A Fast, Cheap Way to Cool the Planet

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"A Fast, Cheap Way to Cool the Planet"

Forget about carbon. If we want to buffer global warming, cutting methane is the key.

WSJ Opinion

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Waste Stream Reduction

In the 2008 fall semester the Green Team audited our food and trash streams at Peace College. Due to campus wide exposure and the lessons learned from those initial audits substantial reductions in our waste stream has been realized. For the 2009 fall semester we have nearly doubled the amount of material we recycled in the fall of 2008.

We recently audited our food and trash stream for this semester. Improvements in our trash stream were noted immediately! As compared to last year we had to work a little harder to find items that we could recycle. In addition, we found no Styrofoam, the largest single item in terms of bulk in our 2008 audit. As a team we agreed that there are 2 items, plastic bottles and paper that we should focus on going forward. Both continue to be discarded at a high rate. Plastic bottles are the largest items in terms of bulk in this year’s audit.

On average Americans throw away 25% of the food we prepare. Our estimates show that the Peace College community is no better or worse than the national average. However the Green Team feels we can do much better. We are optimistic, promoting smaller portions and improved labeling will reduce the amount of food we throw away each day.

Thanks to the many within the Peace College community that have committed to reduce, reuse and recycle. With your help Peace Strengthens!

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It All Adds Up: Save Green When You Go Green - WSJ.com

It All Adds Up: Save Green When You Go Green - WSJ.com

Energy Usage

Do you realize that 43% of household energy usage is attributed to transportation? Or that 25% is attributed to space conditioning. Take a look at the attached document to see exactly where your energy bucks go.

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The Gift of Holiday Energy Savings

It’s time to string the lights, deck the halls, tie the bows – and save energy. Put energy savings at the top of your wish list for a generous gift that will keep on giving.

It’s easy to ensure there’s more “green” in your home than what you see on your Christmas tree.

For example, use a timer to turn off your outdoor holiday lights at bedtime. Just 10 strands of incandescent lights lit for seven hours a day can add $30 to your monthly bill.

If you’re not using light-emitting diode (LED) lights, you could be wasting energy and money. LED lights save up to 98 percent of the energy used to power conventional bulbs.

The Electric Power Research Institute indicates the average electricity cost to light a holiday tree with LEDs is 13 to 17 cents per holiday season, compared to $6 to $10 dollars for incandescent lights. If you are considering new lights, look into LEDs. Although they cost more upfront, LED lights last longer than incandescent while delivering significant energy savings.

The Institute estimates that, if seasonal mini-lights nationwide were replaced with energy-efficient LEDs, carbon emissions could be reduced by as much as 400,000 tons per year and electricity cost saving would exceed $250,000,000. That’s a lot of holiday gift-buying dough!

Speaking of dough, there’s no need to make your baking last all season. An oven costs 33 cents an hour to operate. Save time and money by baking your holiday goodies together.

If you’re reheating yesterday’s treats, opt for the toaster oven or microwave. A toaster oven costs just 7 cents per hour to operate, allowing you to truly savor the savings.

Customers hoping for a no-cost holiday treat from Progress Energy should look no further than our EnergyWise program. By enrolling in this free program – which allows Progress Energy to temporarily cycle power off and on to such appliances as the A/C and water heater during times of high energy demand – customers can save an additional $145 per year.

Long after the gifts are unwrapped, the guests are gone and the lights are stored for another year, you’ll be glad that you took the time to save energy this holiday season.

For more than 100 energy-saving tips visit www.SaveTheWatts.com.

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Green Team Fall Trip

The Green Team’s trip to Kure Beach was very rewarding. We arrived Friday afternoon for a backstage tour of the N.C. Aquarium. Matt a Marine Biologist who had recently graduated from UNC Wilmington gave us our tour. He reviewed the effects of farming and the raising of livestock on our ecosystem up to the best place to buy seafood on Pleasure Island. Ask any of those who made the trip why oyster beds are so vital to our ecosystem. What they can do in 24 hours is amazing!

Prior to dinner we checked into our hotel, the Beach House Inn. We were very pleased with our ocean front accommodations that met our budget and the Quinnlyn, Yesenia seal of approval for cleanliness. We choose El Zarape for dinner, good food, right price and thanks to Immie good background music.

Saturday morning we headed to the end of the island for trash pickup. We saw a great deal of trash at the mouth of the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean. The usual culprits, beer cans and plastic bottles. We were surprised about the amount of Styrofoam trays. Evidently fisherman use packs of chicken parts for bait and have no qualms about leaving the tray behind.

We spent the afternoon at a not-for-profit business festival, some sightseeing in downtown Wilmington and walking on the beach.

We had dinner Saturday evening at Tangerine's a Caribbean style Restaurant and it was awesome. My sister and her husband joined the team for dinner. The food was very good and everyone enjoyed sharing our many exploits from the previous 24 hours.

Thanks to Mary Grace Miller for co-chaperoning and special thanks to the entire Green Team! It is a pleasure and inspiration to work with such great students.I especially appreciate everyone’s response when I fell (pushed by Lucy) into the mouth of the alligator! I would have not recovered without your support.

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Very suprised by the amount of trash we found at the mouth of cape fear

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We made it!
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How Green Is My Hallway?

A student-led initiative helps freshmen guide their classmates toward more sustainable living.

Click here to read more about EcoReps.

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Trash Audit at Peace College on Thursday. We are really reducing our waste stream.
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The ghost of things not recycled.
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Court approves N.Y.'s expanded deposit law

The state of North Carolina should adopt a similar plan!


Plastics News - Court approves N.Y.expanded deposit law.

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Plastic bottle recycling plant planned in St. Helens

This is a great idea! The state of N.C. has banned plastic water bottles from our landfills, but where are they going? The folks In Oregon have a plan.


Click to learn more.

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AnvilSustainable T-Shirt Is Made Out of Recycled Plastic Bottles

The latest trend is clothing made out of recycled PET bottles. Click the link below to learn more.


http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/anvilsustainable-t-shirt-made-out-recycled-plastic-bottles

New law bans plastic bottles from trash today | plastic, today, trash - Local - Sun Journal

New law bans plastic bottles from trash today | plastic, today, trash - Local - Sun Journal

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What Happens to Our Trash

I have never seen the Oprah show before. If this is the type of info she shares with her fans she has my vote of confidence. Please watch this short video.

http://www.oprah.com/media/20090422-tows-garbage-landfill

AP Mobile News story - Software Cuts Power Bills

27587:
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_8545/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=uNyoGq10

Methane Gas is the Most Serious Threat to Our Environment

From EarthSave.org

By far the most important non-CO2 greenhouse gas is methane, and the number one source of methane worldwide is animal agriculture.

Methane is responsible for nearly as much global warming as all other non-CO2 greenhouse gases put together. Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2. While atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have risen by about 31% since pre-industrial times, methane concentrations have more than doubled. Whereas human sources of CO2 amount to just 3% of natural emissions, human sources produce one and a half times as much methane as all natural sources. In fact, the effect of our methane emissions may be compounded as methane-induced warming in turn stimulates microbial decay of organic matter in wetlands—the primary natural source of methane.

Click Here to read the full report.

256 Pounds of Blastic Bags

On move-in day UNC Chapel Hill collected 256 pounds of plastic bags. That is a lot of bags! Saving almost 10 cubic yards of landfill space. Click the link below to learn more. This had to be a tremendous learning experience for everyone and will give many the encouragement to do more in years to come.

Take a look at the UNC Sustainability blog to learn more.

Thomson Reuters News Pro story - People won't change lifestyle for planet: straw poll

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"People won't change lifestyle for planet: straw poll"

LONDON (Reuters) - People want to save the planet but are unwilling to make radical lifestyle changes like giving up air travel or red meat to reduce the effects of climate change, a straw poll by Reuters showed.

The Business of Green

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AP Mobile News story - Plastic bag ban tested on NC Outer Banks

This is good news! What would it take to expand this to other NC Counties?

27587:
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_8545/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=MNVA0bnm

Get news on the go with the Mobile News Network. Visit http://www.apnews.com to learn how to get it for your phone.
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Lessons Learned From a Food Waste Audit

Mary Grace Miller, Anthony Williams and I along with Aramark and several students volunteered last week to audit the food waste produced by the campus community. Food waste is the 3rd largest item, behind paper and yard trimmings that is put in our waste stream each day (source: epa.gov). The goals of the weeklong event were:

- Gain firsthand knowledge on exactly what we throw away
- Estimate the average weight of the food thrown away each day per visitor to the dining room.
- Educate the campus community on what happens to food waste, how much we throw away and to promote community involvement.

The process was simple. As plates were returned volunteers scraped remaining food from each plate into a container. When the container was full we weighed the waste. Generally each container held 12 pounds of food. We also took note as to what items were not eaten. As an example on Thursday at lunch Anthony and I noted that large portions of the Thai Pasta and sub sandwiches that were being discarded. Most of the comments in reference to the pasta were that it “tasted awful.” I tasted the Thai Pasta it was delicious! Most did not realize it was Thai. They had expected a buttery flavor. Comments in reference to the sub were that “It was too big.” They could not eat the whole sub. Lesson learned for Aramark was more signage describing cooked dishes and smaller size subs. Everyone can always go back for more. Individual lesson is that we should take smaller portions and return for more.

The amount of food waste the campus community creates if extrapolated out seems to be a little higher than the national average of .57 pounds per individual per day. Our study was not based on exact science. We did make some assumptions. As an example we assumed the same amount of waste produced for one meal was repeated for two other meals each day per individual. Assuming 3 squares a day. Either way you add it up, it is a little unnerving to empty 12 pound pales of processed food into the trash can. Food waste goes from your plate to the trash can to the dumpster to the landfill.

Consider These Facts When Preparing Food and Preparing Your Plate

- Americans throw away more than 25 percent of the food we prepare, about 96 billion pounds of food waste each year.3
- The nation spends about 1 billion dollars a year to dispose of food waste.3
- In 2007, almost 12.5 percent of the total municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in American households was food scraps.3
- The decomposition of food and other waste under anaerobic (without oxygen) conditions in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.3
- One ton of methane has the global warming potential of 23 tons of carbon dioxide. A single dairy cow produces the equivalent to over 1.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide.1
- Through the process of digestion, livestock emit 16% of the world's annual production of methane gas. 1
- Raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. 2
- The livestock industry alone is responsible for 37 percent of human-induced methane emissions. Methane has 21 times the global warming potential of CO2. 2

1. World Watch Institute. (2004, July/August). Meat: Now It's Not Personal. World Watch.
2."Rearing Cattle Produces More Greenhouse Gases Than Driving Cars, UN Report Warns," UN News Centre, 29 Nov. 2006.
3. Epa.gov

Thomson Reuters News Pro story - Study says shines light on sun spot-climate link

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"Study says shines light on sun spot-climate link"

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Small changes in the energy output of the sun can have a major impact on global weather patterns, such as the intensity of the Indian monsoon, that could be predicted years in advance, a team of scientists said.

Environment

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Thomson Reuters News Pro story - Plastics patch found across 1,700 miles of Pacific

more evidence of pure waste!

Thomson Reuters News Pro user randybass@vzw.blackberry.net wanted you to see this:

"Plastics patch found across 1,700 miles of Pacific"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ocean scientists recently back from a voyage to the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" said on Thursday they had found plastic debris strewn across a 1,700-mile (2,700-km) long stretch of open sea.

Environment

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Mary Grace Miller and Anthony Williams assist student volunteer Alexis Giron in weighing food waste.
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How much food do each of us waste? Students Lucy Hammer and Alexis Giron are weighing our food waste. At weeks end we will tally the total waste and divide by the number of visitors to the dining room.
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Food; It costs Too Much to Waste

Consider These Facts

- One ton of methane has the global warming potential of 23 tons of carbon dioxide. A single dairy cow produces the equivalent to over 1.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide.1

- Through the process of digestion, livestock emit 16% of the world's annual production of methane gas. 1

- Raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. 2

- The livestock industry alone is responsible for 37 percent of human-induced methane emissions. Methane has 21 times the global warming potential of CO2. 2

- Americans throw away more than 25 percent of the food we prepare, about 96 billion pounds of food waste each year.3

- The nation spends about 1 billion dollars a year to dispose of food waste.3

- In 2007, almost 12.5 percent of the total municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in American households was food scraps.3

- The decomposition of food and other waste under anaerobic (without oxygen) conditions in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.3

1. World Watch Institute. (2004, July/August). Meat: Now It's Not Personal. World Watch.
2."Rearing Cattle Produces More Greenhouse Gases Than Driving Cars, UN Report Warns," UN News Centre, 29 Nov. 2006.
3. Epa.gov

Bottled Water: What are you really buying?

Click here for yet another case for not buying bottled water.

Quench your thirst the Berkeley way

Peace College may want to consider this option considering North Carolina is
banning all rigid plastic containers from landfills beginning October 1st, 2009.

03.19.2009 - Quench your thirst the Berkeley way

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Wal-Mart to Assign New 'Green' Ratings

Wal-Mart Thursday will tell suppliers they must calculate and disclose the full environmental costs of making their products, then allow Wal-Mart to distill the information into a rating system that shoppers will see alongside prices for everything from T-shirts to televisions.

Click to read more of the article from the Wall Street Journal.

Competitive chair affair: Students use only cardboard, glue - Washington Times

Competitive chair affair: Students use only cardboard, glue - Washington Times

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Recycling Saves Energy

We have posted a ThinkGreen Widget from Waste Management on the left sidebar. The widget will help you calculate the amount of energy you have saved by recycling. Or click the link here to visit Waste Management’s Think Green web site.

eCycling

This Saturday get rid of your old, outdated electronics by dropping them off at one of three Best Buys locations. Volunteers will even unload your car for you.



To learn more check out this website:

http://www.fox50.com/dpp/community/E_Cycling_Page

Durham - Renaissance Center (7001 Fayetteville Rd, Durham, NC 27713)
North Raleigh - Capital Blvd. (6101 Capital Blvd, Raleigh, NC 27616)
Cary - Crossroads Plaza (237 Crossroads Blvd, Cary, NC 27518)

These items can be recycled:

• Tape Players
• Printed Circuit Boards
• Computer Monitors – Flat Panel
• CD Players
• UPS (personal & network)
• Televisions – CRTs
• Telephones
• Routers
• Televisions – Flat Screen
• Cell Phones
• Resistors Capacitors
• Desktop Computers
• Fax Machines
• Diodes
• Laptop Computers
• Electronic Games
• Terminals
• Keyboards
• Power & Network Cables
• Rechargeable Batteries
• Mice
• Network Hubs
• Peripherals
• Printers
• Switching boxes
• Military Equipment
• Scanners
• Controllers
• Medical Equipment
• Copy Machines
• Modems
• Telecommunications
• VCRs
• Docking Stations
• Commercial Equipment
• Stereos
• CD Roms
• Office Equipment
• Radios
• Hard Drives
• Banking Equipment
• Mainframes

N.C. Law to Ban Plastic Bottles from Landfills

Under a new law that takes effect Oct. 1, North Carolina will be banning all rigid plastic containers from landfills. This includes any bottles with a neck smaller than the container itself.

Every 17.3 seconds, North Carolinians throw away enough plastic bottles to reach the height of the Bank of America Building in Charlotte. Click here to see what happens to plastic when you recycle.

North Carolina is also building the nation’s largest facility to recycle PET bottles, which will able to process 280 million pounds of material per year. One of the primary partners in this venture is carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries Group, LLC, which can turn recycled PET into polyester for use in carpeting.

Clear Path Recycling will construct its facility in Fayetteville, N.C. at the DAK Americas’ Cedar Creek Site. DAK currently operates a PET resin manufacturing facility on-site and has significant infrastructure in place that the new JV will utilize. Approximately 100 new jobs will be created at the facility at the completion of both phases.

Unique Video!

I ran across a very good video that is part of a save energy campaign in Victoria Australia.

It was created by George Patterson Y&R Melbourne. The video demonstrates the result of energy use in the home and greenhouse gas emissions using a black balloons.

Used Book Drive!!!

Our used book drive is well under way! To date we have collected over 200 books!!! Thank you Peace College for your support of this program. I am so encouraged to see how the campus has gotton behind this initiative.

From now until May 11th place your new or used textbooks as well as other books in one of the bins located around campus (Ross, Peace Perk and Flowe). All donations will be sent to Better World Books to fund literacy programs in Africa.

In addition to funding a wonderful program we are excited to support such a positive alternative to sending these books to local landfills. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Used Supply Drive

In the spirit of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Peace will be having an end of semester used supply drive. We will focus our efforts on collecting used school supplies, gently used clothing and hygienic items such as shampoos, etc. All items collected will be sorted and donated to neighboring after school programs and womens shelters. To participate place any usable items from these categories in one of the collection boxes located inside the residence halls. The drive begins Friday and ends May 8th.

(Examples- half empty bottles of shampoo/ conditioner/ lotion, used folders/ pens/ notebooks, clothing, etc.)

Contact Jessica Baxter with questions x2469

What Can One Person Do?

Evidently a great deal according to Rhiannon Pittman a junior at Peace College.

“My client is the Peace College Wellness Center. I created a promotional campaign called "What can one person do?" The goal of my project is to educate the viewers on how to help create a healthier world. I also wanted to inspire people to do something to contribute to a healthier world, even if it’s small.”

“I felt like the best way to achieve my goal was to create a display of things that are bad for our world and offer alternatives that will make our world healthier. By using massive amounts of certain objects, I am hoping to catch the viewer’s attention and shock them with reality of the facts that I have provided along with the objects. The facts that I provided will also educate the viewers and hopefully will inspire them to do something to promote a healthier world.”

Rhiannon Pittman

Click Items below to see how you can make a difference.

Incandescent Bulbs

Styrofoam

Plastic Bottles

Phone Books

Plastic Bags

Encouraging Recycling Through Art

Ashley Prince a junior at Peace College in Raleigh, N.C. discusses her art project in this video recorded in the Wellness Center during Student Showcase at Peace College.

"After seeing the amount of plastic bottle and cans that are used on a daily basis at Peace College, I decided to design a piece that would show this large number. Rather than simply putting a recycling symbol on a piece of paper, I wanted to actually use the recyclable items to deliver the message. The goals of this project were to encourage recycling through art, promote sustainable behavior and provoke thought by turning a common, recognizable symbol into a piece of art. With the help of the campus community, as well as family and friends at home, I collected all the bottle tops and can tabs over a period of a month. The final piece is created with 783 bottle tops and 467 can tabs."

Ashley Prince

The RecycleMania Results

From Jessica Baxter

The RecycleMania results have been announced and we can say that we beat Meredith College. In addition to competing against Meredith, we competed in 3 categories, Grand Champion, Per Capita Classic and Waste Minimization. In Per Capita Classic, we competed to see which school could collect the greatest amount of recyclable material on average per person. We came in 86th out of 293 schools! Our final total was about 15.03 pounds per person over the entire 15-week competition. The winning school was McNeese State University with an average of 76.19 pounds per person over the course of the competition.

The second category we competed in was Waste Minimization. In this category we tried to create the least amount of waste per person. We came in 102nd out of 148 schools in this category. On average we created 64.06 pounds of trash person (over the course of 15 weeks).

The final category was Grand Champion. This is the percentage of your total waste that you recycle. We came in 119th out of 206 with a 23.47% recycling rate. We are well on our way to our 50% goal. We estimated our rate at about 10% during the trash audit held in the fall.

The Story of Stuff

Anyone concerned about over consumption and waste should visit a very provoking web site, storyofstuff.com. Watch the video which is about 20 minutes long. I am sure you will have a somewhat different perspective on the life cycle of consumer products and the way you buy.

Falling Into Place

Have you ever felt that things are finally falling into place? I am feeling that way today. Over the last two semesters at Peace College many positive accomplishments have occurred due to the combined efforts of several individuals and departments. Each has played positive a role in educating and inspiring the campus community to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Some Noted Individuals and Groups
- Lauren Gerber in the Development office was instrumental in Peace College winning a grant from Coke for 60 recycle containers.
- Melanie Bissinger with Aramark provided alternatives to Styrofoam to-go trays.
- Jessica Baxter our Vista Representative recruited, encouraged and inspired our Green Team to action.
- Our Green Team led by Imogene Miles is passionate about changing the way we think about waste and has motivated others to join her campaign.
- Our Administration has recognized and supported the efforts of the Green Team, including the trash audit and the Green March on Peace.
- Our Faculty continues to include sustainability in curricular. I have been approached by students from Art, Biology and English creating projects related to sustainability.
- Housekeeping and Grounds Keeping energetically embraced all of our sustainability efforts. Including the rethinking of traditional cleaning and the conversion to green cleaning.
- The Campus Community has warmly embraced our somewhat unorthodox methods of educating, informing and inspiring everyone to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Accomplishments
- Installed low flow shower heads and sink aerators and energy star compliant washing machines. Estimated savings of 760,000 gallons per school year. Reduced our water and sewer rate by an estimated $4,752 per school year.
- Replaced 400 incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. EPA estimates a savings of $63 in energy costs over the life of each bulb. That is a savings of over $25,000 in energy costs, $18,000 in labor costs and we throw away one bulb versus 10.
- Replaced older washers and dryers with Energy Star rated washer and dryers that use 67% less water, 50% less energy, and 75% less detergent
- We have converted from traditional cleaning materials to Green Seal certified products. Switching to green cleaners can significantly improve indoor air quality; reduce cleaning-related health problems and absenteeism and increases performance of students and staff alike.
- Our Student led Green Team performed a trash audit that was informative and inspired many within the campus community to recycle. As a result the event was featured on two local news stations and also one in Charlotte.
- Our Student led Green Team has “marched” on campus certifying offices and classrooms that are meeting Green Team sustainability requirements.
- Our Student led Green Team presented at the NC Campus Compact Student Conference on "The Green Revolution: How to Get Your Campus Onboard".
- Helped facilitate Peace going Styrofoam Free
- Participated in RecycleMania in the categories of Waste Minimization and Per Capita Classic. As part of RecycleMania we have noticed significant increases in the amount we are recycling and decrease in our total waste.
- Won a grant from Coke for 60 recycle bins that will be placed throughout campus. We hope to place a recycle container everywhere a trash can is located.
- Created a Green Team Blog (http://peacecollegegreenteam.blogspot.com/ ) that helps to keep our campus community informed and involved with campus, local and national sustainability related issues.
- Joined the world wide Vote Earth initiative (http://www.voteearth2009.org/home/ )
- Taking an active role in sustainability organizations such as Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)

We are developing some exciting programs for the fall semester! Follow the blog for additional information.

Roadside Trash

Litter seems to be out of control! It’s everywhere! I have noticed more on our roads, in parking lots (including Peace College lots) and in parks. Is it because it’s spring and everyone is outside more? Can we blame it on the economy? It’s a mystery to me why anyone would throw anything out of a car window. Or take in the beauty of a park and leave behind a fast food cup and bag. Who are these people that litter?

According to WakeGov.com the most persistent, deliberate litterers tend to be between the ages of 11 and 24 years old. The primary reasons people litter include:

· No sense of ownership or stewardship – just don’t care
· Believe that someone else will pick up after them
· Unaware of the link between the environment and their littering behavior
· Believe it is acceptable because litter has already accumulated in a location
· Convenience
· Willful littering to make a statement
· Unintentional

People who think it is acceptable to litter in certain circumstances gave the following reasons for doing so:

o The waste was organic
o No bins were available
o At sporting event where waste is collected

What is litter? Keep America Beautiful, Inc. claims 33% of it is fast food waste.

How do we prevent littering?

1. Set an example by not littering.
2. Pick up one piece of litter every day.
3. Every week, pick up all the litter in front of your house or on our campus, including the street
5. Make sure that your trash cans have lids that can be securely attached. If you have curbside trash service, don’t put out unopened containers or boxes filled with trash.
6. Carry a litter bag in your car.
7. Ask your co-workers, neighbors and or friends to join you in cleaning up an area of campus or one public area where litter has accumulated.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Peace College has made significant strides in our recycling efforts in the spring semester. We should also consider the other 2 components of the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle program.

Reduce What You Buy

Waste reduction starts at the decision to purchase. By making slight alterations to your shopping list you can significantly reduce the amount of waste created in and around the home.
· Buy products in the largest size you can use; avoid excess packaging
· Buy products that can be reused such as rechargeable batteries
· Reduce paper waste by cancelling unwanted mail
· Buy non-toxic cleaning products whenever possible
· Sell or give away unwanted items
· When purchasing one or two items ask the cashier to keep the bag or bring your own.
· Buy juice in concentrates and drink out of reusable containers instead of single serving packages

Buy Reusable and Long Lasting Items

· Use rechargeable batteries in toys, flashlights and radios
· Use a real camera instead of disposable ones
· Switch to cloth napkins, sponges and cloth towels or wipes
· Use a washable commuter mug
· Use washable plates, cups and silverware for parties and picnics instead of disposable products
· Use an electric razor with replaceable blades instead of disposable razors.

Recycle Medicine Bottles

Peace College Health Services Mari Lippig wishes to help you recycle your empty prescription bottles. Mari hopes to send most of these bottles to a mission hospital in Guatemala and local free clinics. Before sending her your empty prescription bottles take off the labels, so no one has access to your personal information and then clean and sanitize the bottles thoroughly.

If you rather not send Mari your empty prescription bottles here are fun tips to help you recycle!

“The Paper Thing Again”

“Paper comes from an enormously abundant renewable resource. It’s biodegradable, so it’s not a threat in landfills (or woodstoves). So…frankly I don’t give a hang about using a few more sheets. The best you can do by reducing usage is to put paper industry workers out of work.”

I saw the above comment on one of my favorite blogs. It is hard to believe someone can actually believe that. I thought it would be helpful to provide a few facts to dispel such idiocy.

It takes a lot of resources to produce, package, ship and eventually discard a few sheets of paper. Here are some facts from a great web site you may want to visit.

http://www.printgreener.com/earthday.html

Printing Facts
· Average cost of a wasted page $0.062
· Average employee prints 6 wasted pages per day, that's 1,410 wasted pages per year!
· The average U.S. office worker prints 10,000 pages per year.
· While 3 out of 4 office workers print from the Internet, 90% of people with a printer at home print Internet content.

Consumption
· In 2004 the United States used 8 million tons of office paper (3.2 billion reams). That’s the equivalent of 178 million trees!
· The U.S. is by far the world’s largest producer and consumer of paper. Per capita U.S. paper consumption is over six times greater than the world average.
· In the United States, we use enough office paper each year to build a 10-foot-high wall that’s 6,815 miles long. That’s more than the distance from New York to Tokyo!

Energy
· The U.S. pulp and paper industry is the second largest consumer of energy and uses more water to produce a ton of product than any other industry.
· Production of 1 ton of copy paper uses 11,134 kWh (same amount of energy used by an avg household in 10 months).

Water
· Making one single sheet of copy paper can use over 13oz. of water– more than a typical soda can.
· Production of 1 ton of copy paper produces 19,075 gallons of waste water.

Waste
· One ton of paper requires the use of 98 tons of various resources.
· In 2003, paper and paperboard accounted for 35 percent of the total materials discarded in the United States.
· Production of 1 ton of copy paper produces 2,278 lb of solid waste

CO2
· Production of 1 ton of copy paper produces 5,690 lb. of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of 6 months of car exhaust).
· Dumping paper in landfill adds methane to the atmosphere as it decomposes, with 20 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

Ink
· If you were to fill up the tank of your car with Hewlett-Packard or Lexmark ink, it would cost $100,000.
· If you filled an Olympic-size swimming pool with ink it would cost $5.9 billion.

Artful Waste

Peace College student, Elizabeth Prince is collecting bottle tops for creating a work of art that will focus on recycling. She spent about 45 minutes at the large recycling container behind Belk Building this morning collecting tops. If that won't get you an “A” I do not know what will. She would not go into much detail about her creation but committed to letting Anthony and I have first peek when completed. We intend to take pictures and publish when completed.

Update: RecycleMania

We have seen significant gains in recycling over the past seven weeks. Each person on campus has averaged 1.02 pounds of waste per day. Of which 23% has been recycled! In the initial week of tracking we recycled approximately 14% of our waste. For the last 2 weeks (excluding spring break) we have recycled 35% of our total waste. We have a way to go to meet our goal of recycling 50% of our total waste by March 28th the last day of RecycleMania.

I believe we can reach our goal if everyone would do just 4 simple things:

1. Move the trash can away from your desk to a location where you will need to walk to it to put trash into it.

2. Put a recycling container as close to your desk as possible.

3. Take the unused paper out of your printer and load with paper that has been printed on one side. When you need clean paper load just enough for the document you are printing.

4. Watch the video Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It will change the way you think about trash.

Save Energy, Money and Reduce Waste by Switching to Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars. The average U.S. home has 30 incandescent bulbs.

If every U.S. household changed its five most frequently used light fixtures or bulbs to ENERGY STAR-qualified lighting, each family would save more than $60 annually ($30 or more in each bulb’s lifetime) in energy costs. National annual energy savings would be $6 billion, equivalent to the annual output of more than 21 large power plants.

Try the EPA’s Personal Emissions Calculator to obtain an estimate of your personal greenhouse gas emissions or your family’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Take The Pledge

Make your contribution to greening Peace College. Sign the pledge and be a part of Peace's vision for a sustainable future.

I pledge to become an integral participant in the Sustainable Peace program. I will consider the environmental, social and economic impact of my daily decisions and make every effort to reduce my ecological footprint. I will also share my individual sustainability efforts with others at Peace College.

Reduce Global Warming: Go Veggie!

The single most important step an individual can take to reduce global warming is to adopt a vegetarian diet. This is because the largest contributor to global warming is the livestock industry, according to a United Nations study published in 2006 titled, "Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options."

“Raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.”
– United Nations, 2006

Some key findings of the UN report include:

Raising animals for food accounts for respectively 37 percent of all human-induced methane (23 times as warming as CO2), which is largely produced by the digestive system of ruminants, and 64 percent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain.

Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tons in 1999/2001 to 465 million tons in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tons.

Methane sources - not carbon dioxide sources - are the biggest cause of global warming today, and will continue to be for the next 50 years. The number one human-related source of methane worldwide is livestock.

Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. While carbon dioxide levels have risen by 31 percent, methane levels have more than doubled.

Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of methane a year, about 85 percent from livestock digestion and 15 percent from manure "lagoons" used to store untreated feces.

Methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just 8 years, so reducing meat consumption quickly translates to cooling of the earth. In comparison, carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for centuries.

Livestock now use 30 percent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 percent of the global arable land used to producing feed for livestock. As forests are cleared to create new pastures, it is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America where, for example, some 70 percent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.

Go Green, Eat Green, Live Green

Peace College’s Wellness Center and Belk Dining Hall are pleased to announce the excitement of “Go Green- eat green, live green.”

Let’s have fun trying more green vegetables and fruits for the last two weeks of March. Belk Dining Hall is working extra hard to bring almost 40 shades of green to your plates.

Your mother was right; eat your greens! Did you know that Green vegetables like broccoli, spinach and brussel sprouts are nutritional powerhouses and green vegetables are low in calories, promoting weight loss!

How To Go Green & Save Money

I have created a list of ideas for going green. Click to review.

Hello everyone! I wanted to let everyone know what some of the Green Team members were up to on this spring break!

I am in New Orleans right now and a lot of the Green Team members are with me. Here is an update of what we have done so far!

-saw Brad Pitt's Project make it right. All of the houses he built are covered in solar panels.

-we also went to a model "green home" which is the first sustainable home in a New Orleans neighborhood. They are building 5 more completely sustainable signle family homes and an apartment complex. They will be offered for very affordable prices to family's from the lower 9th ward.

-we went to the musicains village where homes were made for the local musicians who lost their homes. this was in hopes of keeping the New Orleans culture alive.

-spent the day today packaging over 10,000 pounds of food at the first harvest food bank

-we have gone shopping, ate good New Orleans food, met tons of really cool people, learned a lot, and had a great time.


We are going out tonight to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee, and then start our project for Habitat tomorrow.... so I will keep everyone updated!!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring break!

-Immie Miles (Green Team Chair)

Six Interesting (and somewhat scary) Facts About Bottled Water

· Buying one gallon’s worth of bottled water is three times more expensive than buying one gallon of gasoline. – emagazine.com

· 30 million water bottles are thrown away every day, and each one of them takes 1000 years to biodegrade. – emagazine.com.

· Nearly 90 percent of [water] bottles are not recycled. – SeattlePI.com

· An estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes further treated, sometimes not treated at all. – Allaboutwater.org

· It takes 15 million barrels of oil per year to make all of the plastic water bottles in America, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Sending those bottles by air and truck uses even more fossil fuel. - emagazine.com.

· Bottled water, because it is defined as a “food” under federal regulations, is under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—under much stricter standards—regulates tap water. Thus, bottled water, depending upon the brand, may actually be less clean and safe than tap water. The EPA mandates that local water treatment plants provide city residents with a detailed account of tap water’s source and the results of any testing, including contaminant level violations. Bottled water companies are under no such directives. - Allaboutwater.org

Now, here are tips for alternatives to buying bottled water:

· Get a filter for your tap (unless your tap water is quite good in the first place). There are many ways to go about doing this, from getting a Brita-filter to go over your faucet spout to installing one right into the sink system.

· Nalgene bottles are great.

· Brita pitchers are also really great for those who can’t get the faucet filters (e.g. college students).

· For barbecues, parties, and other events, use pitchers or water dispensers that you can use over and over again. In conjunction with these, try to also provide reusable cups instead of disposable cups, and if you must use disposables, try to get recyclable disposables.

Heading Out

Tomorrow morning a group of 14 students along with myself and Cori and Tildsley from the Peace College Wellness Center, will head to New Orleans for an Alternative Spring Break Trip. While in New Orleans we'll stay at Camp Hope and volunteer with a local food bank and Habitat for Humanity. Many of the girls going are also a part of the Green Team. We will try and keep you updated on all the exciting things we are doing while gone.

No Account Sign In Needed

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Survey Results Are In!

Click on the image to enlarge.

Should we at a minimum reduce the number of phone books sent to us every year?

1.2 Tons of paper really is a lot to discard annually for such little use.

RecycleMania First Month Results!

Thanks to everyone for such an improvement in our recycling program. Over the first month we have had a reduction in the amount of material we discard (combined trash & recycling), a reduction in trash and an increase in our recycling. It is up to the staff and faculty to keep this trend going while our Green Team is away.

Maintenance and Grounds has accumulated quite a large amount of scrap metal that will be taken to TT&E for recycling. When we add the weight of this material to our total we will have Meredith College eating our dust. Call me with any questions. I cannot reveal everything on this blog. Spies from Meredith are frequent readers of this blog.

Reduce, Reuse & Recycle!

Phone Books

The Green Team was alarmed on Tuesday to see the number of phone books that are delivered to our campus every year.

They are looking for your input on the usage of phone books and yellow pages. Please click on the link below to take a very brief survey.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OROpau2ISq_2bpO3uOa5cXwA_3d_3d

Do You Know What Goes In Our Landfills?

Have you ever considered what actually is in our public landfills? The attached pie chart provides a list of items and percentages of waste according to the EPA.

I had no idea that packaging, food waste and yard trimmings represent over half of the items we dispose of every day.

Nondurable goods may be defined either as goods that are used up when used once, or that have a lifespan of less than 3 years.

Examples of nondurable goods include cosmetics, cleaning products, fuel, office supplies, paper and paper products, personal products, rubber, plastics, textiles, clothing and footwear.

Durable goods a product which does not quickly wear out or more specifically, it yields services or utility over time rather than being completely used up when used once.

Examples of consumer durable goods are appliances, home furnishings, toys and games, cars, and DVD players.

Green Team Will Take You Off Catalog Lists

This week the Green Team will be collecting catalogues that you receive and would like to be unsubscribed from. We have realized that there are a number of catalogues being sent that no one wants and we would like to fix the root of the problem rather than just recycling them. Boxes will be located around campus and in the mailroom until Friday. To participate, simply place your catalogues in one of the marked boxes and the Green Team will call and unsubscribe you from them before recycling. Please contact Immie Miles or Jessica Baxter with questions.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Standard Mail accounted for about 5.8 million tons, or 2.4 percent, of municipal solid waste (otherwise known as trash or garbage) in 2005. Of this amount, 64 percent was placed in a landfill or incinerated, and 36 percent was recycled.

Municipal Solid Waste in the United States, 2007 Facts and Figures
http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw07-rpt.pdf

Alumnae Board Meeting

Thanks so much to the Alumnae Board for the opportunity to share the many accomplishments of the Green Team! I received a very warm welcome. The Board is appreciative of the efforts we are making to reduce, reuse and recycle at Peace College.

WRAL Article Featuring President Bingham

“Our campus community has rallied to finding new ways to innovate and save, with students leading a Green Team to conserve energy and be better stewards of renewable and nonrenewable resources.”

Laura Bingham, President Peace College

From February 17th interview with WRAL
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4545778/

Thanks President Bingham! We are fortunate to have a very active, enthusiastic group of vigilant students who recognize the environmental and economic benefits of reducing, reusing and recycling.

Community Stewardship

I understand the addiction to nicotine. Both my parents died of nicotine related illness. My father died at age 47 and my mother at 73. What I do not understand is why the people addicted to nicotine discard their butts on the ground. About 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide each year—making them the most-littered item. The myth that cigarette filters are biodegradable is just that, a myth. Although the filters do eventually decompose (2 to 5 years), they release harmful chemicals that enter the earth’s land and water during the decaying process. There is nothing earth-friendly about the breakdown.

Now that Peace College is a tobacco free campus, our neighbors are complaining of the unsightly trash that is being left behind by those leaving campus for a quick smoke. Trash left behind that includes items such as cigarette butts, Styrofoam food trays, aluminum cans and water bottles. As a highly visible, well respected institution shouldn’t we set the standard for community stewardship?

Trash Audit

In today’s mini audit we found many Styrofoam containers. The good news effective March 9th Styrofoam containers will not be available on campus. This will reduce our trash fairly significantly as the campus community starts using plastic reusable food trays.


While our recycling has improved, we still have a ways to go. In just a very few minutes students were able to fill 5 recycle bags from discarded trash. Thanks to all that helped to set up and participated!

Click on link below to see partial video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-237658203666318202

Helpful Hints Postcard to be Delivered.

Dean of Students Candice Johnston will be delivering index cards to everyone within the Peace College campus community. The front of the card lists simple steps for daily energy savings. The back side lists material that can be recycled in our single stream program.


Simple Steps for Daily Energy Savings

· Close blinds at end of the day
· Unplug as many items as possible when leaving for the day
· Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms
· Set thermostat to low 60’s in winter & mid 70’s in summer
· Turn your monitor off when not in use
· Turn network printer & copier off each night
· Computers off each night (except as needed by IT)
· Talk it up! Remind co-workers and students the need to reduce wasteful use of our natural resources.

Acceptable Materials for Recycling

It is not necessary to separate items, place items in single container

· Food & beverage cans
· Glass food & beverage containers
· Aluminum foil & trays
· Plastic bottles
· Plastic beverage rings
· Gable top cartons
· Newspaper & all inserts
· Magazines & catalogs
· White paper, including junk mail
· Corrugated cardboard pieces no larger than 3' x 3' in size
· Paperboard, chipboard & paper tubes

Recycling on the Rise!

Several factors have played significant roles in helping Peace College to increase recycling by nearly 50% over the last 3 weeks. First and foremost have been the enthusiastic efforts of the Peace College Green Team. The Green March Campaign led by Immie Miles has been a very effective way to educate the campus community on our recycling program. Secondly we owe special thanks to Lauren Gerber for helping Peace College to win a recycling grant from the National Recycling Coalition and The Coca-Cola Company. Due to the grant Peace College received 60 recycling bins that have been placed throughout our campus. Click on the link below for additional information,

http://alumnae.peace.edu/alumnae_affairs/press_releases/2008/12/05/nrc_coca_cola_bin_grant_awarded/

Peace College to go Styrofoam Free!

Due to the efforts of Jessica Baxter and Melanie Bissinger, Peace College will be Styrofoam free when students return from Spring Break, March 9th. The Green Team has offered to purchase 300 reusable trays that will passed out to students who take their meals to go.

Trash Audit February 19th from 11:30am to 1:00pm

Peace College held a "trash audit" on Sept. 24, 2008 to demonstrate how much recyclable material typically goes into the trash. Click on the link below to view a time-lapse movie of the event.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZxWsLehsmw

Join the Peace College Green Team in another trash audit in front of Belk Dining Hall scheduled for Thursday, February 19th from 11:30am to 1:00pm.

Have someting to offer the Peace College Green Team?

Want to join in the discussion? Simply create a Google account by clicking on the link below and you are ready to participate.

https://www.google.com/accounts

Our Charge

To identify and recommend to the President’s Cabinet specific actions and strategic plans the College community can pursue to move Peace College towards greater environmental sustainability in its operations, research, teaching and service/outreach functions. To report to the campus community on the state of the College's sustainability efforts and on future plans.