Hello all,

I graduated from UMBC last spring and now volunteer with the organization, Greenpeace. This group advocates for environmental concerns on many different levels. Currently a major topic of concern is whether or not our government will decide to begin drilling for oil in the Arctic. I would like to invite members of the University to watch a video on the possible implications and problems that this could cause for our world.

As a student I look back and wish I was more involved with campus activities and groups. At this point, I'm not sure of the best way to reach students and plan this movie screening. Are there members of the green team that could possibly help me?

I would really appreciate the chance to share this movie and information with anyone who is interested.

Thank you!

Kali Dean

UMBC's annual Harvest Fest will be October 22^nd  from 11:30 to 1:30p.m at Commons Mainstreet and Terrace.  

Harvest Fest is part of national celebrations of Campus Sustainability Day (celebrating sustainability in higher education and empowering change on campus and in the community) and Food Day (a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food).  The event will showcase campus partners involved in making an impact in each of these global issues.

I was proud to see that UMBC is protecting, replanting, and saving a lot of trees and plants- plus adding a lot more- with the construction efforts with the Campus Entrance Project. Here's the article from: http://campusentrance.umbc.edu/news/?id=45196.

Tree and Vegetation Conservation Efforts

• Rain gardens
• Rooftop rainwater harvesting systems at the PAHB
• Living green roofs at our LEED buildings at Patapsco Hall and the Community Center
  
• Pervious pavers at the Breezeway, new parking lot and other locations
  
• Stormwater retention ponds such as the Library Pond and Pig Pen Pond
  
• Protected forests and 'No Mow Zones' on campus also help, by increasing the amount of water that gets filtered and absorbed into the ground.

UMBC, together, we've made some amazing stuff happen here in the past year!

This is just a glimpse at some of the exciting green initiatives here at UMBC:

1. Green roofs growing strong at Patapsco, the community center, and soon the administration building- and our new green LEED buildings

2. Launching Baltimore's first bike share at the RAC, and Friday fun rides with the cycling club led by Patrick Hixenbaugh

3. Kicking off composting in the Commons with a new standard for bins and labels with Angie Hammerbacher and Sandy Mowbry (Campus Card), Donna Anderson (Facilities), Christian Alexander (the Commons), David Glenn (Chartwells), Keith(Waste Neutral), Laura Schraven(Commonvision) and so many amazing student advocates from SEA, SGA, and beyond!

4. More faculty collaborating and educating with the first workshop to incorporate sustainability in courses across disciplines with Dr Rita Turner and Steven McAlpine (INDS)

5. More student leaders than ever before, flourishing and collaborating with the first sustainability planning summit with interns Jack Neumeier, David Wecht, and Virginia Bryne (Leadership Coordinator, Student Life)

6. Piloting the first green office program, developing the tools and training for staff to come together in greening offices (Admin & Finance, INDS, Visual Arts, Commons, Media & Communications Studies, Campus Card, and Student Life)

7. Celebrating campus sustainability and real food with the first harvest festival in October

8. Students founding the environmental task force to forge partnerships and service projects with communities in need

9. The exciting Fall 2013 new student book experience and author lecture, focused on taking action on climate change

10. This beautiful Fall 2013 issue of UMBC magazine, focused on sustainability

11. Commuters and others partnering up with the new carpooling program and events with Jessica Sadler, Karly Trinite (Off Campus Student Services)

12. This inspiring series of reflections from members of the UMBC community on building a sustainable culture on campus, with David Hoffman (Student Life, BreakingGround)

13. New BreakingGround sponsored courses connecting sustainability to the community: Saving Trees with Mary Rivkin and Donna Anderson, Environmental Politics with Roy Meyers, and Environmental Justice with Dawn Biehler

Let's make even bigger waves next year! ... what are your favorite things from 2013?

Can't wait to get started learning, sharing, and catalyzing positive change with you this year!

Tanvi

By being wise about consuming nature's resources, we can sustain the planet, people, and proserity.

Do you contribute to the health of the enviornment in your day to day life? How so? And, what inspires you? Healthy air and water for you and your family? Global justice? Saving money?

Take the Green Pledge here, and join the community at UMBC choosing to advance sustainability through our actions and interactions.:

http://sustainability.umbc.edu/umbc-green-pledge/

From carpooling to biking, buses to trains there are many sustainable ways to get to UMBC! Explore your options and connect with commuters at the following OCSS Commuter Week events:

Transportation Fair

You can SAVE MONEY on transportation!

Carpool Fever

Face your carpooling fears!

Preview a couple quotes and follow the link to the original post:

Jack Neumeier, ’15, Health Administration and Public Policy (President, The Garden@UMBC): Sustainability doesn’t just mean recycling, composting, or being ‘green’!If we go back to the root word, sustainability becomes a kind of life philosophy. How can I account for the social, economic, and environmental impacts of my actions, of my society’s actions? Through this process I must first acknowledge the profound impact I have on others, and the profound impact they have on me, the majority of which go unseen but don’t go un-felt. In that way President Hrabowski offers that elusive, pithy definition when he quotes Mother Teresa:“We belong to each other”. If we can acknowledge that, we’ll have a come a long way.

Rita Turner (Lecturer in Media and Communication Studies): "Don’t let people get away with assuming that the way we do things is the way we have to do things. Question why we live the way we do and why we think the way we do. Ask yourself what your surrounding ecosystems and your fellow beings mean to you, and live in ways that force others to face this question as well. Truly be part of a local community, and recognize that community does not just mean humans, it means all the interconnected life that co-inhabit a place. Respect and defend your neighbors of every species."

BreakingGround

 

Building a Sustainable Culture

October 21, 2013 By David Hoffman Leave a Comment

100 Words is a BreakingGround series that asks faculty, staff and students across campus to explore a challenging issue that impacts us all. This post asks: “What can members of the UMBC community do to contribute to a culture of sustainability?”

Click on one of the photos, below, to see the full gallery of responses and add your view, in 100 words or less, as a comment.

Tanvi Gadhia (Environmental Sustainability Coordinator): Sustainability starts with recognizing the consequences of wasting resources; the sacrifices, exploitation, oppression and destruction associated with our consumption and waste. A sustainable culture recognizes interdependence, and acts with hope and gratitude rather than greed or ego. Sustainability can be accomplished through conserving resources, which often also conserves money and time. We can all transform our impact- personally, collectively and systemically- to restore the health and well being of all, from across the street to across the globe. Sustainability means living mindfully, discovering new solutions, remembering our deepest values, and expanding compassion and respect to all life, and the planet.

Nathan Rehr, ’13, Political Science (Acting Assistant Director, Sondheim Public Affairs Scholarship Program): Look around your room and see how much junk you have. How much did you buy that you didn’t need? How much are you going to end up throwing away? What can be re-purposed and what can be recycled? We’re all guilty of over-consumption and we can all take actions to live more sustainably. Only buy what you need. Buy used or refurbished materials. Start thinking about every product you consume as the sum of its resources. Once you realize the extent of your footprint, you can begin to reduce it. And pass it on, always speak for the trees.

Rita Turner (Lecturer in Media and Communication Studies): Don’t let people get away with assuming that the way we do things is the way we have to do things. Question why we live the way we do and why we think the way we do. Ask yourself what your surrounding ecosystems and your fellow beings mean to you, and live in ways that force others to face this question as well. Truly be part of a local community, and recognize that community does not just mean humans, it means all the interconnected life that co-inhabit a place. Respect and defend your neighbors of every species.

Meggen Marx, graduate student in Imaging and Digital Arts (whose work highlights the impact of plastics/toxins after their appealing durability and convenience has expired). What is it we aim to sustain? Our world is in crisis. Let’s question a market selling products for short-term use — gobbling resources, increasing landfills and enlarging the growing North Pacific Gyre, a toxic museum of consumer waste swirling in our ocean currents. By consuming more lastingly, considering the ways and means of production, and supporting business and regulation that align with sustainability, we can strive to do what is best for the environment, society, and the future first – and the economy second. Individual actions can reverse our current state, achieving a culture of sustainability we so desperately need.

Dawn Biehler (Assistant Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems): Who will get to enjoy the sustainable world that we envision? Many people think of sustainability as a technical challenge to be solved with new innovations, but it is also – perhaps even more so – a challenge of politics. The history of environmental projects is littered with great inventions that failed to help the people who most needed them. I’ve heard of dozens of ideas for ingenious sanitation systems or tree-planting schemes, yet many communities still have not benefitted. A culture of just sustainability requires that we assert our political will to re-order priorities and overturn privilege.

Eric Zeemering (Assistant Professor of Public Policy): At the local level, communities with higher levels of civic engagement appear to make more progress on the adoption of programs intended to help their communities become more sustainable. Supporting a sustainability goal like increasing recycling is easy. If recycling containers are available, an individual can choose to recycle alone. To tackle more complex sustainability problems, a community must work together in order to reflect on collective behaviors. To foster an active interest in sustainability at UMBC, the community should encourage dialogue about how we can make the campus a more sustainable place.

Donna Anderson (Manager of Landscape and Grounds): Reduce distractions! My belief is that we are to take care of where we live. This idea began with the creation of the earth. It’s not a new-age thought. If you are aware of your surroundings, you will seek to improve them. We strive to make our lives better than the way we begin. Do no harm: Don’t throw trash on the ground, cover up to keep warm and turn off the lights to save energy. It’s not rocket science and it’s not too difficult. Whatever we do affects not only ourselves, but everyone around us and those that come after us. Respect yourself and your environment. Make an effort to become aware.

 

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We need your help! First, take the Green Pledge and ask your friends to join as well. While you are at it, mention these two major upcoming events and sign up to volunteer!  Keeping the environment safe, healthy, just, and sustiainable starts with our personal choices, and we're making those choices obvious, simple and easy- let's show our community we care and inspire more to join us!

1st Yr Book Experience Climate Author Lecture: Wednes, Oct 16th 7pm, UC Ballroom

• Collect Green Pledges before the lecture
• Collect Green Pledges after the lecture

Harvest Fest Oct 23rd: Wednes, 11:30am to 1:30pm, Commons Mainstreet

• Collect Green Pledges
• Run photo booth
• SEA/GES composting/recycling table
• Energy/climate table
• Man popcorn machine

Contact sustainability@umbc.edu or comment below to get involved today!

Best Ways to Save Energy

UMBC has committed to addressing our carbon footprint. We purchase 20% of our energy from renewable sources, and are always improving our facilities to conserve energy. We have reduced our carbon emissions 13.3% since 2007, we aim for 15% reductions by 2015. Everyone on campus can help!

Heating and Cooling has the biggest impact on our energy use and carbon footprint, along with electricity use and transportation. Here’s what all of us can be doing to save energy on campus:

Temperature Control

• We keep windows and exterior doors closed to keep air conditioning inside.
• We stay comfortable by dressing for the weather, instead of plugging in extra space heaters.
• We never use space heaters on campus. Facilities Management’s HVAC Shop may provide temperature space heaters if there is an issue with the heating system.
• We keep equipment (such as copiers or PCs) and large furniture away from thermostats.

Temperature set points:

• Our set points are 70^o F in the heating season (winter) and 76^o F in the cooling season (summer)
• These are consistent with federal/state guidelines of 68^o F in winter and 78^o F in summer.
• Set points are set by Facilities Management for centrally controlled systems.
• When we control thermostats we to adhere to these settings.
• We report a room or area that is beyond the range of 68^o F and 78^o F by notifying Work Control (410-455-2550).
• Spaces with critical temperature requirements (such as research labs), can request an exception to the campus standards by contacting UMBC’s Energy Manager, Shawn Blum (shawn@umbc.edu).

Lighting:

• We turn off lights when exiting rooms and whenever daylight provides sufficient lighting.
• On hot, sunny days, we partially close the shades or blinds to reduce the solar heat gain.
• Use task lighting, adding light only on the area where you are working.
• Except for reasonable display lightly (such as in retail areas), purely decorative lighting in not permitted, inside or outside.

Electronics:

• When purchasing computers, monitors, electronic equipment, electrical appliances, etc., look for products with the Energy Star label- choose the most energy-efficient products when possible.
• Set your computer and monitor to hibernate when unattended for more than 15 minutes. If you need instructions visit: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=power_mgt.pr_power_mgt_more_tips
• Enable power management features on copiers and office equipment so that they automatically power down and hibernate when not in use, such as nights and weekends.
• We share a fridge and other appliances with our officemates and neighbors, rather than each of us plugging in our own mini fridge and coffeemaker in every room.

Practices:

• In unoccupied spaces during nights, weekends, and holidays, air conditioning equipment/fans are shut off.
• Unoccupied space temperatures float down to 60^o F in the heating season and up to 85^o F in the cooling season.
• For warehouse/storage areas with no air conditioning, the heater’s thermostats will be set no higher than 55^o F.
• Domestic hot water temperatures and hot water heaters will be set at 115^o F.

Major Upgrades at UMBC Conserves Energy & Saves Water!

$5.4 Million from the Maryland Clean Energy Center will allow UMBC to:

• Save Energy by Updating Lighting
• Conserve Water with New Irrigation Controls
• Save Energy with Demand Control Ventilation

By the Numbers:

Energy Manager Shawn Blum estimates the upgrades will:

• Save 7,000,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually
• Save 3,000,000 gallons of water annually
• Pay for itself via the associated utility savings in 10 years
• Reduce 3,800 MTeCO2 (Carbon Dioxide) per year
• Reduce 4.3% of UMBC’s carbon footprint versus the baseline

Do you think sustainability is smart?

So, once you've finished that meal at the Commons, what do you do with that stuff that's left?  The box, the cup, the utensils and wrappers?

The Commons has recently installed new waste containers that have color coded tops with corresponding labels on header boards.  

• Green is for compostables
• Blue is for glass/plastic and cans.
• Navy blue is for clean paper (no food stuff).
• Black is for landfill, you know, the stuff you call trash. Trash or things that can not be recycled end up in the landfill.

Here are your four choices:

Compostables (Green label) = food scraps, white and green Pepsi cups, clear Greenware cups, soiled paper such as napkins, greasy pizza boxes, paper plates . Outtakes, Fresh Fusions and Wild Greens provide compostable ware = take out containers, utensils, soup cups, and salad containers.

Glass Plastic and Cans (blue labels)= glass bottles and jars , aluminum cans , steel cans

Paper (sky blue with navy blue letters labels ) clean paper only , paper board(gray cardboard) newspapers and paper bags. By separating paper, we are able to make money for more recycling and reduce contamination!

Landfill (Black Label) = Trash = Styrofoam , candy and protein bar wrappers, potato chip bags and the like. Trash anything not recyclable. Not all plastics are made equal- sadly, plastic utensils, straws, lids and shrink wrap are not made to be recycleable.

What happens to the Compostables? Food scraps, soiled paper and compostable cups are stored in a dumpster at The Commons and True Grits where it is picked up frequently . Waste Neutral, a contractor hauls compostable materials to a commercial composting facility. In return, the University receives finished compost- decomposed plant material transformed into fertile soil!  Composted soil from this process has been used on campus at the dining hall herb garden and the historical sign planting on Giffen Hill . UMBC Composted over 168000 lbs. of material in 2012. Composting began on campus thanks to the work of the SGA in collaboration with many campus partners and contracters.

We separate our recycling to save resources by reducing contamination- with Dual stream or target recycling . This method of separating recycling commodities supports funding recycling education and events.