Sunday, December 25, 2011

Vermicomposting at UW-La Crosse

In a cooperative effort with Hillview Urban Agricultural Center (HUAC) in La Crosse, UW-L is using vermicomposting to recycle pre-consumer food waste. With funding from UW-L's Green Fund, created with student paid segregated fees, an 8’ x 32’ industrial-scale continuous flow reactor vermicomposting unit and an initial 100 lbs of Eisenia foetida (red wiggler) worms were purchased and installed at HUAC. Read more about this very cool initiative.

Monday, November 21, 2011

UW-L Green Fund Applications Now Being Accepted

Application information is now available for 2012 Green Fund proposals. You can find the application document, background information and contact information at: http://www.uwlax.edu/sustainability/html/green-fund.htm.

Any UW-L student, faculty or staff can apply for sustainability project funding through the Green Fund.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Seeing How Population Grows to 7 Billion

This visual representation of world population growth does a great job of explaining how we got to where we are today. You can read the full story at: http://www.npr.org/2011/10/31/141816460/visualizing-how-a-population-grows-to-7-billion

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Rachel Lee Blogs About Transportation and Food During No Impact Week

Hello again! This week I have been participating in Colin Beavan’s No Impact Project and UW-La Crosse’s No Impact Week. The theme for Tuesday was transportation and today’s topic is food. Yesterday I woke up early and finished my Alternative Transportation poster to put in Cartwright Center. I started researching the benefits of alternative transportation when I realized that sometimes people are merely nervous or uneducated about how to be a part of the green transportation movement. Sometimes riding your bike on a busy street can be intimidating and driving seems like an easier alternative. I decided to address this issue by putting a bicycler’s code of conduct on my poster, as well as some quick maintenance tips on how to keep your bike up and running. The benefits of alternative transportation, such as biking and mass transit, are immense! According to the American Public Transportation Association, “the average household spends 18 cents of every dollar on transportation, and 94% of this goes into buying, maintaining, and operating cars, the largest expenditure after housing.” Imagine the dollars you would be able to save by adjusting your car usage to a need only basis or eliminating this expense all together! We are lucky that in La Crosse we have access to the MTU, and as a student this service is FREE*! This service does not only venture within the city of La Crosse but extends to French Island, portions of Onalaska, and La Crescent, Minnesota. So next time you are running a quick errand or need to head to the mall, take the MTU or hop on your bike and do the environment and yourself a favor!

As for today’s topic of food, where do I begin?!? Obviously, food is the thing that keeps us alive and gives us our daily sustenance but it can be so much more than that. It is time we start taking the time to find out where our food comes from and its nutritional content. Many times we are tricked into thinking something is healthy because a label says “Low Fat”, “Zero Calories” or even “Natural” but this can be misleading. Having knowledge about how food works in your body and how it affects the environment around you is very important. Learning what those confusing ingredients on the back of a package are may save you from serious health ailments in the future. Even better, pick up a piece of fruit or some fresh veggies! Fresh produce is amazing for your body and gives you many vital nutrients that packaged food just cannot give you. Throughout the summer and early fall months La Crosse has multiple Farmer’s Markets where you can get amazing local produce. Why not give your money straight to the person who put time and care into their food production instead of massive farms that spray their fields with herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers (not to mention GMOs)? I take pride in supporting local famers, as well as walking out of my back door and picking herbs, leafy greens, peppers, carrots and more! Putting love into the food you create is, in my opinion, one of the most satisfying feelings you can have. You get to literally eat the fruits of your labor and feel a sense of pride and accomplishment with every bite and, I swear, it tastes better. I know growing your own food can seem daunting for those living in the dorms or in small apartments, I’ve been there, but there are other options. You could join a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, volunteer at one of the community gardens, grow some herbs or greens in a pot, or make a friend that is a farmer! Nevertheless, get involved with your food because you really are what you eat.

*This service is a part of your tuition.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

UW-L Student Rachel Lee Blogs About No Impact Week

UW-La Crosse student Rachel Lee will be blogging over the next several days about her participation in the La Crosse + Viroqua, WI No Impact Week taking place October 9-16. Below is Rachel's first blog post.

Monday I kicked off my participation in the UW-La Crosse No Impact Week. I, Rachel Lee, decided to get involved with Colin Beavan’s No Impact Project after learning about his mission and book entitled No Impact Man through Joint Committee on Environmental Sustainability. Over the last few years I have been very interested in greener and more holistic ways of living, which made participating in No Impact Week a no brainer. It has been great educating myself about the different ways I can make a difference in my own life, as well as the environment around me. Colin’s No Impact Project Manual has many different ideas of ways to eliminate or dramatically reduce your global footprint by doing things as simple as recycling and riding your bike and unique as creating your own hygiene products. By acknowledging the effect that my everyday activities have on my health and environment I am able to make better decisions and actively participate in more facets of my daily life.

Yesterday, I woke up and finished a poster that I was creating for Monday’s E-Waste Recycling event and began researching the topic of recycling and technology. Currently we are in an age of rapid technological innovation and our previous technologies are getting thrown away at an astounding rate! These machines have been created with different sorts of metals and chemicals, that when improperly dealt with, have a very negative effect on our soil and water supply. In La Crosse and Wisconsin there are many facilities that are in place to protect us from threats like lead and cadmium pollution from these discarded machines. It was great to see Dynamic Recycling involved in our project because they provide a very important service by protecting our local environment, as well as stimulating our local economy by creating jobs. I was very happy to be a part of this project because doing just this one thing benefited our community and was incredibly easy! We need to remember that doing the right thing only takes putting in a little effort and being an active participant in the community you live in. I look forward to the other projects that we are participating in this week, as well as taking part in more of No Impact Project’s mission.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

WI Solar Energy Tour on Oct. 1st Highlights La Crosse Home

This Saturday's 2011 WI Solar Energy Tour will include a home very close to La Crosse. The newly constructed single family home on a small farm  features passive solar design on a northwest facing hillside. Features include: masonry stove, off-peak electric, heat storage water heater, and in-floor radiant heat.

This home is just one of many homes and businesses across the state featured on the tour. The tours are free and open to the public.
Saturday, October 1
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

https://www.midwestrenew.org/janssontempfarm

Complete information about the WI Solar Energy Tour can be found at: https://www.midwestrenew.org/solartour

Friday, September 23, 2011

Defining Sustainability, Part 3

Defining sustainability in terms of ecological integrity

UW-L's weekly online news publication, Campus Connection, is doing a series of articles about sustainability on campus. This is the third article in the series:

“We have one planet. Let’s plan accordingly.” That’s Biology Professor Rob Tyser’s central message when discussing how humans can preserve their environment.

Read more at: http://news.uwlax.edu/defining-sustainablity-part-iii/

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Defining Sustainability, Part 2

Sustainability in terms of economic security

UW-L's weekly online news publication, Campus Connection, is doing a series of articles about sustainability on campus. This is the second article in the series:

Donna Anderson, UW-L Economics professor, discusses the radical re-thinking of the relationship between the human economy and nature.

Read more at: http://news.uwlax.edu/defining-sustainability-part-ii/

Defining Sustainability, Part 1

Understanding Social Justice in Terms of Sustainability

UW-L's weekly online news publication, Campus Connection, is doing a series of articles about sustainability on campus. Here is the first article in the series:

For a practice to be sustainable in society it must benefit the population over the long-term. Therefore, it must benefit all people, according to two UW-L instructors, Guy Wolf and Al Gedicks.

Read more at: http://news.uwlax.edu/defining-sustainability/

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Mining in Wisconsin: A Threat to Tribes, to Wild Rivers, Groundwater and Lake Superior

Penokee Hills mine location

A public forum on the largest mining project ever seen in Wisconsin.

Frank Koehn, president of the Penokee Hills Education Project will be taking part in the forum.
Wednesday, September 14
7:00pm, Room 1400 Centennial Hall
Sponsored by the UW-L Native American Student Association, the UW-L Progressives, Environmental Council and the Dept. of Sociology/Archaeology. Free and open to the public.

UW-L Dining Services Highlights Local, Healthy Foods

Eat Local Week at UW-L – Sept. 12–16

from UW-L's Campus Connection

Buying quality, fresh, sustainable ingredients is a high priority for UW-L Dining Services, and with September being Eat Local Month, Dining Services is dedicating a week to feature local foods from regional suppliers.

Highlights of the week include:

  • Eat Local Special Dinner – 4-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, Whitney Center, All You Can Eat dining room. Everyone welcome. You do not have to be on a meal plan. Cost: $11.08 (includes tax).
  • Wellness Day Kick-Off at The Galley – 11 a.m.–1 p.m.Wednesday, Sept. 14. Free samples featuring local products. Every Wednesday following Dining Services will offer Wellness Days at The Galley featuring specials from the Terra Ve (vegan/vegetarian) station.
  • Cheese Curd Thursday at The Galley – Thursday, Sept. 15, at Smashers. Enjoy fresh lightly battered cheese curds from Ellsworth Creamery, $1.99 (special one-time introductory price).
  • Farmer’s Market at The Galley – 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16
  • Breakfast for Lunch Special at The Galley – 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16. Join Executive Chef Randy Hanson as he prepares breakfast for lunch with local ingredients.

Friday, July 22, 2011

The Climate Reality Project Takes Place Sept. 14

Al Gore announced on July 12, 2011, his latest project called Climate Reality Project. This 24 hour global event will take place on September 14 throughout the world to focus on the climate crisis.

On September 14th there will be 24 Presenters in 24 time zones in 13 Languages. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event to broadcast the reality of the climate crisis. It will consist of a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, in every time zone around the globe. Each hour people living with the reality of climate change will connect the dots between recent extreme weather events — including floods, droughts and storms — and the man made pollution that is changing our climate. The event will offer a round-the-clock, round-the-globe snapshot of the climate crisis in real time. {from the Climate Reality Project}

Learn more about the Climate Reality Project at: http://climaterealityproject.org/

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

New Graduates Attracted to Sustainability Jobs


From the NY Times, June 24, 2011

"Suddenly, “sustainability” seems to resonate with the sex appeal of “dot com” or “start-up,” appealing to droves of ambitious young innovators. Amelia Byers, operations director for Idealist.org, a Web site that lists paid and unpaid opportunities for nonprofit groups and social enterprise companies — some 5,000 of which are environmental organizations — said the number of jobs related to environmental work has roughly tripled in the last three years. “A lot of new graduates are coming out of a world where volunteerism and service has been something that has helped define their generation,” she said. “Finding a job with meaning is an important value to them.”

The rapid expansion of green jobs isn’t confined to the nonprofit sector. There is money to be made here as well. Ivan Kerbel, director of career development for the Yale School of Management, a graduate-level business program, noted that environmental issues like reducing waste and carbon footprints were increasingly important to corporations of all kinds, something business students are recognizing. Even ultra-ambitious M.B.A. candidates with C-suite aspirations are integrating issues like sustainability into their education, he said."

Read the entire NY Times article.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

UW-L Year of Sustainbility During 2011-2012 Academic Year

UW-La Crosse will have a Year of Sustainability theme during the 2011-2012 academic year. The theme year was approved by Chancellor Joe Gow and all four UW-L governance groups. The Joint Committee on Environmental Sustainability is planning and coordinating sustainability activities and events during the Year of Sustainability. Learn more by reading the Campus Connection article.

UW-L College of Business Administration Considers Sustainability Minor

Faculty members Donna Anderson, Economics; Nicole Gullekson, Management; Tom Hench, Management; Steve Tippins, Finance, and Maggie McDermott, Marketing have formed an ad hoc committee to explore the possibility of offering a business sustainability minor in the College of Business Administration (CBA). CBA will offer a pilot course in Principles of Business Sustainability this fall to evaluate student interest in offering a potential business sustainability minor. Read the Campus Connection article.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Green Fund Proposals Due February 25

Proposals for projects funded or partially funded by UW-L Green Fund dollars are being accepted now. Proposals are due February 25, 2011. You can find out more about the Green Fund and how to submit a proposal at www.uwlax.edu/sustainability/html/green-fund.htm.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Possible Global Warming Effects Cause of Rare Bird Sightings?

A number of rare bird sightings from the Winona area's Dec. 18 Christmas Bird Count left some local experts scratching their heads.

Area ornithology experts believe the misplaced birds are here because of a shift in weather patterns caused by global warming.

"It's over-simplified science," said Richie Swanson, an area bird expert and longtime participant in the count. But global warming has changed plant and insect composition. The alterations have affected the structure of the animals' habitat and food chain, which makes it difficult for the birds to reproduce and survive.

Read the full story in the La Crosse Tribune