Golden Hour: Campus Sustainability

On Tuesday, March 24 2015 a campus-wide Golden Hour presentation about campus sustainability was presented to an audience of about a dozen faculty, staff, and students.  The presentation can be seen here: https://drive.google.com/a/ripon.edu/file/d/0B93nLXEjf3D1enJkanN4OVFOMGc/view?usp=sharing

Energy Conservation Policy Adopted

Ripon College Administrative Council recently adopted the college's first Energy Conservation Policy. An implementation plan is being worked out. Meanwhile, the student newspaper, Ripon College Days, has written an article about it.

Read what students have to say here: https://medium.com/college-days/ripon-college-energy-policy-3e17e738c30c

College Days reports on proper use of TerraCycle bins

Ripon College continues to be one of the leading college campuses for up-cycling beauty and hygiene product containers. The post-consumer collection of the containers is coordinated and executed by students of the Environmental Group of Ripon (EGOR) and the reuse of the containers is managed through TerraCycle.

Earlier in the fall semester there had been misuse of collection bins placed by EGOR members in each of the residence hall bathrooms.  An article explaining the TerraCycle program and correct use of the collection containers was then published by the campus newspaper, College Days.

Click here for College Days TerraCycle article
(you'll need to scroll down a bit to get to the content of the article...)

Carpool, Shuttle, and RideShare opportunities

Ripon College offers members of the campus community a RideBoard.  Anyone with access to the Portal (my.Ripon.edu) can access this service once logged on.

In the tab at the top of the page, select "Campus Life".  From the Campus Life page, select "Ride Board".  From there you can see rides offered and rides needed.

In addition to the personal offers for rides, the College offers shuttle service to airports in Milwaukee and Chicago at the beginning and end of each semester.  This service is coordinated through the Office of Student Activities and Orientation.. More information about the shuttles can be found at http://www.ripon.edu/campuslife/transportation/

Finally, if the ride you need still can't be found, or you regularly commute to Ripon College from a neighboring community, you might find a ride the through the WI Department of Transportation RideShare program. Information about that statewide service can be found at http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/commuter/index.htm

Ripon College Takes 3rd in Nation Among Colleges & Universities Helping Wisconsin achieve 1st Place in National Bike Challenge

The National Bike Challenge has just finished  and Ripon College achieved itshighest national rankings in the “School” categories:  10th among all schools (out of 147 K-Higher Educational Institutions) and 3rd among all colleges and universities in the nation (out of 109)!

In terms of local pride, we were 1st among all colleges and universities in the state of Wisconsin. Yes, we even ranked better than UW-Madison.

We also had teams in two other categories.  In the “Workplace” category, we came in 309th out of 1101 participating workplaces.  This was the only category Lawrence University was also in, who came in at #413.  Our Ripon College Redhawk “Team” came in 258th out of almost 1300 other teams.  All in all, this was a very good showing.

Our totals for this year were solid.  We had 28 people signed up and 20 who logged miles during the Challenge period of May 1st through September 30th.  We logged 9,554 miles and earned 25,515 Challenge points.  While these totals are not quite on par with our record-setting pace of last year, they still kept us very competitive in the NBC rankings.

In terms of the national totals, there were 47,082 riders who logged a total of 23,309,210 miles during the NBC.  Wisconsin was the #1 ranked state this year, finally knocking off our past rivals, Nebraska and Vermont.  The top individual rider nationally, Eric Nordgren of Topeka, Kansas, logged 18,152 miles over 153 days for 21,212 NBC points.  Yes, he averaged over 100 miles a day!

For more results from the National Bike Challenge, visit their website:  http://bikeleague.org/content/challenge-47000-riders-23m-miles#anchor

Thank you and kudos to all the Ripon NBC riders for helping Ripon College maintain its strong cycling tradition and standings in the NBC.  We hope this will help cycling advocates across the country make the case for cycling and cyclists in the many venues—public policy, economic development, environment—where we need to make a difference.  And those of you who weren’t able to join us this year, there is always the 2015 Challenge starting next May!

Contributed by Paul Jeffries (jeffriesp@ripon.edu)

Use your Common Sense

After a beautiful, cool summer warm weather is finally here and so are the students!  We are delighted to have everyone back on campus.  However, we all share many common resources, so let's use our Common Sense.

When it is hottest outside (1 PM - 4 PM), be vigilant about turning off lights, fans, and all electronics.  If you are lucky and have an air-conditioned space, please close the door to your room and, of course, be sure the windows are also shut.

That's it... Let's power down to Beat the Peak.

WHEN IT'S NOT IN USE, WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?

Ripon Magazine focuses on Sustainability

The most recent issue of Ripon College's magazine, Ripon Magazine, focuses on campus sustainability as well as the impact our alumni are having in the environmental science fields.


In addition,  many updates have recently been added to this blog.  Check out RecycleMania results,  what's happening in the campus garden, and what's blooming in the Ceresco Prairie.

Sustainability is Growing on Campus

This week we are welcoming the Class of 2018 on campus.  Among the many things they are learning about Ripon College is the importance of sustainability: use less stuff, use less energy,  and what can be recycled on campus (pretty much everything!).  Several dozen students and their families dropped by the Sustainability table in Pickard Commons for the Resource Fair. 

Resource Fair June 24-26, 2014

They also got to hear Kaitlyn Welzen '15 talk about the campus hoophouse and campus garden, as well as programs Sodexo dining has put in place to provide students with nutritious, local, and international options.  After her presentation, Kaitlyn was down in the garden picking strawberries and getting the ground ready for a late planting.

Kaitlyn Welzen taking a break from gardening

Cortland apples growing; hoophouse skeleton and compost in background

Happily, the Cortland apples are growing beautifully.  Perhaps we'll have enough apples this fall to bring in the apple press and make cider!

Sustainability Intern working on Green Report Card

Just a quick brief entry here to share my enthusiasm for the work being done by EcoREPS coordinator, Kristen Larson '14, for her Environmental Studies senior seminar.

Kristen is gathering data to help the College with their first Green Report Card.  We know we're in the top third nationally for recycling, but that's not nearly the whole picture.  The report card will let us know how we're performing relative to other colleges and universities on a whole range of sustainability topics.

Check back in late April to see the results!

Sustainability Intern update: EcoREPS, recyclable crafts, Earth Week planning

Hello all!

On Sunday, March 16, the night before Spring Break, I met up with the Eco-REPS. We discussed working with the R.A.s to communicate to students the recycling rules on campus. The Eco-REPS refined their speeches and made some awesome informative posters!

I am communicating with R.A.s and we will set up times the week following Spring Break for the Eco-REPS to give presentations on the residence hall floors, complete with visual aids!

 Eco-REPS were encouraged to identify some good ideas for recyclable crafting while they were on break.  Meanwhile, I am getting in contact with SMAC to organize an event around this idea.

I am also encouraging the Eco-REPS to consider assisting Kaitlyn Welzen with her hoop house project on April 5^th. She is planning a trip to Appleton to learn how to build a hoop house (similar to a greenhouse, “but with metal ‘hoops’ and plastic sheeting” as she describes it).

 We have a lot of exciting events leading up to Earth Week, so look for them!

I hope everyone had a great Spring Break!

Kristen

Sodexo Intern Update #6: Honey & local greens

The Commons is now generally serving a “minimal meat Monday” menu on the classics line and healthy choice line for dinner. It is not advertised as such, but it is part of the goal to be more sustainable by using less meat-intensive meals. There has also been an increase in vegan foods and labeling them as such, which is fantastic for individuals who prefer not to eat animal products. 

On the other side of that, the EGOR honey that was in the Commons at the beginning of the semester has been replaced with another local honey source: Henry’s Honey in Redgranite, WI. Here is a link to their Facebook page if you want more information: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Henrys-Honey-Farm/170454659631298.

 

In terms of sustainability, the Commons featured an educational campaign in the hopes of reducing straw usage as unnecessary waste in some cases. The straws are still available at the cashier’s stand, but are less accessible, and so individuals need to consciously make the decision to use a straw rather than do so out of habit. Also, Sodexo is part of the Recyclemania challenge and the campus “We proudly serve Starbucks” has a punch card program where after buying 10 drinks with a reusable mug, you get the 11^th free. You win and so does the environment! 

Projects that are currently being worked on include how to include more local produce into the menu and also considering the possibility of incorporating some seasonal foods either more or less into the offerings according to the season. In a future blog, look for the results of a 14 for ’14 grant (through the President’s Office) that I wrote to increase food sustainability on campus. This is another project that is currently being worked on; but more on that later!

Hello everyone, my name is Mamadou Toure. I am a senior Environmental Studies major. I am currently working on designing a Living Green theme floor with the Residence Life as an internship and  with support of Ripon College Sustainability. This eco-friendly floor in Anderson  Hall will focus on energy and water conservation.  Students selected will have to sign an agreement indicating their commitment to the Theme Floor and educating themselves and others about Green Living and sustainability. The members of this living group will apply a green lifestyle by applying the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle principle: managing their trash and recycling bins, creating eco-env activities (indoor & outdoor), working on designing green lifestyle for other students to follow, planting more trees and flowers, hosting an Earth Day event, helping to take care of the campus as a community…etc. My wish is that this theme floor living group will serve as an  eco-cultural living center that encourages sustainable lifestyle and also promotes it around campus. I believe that implementing  such a program in a college is an indispensable action that will help educate students in practical ways about environmental issues.  This will also reduce our environmental foot-print individually and as a community.

In today’s world, we take most things we consume for granted: electricity that comes in our power plugs, heat is produced by boilers and water heaters. Most of us do not think about the process  and the waste of our consumption. We must take into account our impact on the environment and also think about the future. This program I am working on will be bringing awareness and illustration of a green lifestyle in our campus. The Living Green theme floor will positively impact our actions and decisions around the environment and climate change. You must be the change you wish to see in the world as Mahatma Gandhi said, so let’s be it. 

Ripon College competes in RecycleMania

Starting today and going for 8 weeks (March 29) our campus will be participating in the national, inter-campus recycling competition, RecycleMania.

The purpose of RecycleMania is to increase awareness about what we're throwing away, to guide us as consumers to use less in the first place, re-use or re-purpose when possible, recycle what can be recycled, and to have FUN doing so.


Each week, I will be posting the number of pounds of solid waste and recycling we haul off campus.  
Pre-season baseline:
Solid waste:  17,259 pounds per week
Single-stream recycling:  4,448 pounds per week

Throughout this competition we will strive to lower the value of solid waste, increase recyclables, and overall have less waste (both solid and recyclable) leaving campus.

Here's what you can do:

1. KNOW what can be recycled!  Paper, plastic (#1-#7), glass, aluminum, milk cartons can all be placed in single-stream recycling.
2. RECYCLE everything that is recyclable.  Sound simple?  It is!  Dump out any food that may be in a container, then recycle.  
3. TEACH others what to recycle.  

More information about waste reduction can be found on this blog under the "waste minimization" tab.

Sustainability Intern: Holiday Break

Winter break is over and another semester at Ripon, my last semester, is beginning. Over winter break I went back to my old job at Panera Bread to work a few hours and make a few paychecks (I know, college ain’t cheap!). While there I took up my old position as the environmental captain. This previously had me enforcing recycling practices and conservation of water and energy throughout the restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised when I came back to find that the Christmas gift given to the employees this year was a reusable tumbler that can be used for hot or cold drinks. 

I have always noticed how many coffee cups and plastic cups employees go through everyday. I often would bring in a reusable water bottle, but if I wanted coffee or something hot, I would then use a paper cup as well. I thought giving the employees these versatile tumblers was a great idea! But hardly anyone was using them! In order to cut down on the waste of employees using so many cups and to get them to use their tumblers instead I suggested an idea to the managers. Perhaps they could keep track of the employees who always bring in their tumbler and those who use the least amount of cups each week get a free signature drink such as a smoothie or hot chocolate that they would normally have to pay for. Now, I’m not sure if they will take up that idea, but at least I got them considering it. While I’m away at school there are a few others who are in the role of environmental captain at the Panera, one of which suggested the tumblers in the first place. Hopefully they keep up the great work! 

We go back to school in just a few days and EcoREPS will start up once more! I’ve got a few ideas in mind for this semester so hopefully we’ll be impacting the campus and we can be Ripon’s environmental captains! 

First georeferenced map of campus!

Happy New Year.  It is with great enthusiasm that I share with you a student project completed in Fall 2013.  Environmental Studies seniors, Brenna Richards and Ashley Storms created a georeferenced map of campus.  In it they included walkways and sidewalk, as well as location of buildings and parking lots. This map will be tremendously useful to all campus users as we make changes to campus and catalog them. Thank you, ladies, for a job well done!
Now it's up to the rest of us to populate this map with Sustainability hotspots: bike racks, bike paths, recycling bins, compost drop-off locations, solar panels... Dream big.

If you would like a copy of the map, please contact the authors (richardsb@ripon.edu, stormsa@ripon.edu) or the Sustainability Coordinator via the website.

Sodexo intern update #5: composting, local food, and honey in The Commons

Hello again, and I apologize for the delay between this blog post and the last; the environmental scene in Ripon has been keeping me busy.

First thing to cover is that I went to speak at the Ripon city council on November 12^th 2013 to ask for an exemption for educational institutions from the current composting ordinance, which only allows residential composting. The council was receptive to my proposal, and an exception is currently being written to be approved by the city council at a later date. More updates on that in the future, but for now, I am hopeful that Ripon College can begin composting on campus in the spring of 2014.

Additionally, there was a meeting at Fraser Farms, hosted by Dennis and Mary Meyer, to discuss the possibility of a partnership between Ripon College and GrowSureEase. For this meeting, we toured the greenhouse that GrowSureEase uses to grow vegetables during the winter months and saw the different types of plants that he is currently growing there. Then we went to the Meyer’s Christmas tree farm, where we had a delicious vegetarian lunch prepared by Mary that featured fresh greens from their greenhouse and hot apple cider pressed from the apple trees that are on the property. After the fantastic local meal, those in attendance (including President Messitte, Mrs. Messitte, Dean Ogle, Sarjit Singh, and Samara Hamzé) listened to Dennis’s proposal and began a dialogue on the potential for this relationship in the future. Nothing concrete was decided, but it began a discussion about the role of local food on our campus and the importance of connections between the college and community businesses.
Also on the topic of composting, a total of 32 5-gallon buckets of organic material were removed from the Sodexo kitchen in October to be composted at Fraser Farms, with 28 buckets collected during November, and 28.5 buckets in September. So, our total for the fall of 2013 is 442.5 gallons of compostable materials prevented from going to the landfill. (Note: We will temporarily be stopping the collection of compostable materials, since we have no way to continue composting during the cold months, especially now that there is snow on the ground. This is something that we hope to correct in the future, but as of now we are unable to do so.)

One other noteworthy event was the introduction of honey produced by the EGOR hives into the Pickard Commons. Look for it and the sign on the east end of the Commons near the beverages. Also at the beverage stand is the lack of plastic straws that have been replaced with a sign informing students and staff about the negative environmental impact of plastic straws, which are still available at the checker’s stand, but are less accessible, so people make a conscious decision to use or not use a straw.

As the semester winds down, planning for next semester begins, so look forward to the reappearance on minimal-meat Mondays occasionally in the Commons. And stay tuned for more updates on composting and upcoming projects.

Wellness Fair - learn about health impacts of landfills and commit to reducing the waste you make on campus

Join campus and community members on Tuesday, November 2013 to learn about and participate in Health and Wellness activities relevant to Ripon students. The event will occur in Great Hall on campus 11AM - 2PM

Ripon Sustainability will have a table there to share information with the college community about the health benefits of reducing solid waste and increasing recycling.  Data are gathered from the EPA and DNR websites.  Come by to learn about what is recyclable on campus and meet our EcoREPS.

UMACS Conference at Luther College report

Last weekend I had the great experience of attending a Midwest Conference dealing with sustainability Samara, Kaitlyn, and I began our adventure to Iowa bright and early Friday morning! 

We made it to the lovely college campus that was hosting the event, Luther College, right around lunchtime. Kaitlyn and I were able to register, grab some food, and poke around the campus a bit before the opening presentation. Even from walking around the campus, we could really see their environmental commitment. They had quite a few solar panels on one side of campus, a wind turbine on another side, a large garden, local food in their commons areas, a large greenhouse, and all these integrated into an overall beautiful campus.

            Then the conference actually began! The opening speaker was John Farrell, the son of the author of The Nature of College James Farrell. One quote that stood out to me that he mentioned was, “If God wanted us to live sustainably, she’d have given us brains!”. I loved that! The rest of the day was filled with speakers from various colleges that held sustainability programs. One was on how to get a program started and how to keep one running. Another one, that I found to be exceedingly interesting, was about Eco Houses on a few different campuses. As they were speaking about the houses, I could just imagine one at Ripon. Maybe one day!

            Following this there was a poster session where each school could present what they were working on. It was awesome to walk around and talk to students who are working on astonishing projects! Some of the students were working on programs similar to the EcoRep program we have started here. I found it helpful to sit down with some of these students and see what they did when they began there programs, what seemed to be successful and what failed and, most importantly, why.

            As a side note, for dinner the first night, after the poster session, and lunch the second day we were served absolutely delicious mostly vegan food! It was almost entirely from local sources too. Needlessly to say, I went back for seconds!

            After dinner Friday we heard another speaker, Chad Pregracke. He started his talk with some facts, but it was mostly a narrative conversation about his life experiences. He was a college-aged kid who noticed something wrong and set out to fix it. Chad grew up right along the Mississippi and one day noticed the overwhelming amount of trash built up in certain areas. It blew his mind that this could be happening to a river so important to our country. He faced obstacle after obstacle, but managed to get a clean up initiative started and continues today on rivers all over the country. His story was remarkable and inspirational. The fact that he was able to grow from just him doing this project he believed in so strongly to the operation he has today is extraordinary. Not only this, but he managed to come through it all with a great sense of humor. He made a great point of saying that you have to be able to laugh, not get burned out, not take anything too seriously, and even try to have fun with your mission. He is actually offering a free service opportunity as an alternative spring break cleaning up the Mississippi! Granted, anyone wanting to go will be expected to pay for travel price and lodging. It is being hosted in Memphis, TN. For more information on Chad, his organization, or the spring break opportunity, check out www.livinglandsandwaters.org/ .

            The second day was filled with more impressive speakers, information on sustainability on campuses, and delectable food. Our main speaker we listened to after lunch said something that stood out to me. With all the information we receive on issues of the environment, it can seem overwhelming to try and fix it all. The speaker, Jacqueline Johnson (president of University of Minnesota - Morris), told us to “decide which hill you’re willing to die on”. We must each pick what we feel is the most important fight and see that through. It does not good to try and do everything and get nothing done. I thought that was a really insightful comment.

            This past EcoRep meeting I decided to ask a question that had been posed to me at the conference. The question of: What is it we are trying to sustain? I thought it was a great question. At the conference we were put in groups to mull this over. We eventually got to the point, as did the EcoReps, that it ultimately comes down to not just sustaining anything as it is now, but actually improving it. The EcoReps listed things that they would like to see changed on campus (less energy consumption, less waste, etc.), but this is not sustaining the culture of the campus as it is now. Instead this is implying we want to change the campus. We want it to improve and not just sustain, but grow to be better than it is now!

            That’s All Folk!

            Kristen

Meet 3rd floor Scott EcoREPS: Ricardo Jaimes

My name is Ricardo Jaimes.
I am a freshman at Ripon College.
I a member of the EGOR club, Sierra Club, and Hola club.
I plan to pursuit a major in Environmental Studies.
My goal: To help Ripon College become a more Eco-friendly campus. 

At SES (Semester in Environmental Studies)

While most Ripon College students are at home for Fall Break, a few students are off-campus getting no break, but having an exceptional educational experience. Among them is Tyler Messerschmidt '14 who is currently a student at Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA.

He writes,
The Semester in Environmental Studies at Woods Hole has been a magnificent experience so far.  Even though this is probably the hardest I have worked in any college semester, it is also the least stressful semester I have had at college.  The people here are amazing and it is very refreshing to be able to work along side people with the same drive and interest in the environment that I have.  This makes it very easy to put in the hard work in the classroom, lab and the field needed to succeed in this course. 


Here are some of his pictures of the experiences he's enjoying.

Check back for results from his proposed research project: " I have a tentative plan.  I would like to look at how primary production and species composition have changed in a hardwood forest.  For many years this forest had a consistent supply of nitrogen from a waste water treatment plant.  This plant has recently upgraded to remove a large amount of the incoming nitrogen from the water, and no longer distributes this over the forest."



Collecting fish with a seine net



Filling in a soil pit



Measuring photosynthesis