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!

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!

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.

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

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



Meet 4th floor Johnson Eco-Rep: Mariah Everts

Bettering the lives of Ripon College students in every way is part of being a student here at Ripon College. We are all well rounded individuals looking to make a difference in the world. Becoming an Eco-Rep I truly hope to make many others aware of what a beautiful world we live in and how easy it is to do our small part to continue to make Ripon College a fantastic place to be. Educating students on recycling, waste produced, and using as little and gaining much more because of it. Once we are educated in the ways to help out our campus, when we graduate I hope we can use our knowledge to better the future communities we live in.

Eco-Reps hold their first meeting

Hello!

We finally got our ‘eco rep program’ (name as yet to be determined) started! We have ten great Ripon students working with me: Robert Enright, Aspen Geheber, Samantha Klein, Mariah Everts, Mikayla Huesman, Mamadou Toure, Ricardo Jaimes, Shannon Marchiando and Sophia Rodgers. Six out of the ten were able to attend our first meeting and they seem as enthusiastic as I am! They already had questions and suggestions.

 

We are working on coming up with a name and logo to identify ourselves with. I also gave them our first assignment. We will be checking all the campus buildings for placement of garbage and recycling bins and the labeling around them. In these same places we will be monitoring the water fountain stations for how many water bottles are saved each day by using reusable containers. We will be working heavily with data because, as Professor Hamze likes to quote, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”!

 

 I am also very excited because I found out I can attend a Midwest regional conference on Sustainability in Decorah, IA on November 7-9^th! I hopefully get to stay on campus and hear from students across the Midwest working on programs similar to this one!

 

I also had a talk with Professor Diane Beres about the Costa Rica maymester dealing with sustainability and development. It is a wonderful opportunity for any students and especially for environmental studies majors. I told her I would help promote the project and maybe be able to go myself! Anyone who is interested can feel free to contact her or professor Hauge for more information. Also, look for posters about an information meeting coming up! That’s all the news I have for now!

Your friendly neighborhood sustainability intern,

Kristen

Enjoy our beautiful prairie and wonderful fall colors: Sat & Sun

There will be two seed collecting activities this weekend for those who would like to help restore prairies in Wisconsin.

TIMES:  Saturday, October 12 at 1:00 PM and Sunday, October 13 at 2:00 PM

PLACE: Ceresco Prairie Conservancy – meet at the Kegel Outdoor Classroom

No need to bring collecting materials – I will have them.  Be sure to wear appropriate clothes for walking out in a tall-grass prairie.

We will not collect seeds in the rain.

For more information, please contact Prof. Skip Wittler, wittlers@ripon.edu

Sodexo intern update #4: compost, milk carton recycling

I have not written any blog posts in a while since there have not been any major updates lately; so here are a few that have accumulated over the past two weeks.

Firstly, composting within the city limits of Ripon can only occur on residential properties, according to the current city ordinance. This is an obstacle to allowing us to compost here on the college campus, but the situation is being addressed. Hopefully there can be some modification to the current ordinance or we can get an exception to begin composting here in the near future. Stay tuned for future updates on this issue!

Secondly, in researching what can be recycled (because of a question I was asked by a cook in the Commons kitchen,) I found out that soymilk containers and regular milk cartons can be recycled in the single-stream recycling we have on campus. Signs will be going up in the Terrace, and most likely the Pub, to reflect this and to encourage students to recycle more.

Lastly, in the month of September, there were 29 buckets of compost brought to Fraser Farm for composting. Since each of the buckets holds 5 gallons, 145 gallons of organic materials were diverted to composting rather than going to a landfill this past month. While I have no data in terms of pounds per bucket, I guess that the average weight would be around 25 pounds per bucket (since I carry most of the buckets) that amounts to somewhere around 725 pounds of fruits and vegetable scraps that did not go to a landfill. That's something we can feel good about.

That’s it for now. Questions and comments appreciated! 

Apply to be an Eco-Rep

Apply to be an Eco-Rep today!  Here's the link:  http://riponcollegesustainability.blogspot.com/p/apply.html

We're starting a new peer-to-peer sustainability awareness campaign on campus. 
The Eco-Rep program we are starting at Ripon College is looking for creative, dedicated, and passionate leaders. We are hoping to recruit one Eco-Rep for each floor in the residence halls, with a focus on Johnson, Scott and Tri in Fall 2013. These campus leaders will attend bi-weekly meetings and work with residents on their floor, similar to an R.A.. The Eco-Reps will be working on highlighting sustainability in the dorms by increasing environment awareness of energy, waste, and water! It is work that promises to be fun, rewarding and innovative. 

Ideal Eco-Reps Candidates Should Be:

• Enthusiastic about community involvement
• Able to work with others in a team environment
• Able to dedicate time outside of meetings
• Motivated to make a difference among peers
• Friendly, flexible, and willing to hear ideas
• Organized and creativeand, of course, interested in environmental issues and green living

 

Sodexo intern update #3: compost, canning, eating a vegetarian diet, Food Committee, honey, Campus Garden

Last week was for me in terms of environmental sustainability. First, I took seven 5-gallon buckets of fruit and vegetable waste to the GrowSureEase farm to be composted. The previous week, I had delivered five 5-gallon buckets, so the compost pile is growing nicely and it appears that we are having more participation from kitchen staff in using the buckets for compostable materials.  That's  fantastic! Since the start of this semester, I would estimate that we have taken over 20 of the 5-gallon buckets to GrowSureEase (although I don’t have an official count). So, that feels like a great accomplishment to keep that waste out of landfills and to continue doing so in the future.

 At the Fraser farm, I met Seth Winkel, who has taken a class on how to do canning and is interested in working with Ripon College students to can some left-over tomatoes from the GrowSureEase farm. So, if there is anyone reading this blog that would be interested in something like that, feel free to email me at WelzenK@ripon.edu. We will hopefully be canning some tomatoes in the form of salsa on Sunday, September 29.

On a different note, I unintentionally ate in the style of a ‘meatless Monday’ yesterday; something that is far rarer for me than perhaps it should be. By doing so, I realized how easy it actually could be if one consciously decides to do so, even for a day. On that note, I have to pause to give all vegetarians and vegans kudos, because I don’t think that is something I could do every day. To all the omnivores out there who may be reading this: I challenge you to eat vegetarian for a day (or if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, eat only vegan-friendly foods for a day). You might be surprised by how easy (or difficult) it may be for you, or perhaps expand your horizons a bit. For me, it made me question why I normally eat meat every day. Is it the options we are presented? An unconscious habit? Taste preference? And perhaps the most important question: how can I change this? 

The Pickard Commons will most likely soon be making some changes in terms of the food it serves, with the implementation of a student-run ‘Food Committee’ in which student representatives meet with Sarj, Dean Ogle, and Melissa Bemus to discuss what changes theyt would like to see in on-campus dining halls.

In other sustainability news, look for a bottle of honey from the bees that EGOR keeps on campus to appear in the Commons within the next month. More on that when it happens and the student response to it.

Oh, and don’t forget to head down to the Campus Garden to pick any produce that you want! There are still many tomatoes to pick, so go enjoy.

               

Help collect seeds from the prairie

Enjoy the fall weather and Ripon’s wonderful prairie – help collect seeds.

Who: Anyone

What: Seed Collecting

When: Saturday, September 28, 2013, 12:30pm

Where: Ceresco Prairie Conservancy – meet at the Kegel Outdoor Classroom

Why: Each year Ripon College donates locally harvested prairie seeds to land owners restoring prairies on their land.

For more information, please contact Prof. Wittler, wittlers@ripon.edu

WELCOME TO SUSTAINABILITY INTERN: KRISTEN LARSON

Hello there! My name is Kristen Larson and I am the recently-hired sustainability intern at Ripon College. I am an Environmental Studies and Anthropology double major as well as being a member of the Ripon college dance team and a sister of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. I also teach Zumba classes!

            I have always been interested in the environment and its protection. As a kid I would get upset when people did not recycle or when I saw garbage thrown into nature. As I grew older I became aware of more environmental issues as well as the solutions they required. Sometimes looking at all the environmental issues can be overwhelming and leave you feeling helpless, but you just have to remember to do your part. I believe that each individual can make a change and, as one of my favorite quotes says, “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do”. By working as Ripon’s sustainability intern I hope I can start to make that change.

I am incredibly excited to get started with an Eco Rep program here! This will be a peer-to-peer project aimed at fostering sustainability within the dorms. I will be posting updates as the project goes along.  Working with Prof. Hamzé (the campus sustainability coordinator), we hope that this program will be taken seriously and continue to grow even once I’m graduated! If we can make sustainability something that students on this campus think about as part of everyday decisions, if we can integrate it into the very culture of this campus, I feel we will have done a great service.

Stay tuned for updates as we get the new program rolling!

Beat the Peak - Day 2

If historical records are predictive, then Tuesday (9/10/13) is our day to Beat the Peak.  In both 2011 and 2012 the campus had the annual maximum electricity use on days with an 89F high.  Tuesday's high is forecast to be 89.  Reducing our electrical load just 12% during the hottest time of one day will potentially save the college over $3000 for the year! Check out the "Energy" tab on this blog for more information.

Tuesday and Wednesday, between 1 PM and 4 PM,  all members of campus are asked to make an effort to reduce their use of electricity.  These individual efforts can lead to a collective result of lower electric bills and a reduced carbon footprint for campus.

Here's what you can do to help

Students

• Turn off your lights, fans, and all electronics before you leave your room.  
• If you see electricity being used where it doesn't need to be, like lights on in an empty common area or classroom, turn them off! Your tuition dollars help pay the bills. Don't  be complacent and  watch your money be wasted.

Faculty and Staff

• Close your office door so that air conditioning can work as effectively as possible.  (Perhaps post a sign "This door is closed to conserve energy, please knock".) 
• Turn off your air conditioner before leaving for the day, of course!
• Turn off lights  when leaving any room on campus.
• If you have good natural lighting, consider not using lights at all.

Depending on the weather, I may post only more "Beat the Peak" reminder.  I hope to be able to share good news of reduced Peak Electricity Use when we receive our campus utility bill in October.  Let's use less so that we have more!

More. Together.