Paper or Plastic? Neither!

Which is more environmentally friendly: paper bags or plastic bags?

Inherently, you might assume that paper is better because it is made of wood which can be renewable and can breakdown into benign substances. However, material consumption, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions are all higher when we use paper bags instead of plastic bags. We also know that plastic is made from fossil fuels and is a harmful and persistent pollutant to our environment. In short, plastic bags are nasty.

So, what options do we have? Reusable tote bags offer a good option and is a preferred option! This year, every first year Colgate student received a reusable tote with their class logo along with information regarding the environmental benefits of using their totes over disposable plastic bags.

Click here to see a side-by-side life-cycle comparison of different types of bags. You might be surprised by what you see!

Planet better off if Copenhagen fails?

According to Jim Hansen, who heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the world would be better off if the climate talks in Copenhagen fail.

Hansen is fundamentally opposed to carbon trading. He stated that, "the whole approach is so fundamentally wrong that it is better to reassess the situation." Hansen went on to explain, "This is analogous to the issue of slavery faced by Abraham Lincoln or the issue of Nazism faced by Winston Churchill," he said. "On those kind of issues you cannot compromise. You can't say let's reduce slavery, let's find a compromise and reduce it 50 percent or reduce it 40 percent."

What do you think? Is a globally binding agreement that focuses on a cap-and-trade system a half measure? Or, is it our best chance to begin the process of actually reducing emissions?

Click here to read the full Reuters article.

A nickel for your empty water bottle?

On November 8, New York joined ten other states in implementing a nickel deposit on bottled water. Like other deposit programs, New Yorkers will pay an extra nickel at the time of purchase and then be redeemed that nickel when the bottle is returned. The hope is that this new program will help to keep many thousands of plastic water bottles out of the landfill. What do you think? Is this a good program?

Read this Marketplace article to find out more.

Student Research Leading Colgate to a “Greener” Future.

Going “green” isn’t always as easy as putting your can in the recycle bin or flipping off a light switch. Often it is hard. Planning for a sustainable future, for example, can be hard.

Think energy!

Last year, Colgate used 31,000,000 kWh of electricity and over 450,000 gallons of expensive and polluting fuel oil to heat our buildings. That’s unsustainable. We all want to use clean, renewable energy, but what energy choices are most viable? Natural gas? Geothermal? Wind? Solar? Expansion of our wood-chip plant? Investigating the economic, environmental, and social feasibility of these (and other) choices is hard work. Luckily, Environmental Studies students have been up to the task.

For many years now, ENST students have completed research projects looking at sustainability on campus and in our local community. In 2008, for example, ENST 480 students investigated alternative energy solutions for Colgate as their capstone projects. Students researched wind energy, biofuels, energy conservation, and willow biomass. While each of these studies contributed valuable knowledge to sustainability at Colgate, one in particular has become reality: willow biomass!

The students who conducted this research detailed the process and overall cost of how to grow and harvest willow on Colgate land to be used as a source of heat energy on campus. Their research not only showed that growing willow is possible but it makes good sense. They recommended an eight-acre experimental plot on Hamilton Street only one-mile from the main campus.

2008 was also the year that students created the sustainability fund with their senior class gift. Part of that class gift was used to finance the willow plot. By every measure, Colgate’s willow plot is a student-led project – being both researched and financed by student determination.

On May 13 of this year, 60,000 willow cuttings were planted for the first time on Colgate property. If successful, this plot will provide Colgate with over 900 tons of renewable biomass energy over a 20-year period. Most importantly, our success on this small plot can help support our local economy. We are trying to show struggling central New York farmers that planting fast growing willow is a viable option. Locally-grown, renewable energy can be a truly sustainable initiative. See video from the Syracuse Post-Standard.

This year’s ENST 480 students are also focusing on sustainability at Colgate. They are researching geothermal energy, green buildings, electronic recycling, vegetable gardens, and developing a campus-wide climate action plan.

And once again, the class gift of 2010 will be going to fund sustainability. Which of these projects will become reality? Stay tuned…

Colgate's Greenest Videos Contest - The Results!!!

This year was host to Colgate’s First Annual Greenest Videos Contest. Students and employees created and submitted short videos with an environmental theme. The Colgate community then voted for their favorites.

In total, six videos were submitted by Colgate students of all class years. 140 people voted for their favorite videos. The event culminated at Donovan’s Pub on October 22 (on National Teach-In day). About 70 students showed up for the awards ceremony and to watch the videos with fellow students. Everyone who attended received free pizza and a free organic cotton t-shirt. Though the videos ranged greatly in how informative they were, they all got the message across: going green can be easy, fun, and should be addressed on Colgate’s campus.

This contest will hopefully become an annual event. So get your ideas and videos ready for next year’s Greenest Videos Contest!

In the meantime, be sure to check out this year's videos:

WINNERS:

• Greenest: Jenn and Brendt’s Cabin
• Funniest: Colgate Advocates for the Total Consumption of Recyclable Comestibles (CATCRC)
• Most Informative: Grenergy
• Most Innovative: Please Turn off the Lights

OTHER SUBMISSIONS:

• Recycling Scare
• Colgate’s Green Initiative Video

VIEW OUR DEMONSTRATION VIDEO!

National Teach-In : The Day of National Engagement

NATIONAL TEACH-IN on global warming solutions

Read post-event article by Sarah Finn in the Colgate Maroon-News.
Read post-event article by Barbara Brooks to learn more about how the event turned out.

Watch this music video on climate change.

When: October 22 from 11:30am to 1:00pm. Food will be available!

Where: 27 Persson

Join a nine-member Colgate panel as we openly discuss issues of climate change.

This open forum will be focused on "350." 350 parts per million (ppm) is the amount of atmospheric carbon many scientists say we need to be at to prevent the worst impacts of global climate change. We are currently over 380 ppm of atmospheric carbon!

Are humans causing this rise in atmospheric carbon? To what degree? What will the impacts be? What (if anything) can we do about it? Should resources be focused on mitigation strategies or on adaptation?

Bring your questions to the forum! The audience is encouraged to participate.

This year's panel will be facilitated by Sustainability Coordinator, John Pumilio. The panelists include faculty members April Baptiste, Jake Brenner, Adam Burnett, Jason Kawall, Tim McCay, Paul Pinet, Bob Turner, and students Shea Frydenlund '10 and Michael Michonski '12.

Student organizers include: Katelyn Ciolino, Laura Isanuk, Lauren Frisch.

Watch the two-minute video produced by the organizers of National Teach-in.

For additional information, check out these websites:

• National Teach-in
• 350 International Day of Climate Action
• Clock Is Ticking On Copenhagen Climate Treaty (NPR).

Any questions contact John Pumilio (jpumilio@colgate.edu; ext 6487) for assistance!

Why throw away something that will be on the Earth for at least 1,000 years for 5 minutes of convenience?

What is more environmentally friendly: reusable containers (i.e. coffee mugs, food containers, shopping bags) or disposable ones? The answer seems straightforward, but a more detailed analysis reveals the complexity of our choices.

Let's focus on coffee cups as an example. If your number one concern is reducing landfill waste, then reusable ceramic or stainless steel coffee cups is the way to go. If you are concerned about water use, energy use and global warming then the answer is less straightforward. Assuming you wash your mug after every use, ceramic mugs can use more water per use than it takes to manufacture a Styrofoam or paper cup from scratch. Energy use is even more complex. On average, it takes 70 times more energy to produce a ceramic mug than to manufacture a Styrofoam cup. Making a stainless steel mug is even more energy intensive. Furthermore, if you wash your mug in a dishwasher with hot water then the energy disparity is even worse. It is also good to know how your local energy is produced and where it comes from. Cleaning your reusable mug takes energy, so it is important to know if your energy is clean and renewable or fossil fuel based.

Pound-for-pound, making Styrofoam is also energy intensive. However, Styrofoam is very light so you can produce a lot of individual cups with a relatively small amount of energy. Either way, Styrofoam is polystyrene which is petroleum-based and pretty nasty stuff. Once disposed of, Styrofoam can linger and pollute our environment for centuries.

And what about paper cups? Of course, they are made from trees so it is important to know what trees and how they are managed. Additionally, paper products are heavy and the greenhouse gas emissions to transport them are exponentially more than transporting Styrofoam. Finally, if the paper cups are landfilled instead of recycled then they emit methane (a potent greenhouse gas) as they decompose.

So, is it more environmentally friendly to use a reusable coffee mug? The answer seems to be yes, but I guess it depends on what part of the environment you are most concerned about. For me, it comes down to one basic question, "why would I throw away something that will be on the Earth for at least 1,000 years for five minutes of convenience?"

With that in mind, I prefer reusable mugs. I lessen the ecological footprint associated with this practice by:

• keeping and using my mug for many years. I still have my first reusable mug from 1993.
• washing my mug by hand and in cold water
• using environmentally-friendly phosphate-free soap

When I must use disposable products, I purchase biodegradable/compostable ones.

What do you prefer? Why? Have other ideas, comments, or tips? Please share them!