace (such as dripping faucets, cracks in windows, overheating, etc.).
  • I will conserve water by taking shorter showers and turn off water while brushing my teeth, washing my face, shaving, or washing dishes.
  • I will replace incandescent light bulbs with CFL bulbs, provided for free by Project Save.
  • I will recycle all recyclable products, including paper, 1 and 2 plastics, milk and juice containers, CFL light bulbs, CDs, batteries, cardboard, metal, and glass.
  • I will reduce my gasoline use by walking, biking, or carpooling whenever possible, and driving more slowly to maximize gasoline efficiency.
  • I will avoid using bags or dispoable cups whenever possible, but rather bring my own bags and mugs to grocery stores and cafes, especially on campus.
  • I will buy food produced locally to reduce the impact of shipping foodstuffs around the world.
  • I will buy CO2 offset credits when I travel by airplane.
So there you go! The goal is to encourage President Roth to make institutional change and sign the President's Climate Commitment by showing him our personal commitment. So it's a combination pledge and petition.

When/Where to sign: THIS WEEK and some of NEXT WEEK at USDAN at LUNCH AND DINNER...

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Environmental Tip of the Week

Water in the bathroom!!

Always follow the golden rule: When its yellow let it mellow, when its brown flush it down. Perhaps work up to the platinum rule: Yellow or brown don't flush down.
Of course platinum only works for sooo long before it gets utterly disgusting!


For Showers:
Before it gets too too cold for sure follow the below guidelines.
Step one: enter shower
Step two: turn on water and get wet
Step three: turn off water and soap up
Step three: turn on water and rinse
Step four: turn off shower
Make it your goal to cut your current shower water usage in half, it can be done!

For the sink, follow the same rules as in the shower.

Also, unrelated to water, instead of using the paper towels in the bathroom, use your own towel to dry off your hands.

Till next week!

EON in the news

And by news I mean the Argus. Go read Nate's Wespeak...

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Open Spaces Preservation

Guess what? A referendum on the November ballot proposes the purchase for preservation of 500 acres of Middletown farmland, at the coast of $2 million...

But what does this mean, you ask? Why is this important?
These questions will remain mysterious unless you come to the talk about it this Friday at the CCP (Center for Community Partnerships). Bill Warner (Middletown's Director for Planning, Conservation and Economic Development) and Katchen Coley (a Conservation Commission Commissioner) will be conversing with interested parties such as yourselves.

THIS FRIDAY, 10/5
4:30
167 High St. (at the corner of Church and High)

Monday, October 1, 2007

Are you ready to commit?

****EDIT: tabling has been postponed while the document is being refined****

So, we came up with another way to show your support for the President's Climate Commitment...a pledge! By signing, you'll be saying...

As a member of the Wesleyan student body, I am pledging to reduce my contributions to the climate crisis and live more sustainably at Wesleyan. In making my own pledge, I strongly urge President Roth to sign the President’s Climate Commitment, which binds the university to drafting a concrete plan to reduce our environmental impact. I will begin with the following simple steps:
  • I will shut off all lights and appliances when I am not using them
  • I will wash my clothes in cold water (Bright Colors setting)
  • I will report to Physical Plant any inefficiencies in my residence (such as dripping faucets, cracks in windows, overheating, etc.)
  • I will conserve water by taking shorter showers and turning water off while brushing teeth, washing face, shaving, washing dishes
  • I will replace incandescent light bulbs with FREE! CFL bulbs offered by ProjectSAVE
  • I will recycle all recyclable products

We will be tabling at Usdan at lunch (11:30-1) and dinner (5:30-7:30) the rest of this week as well as next Monday.
Questions? email sreed@wes