Earth Week Starts Tomorrow!

Hello, everyone!  Sorry I've been away from this blog for so long.  It's been a very busy semester, but I hope to talk about some more sustainability issues, initiatives, and events before the semester's over!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Earth Days 2013, a series of events and activities designed by the Sustainability Advisory Committee to promote awareness of environmental issues and environmental activism on campus.  The following is a rundown of the events that will take place during the Earth Days celebration:

My recycled (cardboard) pen.  Stylish and sustainable!

Sunday, April 21st
The Committee will be screening the documentary Carbon Nation (2010) in Neidig-Garber 203 at 3 p.m.  In this film, director Peter Byck and narrator Bill Kurtis choose to focus more on sustainable solutions to reducing the world's carbon footprint than on detailing the problems of use fossil fuels.  The film offers an optimistic but balanced view of fulfilling the world's energy needs.  The Committee will also give the first 20 attendees a free recycled pen.  Mine's on the right.

Monday, April 22nd (Earth Day)
During lunch hours (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) in front of the cafeteria, Committee members will be hosting a Sustainability Trivia Prize Wheel, where students can answer questions about sustainability initiatives at LVC for the chance to win recycled pens, frisbees, t-shirts, and reusable bags, all with the Sustainability logo printed on them.  At the same time, they will also have a recycling display designed to help students find out what's recyclable and what's not and how to manage their recyclables.

At 7 p.m. in Chapel 101, John Dernbach, former policy director at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and current Distinguished Professor at Law at Widener University, will give his speech, "Acting as if Tomorrow Matters: Accelerating the Transition to Sustainability," about the ways law and public opinion and policy can better enable the U.S.'s transition to sustainability.  The Committee will also give the first 20 attendees a Frisbee with the sustainability logo printed on it. 

Before Dernbach's talk, the Sustainability Advisory Committee will announce the winner of the "Greening the Campus" contest, where students submitted proposals for ways to make LVC more sustainable.  The winner will receive an iPad mini.

Tuesday, April 23rd 
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Committee members will be stationed on the Lynch driveway to recycle electronic devices students bring.

At 11 a.m. in Neidig-Garber 203, Dr. Moe, chair and Vernon and Doris Bishop Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, will give a speech about global warming and greenhouse gases.

At 6 p.m. in Chapel 101, Dr. Schroeder, assistant professor of history, will give his speech, "Rivers of Garbage: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the Great Atlantic Garbage Patch, and the Lesser Quittapahilla and Swatara Creek Garbage Streams," followed by a tour of the Quittapahilla Creek Garbage Museum with its executive director and a fireside chat about the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Wednesday, April 24th
During the Sustainable Lunch Hour (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), Metz will host sustainable vendors to offer samples of their wares and information about sustainability to the college community, and serve nearly 90 percent locally grown and sustainable food products on the menu.  Metz will also gather food waste throughout the week, measure the amount of food waste we produce, and post the results at a later time.  Can you believe that last spring semester, food waste cost the college nearly $47,000?

It certainly sounds like it's going to be an interesting four days.  Did you go to any events, and if so, what did you learn about sustainability?        

Metz Offers Reusable Take-Out Trays

At the start of the Spring 2013 semester, Metz Dining Services replaced the disposable takeout trays in the cafeteria with reusable trays in order to better support LVC's sustainability initiatives, reduce the amount of waste generated by disposable trays, and decrease the cost of replacing disposable trays for both the college and the students themselves.

            "It's the right thing to do, sustainability-wise," says Bill Allman, Director of Metz.  "Obviously, we see the amount of waste that occurs using the disposable trays."  According to a study Metz conducted during the Fall 2012 semester, an average of 160 disposable takeout trays were used per meal.  At 19 meals a week, that means that 3,000 out of the 14,000 weekly meals served by Metz were takeouts, and that over that whole semester, 45,000 takeout trays were used and disposed of.  "We've been on the sustainability kick so long, we said to ourselves, 'This just isn't right.  We gotta do something here to address this.'"

            Allman also noted that it cost LVC a significant amount of money to buy disposable takeout trays each semester.  According to the aforementioned study, LVC would pay approximately $11,250 for 45,000 takeout trays for use throughout the semester.  "These costs all fall back on the students when you really think about it," Allman says.  "The higher the costs for these trays go, it affects the rate of what the meal plans cost."  Allman believed that by switching to reusable take-out boxes, Metz could reduce the "excessive costs" of buying disposable trays each semester for both the college and students.

            In the new takeout system, students are given a free reusable takeout tray the first time they scan their ID card for a meal to go.  The next time students want to get a meal to go at the cafeteria, they must return the reusable takeout tray they used last time, or else pay $5 to get another takeout tray.  If students do not return their old tray to the dish room for cleaning or pay for a new tray, they are not allowed to get a meal to go.  Allman realizes that this new system is more cumbersome in a way than the old takeout system was, but he says that despite the relative complexity of this new system, "I've got nothing but positives about how students are appreciative that we've done this and that it's the right thing to do.  And that's really great."

            Some students have expressed concerns that this new takeout system places more burden on the students when they want to get a meal to go.  "Personally, I find this system really inconvenient," says Rachel Snavely '14, "because if I want a box and I only decide when I'm halfway to the cafeteria and I left the box in my room, I'd have to come back for it to take it over there.  I mean, we're college students and we already have to be responsible for a lot of other things.  The last thing I want to worry about is where my lunch box is."

            Snavely says that she feels the system is helping the college to go green, but she still finds the system cumbersome because it's one more thing students have to think about that they didn't have to think about before.

            Other students feel that the introduction of reusable takeout trays do not make the process of getting a to-go meal inconvenient.  "I do feel that these trays are more eco-friendly," says Justin Radanovic '14, "and it feels like a simple system.  Take one out, return it, get one.  It doesn't seem that much different from the old system convenience-wise."

            "I don't think they'll be any more cumbersome," says Devan Glenny '14.  However, Glenny also says that the recyclable silverware that comes with the takeout boxes would still generate waste, so that should be taken into account when considering how much waste reduction has occurred with the introduction of the new takeout trays.

            Allman says that Metz is open to student suggestions, but that Metz wants to continue its green initiatives.  "Sustainability is so important to the future of the world, and we have to start somewhere," Allman says.  "I think this is a great start."

What do you think of the new to-go boxes, in terms of sustainability and usability?    

How Much Do We Print at LVC?

First blog post!  Here's a video I created to raise the issue of paper usage on campus.

All data about student printing cited in the video were provided by the Sustainability Advisory Committee.