Colleges and universities produce a lot of waste, but they also generate many great ideas, so it was only a matter of time before someone came up with a way to address all that waste.
Last year, Brett Chamberlin and Alex Freid, two recent graduates, started the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) to help institutions of higher education better manage their waste. What began as a concern about the trash generated when students move in and out for the school year has spread into a movement aimed at minimizing waste across higher ed. To hear Freid discuss the idea and how it's grown, watch the video below:
PLAN ingrains sustainability and waste reduction into the fabric of institutions. Through its consulting, the organization allows each participating college or university to respond to its respective waste problems. Also, the approach accounts for an institution's entire impact. Finally, PLAN employs communication for outreach and education programs to ensure the campus community takes full advantage of the sustainability initiatives.
Chamberlin and Freid see the big picture. They understand that individual impacts add up, and they realize what this means for the future of a planet already taxed by the human population. For more information about PLAN, click here.
College has expanded the perspective of many individuals, but Chamberlin and Freid demonstrate the potential for students to turn the tables (or couches or whatever).
Showing posts with label higher education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label higher education. Show all posts
08 June 2014
01 June 2014
Pure Poetry
Poetry often describes the qualities of air, but a new poem improves air quality.
At the University of Sheffield, the humanities and the sciences combined forces to both say and do something about air pollution. One of the buildings on campus has a wall covered by a banner displaying In Praise of Air, a poem by Professor of Poetry Simon Armitage.
While the poem communicates the importance of air, it does something no other poem about this subject has done: It actually cleans the air. The banner the university printed the poem on has a special coating that removes nitrogen oxide from the air, reducing smog. To see the unfurling of the banner, watch the video below, and to learn more about the poem, click here:
In Praise of Air and its medium represent a great development in environmental messaging. As we attempt to address the challenging environmental issues facing us, we'll need to communicate and act at the same time. The work by the University of Sheffield provides an example for such multitasking.
Good poetry moves us; the best poetry moves us to act.
At the University of Sheffield, the humanities and the sciences combined forces to both say and do something about air pollution. One of the buildings on campus has a wall covered by a banner displaying In Praise of Air, a poem by Professor of Poetry Simon Armitage.
While the poem communicates the importance of air, it does something no other poem about this subject has done: It actually cleans the air. The banner the university printed the poem on has a special coating that removes nitrogen oxide from the air, reducing smog. To see the unfurling of the banner, watch the video below, and to learn more about the poem, click here:
In Praise of Air and its medium represent a great development in environmental messaging. As we attempt to address the challenging environmental issues facing us, we'll need to communicate and act at the same time. The work by the University of Sheffield provides an example for such multitasking.
Good poetry moves us; the best poetry moves us to act.
24 May 2014
Full Recovery
There's no need for waste, but waste does lead to need.
Americans throw away tons of food each year, yet many in our country do not have enough to eat. That points to a problem with our current system. However, it also suggests we have what we need to make things better.
The Food Recovery Network helps feed those in need with food that would otherwise be wasted, and now, the organization provides a certification for universities and businesses that participate in the program. Check out a video about the certification below:
By offering the certification, the Food Recovery Network spreads awareness of its program and recognizes the organizations that participate in it. The idea is to promote a system that gets the most out of our food resources. The more recognition participating organizations receive and give to the program, the more popular the program becomes and the more food is recovered for those who need it. For additional information about the Food Recovery Network, click here.
The elimination of food waste isn't just a good idea; we need it.
Americans throw away tons of food each year, yet many in our country do not have enough to eat. That points to a problem with our current system. However, it also suggests we have what we need to make things better.
The Food Recovery Network helps feed those in need with food that would otherwise be wasted, and now, the organization provides a certification for universities and businesses that participate in the program. Check out a video about the certification below:
By offering the certification, the Food Recovery Network spreads awareness of its program and recognizes the organizations that participate in it. The idea is to promote a system that gets the most out of our food resources. The more recognition participating organizations receive and give to the program, the more popular the program becomes and the more food is recovered for those who need it. For additional information about the Food Recovery Network, click here.
The elimination of food waste isn't just a good idea; we need it.
04 May 2014
Always Another Bend in the Road
Turning a new corner means having the chance to see some unfamiliar sights.
My experience of Earth Week this year opened up a lot of uncharted territory. As I blogged about last month, I helped in efforts to boost sustainability and environmental engagement at the University of South Dakota and in the city of Vermillion, South Dakota. With its various activities, Earth Week on campus and in the community was a big success and laid the groundwork for more to come.
My favorite experience of the week served as both a celebration of this year's work and a hope for the future. On the Saturday following Earth Day, I participated in a guided nature hike at North Alabama Bend, a piece of land the US Army Corps of Engineers owns and works to preserve. The hike included information about the land's relationship with the Missouri River and the resident eastern cottonwood trees, the people who had tried to homestead it, and the work being done to keep it in a natural state. Special thanks to Tim Cowman for guiding the hike. To learn more about North Alabama Bend, click here.
Despite a strong wind blowing for the full two hours, I enjoyed the hike. I'd never been to the property before, but the experience left me with the urge to explore it more in the future. It was the perfect way to cap the week and look ahead to new projects and experiences.
There's a place up ahead, and I'm going just as fast as my feet can fly.
My experience of Earth Week this year opened up a lot of uncharted territory. As I blogged about last month, I helped in efforts to boost sustainability and environmental engagement at the University of South Dakota and in the city of Vermillion, South Dakota. With its various activities, Earth Week on campus and in the community was a big success and laid the groundwork for more to come.
My favorite experience of the week served as both a celebration of this year's work and a hope for the future. On the Saturday following Earth Day, I participated in a guided nature hike at North Alabama Bend, a piece of land the US Army Corps of Engineers owns and works to preserve. The hike included information about the land's relationship with the Missouri River and the resident eastern cottonwood trees, the people who had tried to homestead it, and the work being done to keep it in a natural state. Special thanks to Tim Cowman for guiding the hike. To learn more about North Alabama Bend, click here.
Despite a strong wind blowing for the full two hours, I enjoyed the hike. I'd never been to the property before, but the experience left me with the urge to explore it more in the future. It was the perfect way to cap the week and look ahead to new projects and experiences.
There's a place up ahead, and I'm going just as fast as my feet can fly.
02 April 2014
An Idea Comes to Life
My big idea last week was suggesting to some people that they make a video starring plastic bottles.
As odd as that idea might seem, the Sustainability Club at the University of South Dakota (USD) used it to create a cool video raising awareness about proper recycling habits at the university. Check it out below:
Face Your Waste from Vermy Green on Vimeo.
The video addresses a problem the university has had with trash being thrown in recycling bins. Obviously, trash contaminates recycling programs. Another common problem at USD has been people throwing recyclables in the trash, creating unnecessary waste.
The Sustainability Club came up with the plan of putting eyes and arms on plastic bottles that held signs encouraging people to recycle. As a faculty consultant to the club, my suggestion was to introduce the bottle characters through a video. That's pretty much all the credit I can claim though. The club took the idea and ran with it, bringing to life the bottles as well as a renewed emphasis on recycling at the university.
Without a doubt, plastic bottles as stars in recycling initiatives is an idea whose time has come at USD.
As odd as that idea might seem, the Sustainability Club at the University of South Dakota (USD) used it to create a cool video raising awareness about proper recycling habits at the university. Check it out below:
Face Your Waste from Vermy Green on Vimeo.
The video addresses a problem the university has had with trash being thrown in recycling bins. Obviously, trash contaminates recycling programs. Another common problem at USD has been people throwing recyclables in the trash, creating unnecessary waste.
The Sustainability Club came up with the plan of putting eyes and arms on plastic bottles that held signs encouraging people to recycle. As a faculty consultant to the club, my suggestion was to introduce the bottle characters through a video. That's pretty much all the credit I can claim though. The club took the idea and ran with it, bringing to life the bottles as well as a renewed emphasis on recycling at the university.
Without a doubt, plastic bottles as stars in recycling initiatives is an idea whose time has come at USD.
27 February 2014
More Than Fair
Old things and a forgotten idea find new life at Oregon State University.Twice each term, OSU holds a repair fair, giving students the opportunity to learn ways of repairing various items. Offered by the university's Waste Watchers group, the repair demonstrations change each term and range from electronics and appliances to clothing and jewelry.
In society today, throwing things away has become the default reaction when they wear out or fail to work, but not so long ago, we fixed them. Doing so cut down on waste and lowered the need for more production. OSU's repair fairs bring this practice back and give students the skills to keep it going for the rest of their lives. To learn more about OSU's repair fairs, click here.
Learning to repair things certainly helps the environment, but it has other great benefits. First, a person who fixes something becomes empowered by an understanding of it. In other words, that person isn't simply subject to the laws of consumerism. Second, fixing something often gives a person greater ownership and appreciation of it.
Perhaps the biggest repair that results from learning to fix things is the mending of the relationship we have with our possessions.
23 February 2014
A Birder's First Flight
Imagine stepping to the edge of the nest and taking an initial flight into the wider world of birds.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers such an opportunity to high-school-age bird-watchers each year. With its Young Birders Event, the lab gives fledgling birders a full experience of ornithology and provides important networking possibilities for students looking to build a career studying birds. See a video from last year's event below:
This year's event takes places July 10-13 in Ithaca, New York. The competitive application process remains open until March 15. For more information, click here.
The early birder gets the career in ornithology.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers such an opportunity to high-school-age bird-watchers each year. With its Young Birders Event, the lab gives fledgling birders a full experience of ornithology and provides important networking possibilities for students looking to build a career studying birds. See a video from last year's event below:
This year's event takes places July 10-13 in Ithaca, New York. The competitive application process remains open until March 15. For more information, click here.
The early birder gets the career in ornithology.
15 January 2014
Spokes on a Wheel
Remember the fun of riding bikes with friends? The University of Oregon and the city of Eugene do.
Community planning is crucial to creating bicycle-friendly towns and cities, but producing effective plans is easier when everyone contributes ideas and works toward the same goal. That's what makes the collaboration between the university, students, and the community so great in the Oregon case.
According to this news release from the university, a student group took the initiative to study ways of making a major street on campus safer for bikes. Based on its research, the group proposed an idea, and the university and the city are now working to help bring the plan to life. The proposal has even received a pledge of a $150,000 donation from the parents of a university student who was killed in a bicycle accident in 2008.
The Oregon plan proves yet again that riding bikes is better when friends are around.
Community planning is crucial to creating bicycle-friendly towns and cities, but producing effective plans is easier when everyone contributes ideas and works toward the same goal. That's what makes the collaboration between the university, students, and the community so great in the Oregon case.
According to this news release from the university, a student group took the initiative to study ways of making a major street on campus safer for bikes. Based on its research, the group proposed an idea, and the university and the city are now working to help bring the plan to life. The proposal has even received a pledge of a $150,000 donation from the parents of a university student who was killed in a bicycle accident in 2008.
The Oregon plan proves yet again that riding bikes is better when friends are around.
12 January 2014
An Idea Forged in Fire
Only you can stop thinking about forest fires in the old way.
Smokey Bear famously encouraged us to prevent forest fires. We took the slogan to heart, but perhaps we overdid it. While it's true that we need to take care not to start them, the idea that all wildfires are completely negative for the environment needs revision.
Recent scientific research, including this study by Oregon State University, has shown that wildfires are yet another important life force in ecosystems. Among other things, fire helps contain invasive species and functions as a starter for new life processes. This means that total fire suppression prevents the natural cycle from playing out.
We had the best of intentions in preventing forest fires, but this idea about the key environmental role of such fires needs to ... well ... catch fire.
Smokey Bear famously encouraged us to prevent forest fires. We took the slogan to heart, but perhaps we overdid it. While it's true that we need to take care not to start them, the idea that all wildfires are completely negative for the environment needs revision.
Recent scientific research, including this study by Oregon State University, has shown that wildfires are yet another important life force in ecosystems. Among other things, fire helps contain invasive species and functions as a starter for new life processes. This means that total fire suppression prevents the natural cycle from playing out.
We had the best of intentions in preventing forest fires, but this idea about the key environmental role of such fires needs to ... well ... catch fire.
23 December 2013
Plan Bee
Declines in bee populations have at least brought the details of our relationship with these insects into the spotlight, and as this announcement of the Oregon study shows, much can be done with our new knowledge to improve the human-bee connection. The study looks at the role bumblebees play in pollination. After showing that bumblebees pollinate at a rate three times faster than European honeybees, the study lays out plans farmers can use to attract more bumblebees to their land.
The study is exciting for several reasons. First, it gives us greater insight into our interactions with bees. Second, the practical ideas it produces are beneficial to both agriculture and native species of plants and bees. Finally, it represents what can happen when people collaborate to find solutions to problems.
Fostering ideas is crucial when we are confronted with challenges. In the case of Oregon's bee study, the university empowered its students to find ideas, the students responded with research that yielded results and gave them applied experience, and the local farmers embraced the findings.
That sounds like a plan that would benefit the whole planet.
27 October 2012
New School of Thought
On a daily basis, we are being challenged to think in more global terms, and I believe this challenge of the globalized world has us on our way to rethinking environmental problems.
At first, looking at the many issues we face as a global society and the various interconnected elements of each problem can be demoralizing. However, support can also be globalized and connected more closely. That means, we have more of chance to create the kind of world we want.
As the National Wildlife Federation reports, many college students are waking up and responding to their institutions' investments in fossil fuels. Check out the full story by clicking here.
These students have led movements to divest the colleges and universities from companies like Exxon Mobil. By doing so, they have asked the institutions to live up to the ideals of their mission statements.
This is a great example of the power connected people can have in shaping their world.
At first, looking at the many issues we face as a global society and the various interconnected elements of each problem can be demoralizing. However, support can also be globalized and connected more closely. That means, we have more of chance to create the kind of world we want.
As the National Wildlife Federation reports, many college students are waking up and responding to their institutions' investments in fossil fuels. Check out the full story by clicking here.
These students have led movements to divest the colleges and universities from companies like Exxon Mobil. By doing so, they have asked the institutions to live up to the ideals of their mission statements.
This is a great example of the power connected people can have in shaping their world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)