Villanova University Plans “Year of Sustainability”

Introducing our first EarthFirst U college contributor Joseph Negri who will be blogging about environmental issues from the campus of Villanova University. Take it away Joseph! -Dorothee

In April 2009, Villanova will host scholars, environmental activists, and government officials from around the world at the International Sustainability Conference, an event that will combine educational and environmental concerns. Speakers will focus on the impact of sustainability on various academic disciplines such as law, economic development, and engineering. The four-day event will include a keynote address by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and a presentation of Kaiulani Lee’s “A Sense of Wonder”, a play about environmentalist Rachel Carson. Participants will be asked to donate to TreeVitalize, and a Philadelphia-based program that attempts to offset the carbon production of Pennsylvania.

The upcoming International Conference will wrap up a full year of events meant to promote public awareness about environmental issues. Villanova’s President’s Climate Committee began this “Year of Sustainability” in September as a part of a larger effort to enforce their policies. According to the Climate Committee, Villanova has two main goals concerning sustainability.

From Villanova’s Environmental Sustainability Policy :
Goal 1: Villanova University will strive to practice the principles of environmental sustainability and wise use of resources within the University community. Villanova University will make reasonable efforts to conserve resources.

Goal 2: Villanova University will engage in appropriate learning opportunities with the intention of creating a community whose members (students, faculty, staff, and graduates) are environmentally literate and responsible.

The effects of these policies can be seen on Villanova’s campus on an everyday basis as well as during these major events. The Villanova University Shop now sells environmentally friendly products that limit on campus waste. Vantage Clothing Company supplies the shop with organic cotton Villanova gear. Reusable water bottles are being sold as part of the “Refill not Landfill” campaign that seeks to limit the number of plastic bottles used on campus. All of these products are reviewed by the Green Purchasing Committee that is constantly looking for new ways to bring green products to Villanova.

As the Year of Sustainability continues, Villanova will enact more eco-friendly policies and plan more public awareness events. The university hopes that the changes occurring on campus will spread to the greater community and result in an environmentally conscious world.

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Corked Wine is Green After All, When the Cork is Sustainably Harvested

Good news, oenophiles – you don’t have to drink screw-cap wine in order to be eco-friendly. We’ve heard for years that it’s better to avoid corked wines – and cork in general – because it was claimed that cork harvesting was destroying a vital habitat.  But, it turns out that, as long as it’s sustainably harvested, using cork products actually helps maintain a healthy ecosystem in the region of Portugal where cork is grown.

Cork oaks promote a lush environment brimming with vitality, as their roots hold together soil to protect it from deluges and their branches provide homes for wildlife unique to cork forests.  As long as there’s demand for cork, this area will be protected.  Antonio Ferreira, a cork farmer in the Coruche district, explains the delicate process of harvesting cork that ensures the health of the trees.

From BBC News:

Farmers do not risk letting anyone loose on these trees with a sharpened axe. The men putting carefully placed cuts in the bark, and peeling back people-sized chunks of outer tree trunk, have been doing this job for years.

“It’s like cutting cloth for dress-making”, says Mr Ferreira.

Conceicao Silva, who works as a forest engineer for the organisation overseeing environmental standards in the industry, adds: “Bring the axe down too hard on the branch and permanent damage could be done, which will rule out generations of future harvesting.

“If it’s properly managed, what we are looking at here is the ultimate sustainable resource.”

Many wine enthusiasts were less than thrilled about screw caps, and this news might help raise public demand for cork so that vintners switch back.  So, next time you’re in the mood for a glass, choose a bottle with a cork.  As if you needed an excuse to drink a lot of wine, now you can say you’re doing it for the environment.  Cheers!

Link [BBC News]

United Arab Emirates Pledges to Pursue Sustainability

One million residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be coming together on October 17th, 18th and 19th to make a nationwide pledge to pursue policies that encourage sustainable living as part of the ‘Mission Green Earth – Stand Up and Take Action 2008’ campaign.  The campaign aims to mobilize and inspire people to go green through activities planned in schools, organizations and institutions across the emirates.

From Zawya:

In Her capacity as the UN Messenger of Peace and Patron of the campaign, Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein has asked UAE residents from all walks of life to join the campaign and take a stand in support of environmental sustainability.

“… Last year, over 43 million people stood up across the world at the same time to remind their leaders of the promise they made to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Those 43 million individuals represented a strong united voice against a plague that is threatening the future of our planet; poverty; reminding us of the responsibility we have towards the future of this earth.” She said, adding that “This year, our “Stand Up & Take Action” commitment is not only about mankind, it is also about our planet. Why? Because reducing poverty and achieving sustained development must be done in conjunction with a healthy planet, and because climate change must be addressed as a humanitarian emergency, the ‘environmental sustainability’ goal is the focus of our campaign this year. Let’s give the UAE’s voice to this global wake-up call and stand up altogether on October 17, 18 & 19.”

How exciting! This is a huge deal for the United Arab Emirates, since they have the world’s largest ecological footprint per capita. They definitely need to take action now, and just the fact that they’re recognizing that is a step in the right direction for sure. The people who pledge to work toward sustainability will be committing to conserve energy and water, reduce waste and plant trees and other landscaping with low water needs.

The ‘Stand Up’ in the UAE will be reported and photographed for inclusion in the global total, which will hopefully be added to the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest number of people standing up for a cause.

For more info on Mission Green Earth, check out the website at www.missiongreenearth.ae.

Link [Zawya] + [Mission Green Earth]

Chocolate May Go Extinct Due to Unsustainable Farming Practices

How to get guys to care about global warming? Threaten their beer. How to get women to care? Start talking about chocolate going extinct. (That’s not sexist, is it?)

The Nature Conservation Resource Council (NCRC) recently announced that within 20 years, chocolate may be as rare as caviar. The reason seems to be unsustainable farming practices. Whereas chocolate, in its native state, grows in rainforest conditions with high biodiversity, it’s now farmed by clearing the forest and using hybrid seeds to produce higher output in a shorter amount of time. This leads to soil erosion and a shorter lifespan for the cacao trees, which will eventually lead to an overall shortage of cacao.

From Triple Pundit:

While many a chocoholic may lament this news, I wish to provide our readers with a little firsthand “reality check.” Most of the world’s cacao is grown in West Africa. While living in Ghana during my study-abroad year as an undergraduate, I was struck by the fact that, even though Ghana is a net exporter of cacao, most of the country’s inhabitants could not afford to purchase a Cadbury or Hershey’s bar. Although I shared many a fresh, delicious cacao fruit with my Ghanaian friends, actually eating a chocolate bar was considered a luxury.

For Ghanaians, “no chocolate 20 years from now” is now. Such reminders are necessary to place in perspective predictions of ecological change and impacts on human populations. While we, in wealthy, industrialized countries, may fear with trepidation the loss of resources and biodiversity associated with global warming, it is important to remember that half the world’s peoples are already living that reality.

Start breaking your dependence now, people. I know I’ll have to. But a world without chocolate sounds like a sad, sad place. What will we put in s’mores?

Link [Triple Pundit]
Photo credit: Flickr user Fimb

Get a DIY Flat-Pack Home Delivered and Have an Attractive Cabin in Two Days

So you want to build your own home, but aren’t exactly a contractor. Maybe you don’t have the first clue how to go about doing it, and are in a hurry and strapped for cash. Until now, you would have had no choice but to give up your DIY dream. Lucky for you, a company called Argos has become the first major retailer to offer an attractive and affordable cabin that supposedly takes two people only two days to build.

From Springwise:

The British retailer’s basic five-room cabin, measuring roughly 32×17 feet or 8×5 meters, costs GBP 10,999. An upgraded model, with amenities such as laminate floors with in-floor heating, costs GBP 13,099. Both models are suitable for year-round living and are made by Finnish forestry company Finnforest using wood from sustainable forests.

Argos’ cabins open up several new-business opportunities. For starters, there’s likely a much larger market for ready-to-move-in cabins than for cabins that must first be put together, however easy their assembly might be. Thus, one option would be to buy the kits, assemble them and then resell the homes. The cabins’ low price coupled with their short assembly time would make the potential profit margin a lot greater than would be the case with conventionally built homes that require weeks to build.

Why stop at IKEA flat-pack furniture when you can have a flat-pack home? This is pure awesome. Just get yourself some land and you can have a nice, modest cabin that you won’t be paying off for decades to come. The entire thing (not counting land, utility hookups, surveys and permits) costs little more than the average down payment on a traditional home. This would be a great starting point for a compact homestead complete with solar panels and other energy-saving utilities.

Link [Springwise]

Green Desk: Eco-Friendly Coworking Space in Brooklyn

Ooh, this place looks fab: it’s a carbon neutral coworking space in DUMBO Brooklyn featuring a fitness center, shared bicycles and rooftop access. Each space comes fully furnished and equipped with high speed internet, voip phone, an mp3 music server preloaded with songs, utilities, copying and even free organic coffee. There are solar panels on the roof, energy efficient lighting, recycling programs, filtered water and low/no VOC finishes on everything. Sounds like a green businessperson’s dream. If you want to get in on it, act fast: they’re nearly sold out already before the place has even opened.

Link [Amit Gupta] + [Green Desk]

On-Campus Food Getting Greener (and Hopefully Tastier)

First there was the cool invention of reusable take-out trays by a college student, and now schools across the country are starting programs providing sustainably grown meals in on-campus dining halls and cafes. College students around the country are demanding green options, and they’re getting it.

From Wiretap Magazine:

“Students get it,” said Anna Lappé, a sustainability food expert, author and the co-founder of the Small Planet Institute who often speaks at campuses around the country to promote sustainable eating. “The most common question I get from students is, ‘We know we need to be promoting sustainable food — what can we do?’” She usually responds to the question with examples of what other schools have done, which is no short list.

Julian Dautremont-Smith, sustainability expert and associate director at the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Learning, or AASHE, says that one thing his organization does is connect like-minded students at schools across the country so they can compare notes and learn from each other.

This is a great example of the power of college students rallying together and making a demand, and it working. I can’t believe how far college cafeteria food has come in the short amount of time since I was an on-campus student! I was picking through barely edible, oil-soaked nastiness and making far too many trips to off-campus fast food joints as a result. I wish I would have started something like this at my own school – but then again, I went to a tiny private college funded by conservative Southern Baptists who thought that being an environmentalist meant I was a rabid, dangerous eco-terrorist. The climate is changing in more ways than one – people are so much more open to ‘green’ choices now. Take advantage of it!

Contact the AASHE through their website for information on how to get a similar program started in your school.

Link [Wiretap Magazine]
Photo credit: Flickr user klynsis

The Ultimate in Green Booze: French Returning to Shipping Wine by Sailboat

When French vineyards decided they wanted to reduce their carbon footprint, they thought backwards instead of forwards: they’re going back to a shipping method they last used in the 1800’s. Some vintners are choosing sailboats to transport their most eco-friendly wines.

From The Guardian:

Later this month 60,000 bottles from Languedoc will be shipped to Ireland in a 19th-century barque, saving 18,375lb of carbon. Further voyages to Bristol, Manchester and even Canada are planned soon afterwards.

The three-mast barque Belem, which was launched in 1896, the last French merchant sailing vessel to be built, will sail into Dublin following a voyage from Bordeaux that should last about four days. The wines will be delivered to Bordeaux by barge using the Canal du Midi and Canal du Garonne, which run across southern France from Sète in the east, via Béziers in Languedoc. Each bottle will be labelled: ‘Carried by sailing ship, a better deal for the planet.’ Although the whole process will end up taking up to a week longer than a flight, it is estimated it will save 4.9oz of carbon per bottle.

Frederic Albert, founder of the shipping company Compagnie de Transport Maritime à la Voile (CTMV), said: ‘My idea was to do something for the planet and something for the wines of Languedoc. One of my grandfathers was a wine-maker and one was a sailor.’

Smart move! Not only is it a great eco-friendly way to ship wine, it increases visibility of these vineyards because of the great story. What makes this even cooler is that ships will return to France bearing an equal tonnage of crushed glass for recycling into wine bottles. The vineyards have chosen their best, most sustainably produced wines for the sailboat voyage, because they want their eco-conscious consumers to get the full ‘green wine’ experience. Despite all this trouble, the wines will remain fairly cheap - €7 to €20 a bottle.

I’m a bit of a wino and a history dork, so the idea of my Beaujolais coming across the Atlantic on a romantic sailboat voyage makes me want to drink even more of it. Hey, we’ve got to make it worth their time and investment, right? A round of red for everyone!

Link [The Guardian]
Photo credit: Flickr user Kables

More Info for College Students: Princeton Review Adding Sustainability Ratings to their College Rankings

The jury’s still out on whether college ratings provided by outlets like Newsweek and the U.S. News and World Report are actually helpful to students and their families. There have been a lot of questions about some of the statistics used to rank schools, and some colleges have been known to intentionally skew data to rank higher.

One way that these college rankings can be helpful to college students, however, is getting a feel for a school’s eco-friendliness via The Princeton Review’s new sustainability ratings. Beginning this year, you’ll be able to see a school’s ‘green rating’ in The Princeton Review’s annual college rankings.

From the Maneater:

The Princeton Review spokeswoman Harriet Brand said the “green rating” measures how well schools are using their environmental practices to deliver a better campus experience and to prepare students to succeed in their future careers.

The rating criteria includes how environmentally responsible a school’s policies are, whether students have a quality of life on campus that is both healthy and sustainable and how well a school is preparing its students for employment and for citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges.

The data for the rating is based entirely on the 2007-2008 academic year.

Adding a rating like this to widely read rankings from the Princeton Review, which many prospective students and parents take very seriously, could be a great thing for the future of green practices in colleges. It could introduce a little competition into the sustainability practices at the schools highlighted in the issue. Students win, the environment wins – sounds good to us.

Link [The Maneater]

Photo credit: Flickr user katmere

A Green Wal-Mart? Not So Fast…

Ah Wal-Mart, the giant behemoth of a corporation, with a larger GDP than most countries and a matching environmental footprint to boot. Sure, they’ve been making noise about going eco-friendly and some blogs have fallen all over themselves to grace them with the mantle of green, but we’re still talking about a company with over 7,000 (and growing) stadium sized stores that makes most of their money selling tons of cheap plastic crap shipped over from China.

Alex Goldschmidt, online editor at Wal-Mart Watch, does a good job of killing the golden calf that is a green Wal-Mart in a guest essay at Grist titled But three of its stores have skylights. How bad could it be?. Here’s a snip, head over and read the whole thing, it’s really good.

Wal-Mart’s public relations efforts help hide the fact that despite all its talk, the company isn’t any greener than it was in 2005 when it laid out a series of company-wide environmental initiatives. The fact remains that Wal-Mart’s energy use is still rising. Until the company significantly reduces the amount of energy used to earn a dollar, its sustainability initiatives remain fundamentally flawed. Several aspects of the company’s basic business model hinder this kind of comprehensive change:

Land consumption and pollution. With the average Wal-Mart Supercenter the size of a football stadium, and parking lots often three times that size, each Wal-Mart store consumes massive amounts of land and the parking lots contribute to water pollution. Multiply that by over 7,000 Wal-Mart stores worldwide, and plans to build hundreds more every year. Wal-Mart frequently chooses to build new stores rather than renovate old ones, multiplying its impact on local land resources.

Car culture. To shop at Wal-Mart stores, consumers must drive cars. Wal-Mart has contributed to a jump of more than 40 percent in the amount of vehicle-miles American households travel for shopping purposes since 1990. Studies also show that larger stores, such as Wal-Mart, pull customers from a larger geographic area, which results in increased traffic — a 200,000 square-foot Supercenter, on average, generates over 10,000 car trips during a weekday, and even more on the weekend. Increased traffic results in increased carbon emissions.

Energy consumption. We applaud Wal-Mart’s efforts to cut energy use in some stores, but the company has a long way to go. Every few years Wal-Mart opens a few greener stores and hundreds of its traditional, energy-draining stores. While Wal-Mart hopes to make its existing stores 20 percent more efficient by 2013, the energy used by the hundreds of new stores it opens every year will significantly offset any savings and its carbon footprint will only grow larger.

So the take away here is that despite Wal-Mart’s admirable efforts to spin itself green, they remain a vastly unsustainable company with a grossly unsustainable business model. in short- Wal-Mart still sucks.

Link [Gristmill]