December 2014
Sustainability Bulletin
Upcoming RecycleMania February 1– March 28
Trashion Fashion March 31
Earth and Wellness Day April 23
Click here for the full calendar of events.
4 Energy Campaign 6 Terra Awards 8 Sustainability Programs 18 Around Town 20 Opportunities
Cover Photo by Paul Miller
UAlbany’s Energy Campaign
The Energy Campaign, the 10-week period in which the UAlbany community is challenged to reduce our electricity consumption by 10%, marks a concentrated effort of 17,000 students and over 4,000 faculty and staff to reconsider their everyday energy habits. This year, we saved over a million kilowatt hours in electricity with simple flips of the switch. Though we missed our goal of 10%, we feel invigorated by the collective power of our UAlbany community. The living residences accepted the Energy Campaign challenge with gusto. The dorms and apartments reduced their energy consumption by 14%. This large savings represents the collective behavioral changes of students, choosing to flip off the lights when leaving a room and powering down computers and TV's when not using tem. Alumni Quad walked away as the Quad winner for the Percent Reduction challenge, while Colonial has the largest kilowatt savings in the Quad division. Over on the apartments, Freedom was the largest reducer in terms of percent reduction from their baseline, while Empire had the largest kilowatt savings. The academic buildings proved to be a tougher nut to crack. After ten weeks, the buildings only achieved a 4% percent reduction. Even so, three buildings reached over a 20% reduction! Social Sciences led the pack with an impressive 24% reduction. The Student Energy Team targeted the Humanities building, powering down computers and lights in the evenings. Over the course of the campaign, Humanities rose from –20% to a full 6% reduction. Thanks to everyone for your participation! We could not have done it without you!
Saving 1,063,951 Kilowatts Hours is equivalent to saving the CO2 Emissions from:
788,022 pounds of coal burned
66.9 homes’ energy use for one year
82,553 gallons of gasoline consumed
Academic Building
Final Leaderboard
Percent
Kilowatts
Reduction
Savings
Social Sciences
24%
52,252
19
Education
21%
23,152
9
Physics
20%
41,837
16
PAC
14%
21,712
8
Lecture Centers
12%
79,839
30
Earth Science
11%
27,785
10
Arts and Sciences + Computing
10%
32,611
12
Business Administration Fine Arts
7% 7%
14,278 14,015
5 4
Humanities Campus Center
6% 6%
10,331 48,420
4 18
Science Library
3%
17,035
6
SEFCU Physical Education Chemistry University Library
3% 1% 1% 1%
8,218 2,702 9,037 3,682
3 1 3 1
University Hall Downtown Campus
0% -3%
188 -8,210
0 -3
Life Sciences
-4%
-48,262
-18
Biology
-8%
-18,940
-7
See how your academic building performed!
Final Leaderboard See how your living residence performed!
Co2 Reduction
Living Area
Percent Reduction
Kilowatt Savings
CO2 Reduction
Freedom Empire
37% 32%
67,043 230,155
20 71
Alumni
18%
70,368
31
Colonial Dutch
16% 13%
122,218 103,500
36 31
State
10%
80,679
23
Indian
7%
52,939
16
Liberty Terrace
1%
5,369
6
The Terra Awards Each semester, the Office of Environmental Sustainability awards one faculty member, one staff member, and one student a Terra to recognize their individual commitments to advancing sustainability on campus. This semester, the student nominees were so strong that the selection committee decided to bestow the award to two students. Take a moment to read about the dedication and achievements of a few of UAlbany’s outstanding individuals.
Undergraduate Student: Dylan Card Senior Dylan Card has taken on a leadership role within sustainability ever since his freshman year when he began to campaign for the procurement of more local foods and the labeling of these purchases in the campus dining halls. Since then, he has served as a World Ambassador for the LLC and President of the UAlbany Students for Sustainability. As a student worker in the Office of Environmental Sustainability, Dylan has taken on ta myriad of responsibilities including: reading energy meters reads for the Energy Campaign, creating the Empire Commons bills, recording our recycling numbers and managing the ink jet/toner recycling program. In addition, he assisted in recruiting students to attend the People's Climate March this past fall and organized many other sustainability events and programs.
Graduate Student: Lisa Cassidy Lisa Cassidy, M.S. Biodiversity, Conservation, and Public Policy, came to UAlbany with the intentions of starting a community garden on campus. The idea of a oncampus garden, was attempted in the past but it had never successfully been done. Lisa's passion for the topic of sustainable food sourcing and eating local along with her persistence and hard work, made it possible for the University at Albany to now be in the final stages of completing an on-campus heritage garden. She has also worked very closely with faculty such as Gary Kleppel and many outside organizations to pursue research in the effects that sustainable land management may have on ground-nesting birds. Lisa continues to volunteer at and support any on campus movements related to the topic of sustainability.
Staff: Todd Jones Todd serves as Assistant Director for Facilities in Residential Life, where he integrated sustainability into the operations of student living. Todd oversees the implementation and management of the popular Bike Share Program, and provide support for the Energy Campaign, Recyclemania and the Give and Go Move Out program. Todd instituted the Residential Life Pro Staff Sustainability committee, which has had a far reaching impact. On this committee, our young and enthusiastic professional staff take ownership for sustainability programming and initiatives on the quads. As the pro staff educate and influence the student RA's, more student engagement and education around sustainability is created. His implementation of this committee coupled with the appointment of Res Life reps to the Student Sustainability Council and the development of sustainability committees at each living residence, has set a standard for strategically implementing sustainability within the department. This work was recognized on a national level as Todd was selected to present UAlbany’s model at the prestigious AASHE national sustainability conference in Portland this fall.
Faculty: Dr. Roberta Johnson Dr. Roberta Johnson is a beloved professor of Environmental Science who seeks to inspire her students with activity driven and experiential lessons. Robert's teaching sets the ground work for our students who are interested in the Earth, its systems and our impact on the planet. She teaches a large number of freshman and inspires them to continue their studies about the environment. She has created the Earth Day Family Event that provides a rich experience for local families to explore and wonder about our natural resources and the ecological processes. In addition, Roberta heads the National Earth Science Teacher's Association (NESTA), which provides wonderful and far reaching services not just locally but throughout the nation.
Sustainability Programming in the Residences This fall, Residential Life formed sustainability committees on each quad and in the apartments to bring a large scale sustainability program for the residents. Enjoy a glimpse into the creative ways students learn about sustainability outside of the classroom.
State Quad: Green Games By Jennifer Obeng
In the month of November, State Quad held its large scale event for sustainability called The Green Games. The Green Games took place from the 3rd to the 6th of November. The students of State Quad were able to come together to spend time to learn more about the meaning of sustainability at UAlbany while participating in fun activities in the span of a week. To start off the week, students gathered into teams of five to try to collect the most recyclable bottles throughout the week. For the second day, students gathered together for some snacks, raffles, and sustainable bowling, a game of pins made from half-filled single-use plastic water bottles and billiard balls. On the final day ,the teams that were created throughout the week brought forth their bottle collections and came together to celebrate their successes throughout the entire event. There was dinner served and prizes distributed. As a team, State Quad’s Sustainability committee decide to put our plastic bottle donations towards our goal for Holiday Heroes.
Alumni Quad : Reuse It Campaign By Marinel Martinez Candelario
Alumni Quad’s Sustainability Committee was comprised of Tishana Lawhorne, Kiya Williams, Emma Dennehy, Freisi Alfonseca, Tony Deng with Resident Director Marinel Martinez overseeing the programming group for the Fall 2014 semester. We together created the “Reuse It Campaign” program held on October 20th, 2014. This program featured approximately six tables in Waterbury Basement, with each one having an activity which challenged students to reuse different materials such as water bottles, tee shirts and everyday residence hall items. To keep the students engaged, we had various Minute to Win it games at our program as well. By promoting the reusing of recyclables through various arts and crafts workshops, the Sustainability committee expected to showcase how everyday items can gain new life in a fun manner. Students gained a better understanding of sustainability in our Alumni Quad community.
Dutch Quad: Spice Up Your Space
In October, Dutch Quad hosted its large-scale sustainability program titled “Spice Up Your Space!” The program took place outside of Dutch Quad’s Stuyvesant Tower on a beautiful, sunny fall day. All afternoon students passing by stopped to paint and decorate their very own flower pots. In addition, students were able to pick from an assortment of flower seeds and herb seeds to plant in their pots and bring back to their dorm rooms to nurture and grow. By taking care of their very own plants, students will be able to gain a greater understand of, and appreciation for, the process of growing the food they consume every day.
In addition to decorating pots and planting seeds, the program also featured an interactive display board about the importance of soil and taking care of the earth. Refreshments were provided in the spirit of fall including freshly sliced apples, sweet caramel dip, and deliciously cold apple cider – all courtesy of UAS. Over 100 residents came out and participated in the Spice Up Your Space program, making it a huge success!
Colonial Quad: Swapmania On November 5, 2014, the Colonial Quad Sustainability Programming Committee hosted Swapmania! This reuse-it themed event attracted the participation of approximately 140 residents and featured organic snacks donated by Honest Weight Food Co-op. Swapmania served as a venue to encourage students and staff members to recycle and reuse items under the premise that “One person’s trash is another’s treasure.” The Swapmania team worked hard in preparation for Swapmania by collecting items from over 75 individuals. Swapmania featured raffle items donated by the Office of Environmental Sustainability, Panera Bread, and the Department of Residential Life. In conjunction with this reuse-it thrift shop themed event, the Planning Committee collected 8 jumbo bags of gently used clothing items that were donated to the Capital City Rescue Mission. For Swapmania, residents were encouraged to donate or bring gently used or new electronics, books, décor, and other miscellaneous items to the “swap.” Students took useful items home from the event and exchanged items that were no longer of importance or use to them. The Swapmania Planning Committee’s goal was to bring to light the importance of reducing the amount of “trash” dumped into landfills by providing items to students and staff members that could find a use for them. Swapmania also served as a venue to expose attendees to the importance and benefits of eating organic, local, and natural foods. Attendees received information regarding how consuming these types of food positively contributes to the health of the environment and sampled some organic snacks from local Honest Weight Food Co-op! The Swapmania Team and Colonial Quad are extremely happy with the results of Swapmania and hope that this program has a large impact and carries over into the everyday lives of Swapmania participants. The take home message of Swapmania is clear; reduce your waste, recycle items you no longer use, see if someone else may have a use for your no longer needed items, and consume foods that are positive for environmental health. Ultimately, Swapmania was a small step in promoting a brighter, more sustainable future for all!
Apartments: Harvest Fest The third annual Harvest fest was held at Liberty Terrace on Saturday, November 8th to celebrate local food and the do it yourself spirit. Students had the chance to sample some local fare provided by Honest Weight Food Coop and. They also made their own ice cream using milk from a local creamery. Read about the details of the process here. Other DIY projects included hemp bracelets and beauty products. Students made their own lip balms out of beeswax, shea butter, and coconut oil. A homemade nontoxic astringent was created from apple cider vinegar, distilled water, and essential oils.
Indian Quad: SusDANEability Festival
Indian Quad had a great semester for programming, bringing freshmen residents to a variety of diverse and important events around the Quad and around the campus. Indian Quad’s student and professional staff are all very dedicated to the concept of sustainability on campus. Resident Assistants Saben, Karan, and Vickie along with Wellness Assistant James led the charge this semester. RA Saben and WA James collaborated on the SusDANEability Festival, which celebrated local agriculture and small steps toward sustainability that all members of the campus community can take. RA Karan made a splash with his water bottle initiative which has significantly raised the profile of reusable water bottles on campus. RA Vickie also got into the spirit of sustainability, using recycling as a way to raise money and awareness for Lung Cancer research.
Celebration of the Solstice: Dudley Night Sky Adventure Explore the night sky and the solstice with Astronomy Educator, Megan Dominguez and volunteers from the Albany Area Amateur Astronomers at Museum of Innovation and Science. $3 plus admission. Program runs at 6pm on 12/16.
Mammal Camera Trapping Lecture Large mammals represent an important component of the animal community at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve yet are not well documented. To gather data about the large mammal community and its response to management, we have been using Reconyx HC600 wildlife cameras in restored and actively managed areas of the Preserve. Since camera deployment began in March 2012 we have captured over 60,000 images of 14 species of mammals. Join us for this interactive lecture as Field Ecologist and Environmental Educator Amanda Dillon details the methods and results of our ongoing camera trapping project. Program begins at 7pm on 12/30.
Solarize the Capital District
Green Drinks
Come out to Honest Weight Food Coop on Thursday, December 18th at 6pm to learn about Solarize.
Co-hosted by Creo and the NY Upstate Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, this event welcomes all who have any interest in connecting with other local “greenies� be they actively working for sustainable options in their day job, concerned about buying healthier foods and products, interested in understanding alternative energy, curious about local business opportunities, or simply interested in meeting some of the coolest people in the area.
Solarize is a bulk purchase of solar equipment and installation services. By working together with many households interested in buying solar, we can get better prices on better equipment. This process has been used successfully around the US to dramatically reduce costs and make it easier for home and business owners, because the Solarize team does a lot of the hard work for you. This increases overall demand for solar, a true win-win for all local installers, for our communities, and for the environment. If you are interested in helping make this a reality for the Albany area, or putting solar on your property, please email Dave Hochfelder at dphochfelder@gmail.com.
Every fourth Tuesday of the month at Creo Restaurant at Stuyvesant Plaza beginning at 5:30.
Food Recovery Network Fight campus food waste and community hunger! Food Recovery Network is hiring two full-time fellows: one to join the Member Support team and one to join the Expansion team in the national office in College Park, MD for the spring 2015 semester. Fellowships are 19 weeks, starting on January 5 and ending on May 15, 2015. Fellows receive a $1,500 per month stipend plus a modest benefit package. Applications will be considered until positions are filled. Find job descriptions and application instructions here. Founded in September of 2011, Food Recovery Network (FRN) is the largest national student-led food recovery movement working to bring food recovery programs to colleges across the country. Made up of over 100 chapters at colleges and universities, FRN has recovered over half a million pounds of food and is rapidly expanding.
Scholarship Opportunity The Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, Inc. Founders Fund Scholarship is a merit scholarship offered annually in the name of the TGF founders, to a single recipient who has demonstrated excellence and outstanding dedication in a field of study that falls within an environmental field of a school or department. It was the hope of the founders, as it is the hope of the current membership of Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, that the recipient will use this scholarship to assist his or her studies, and after graduation seek employment in the tri-state region in either the public or private sector furthering the cause of environmental protection and riparian habitat conservation for the benefit of all. Read more
Farm to SUNY Project The Office of Environmental Sustainability is seeking a motivated intern to assist with Farm to SUNY, a project that connects four SUNY campus with our food and agriculture industry partners to increase the volume and variety of locally-grown vegetable products available at the target universities and beyond. The intern is expected work an average of 5-10 hours weekly at $10 per hour over the course of the semester. The ideal intern will be available for spring and fall 2015. Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to: Outreach Projects- Develop student outreach projects with a corresponding timeline, beginning in fall 2014. Project examples may include food samplings, Meet the Farmer days, etc. Team participation – Participate in team marketing calls to develop coordinated strategies across campuses. Data collection- Assist with any data collection and/or research needs related to local food procurement Qualifications: Excellent writing and communication skills; Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite applications, especially Publisher; Background or strong interest in environmental issues/sustainability; Project-oriented with strong self-initiative; Adaptable to organizational changes and new projects; Positive attitude, commitment and follow-through; Photography skills a plus Deadline: Applications for the spring internship will be reviewed until the position is filled. If interested, send a resume and letter of intent to Mary Alexis Leciejewski at mleciejewski@albany.edu. Questions about the internship can be addressed to Mary Alexis at 518-442-2592.
Office of Environmental Sustainability The Office of Environmental Sustainability is seeking two motivated and energetic interns to assist with the publication of monthly sustainability bulletin, developing flier templates for a variety of sustainability engagement initiatives, assisting with social media management and completing other assignments as requested. The interns are expected work a minimum of 10-12 hours weekly. Internships are unpaid though students may obtain academic credit through the Communications Department. Deadline: Applications for the spring internships will be reviewed on a rolling basis. If interested, send a resume and letter of intent to Mary Alexis Leciejewski at mleciejewski@albany.edu.