Did you know that, according to the EPA, about 71.5% of the electricity in the U.S. is generated from non-renewable resources such as oil, gas, and coal?

What can be done to change this?  There are obvious things such as turning off lights when not using a room, turning down the heat in the winter, not using electricity as often, etc. But what about as a college student at Western?  As students at Western, we are actually rather lucky that we do have opportunities to effect some change in the amount of electricity being used by our campus.  Also, we have ways to learn new information that other campuses may not offer. 

Did you know that the HRL (Housing and Residence Life) website has a feature that allows students to see how much electric energy is being used by their dormitory?  This feature is called the Energy Efficient Dashboard (or just Dashboard). (http://www.wku.edu/housing/dashboard.htm) Dashboard allows students to see their dorm’s electric usage and even compare it to other dorms on campus.  The feature also translates the amount of electricity being used into other forms of energy use such as miles driven in a car, carbon dioxide emission, or dollars spent.  Dashboard is updated every 60 seconds so students know they are getting the most up-to-date information as possible.  As students at Western we should take advantage of this wonderful tool and use it to our best ability.

Another resource offered by Western to promote eco-friendly change is the GreenToppers.  GreenToppers is a student-led and ran organization that is focused on informing people about environmental problems as well as informing people on how they can make changes in their lives that will help preserve the environment.  GreenToppers also offers and supports events around campus for students to get more involved.  If you’re already well informed about sustainability and environmentalism, GreenToppers is still for you as it is also a place for people who are already environmentally minded to have their ideas heard and put into action.  Being known all throughout Bowling Green, the GreenToppers allow students to have their voice heard by important people all around Bowling Green as well as campus.  If you thought you couldn’t make a difference, think again.  The GreenToppers is your portal to have your ideas on sustainability heard. 

The Office of Sustainability does a great deal of hard work every single day to make Western a more sustainable campus, but since a university thrives through its students, Western needs student voices to make the changes happen.  Before Western makes a change it wants to know that the change is something that will be supported by the students.  This means that as students we have a responsibility to keep pushing for sustainable movements on campus.  This is your chance to get involved!

For more information on anything written in this blog contact me, Adrianna Silver, via email at: adrianna.silver@gmail.com

Everywhere you go you hear this term “organic” being thrown around… what are they talking about?  What is organic, and why does it matter?

The recent craze for organic food is more than just a social phase like dream diets that promise a healthy heart and a leaner body.  Studies have shown that eating organic foods certainly will help prevent heart disease, cancer, and other health issues commonly found in Americans, but this is not the only benefit of organic farming and consumption. While eating organic food does promote a healthy diet, which is of utmost importance, there are benefits outside of personal health that are of equal or greater importance.   

When you see a food product that is labeled “organic” it means that the food was grown without chemical herbicides and pesticides.  For you, the consumer, this means that there are no chemicals that are being put into your body with that food.  For the farmers, it means a safer work environment (if you don’t believe me, research the Bhopal gas tragedy).  For the environment, this means that the farming that went into producing the food you’ve purchased did not contribute to any chemical contamination of soil, water, or other plant life. One environmental problem with chemical pesticides and herbicides is that often times the chemicals do not hit solely the targeted plant and therefore affect far more than just the intended produce. The chemicals then can have a detrimental effect on the soil, water, and surrounding plant life.  The chain reaction isn’t too hard to figure out when you consider that other plants will be feeding off of the soil and water that becomes contaminated, as well as local wildlife sustaining itself on these contaminated sources.  The chemicals spread in this manner through the environment, not to mention that the odds of all of the chemicals being washed off of the produce you’ve purchased is quite slim, thus spreading the chemicals into your body as well.  Recent studies have also shown an increase in cases of ADHD in children that have diets involving high quantities of pesticides.  

There are alternatives to chemical pesticides and herbicides.  These natural alternatives are sustainable ways to produce the food that we, the human population, are consuming.  Of course, the best alternative to chemically enhanced food products is local organic farming.  Knowing where your food comes from as a consumer is very important because it gives you more control over your own health, diet, and effect on the environment.  Lucky for those of us in Bowling Green, Kentucky there are local options.  I suggest everyone look into going to the local farmers market, finding, and purchasing your organic produce there.  If you think you can’t effect positive change, you’re wrong.  Here is one way for you to make a small life change that will have great, lasting rewards.    

For your own benefit, consider doing your own research.  There are many sources for facts about the benefits of eating organic food and purchasing organic products.  Also, if you want to get involved and/or learn more you can contact me!  While Western does provide some organic options for students, the choices are limited at best; it is up to us students to raise awareness and make change!

Adrianna Silver

adrianna.silver@gmail.com

It is amazing to see the progress WKU has made towards becoming sustainable in its facilities and practices as well as in teaching the values of sustainability to its students, faculty, and staff. Such a push is being made towards ‘going green’ in the media now that the popular buzz word can be tagged to almost anything to make it seem more environmentally friendly, sometimes deceivingly so.

The work I saw as a student at WKU, and now continue to see as an alumni goes beyond just a buzz word though. WKU is putting into practice ‘green’ initiatives, but not just as a plug for good press. The people behind the changes you see are people who understand the driving factors behind sustainable practices, behind ‘going green.’ Those driving factors are about creating a quality of life that can
be maintained well beyond what our current levels of consumption will allow. It is not an easy shift though, and it is the hard work of all those involved that make any of this possible. 

Of those striving for a sustainable future, I know many who can hardly bear to think about the disaster that is still poisoning our ocean waters. And the lasting damages from this are still far from over as oil bits enter the food chain and as others possibly migrate out into the Gulf Stream or into open waters. But there are some real reasons to smile too. Hidden amongst the clutter and debris of an over-consumptive lifestyle are a few bright spots that shine with the light of rejuvenation. I am glad to call WKU and my home one of them.

If you are compelled to help this great work as I was and still am, please donate your time and energy to any of the many initiatives happening on campus now. If you don’t have the time but are in a place to assist financially, the newly instated Green Fund helps to make much of this work possible. Support from the WKU community has helped bring us this far, and with the momentum ever rising, helping anew or renewing your ongoing drive to see a better future will bring
positive long term change.

Cheers
Seth Cude - WKU alum

Since first hearing the news of the BP oil spill on Earth Day, my heart has had a big ol’ hole in it. Recognizing that I am living in a state of grief, my mother sent me a St. Francis medal to wear around my neck, believing that this could give me strength and that it would help me pray for the wildlife affected by the disaster. The medal has helped a little bit, but as the days pass and the volume of oil gushing into the gulf grows, so does the break in my heart. It seems a ridiculously high price to pay, but my only consolation is hope that this can serve as a lesson. The lesson is for us all: we all drive cars and use petroleum-based products every day. There is oil in every room of our homes. And, quite simply, the price we pay for fuel and other petroleum-based and supported goods and services DOES NOT REFLECT THE TRUE COST.

Please educate yourselves and others by viewing and sharing this amazing list of resources prepared by Dr. Ouida Meier, who I’m sure feels this heartbreak even more acutely than I do, as she grew up in New Orleans and spent much time in the marshes and barrier islands of the Gulf Coast.

Gulf 2010

-Christian Ryan-Downing

So, graduation is 47 days away. As a graduating senior, the heat is on to find that first real-world job. I want to obtain a career in the environmental services industry, but where would one even begin to look? Since Christmas I have been online job hunting and I can already tell you that even with a ton of experience, its still hard to land that first job. I know I am not the only senior out there doing the same thing this time of year, so I’ve compiled a list of websites and tips that I have had more success with.

• Topjobs- This is the job search engine that WKU Career Services offer. After posting my resume on it, I have had an employer contact me regarding community organizing. Although, its not what I am looking for at the moment, someone DID contact me because of my environmental leadership experience so employers DO look at it!
• www.jobsinsustainability.com- Christian Ryan-Downing pointed me to this website, it takes the environmental/sustainable jobs posted from Monster and Simply Hired and condenses them onto this website. **Go to the homepage, you may recognize someone from WKU on it!!**
•  www.usajobs.gov- If you are willing to relocate and survive the long application process, there are LOTS of government and civilian job pertaining to the environment. From what I’ve learned, if you can obtain any entry-level government job, you have a better chance of transferring into another government job that may be more up your ally
• http://planning.org/jobs/search/- I have not personally applied for any positions on this site (I haven’t seen many that are entry-level), but if you are into planning you can not get a better site. 

Other Tips

• Become subscribed to a society or national group pertaining to your field. For example, I became a member of the Association of American Geographers and once I did I got access to job posting for geographers. Many groups may have free RSS job feeds. 
• You can also google what position you are looking for and have google send you an alert every time one pops up
• I have had ZERO success with Monster and the other mainstream job hiring sites. You could not be a tinier fish in a larger pond. Another con is the SPAM! Many of the online applications I have filled out through there have led me to a lot of spam in my inbox and phone calls from scamming insurance companies. No Bueno
• I follow on Twitter and Facebook a Career Advice for young adults Guru, Lindsay Pollack, I saw her speak at a conference and she blogs and posts the best advice. Follow her too or find your own career guru to follow.

Well, those are my tips.Best of luck on your eco-career hunt!

Sara Ferguson, Office of Sustainability Intern

Finally Spring! Just when the gray skies and cold mornings are getting too much to bear, daffodils bloom, birds are singing, and it is even light for a few hours after work! Its time to shake off the winter blues and emerge from hibernation and April is full of ways to celebrate the season.

April 16^th-18^th the annual Campus Community Partnerships for Sustainability Conference is being hosted by University of Kentucky, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, and Transylvania University. The conference travels to a different campus each year, and last year WKU was thrilled to host the event.
I attended my first CCPS conference in 2007 when it was hosted by Eastern Kentucky University. I was a student then and attended with other GreenToppers. We had a ball and came home with a document prepared by us and students from other Kentucky schools, demanding a commitment to sustainability by our university. As a university, we’ve come far since then but that reflection is for another day. The idea that I want to share here is that this is a GREAT opportunity for students. The conference is free and if transportation or lodging is a problem, contact me and I can help you. I would love to see our students, who are exceptional in so many ways, represent WKU at this conference. If you are interested in attending, visit: www.greencampusky.org for information.

April 22^nd is the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day. We are throwing a huge bash here at WKU, including activities, how-to demonstrations and all kinds of great exhibits by campus and community partners. The agenda and list of participants follows (preliminary agenda - some details still to be announced). Please plan to join us!

Events include:

·         9-11:00: Experience the sustainability initiatives at the WKU farm. Tours will be on site and will last 30 minutes each.

·         Noon: “Garbology” Environmental Education students take a close look at what we throw away. Sponsored by the Center for Environmental Education and Sustainability

·         Noon-1:00: Noon Tunes on the DUC Patio.

·         1:00:  Come help plant this spring’s addition to the Community Herb Garden, and take some cuttings home too! Workshop lead by the WKU Garden Crew.

·         2:00:  “Sustain Your Style” recycled materials fashion show, produced by students in the Design Merchandising and Textile Program in the Consumer and Family Sciences Department.

·         3:00:  Composting Workshop by WKU Recycling. Come and learn how to transform your kitchen scraps into black gold, and take some worms home to help.

·         Noon-4:00:  “Eco-feminism” by WKU Women’s Studies Department. Tie-dye your plain white T-shirt and join the drum circle – stop by their booth any time.

·         Noon-4:00: Join us in welcoming the Sky Farmers’ Market for their first appearance on our campus, and for the opening of the new growing season. Come meet the farmers that grow your food.

·         Noon-4:00: “Solar Powered Smoothies” and other goodies from WKU Restaurant and Catering Group. Stop by to watch the power of the sun run the blender, and take some sample snacks.

·         Noon-4:00: Stop by for a lesson in basic mechanics from Big Red’s Bike Coordinator, and learn more about our campus bike lending program.

·         Noon-4:00: Informational booths galore, including:  ALIVE Center, General Motors, GO BG  Transit, Greener Groundz, GreenToppers, Humane Society, Institute for Citizenship and Social responsibility, Interfaith Coalition for Earth Care, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Division for Air Quality, Nutrition Center, Office of Sustainability, Organic Alchemy, Sierra Club, Student Government Association, TVA/BGMU,  WKU Health and Fitness Lab, WKU Biology Dept., WKU Bookstore, WKU Ecology Club, WKU Environmental Health & Safety, WKU Habitat for Humanity, WKU Horticulture Department, WKU Outdoor Recreation and Activity Center, WKU Parking and Transportation, WKU Recycling, WKU Restaurant and Catering, WKU Surplus and Supply, University of KY College of Agriculture Extension

·         4:00:  Join the Bowling Green Interfaith Coalition for Earth Care in a candlelight procession from the WKU campus to Fountain Square in downtown Bowling Green for prayer, reflection, and open mic.

·         4:00 till ?: Live music continues in the DUC courtyard, featuring Joe and the Bugmen, Polytheon, and others to be announced.

Celebrate spring and our lovely planet by participating in one of these great events. For more information, contact me at: Christian.ryan-downing@wku.edu or 745-2508

As a graduate student at WKU, I worked for the campus recycling program for three semesters. There is nothing like handling waste to learn about the activities and practices of an institution… or household… or society. After all, it is historic waste that archeologists are digging through, right? I’ve heard people say that future generations will refer to us as the “plastic people”, due to all the plastic that we leave behind in landfills, rivers, and oceans.
Handling WKU’s waste, and researching and compiling our waste and recycling statistics, it became clear to me that we generate a staggering amount of trash, most of which can be recycled but, sadly, is not (although we are making encouraging progress in our recycling rates).
Much of our waste is exactly that - waste. We all over-print, over-purchase and under-use. It’s heartbreaking to recycle pallets or boxes of unopened printed materials and, aside from the trees that had to be sacrificed, the financial waste seems incredibly irresponsible, especially in light of our current budget woes.
We have an entire warehouse full of used furniture, filing cabinets, computer monitors, and other items, most of which are thrown away or recycled because either nobody wants them or knows they are there.
Much of our waste is packaging: plastic bottles (which are worth very little as a recyclable), cardboard, Styrofoam, plastic bags, and other packaging materials.

The phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” may seem cliché but it’s really a brilliantly simple set of rules that we should all live by. As I circled the campus everyday picking up recyclables, the main thing that occurred to me was, this didn’t have to come on to our campus in the first place.
Plastic water bottles are my favorite example. It takes three liters of water to produce one liter bottle of water. The water from our taps is often held to higher standards than the water that is bottled for sale. For sale! We are buying water in bottles! It takes at most, 30 minutes to drink a bottle of water. The bottle lasts for longer than a lifetime. And plastic bottles are made from petroleum! In a world where so many people are without clean water to drink, plastic is floating over an area the size of Texas in our ocean, and wars are being waged over oil, bottled water is ridiculously unsustainable.
Many schools and communities have banned the use and sale of bottled water. The impact such a ban would have at WKU would be substantial, and most obvious and visible in our waste management.  

Alas, there are few that actually see the waste. If we could pile a weeks’ worth of waste on the South Lawn, it would not only be a disgusting spectacle, but would be fascinating and shocking eye-opener for everyone. On average, we produce 100,000 – 130,000 pounds of waste per week on the WKU main campus.

It is for these reasons and others that the WKU Sustainability Committee has made the creation of a sustainable purchasing program a priority for advancing sustainability at WKU. In the coming months, we will provide guidelines for products and services that are responsibly manufactured, durable, locally made, and that use less or recyclable packaging, use less energy, and contain recycled content. Until then, please remember to reduce first, re-use second, and then recycle.  

Welcome to the WKU Sustainability Blog, now featured on the sustainability website! Our blog will feature news, events and commentary on campus sustainability topics as well as guest blogs by students, faculty and staff. If you would like to be a guest blogger for the WKU Sustainability Blog, please contact me at: christian.ryan-downing@wku.edu

Last week the WKU ‘green team’ - me and Terry Wilson, Nancy Givens, and Robin Hume, from the Center for Environmental Education and Sustainability (congrats on the recent Center name change!) went to Colorado to visit with the sustainability gurus there.

We visited the Rocky Mountain Institute and toured the building to see all the LEED features. One of their LEED credits is local food sourcing, so they provide fresh, local food in the kitchen for their employees. Very cool.

We met with Dave Newport, Director of the University of Colorado, Boulder Environmental Center and toured their recycling facility. The  Environmental Center is funded completely by student fees. The students at CU Boulder voted to assess themselves a student fee in the early 1970’s to fund recycling program and other environmental initiatives. Presently, the fee is $16 per semester and the Environmental Center employs about 100 students who oversee the recycling program, alternative transportation options, and other really great stuff. Amazing!

We met with folks from Earth Force in Denver who are doing wonderful things with teachers and K-12 students to get them thinking critically and coming up with creative solutions to issues that they (the students) truly care about. Nothing better than civically engaged middle schoolers. These Earth Force kids and their teachers are amazing. You may remember them from the sustainability conference we hosted at WKU this spring. They were there, sharing their challenges and achievements.

Finally, we met with the director of GreenPrints, which is the city of Denver’s sustainability program. How it works is that city employees in any department can apply for a one year fellowship to work with the GreenPrints program. For one year, they work in the Mayor’s office with a team of other fellows, to advance sustainability in Denver. They do a lot of neighborhood outreach and partner with Earth Force. The current director of the GreenPrints program is the city’s Parks and Recreation Director. He’s awesome and so is the program. A great model for BG!

Colorado was great, and we did find some time to hike in the Rocky Mtn. National Park (picture above). For a little while I wanted to go back to my Park Ranger days but I was so inspired by the Denver and Boulder sustainability folks I couldn’t wait to get back to my work here at WKU. By the way, they had noticed we are doing some pretty great stuff too!

And thanks, Taylor for the great restaurant recommendation. We loved The Southern Sun.

I’m so excited that I now have another way to brag on the sustainability accomplishments at WKU. I’ll be using my blog to keep everyone updated on all things green on The Hill. Tomorrow, for example, the WKU Sustainability Committee will meet and our Energy Manager, Dale Dyer will report on how we’ve conserved tons of energy this past year. Stay tuned for details on this and other exciting developments in WKU Sustainability.