Director's Corner
In this overwhelming, speed of light complicated, conflicted and screwed up world, a moment of clarity, sublimity, and eternal meaning. By Dave Newport The now famous 1988 PBS interview series between Bill Moyers and hero-mythologist Joseph Campbell exploded back into my mind after recent events. Campbell, the renowned historian and author of the seminal work The Hero with a Thousand Faces was interviewed by hall of fame journalist Bill Moyers as they dug into heroes, heroism, and how that greatness defines cultures. It's as good as TV gets. And watching the Boston and West, Texas incidents unfold, the incomprehensible all made a little more sense, thanks to those two. One poignant incident Campbell recalled was of a Hawaii State Patrolman who came upon a tourist-driven car dangling precipitously from a mountainside road. The driver was still in the car and it was still rocking from the accident, teetering towards infinity only seconds away. The patrolman ran immediately to the car and was able to extricate the driver as the car slipped over the cliff and plummeted onto the rocks below. Asked later why he so instinctively ran toward danger and put his life on the line to try and help a stranger, the patrolman responded, "If I didn't try my entire life would have been meaningless." We saw a lot of that in the Boston bomb attacks and the plant explosion in Texas. And in both cases, it wasn't just the trained first responders than immediately ran into harm's way, it was everyman. Police, fireman, and medics were joined by many everyday citizens as they ran into the smoke, into the fire, to help those who were down. In this overwhelming, speed of light complicated, conflicted and screwed up world, a moment of clarity, sublimity, and eternal meaning. Godspeed. That said, it is important to recognize the heroism and meaning in the work of sustainability folks. We are trying to save lives, human and otherwise, and the culture and environment upon which we all depend. It's safer than standing in front of bullets and I would never equate these forms of heroism. But everyday, many of you engage in heroic acts. Think of those acts that are directly impacting sustainability: Folks building water systems in remote villages, feeding the hungry, weatherizing low income homes, teaching under-resourced people, helping subsistence farmers practice low-flow irrigation, rebuilding Haiti, provide medical services where there are none, providing clothing and support for refugees, or fighting fires in Colorado cooked up by climate change, etc, etc. Saints all. They are directly advancing sustainability's finest traditions of humanity, justice, and inclusion. I cherish these people. They define heroism too. They are running into sustainability's fire. And then there are those sustainability advocates that do put their lives on the line in a very vivid way. This Earth Day marked the first day that Cornell and Ithaca College Professor and fracking activist Sandra Steingraber was allowed out of solitary confinement in an upstate NY county jail. Bad things happen to people in jail. We hope she survives unscathed. And it's probably not a career enhancing move--but that's not her aim. Her crime was protesting too much the legal, ethical, and environmental insults being hurled at us all by the fracking industry. Her " Letter From Jail on Earth Day" will inspire many to do much. I appreciate all the more that AASHE keynoted her at the annual conference a couple years ago. We need more leaders/heros of her obvious spine and eloquence. For me, I go to meetings a lot. Talk on the phone/in the office, and process email. Write reports and think about things. I measure my impact by program metrics, budgets, policies, students reached, and so forth. We are making a difference but it is indirect and I am putting far less of my life on the line. Far less. What I do is a second-order act. It's necessary and good, but I really feel good when I help provide a meal for homeless people. Did something. Do it more. Which brings us to how heroes help define culture. Indeed, we venerate them because we live through them. We may never have the opportunity to directly stand in harm's way-but we vicariously experience front line hero's' acts through story and a mythology that defines our best angels and the ethical standards to which we all longingly aspire. If we are lucky we will be given a split second in life when it all makes sense and we don't flinch. I long for and fear that moment may someday come. For after a career working on sustainability, I worry that one decision could make it or break it. Consider Gamble Rogers. A well known guitar player and storyteller in the South, Gamble for years toured music festivals playing awesome acoustic guitar and spinning comical tales of a fictional Florida county where politics driven by easy tourist dollars enabled sprawl and the defiling of a once pristine Florida environment. He pilloried the typical Florida snowbird tourist relentlessly for their carpet bagging tendencies. Yet it was an entertaining and comical allegory presented over some of the best flat picking I have every heard. Moreover, he used the arts to indirectly message the story of sustainability. Then at age 54, "while Rogers was camping at Flagler Beach, Florida, a frightened young girl ran to him, begging him to help her father, who was in trouble in rough surf. Compromised by spinal arthritis that had been worsening since childhood, Rogers nevertheless grabbed an air mattress and headed into the ocean in a rescue attempt. Both men died in the surf.The man Rogers tried to rescue was a tourist. Rogers also posthumously won a Carnegie Award for Heroism, has schools and parks and music festivals named after him, and reminds us that what is worth fighting for is worth dying for: humanity.
Rogers' life indirectly advanced sustainability by telling a story that highlighted an ethic and values that touch the best in our culture and in us. And he closed out his life modeling that ethic. So while we remember and respect the sacrifices and noble acts we've seen in recent days, I see the nobility in all of you that everyday run into sustainability's fire. Godspeed. |
Upcoming Events
Sustainable Opportunities Summit
May 15, 2013
History Colorado Center
1200 Broadway, Denver
The Annual CORE Sustainable Opportunities Summit is renowned in the Rocky Mountain Region for bringing together the top leaders and brightest thinkers in sustainability and corporate responsible practices, and this year is without exception! Please join CORE and the collaborating partners on May 15, 2013 at the History Colorado Center in downtown Denver. This year the summit will be celebrating successes - demonstrating why sustainability works and bringing full circle the history, current progress, and future of responsible corporate practices. CORE is dedicated to helping Colorado organizations implement sustainability in their operations, products, and workforce development, focused on small and medium businesses.
11th Annual Community Cleanup Day
May 18, 2013
Registration 8-8:30am
Cleanup 8:30-11:30am
Join hundreds of volunteers for the 11th Annual Community Cleanup Day to make a difference in the community to help beautify Boulder's parks and greenways. Organize a group of friends or join the fun solo at one of more than a dozen parks, paths and greenways. Opportunities include planting, site improvement, weed, leaf and trash removal.
For more information and to register (by May 15th) visit http://www.rei.com/event/50599/session/70231
Bioneers Salon: From Belief to Action
May 18, 20136:00 PM
Arborwood Clubhouse
3250 O'Neal Circle, Boulder
For those of us with some inclination toward the spiritual, the attitude of organized religion toward the non-human world is quite troubling. If these religious traditions are the source of such wisdom, how can they be so unconcerned with or even complicit in the destruction of "creation"? Many of us would prefer to speak in terms of spirituality, which we hope will insulate us from religions that we cannot be sure are doing more good than harm. But if religion is taken of its pedestal and seen more in institutional terms, then it is a candidate for its own evolutionary processes.
That is the business of Fletcher Harper, executive director of Greenfaith, a groundbreaking interfaith environmental coalition, whose mission is to evolve the environmental perspective of any faith-based community, from its theology to its physical plant. We will be showing Fletcher Harper's plenary from the 2012 Bioneers conference. We will also be revisiting a TED-X talk by David Eagleman, a neuro-scientist who coined the term "possibilium". Hardly a theologian, Eagleman works deep in the trenches of science, but has found there the potential for a vast and tolerant spiritual perspective. You're invited to join in what we suspect will be a "spirited" discussion afterwards.
For questions contact Greg Varhola,
ColoradoBioneersSalon@hotmail.com, 720-317-1107
Summit for Recycling
May 19 - May 21, 2013
 Keystone Resort and Conference Center
The Colorado Association for Recycling's annual recycling Summit is a dynamic conference and exhibition that brings together the state's recycling professionals and individuals dedicated to the principles of recycling. The agenda is complete with educational sessions, a variety of presenters, exhibit hall, site tours, recycling awards, silent auction, and fun evening networking events. This year, 2013, is the 24th year of the Summit.
To find out more visit http://www.cafr.org/summit/
"Our Food, Our Forests, Our Climate: Fixing Food to Protect People and the Planet" with Anna Lappé
May 21st
7:00 PM
Rembrandt Yard
1301 Spruce St., Boulder
Our Food, Our Forests, Our Climate: Fixing Food to Protect People and the Planet with Anna Lappé, author of Diet for a Hot Planet and Lindsey Allen, Director of the Rainforest Action Network
The Rainforest Action Network is coming to Boulder, considered the "Epicenter" of natural & organic foods, to interact with this vibrant community and to share how RAN's work on forests and climate can help solve some of the problems associated with America's food system.
To register visit
http://ranbenefit-boulder-rse1.eventbrite.com/ |
E-Center Graduates
The following students graduating this semester have dedicated their time and energy to sustainability and the Environmental Center. See how they plan to continue efforts to save the planet after graduation!
Elizabeth Hicks (Recycling Lead Worker and Special Materials Manager) is moving to Naples, Florida to be a Conservation Intern for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. She will be working in the Arx Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital.
Mackenzie White (SCORE, Teach for Sustainability, and Orientation staff) will relocate to Jackson, Wyoming to work for Friends of Pathways, advocating for the completion of a safe and sustainable pathways system for healthy recreation and transportation opportunities in Jackson Hole. She says "I am excited to put my skills to use, learn more, and live in mountain paradise. Environmental Center family visits welcomed and encouraged!" Elizabeth Lombardi (Sustainable Practices Program) will research spatial patterns of hibiscus plants across herbivory and drought gradients in Kenya, Africa. After that, she plans "to pursue any activity that enables me to learn more about the intersection between ecology and political science while maintaining reasonable proximity to a mountain range." Kayla Schick (Environmental Board) will attend the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs in pursuit of a Master's in Public Administration with a focus on environmental management and policy. She hopes to have a career advocating for and encouraging sustainability in local level governance. She says "It's been great working with the E-Center as a member of the Board for the last 2 1/2 years and I'll really miss it!" Brian Ash (Bike Programs) will be moving to a village called Nyaturubo in Western Kenya, Africa, to continue work for the non-profit that he founded last year, "ARRIVE in Kenya". Bessie Delahunt (Office and Transportation Assistant) will move to Western Australia, pursuing her interest in international sustainable development, and "seeing where life takes me!" James Hulett (Ski Bus Manager) will relocate to Lake Tahoe in California, and plans to ski Squaw daily. He will be pursuing a career in mountain rescue and first response. Dakota-Rae Westveer (Environmental Board) will intern for the summer with the Denver Botanic Gardens Children's Program. She will spend this summer and fall developing and implementing different environmental education programs and doing horticulture work at Mordecai Children's Gardenin Denver.
Francesca Loomis (E-Center office assistant) will earn her permaculture certificate through CU during the Maymester, then will work the rest of the summer on an organic farm in Lincoln, Massachusetts. |
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Campus Sustainability Award winners
The campus sustainability awards program was established in 1997 to recognize outstanding individuals and departments demonstrating strong commitments to reducing CU-Boulder's impact on the environment. The 2013 winners were celebrated during a ceremony this week.
The 2013 campus sustainability awardees are:
James Balog, Outstanding Alumni
Balog has been a leader in photographing, understanding and interpreting the natural environment for three decades. The CU-Boulder alumnus founded the Extreme Ice Survey and recently brought worldwide attention to climate change through his Oscar-nominated documentary called Chasing Ice. He's the author of seven books, provides a variety of outreach and develops high school and college-level curricula.
Robert Dixon, Individual Achievement
Dixon, the director of information technology for Housing & Dining Services -- one of the largest computerized units on campus -- created and implemented a virtual desktop infrastructure. It includes circuit board hardware that links directly to servers, cutting out the need for and replacing 500 workstation computers. Dixon and his team's solutions have reduced electricity costs by $30,000 per year. The system also has reduced costs for equipment manufacturing, purchases, shipping and disposal while providing a more mobile and efficient work environment for staff.
Facilities Management Custodial Services, Departmental Achievement
Custodial crews helped pilot and establish a program to collect compostable waste from building restrooms. While grant funding was provided for startup costs such as bins and liners, the crews' additional labor -- emptying the bins daily and taking the compostable waste to loading docks -- was not funded. Crews met the program implementation with creative solutions for a cost-effective, efficient and equitable system. Collections of compostables from campus restrooms has expanded from including three to including six buildings with plans in the works for more sites.
William Franz, Individual Achievement
Franz, IT manager for the ecology and evolutionary biology department, sought and acquired more efficient computers that were being cycled out by other departments on campus. The efforts resulted in significant energy savings and upgraded equipment for EBIO with little to no cost. Franz and his student team also adjusted settings on computers and printers throughout the department, rendering them more efficient, and replaced computer monitors with energy efficient flat screens. The project, implemented since last summer and involving hundreds of computers, has reduced electricity use by 85 percent for classroom computers and up to 70 percent for lab computers.
Housing & Dining Services, Partnership for Sustainability
A team of staff members innovated an alternate way to hydrate thousands at the annual Global Jam welcome event for new students. They created mobile hydration stations to provide cool filtered water to attendees. The team used a trailer that was already in stock and constructed the remaining pieces from existing stainless steel countertops, adding the necessary plumbing. An estimated 40 percent less bottled water was required at the event, as participants were able to fill their own reusable containers or use compostable cups at the hydration stations.
Paul Komor, Green Faculty
Komor, the energy education director at the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, or RASEI, and an environmental studies lecturer, has helped establish CU-Boulder as a leader in energy education. Paul leads a research program in renewable electricity policy. He also teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses in energy technology and policy. Many of the students who've gone through the programs created by Komor have gone on to lead energy efforts locally and nationally. Without Komor's efforts, there may not be the comprehensive programming in place today for energy studies at CU-Boulder.
Graham Meriwether, Outstanding Alumni
In 2010, Meriwether founded the Leave It Better foundation, whose mission is to empower youth to heal the environment. Leave It Better has helped build 10 gardens in schools in New York City and has taught more than 2,000 students how to compost, plant and harvest, in partnership with the Kids Community Garden in the Bronx. Graham also directed American Meat, a pro-farmer documentary looking at chicken, hog and cattle production in America. Screening the film at campuses nationwide, Meriwether has focused on holding community discussions and engaging students in the issues.
Shimshon Rapaport, Student Achievement
Rapaport, a mathematics student, created The Reusable Scrap Paper Project. The program collects misprints, excess and recyclable paper, and supplies help desks across campus as well as departments that can use the reclaimed material, for printing on the blank side, for example. The project has implemented the reuse of approximately 1,500 pounds of paper since March of 2011. Rapaport has volunteered countless hours on a weekly basis to make the program a success, from coordinating with various departments, to sorting and weighing paper and transporting it across campus.
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Special recognition certificates were awarded to:
- Facilities Management Meridian Implementation Team, Departmental Achievement
- Trade Services, Facilities Operations, Departmental Achievement
- Gary Sheets, Individual Achievement
T. Pepper Clayton, Individual Achievement
For more information about this year's recipients and the Campus Sustainability Awards visit http://ecenter.colorado.edu/greening-cu/campus-sustainability-awards.
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Sustainability Spotlight
Each newsletter, we feature a person or organization on campus or in the community. Check out this week's Sustainability Spotlight! 
Clean Energy Action Clean Energy Action seeks to accelerate the transition to a post-fossil-fuel world built on clean energy - by educating citizens on the impacts of fossil fuel use and on clean energy options
- by supporting data-driven, informed action in coal-reliant states
- by conducting and disseminating research on coal supplies and utilities
- by envisioning the integrated renewable energy future
Clean Energy Action is based in Boulder, Colorado and works at the local, state and national level to accelerate the transition to the post-fossil fuel world based on clean energy. CEA aims to achieve its goals through "Citizen Power" by inspiring, training, and empowering citizens to advocate for decreased reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear power, and through increased reliance on clean energy such as energy efficiency and renewable power. CEA was co-founded in 2005 in opposition to the construction of Colorado's newest coal plant, "Comanche 3" in Pueblo, Colorado by Alison Burchell, Dan Friedlander and Leslie Glustrom, who are winners of numerous awards for protection of the environment. Since then CEA has cultivated a team of empowered citizens from many walks of life to challenge continued reliance on coal-based energy by stressing data-driven research, coalition building, and a focus on positive solutions. CEA works to educate widely-varied audiences. While a monthly Global Warming Solutions Speaker series brought respected and inspiring local and national experts to Boulder, CEA's leadership team spoke at renewable energy conferences around the country. Their research team's reports and findings have contributed to articles in respected journals, national on-line and print media, and industry reports as well as regulatory agency discussions. Civic leaders and advocacy groups from numerous communities and states have come to CEA for strategic support, guidance and resources to mobilize their clean energy agendas. These accomplishments underscore the potential for bringing about change through grassroots efforts. "Powered by spirit, volunteer enthusiasm, and the generous support of like-minded individuals, we will continue to operate from a 'what needs to be done' instead of a 'what can be done' perspective,'" says CEA Board President Julie Zahniser. "Quite literally, 'the sky is the limit' when it comes to our clean energy goals." Learn more at http://cleanenergyaction.org/. |
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One Million Acts of Green
A sustainability-based social networking platform for the university community
One Million Acts of Green is a social sustainability network that allows CU-Boulder students, faculty, staff and alumni to build individual sustainability plans, track and report progress, see the impacts of commitments and measure carbon footprint reduction.
Users can choose from more than 100 Acts of Green and track the amount of greenhouse gases, electricity and water saved by their actions. Acts include taking public transit instead of driving, carrying a reusable water bottle, and eating vegetarian once per week. Users can even choose to share actions on Facebook and include photos.
The CU-Boulder One Million Acts of Green platform is available for ALL UCB faculty, staff and students. For each faculty, staff or student who participates in One Million Acts of Green, the University of Colorado at Boulder will also work to further improve its carbon footprint and sustainability performance.
The Office of Campus Sustainability will match each new participant (500 faculty and staff and up to 500 students) by committing funding of $10/participant toward campus sustainability projects, up to a total of $10,000.
You will receive a follow up questionnaire when you create your One Million Acts of Green profile. On this follow-up survey, you will be able to select what types of projects and issues are of highest interest to you. Your preferences will help us better understand where you want us to focus our efforts and funding. Instructions for Using "One Million Acts of Green"
One Million Acts of Green is a tool for CU-Boulder students, faculty and staff to build individual sustainability plans, track and report progress, and see the impact of your commitments and measure carbon footprint reduction. There are over 100 sustainability actions to choose from. Select the eco-friendly actions you already do at home or on campus. As you undertake new actions, come back and update your assessment. You can choose to share your actions on facebook. You can upload photos of your sustainability actions too!
Step 1: set up your profile. You need a colorado.edu email address to join the platform.
Step 2: select a campus building to affiliate with
Step 3: select your green acts
Step 4: tell your friends and colleagues!
Step 5: update your Acts of Green
Faculty and Staff:
Please select the campus building where your office is located. In the Acts of Green menu, you may choose At Home actions and/or At Work actions.
Suggested Acts for UCB Faculty and Staff relevant to the office environment on campus: List forthcoming
Students:
When you create your account, you will need to indicate your expected date of graduation. When you graduate, you will receive a message to transfer your profile to "alumni" status within 30 days. If you choose not to transfer to alumni status, your account will be deactivated.
If you choose to affiliate with a group, select the campus building which your major is located. If you change majors, please change your building affiliation.
Click here to learn more about One Million Acts of Green and create your account!
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Earth Week: A Retrospective
During Earth Week on the CU-Boulder campus, the Environmental Center hosted dozens of events, programs and festivities across campus. Students has the opportunity to engage with and learn more about sustainable practices and environmental issues.
These are just a few of the events the E-Center participated in during Earth Week. For more information on E-Center events throughout the year, visit http://ecenter.colorado.edu. 
I Scream for Recycling!
On Thursday, April 25 on Duane Lawn, students pledged to recycle by shouting it out to the world through a megaphone! Participants received free Boulder Ice Cream cones.
Manned by student and staff volunteers and hosted by the E-Center Recycling program, I Scream for Recycling was a roaring success.
 Carbon Emissions Time Bomb On Thursday, April 18, students, faculty and staff gathered on the University Memorial Center's south terrace to see and touch a giant inflatable "time bomb" -- a visual representation of one ton of carbon emissions. That's what an average person produces in just one month! Many of those who visited signed up for CU's One Million Acts of Green -- a fun new application that shows how you are reducing your carbon emissions through personal habits such as commuting, energy use, your diet and water use. Learn more about the Emissions time bomb at: http://ecomotion.us/econet/emissions-time-bomb/ 
Data Garden Quartet
What if you could stop and hear the flowers? What would it say, what would it sound like? On April 25 and 26 near the UMC Bike Station, participants in the Data Garden Quartet found out!
The Environmental Center and Communikey Festival brought in Data Garden to create a space to interact with the plant world on a new level. This quartet was made up of four tropical plants that were connected to specialized sensors that transmitted their bio-feedback into song so that visitors could experience the concert of plants!
The artists from Data Garden even held a workshop for students to create their own specialized plant sensor.
Learn more about Data Garden at http://datagarden.org/6422/quartet/. |
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