sustainability newsletter

Concordia College
Office of Sustainability
February 17, 2016
Volume 1, Issue 2
SUSTAINABILITY
NEWSLETTER
CONCORDIA’S CLIMATE MARCH
In partnership with Dr. Hilda Koster’s Religion and Climate
Change capstone course, the Student Environmental Alliance
(SEA) organized a march to advocate for climate action at the
COP21 Paris Climate Talks that occurred November 30–
December 12.
The march began with over 50 students, faculty, and staff gathering at the bell tower. Speakers included the student leaders of
SEA, Agathe Corrial ‘16, Dr. Jonathan Steinwand (English), and
Dr. Ken Foster (Global Studies, Political Science). The crowd
then heard some encouraging words from President Craft before
moving to the Atrium to continue with a program of songs led by
Erica Bjelland ‘16 and Dr. Bill Snyder (English).
The march was preceded by a day of tabling in the Atrium and
posting photos on social media to raise awareness of the Paris
talks.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Science Building Update 2
Green Talks: AASHE ..... 2
Sustainability Map ......... 3
Facilities Management .. 3
Sustainable Spotlight ..... 3
Recycling Specialist ....... 4
Soil Bed Raising ............. 4
High Tunnel Update ...... 5
Eco-Reps ........................ 6
HILT ............................... 6
Winter Biking Feature .. 7
Involvement Opportunities .................................. 8
Contact Info ................... 8
Above: Concordia students held their own “virtual march” in response to
a protest that consists of over 10,000 empty shoes that took place in Paris
during the COP21 Paris Climate talks.
Printed on TreeFrog® Paper—100% Tree Free Premium Multipurpose Paper, 100% Sugar Cane Fiber
SCIENCE BUILDING AUCTION
As part of the initiative to incorporate sustainability into the science renovation, the Office of
Sustainability coordinated two
silent auctions for the remaining
furniture in the empty science
buildings.
The leftover furniture from Jones
and Ivers was first redistributed
across campus by Facilities to
areas needing specific items.
The remaining items were offered
to various non-profits and local
schools. Finally, the unclaimed
items were organized for sale at
the silent auctions.
As a result of the auctions,
around 200 items were repurposed! The auction raised
$4,593, and proceeds were given
to the United Way of Cass-Clay.
GREEN TALKS: AASHE IN REVIEW
This past Fall break, students,
staff, and faculty had the opportunity to attend the annual Conference & Expo for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s
(AASHE).
As a regional host this year, Concordia sent 25 students, faculty,
and staff to attend the conference and, for some, showcasing
their work on sustainability at
Concordia.
On January 12, participants
gathered in the Centrum for the
Green Talks event to share what
they learned at the conference.
Five student posters were displayed and two presentations
were given. In addition, a panel
of students, staff, and faculty
shared about their experiences.
Stay tuned! - Green Talks will
be an ongoing event showcasing
various Sustainability topics.
Sustainability Leadership Institute - Sign up today!
Attend the Sustainability Leadership Conference at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Join students from across the Midwest in this practical skill development workshop for campus sustainability leaders. Increase your skills in becoming a successful student change agent!
Conference is Friday April 4th—Saturday April 9th.
Contact Samantha Hill ([email protected]) to register.
2
SUSTAINABILITY MAP
WHERE ON CAMPUS IS SUSTAINABILITY?
Finding sustainability features across campus is easier than ever.
During her summer sustainability internship, Maddie Hyde ‘16,
created an interactive sustainability map of the campus. The
map features a number of clickable areas on campus that showcase sustainability initiatives including, the categories of Landscaping, Energy, Transportation, Student Initiatives, Institutional Support, and Learning Sites.
Check out the interactive map on a computer or mobile
device at the Concordia Sustainability webpage.
SUSTAINABILITY
SPOTLIGHT
An ongoing series in the Sustainability
Newsletter featuring various campus
leaders in sustainability.
DR. GRAEME WYLLIE
Chemistry Department
Dr. Graeme Wyllie is a Bio and Organic
Chemist by training. He first became
interested in the environmental impact in
the chemistry lab during his post graduate experiences in Scotland, when
“Green Chemistry” was in its fledgling
stages. Also, growing up on the edge of
the countryside in Scotland, as well as
having a background in biology, helped
him realize the environmental impacts of
the chemicals he was using.
When he came to Concordia, Dr. Wyllie
was able to witness the sheer amount of
waste that could come out of an entire
General Chemistry class. Since then, he
has committed himself to reducing
waste in the lab as well as educating
students on the impact of chemicals.
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Facilities has been working on a number of initiatives over the
past summer and school year related to clearing out Jones and
Ivers to prepare for the new science building.
Since the project began, Facilities has salvaged over 50,000
pounds of steel and other metal, recycling items and keeping
them out of the landfill. They salvaged an additional 2000
pounds of higher quality brass and bronze.
Facilities Management has worked intensively to redistribute
items from Jones and Ivers across campus or in the community to be reused. Staff have worked on preparing transitional
spaces by reusing items from Jones and Ivers, finding new
homes across campus for other items, as well as donating other items to local nonprofits like Churches United for the
Homeless and Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
Today, Dr. Wyllie teaches all of his General Chemistry courses with a sustainability focus. He finds that students connect to this because it lends real life
relevancy to seemingly abstract concepts.
Dr. Wyllie also sees sustainability as a
gateway into science. This summer, he
will be teaching a new interdisciplinary
course titled “The Chemicals in Our
Lives: what we use, why we use them,
their true cost, and what we can do.”
This reflects his commitment to working
across disciplines.
The transition of classrooms out of
Jones and Ivers and into the Normandy
has forced his classes to be more mindful of their resources. He hopes to see
this continue when the new Science
building opens.
3
RECYCLING SPECIALISTS
Recycling Specialist is a new
student position through Facilities that takes care of residential recycling, runs data on
recycling, and finds ways to
improve recycling on campus.
This semester there are three
recycling specialists assigned
to residential buildings on
campus. There is also a student manager who oversees
the three students, investigates
new initiatives for them, and
organizes their workload.
Currently, the recycling specialists hope to look into waste
management in the Maize and
how to get Green-to-Go Containers to more folks on campus.
Interested in becoming a
Recycling Specialist next
year? Contact Samantha
Hill - [email protected].
Did you know? - Concordia diverted 148,625 pounds of
recyclable materials to Minnkota Recycling in 2015.
SOIL BED RAISING
HIGH TUNNEL SERVICE PROJECT
This fall, a dozen student
volunteers from across campus gathered on a chilly fall
morning to work in the
brand new high tunnel along
with Jerry Raguse, Grounds
Services Supervisor.
The inside of the solar heated high tunnel was noticeably warmer than the brisk
outside air. Students constructed mounded soil beds
that will become the planting areas for the high tunnel
4
come spring.
Soil from the original garden
plot was scooped off and reserved for use inside the
high tunnel. The hard work
that previous garden interns
have put into improving the
soil through composting and
weeding will be preserved in
the new high tunnel site due
in part to hard work from
our volunteers!
CORNUCOPIA ORGANIC GARDEN
WINTER UPDATE
Students are working hard to prepare the organic garden, Cornucopia, for the use of the high tunnel as well preparing for the upcoming Spring planting.
Joleen Baker ‘16, Kaya Baker ‘15, and Solvei Stenslie ‘16 were the
garden interns this past Fall semester and have worked on various
projects to plan for solar high tunnel integration. Two additional
interns this Spring include Abby Vogelsberg ‘17 and Samantha Ferguson ’17. Two summer interns will be hired soon and the Office of
Sustainability is currently accepting inquiries.
GARDEN MANAGER HIRED
A garden manager has been recently hired to care for the organic
garden, and especially the high tunnel. Tyler Franklin, an MSUM
grad, has extensive experience in designing and building aquaponics systems to grow food in the winter as well as experience caring
for the MSUM greenhouse.
Contact Samantha Hill - [email protected], or Tyler Franklin—[email protected], if
you would like to arrange for your class or organization to use the high tunnel.
Left:
Student volunteers
gather inside the new
high tunnel to form
raised dirt beds for
spring planting.
5
ECO-REPS UPDATE
WHO’S YOUR
ECO-REP?
Brown
Sarah Curran
Park Region
Alyssa Armstrong
Hoyum and Livedalen
Jordan Doely
Celeste Rapp
Erickson and Hallett
Grace Nicholson
Boe- Olsen
Sarah Grafstrom
Bogstad East
Kaya Baker
Communications Lead
[email protected]
Emma Eckberg
Student Coordinator
[email protected]
Contact Emma or
Kaya for more information or to partner
with Eco Reps!
6
The Eco-Reps Program enables
students to take a leadership
role in their dorm, giving them
support as they work to promote sustainable living among
their peers.
There are seven Eco-Reps on
campus and one student coordinator for the program. This semester, Eco-Reps are posting
“Eco Tips” in all the residence
halls, partnering with ResLife to
get drying racks in the hall laun-
dry rooms, and to host a Green
Laundry event. They are also
working on bringing composting
to the apartments, and they have
obtained fob access for all students to the Free Store located
in Park Region's basement during Free Store Hours!
Looking forward, the Eco-Reps
are planning for the spring an
It’s Electric energy competition
in the dorms as well as coordinating Sustainable Move-Out.
HILT
WILDLIFE AND WILD LAND CONSERVATION
This year during spring break, two
students, Jesse Partee ‘16 and Andrew Christensen ‘16 are leading a
High Impact Leadership Trip
(HILT), the sustainability leadership spring break trip led by students.
The theme of the 2016 HILT
is Wildlife and Wild Land Conservation focusing on conservation
within our national parks, how it is
done and what challenges arise in
the process. The HILT will explore
some of the nation’s finest national
parks, including, Yellowstone,
Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain
National Park. In addition, the students will visit various conservation agencies in the surrounding
areas to better understand the role
of non-governmental organizations.
The HILT will connect with other
universities along the way to initiate an exchange of ideas regarding
conservation/sustainability efforts
and how students can impact their
native community.
Partee wanted to lead a HILT after
his experience on the 2014 HILT to
the everglades in Florida. Partee
says, he “wanted to create something for students to develop their
leadership potential and have an
experience that could help them
stand out in the future.”
This will be the fifth year of HILT
spring break trips at Concordia.
WINTER BIKING FEATURE
CYCLING COBBERS BRAVE THE COLD
Race Hietkamp
Senior, Nursing
Race rides his bike in the winter to exercise
and have fun. He doesn't like stationary training bikes, so he
rides outside at least twice a week during the school year
and sometimes every day if he is commuting to work. He
owns a “fat bike” which is a bike built for winter riding, a
“snowshoe” bike, as he calls it. He warns winter riders to
“ride for others,” and to watch out for cars in the winter
because they can’t stop as fast on ice even if they want to.
Ross Hilgers
Professor, Ceramics
Ross has ridden his bike for his daily commute since high school. He
commuted by bike through college and has biked everyday to Concordia since the 90s. When asked why he rides, he said he “never
thought about not doing it.” He started riding his bike in high
school to early morning cross country practices. He mentions that
his daily run had him used to doing something outdoors everyday
despite the weather. He feels that biking to work makes life a little
more simple. When asked about the best winter biking tips, Ross responded, “the biggest thing for me is a good pair of mittens.”
Mark Dixon
Stockroom Supervisor, Facilities
Mark Dixon has ridden his bike to work every day for over 25
years. The cold doesn’t seem to bother Dixon, who sees the
ride as a challenge on the coldest days and downright enjoyable on the warmer ones. He started riding every day when he
and his wife shared one car. Biking to work just makes sense
to Dixon, who thinks exercise can be combined with other
parts of a daily routine. A previous employee of the Island Park
Cycles bike shop in Fargo, Dixon has numerous winter bike tips!
He mentions that clothing doesn’t need to be overly specialized—
just focus on having some warm gloves and boots. He also stresses the
importance of good front and back lights for cars to see you on those dark winter days.
7
Have an idea for a
future newsletter
feature? Want to update the campus on
your sustainability
efforts?
Contact Maddie Hyde
[email protected]
Sustainability Intern
Newsletter Editor
GET INVOLVED…
JOBS, INTERNSHIPS, LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
Apply for Spring semester ’16 or Summer ‘16:

Student Environmental Alliance (SEA) Treasurer

Summer Organic Garden Internships

Environmental Studies Intern
Apply now for Fall ‘16:

EcoHouse Resident - Four spots available

Organic Garden Internships

Eco-Representatives

Recycling Specialists

Sustainability Communications Intern

Sustainability Intern

COBBikes Intern
Contact Samantha Hill ([email protected]) for more info or to
apply.
Answer these questions to win a mug!


Scan the barcode below
to link to the
Sustainability page on
the Concordia website
Concordia College
Office of Sustainability
901 8th St S
Moorhead, MN 56562
Phone: 218.299.3071
E-mail: [email protected]
Who was featured in the Sustainable Spotlight this issue?
How many pounds of material did Concordia recycle in 2015?

What is the theme of the upcoming HILT trip?
Send your three answers to Samantha Hill ([email protected])
to be entered to win a mug! Five winners will be chosen.
SAMANTHA HILL
SUSTAINABILITY COORDINATOR