Lights On

I visited my office yesterday afternoon. A Sunday. Memorial Day weekend. No one around. The lights were on. I turned them off. I don't know who is leaving the lights on like this on a holiday weekend, but with the economy and the budget the way it is we do not have to leave electricity on during the weekend, on holidays, or in areas that do not require it. All the hall lights were on too, even though it was broad daylight. Even if they HAVE to leave them on for safety, all they have to do is install some motion sensors and they can save a lot of money.

This is the light switch in one of the rooms that were lit. All the lights switches have these stickers on them, but obviously they are not respected.

When I left the building all the lights were off in the interior offices and classrooms that I have access to. I turned off several of the hall lights as well, though I did leave the stairwells lit (they could also use light sensors [http://www.wattstopper.com/ for example]). This is an easy and cost effective way toward sustainability.

Reasons that Michigan is Not Sustainable

State of the art education at EMU

The papers are full of articles about the inability of the state to reach a balanced budget. They say the $800 million shortfall will mean whacking about $8 million per day until the new fiscal year begins (September) in order to find that balance. The legislator's — the 2nd highest paid in the nation — ineptitude and the sad results are deplorable. Michigan bonds have been downgraded (costs more to borrow), and threats made to many state employees who have been given 30-day layoff notices, K-12 schools who could be cut one more time. What else will be cut? Can EMU stand any more cuts? Are we open to getting some recent successes cut? Stay tuned.

So, as I am writing this they say they have come up with a budget. And what is getting cut? Guess what? The universities. Let me see: no jobs, low rated education, brain drain = cut university spending.

A key initial piece of the agreement, outlining delayed payments and spending cuts for universities among other cost-cutting moves, passed the House by a 69-37 vote and the Senate by a 26-10 vote Friday night.

I have no idea yet what exactly they have cut, but I know that it has been a disaster at EMU already. We don't need any more of the legislators using us as their scapegoat.

Of course, there are plenty of other reasons that the state is in this poor shape and has not emerged into the black. The automobile industry MUST get over its hubris---Unions, poor auto construction, low fuel mileage, SUVs, but there is also, the sprawled out way Americans live in our cities, and of course, overpaid legislators who receive absurd lifetime benefits after they have "served" while everyone else is being cut (there is a proposed bill that would end this).

We might attract more of the Creative class if we were more creative. We might have people MOVING here rather than leaving in droves.

The key to economic growth lies not just in the ability to attract the creative class, but to translate that underlying advantage into creative economic outcomes in the form of new ideas, new high-tech businesses and regional growth.

And getting back to the whole idea of this blog, why not be creative with renewable energy and our own sustainability?

Michigan can be part of the renewable energy job creation, and become far more sustainable if it would just get a grip on the reality of today and stop living in the past.

Nearly 43,000 firms throughout the United States operate in industries related to the manufacturing of components that go into renewable energy systems. If the 185,000 MW of renewable energy assumed in this model were to be developed, these companies have the potential to fill the demand for new components that would be generated. This national development would represent nearly $160 billion dollars of manufacturing investment, and would result in more than 850,000 new jobs. Michigan is particularly well positioned to benefit from such a national development. As shown in the tables below, Michigan stands to receive nearly 34,777 new jobs and $5.53 billion dollars of investment in manufacturing components to supply this national development of renewables. Michigan is ranked ninth among states in terms of job gain, and seventh for potential investment. http://www.crest.org/Domestic_Manufac_State_Mich.htm

And as long as we play political games and hold the residents hostage, as long as we continue to decimate the education system, as long as we close our eyes to what is happening right here, right now - we will be getting nowhere.

Sustainable Actions by Universities

Exit signs using incandescent lamps as seen here consume about 20 to 40 watts of electricity. Energy Star-labeled exit signs – many of which are LED – consume less than 5 watts per face, potentially yielding a 75- to 88-percent savings of energy. According to the Department of Energy, if all U.S. companies switched to ENERGY STAR qualified exit signs, they would save $75 million in electricity costs.

For several years now, I have been watching as schools become aware of sustainability. I have tried to do some things at EMU to make it sustainable: the Energy Awareness Week was a success, but trying to get something other than the very slight sustainable items in the new Student Union was unsuccessful. So we have a brand new building and it has nothing sustainable. It is embarrassing to me.

Here are a few things other schools did in April 2007:
1. Middlebury College (VT) committed to becoming a carbon neutral institution by 2016. Fifteen US schools have made this commitment, and 253 have signed the Presidents Climate Commitment— modeling ways to eliminate global warming emission and educating their students about climate neutrality and sustainability.
2. Stanford created a department of sustainability and energy management
3. Pacific Lutheran launched a pilot composting program. All paper and food waste from dining services will be composted. They have already been composing coffee grounds and yard waste clippings.
4. Washington University proclaimed that "energy and environmental issues represent the greatest challenges of this century," and called for universities to marshal their resources for a global effort for a sustainable future.
5. University of Main at Presque Isle announced plans to complete a $1.5 million campus wind turbine project in the next 18 months.
6. Duke University will offer full-time food service employees at least $10 per hour and basic health care coverage. All university employees are to receive at least $10 per hour.
7. University of New Mexico cut greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrous oxide was cut 86%, and carbon dioxide was cut 15% from 2000 and 2006. Many reductions were accomplished by replacing old and inefficient boilers and chillers.
8. Brock University announced a series of energy and water conservation initiatives.
9. Oberlin planned a”green commencement,” by cutting waste, replacing plastic ware with bioware. Twenty to 35% of food will be from local farmers and producers.
10. Furman “got trashed.” Students collected and sorted trash for recycling. Sorted trash and recyclables were put on display for students to see. About 40% of the trash was recyclable.
11. Cornell released its Green Report, which outlined the schools impact on the environment and its efforts to reduce that impact.
12. Several schools are hiring sustainable directors and directors of environmental studies.

Crisis at EMU

I can hear it now, people telling me that Michigan is in a crisis and we cannot afford to be sustainable. I say….well, let’s not go there and keep this PG. Sustainability is something that reaches beyond economics as we have known them. There are other forms of capital and those we have yet to invest, most especially, of course, environmental capital.

The now well-known analogy of the Chinese logographs (above)

wei ji

Crisis = danger + opportunity

has been used by Al Gore for a while. His is a simplified western interpretation that is really about the moment of truth. Crisis is not so much about "opportunity" until the choices are made that will alter our lives. After we have passed the “crucial point” (the ji that is often interpreted as opportunity), THEN, we have that opportunity, but first we must accept our crisis, get past the fear, and move into the light. The crisis is about the fall of our disposable and wasteful lifestyle. We are at that crisis point at EMU, and of course, as a nation, but let’s just focus on EMU. What if we adopted environmental policies that promoted sustainability? If we accepted the "crisis" and believed in it, then the opportunity comes. We could make a name for ourselves (a positive one) of peace and profit in the maelstrom.

For example, I know there are at least a few professors who would love to pursue a more environmental education for our students, one that stresses the relationship with nature, conservation, environmental justice and of course, sustainable development. Yet, these things are barely on the table because so many are trying to hold on to what they have rather than look beyond to the near future. In the middle of our “crisis” we are creating a general education program that is based on the past and not the undeniable future. Let it go! Move into the future and take that chance of walking off a cliff, sort of like Indiana Jones going for the chalice. If "you choose wisely," if you believe. It doesn't take money, just a vision and the belief.

Some of the sustainable ideas are already time worn (if not entirely practiced) such as turn off the lights, computers etc. ideas that have been around for ages, but many more are shifts in belief and can be implemented for relatively little money. Some are:

• Establishing local food connections, which both save energy (lessen x-country travel) and supports our local economy.
  
• Replace incandescent fixtures with energy efficient fluorescent
• Recycle, recycle, recycle. Michigan's recycling rate is only 20%, one of the lowest in the country. And while we are at it, recycle so that it goes somewhere that it actually IS recycled.
• Create food composting program.
• Compost yard waste.
• Establish a sustainability fund grant.
  
• Create “student funded” programs for solar photo voltaic panels to reduce energy costs.
• Reduce toxic solvents. Buy green. Cleaning agents, outside maintenance, Use an Integrated Pest Management Program.
• Save rainwater for irrigation systems to reduce water use and runoff.
• Use land to grow biomass energy plants. Even if we can’t use it (our ancient dilapidated HVAC systems) others will be interested. Grow miscanthus or bamboo. We can also grow gardens.
• Have some vegetarian days. One does not have to go cold turkey (pun) to eat Green, but you don’t have to eat the average 200 pounds of flesh that American’s eat. I will go into the dynamics of eating meat in a future blog.
• Exercise programs (maybe even rewards to get people out there) to lower our health care costs, and our prescription intake. (I actually have seen a little of this on campus)
  
• Put filtering devices (inexpensive) on our drinking fountains. (Saves money on overpriced water, and the ever present disposable plastic water bottles.
• Do we use recycled water in our coatings industry projects?
• Put flow regulators in bathrooms. Use recycled paper towels.
• Use recycled paper
  
• Plant native plants.
• LED exit signs.
• Use energy efficient vending machines.
  
• A campus wide bicycle program
• A bicycle workshop to learn about and fix old bikes and give them to students.

None of these ideas are the type of costs that a new building requires (It goes without saying that our future buildings MUST be sustainable - and an excellent recycling program is to recycle those historic buildings), and can all be incorporated if people believe in the ideas and act. A few of the ideas have appeared at EMU at least briefly, but if they do exist at all today, they are not the center of our plans, but ancillary. This plan should be a major paradigm shift (ok, ok, so I am an academic) so that our focus is on the future our students will be living, and meanwhile providing for a better campus and a positive oriented now for faculty and students.

Sustainable is the future of America and the world. Why not teach our students by example and save money in the process? Do we have to do the same thing over and over (achieving the same results) or try out new ideas?

How bicycles can help EMU and its parking situation.

The industrialized world is riding bicycles. Here we see a typical street
in Berlin, which has more than 800 km (500 miles) of bike lanes to
encourage biking. Notice also that few wear helmets. There is no
need because everyone rides blikes and respects them.

Biking is big in Europe (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands where I have checked it out) and in some parts of the US (Portland, Seattle, SF, Philadelphia, Chicago and more!) but it sure hasn't caught on here at EMU in Ypsilanti (but it should. Many of the cities that have high rates of bicycle riders are noted to have a flat topography.). Riding on the streets here is taking your life in your hands. People just don't look for bikes and you MUST wear a helmet and still be very careful. I ride on the sidewalks because it is safer.

Chris on a bike trip in Germany.

I have been riding my bike to school now for 8 years. I am one of the very few. But it makes so much sense, an easy way to get some exercise, have fun, and MUCH better than trying to find a parking space at school.

Parking is a big problem at EMU. You have to come before 8 or after 3 to be guaranteed a space. But there are ways around this, if we just think creatively. For example, students like T-Th classes. The parking lots are always full then. Why not have MW classes too? We still have MWF classes, and students do not like them as much as T-Th classes. On Friday the parking lots are basically empty. You can come almost any time of day and get a space. So set up the schedule to accomodate both the parking and the preference for classes — T-Th, and M-W. Fridays can be used for those who have 5 day classes, and for once a week 3 hour classes, just like evening classes. That would help even out the parking situation where students and professors alike have to line up at the gates to find a space.

People will park anywhere. A reason to have a Jeep.

Another idea that would help and encourage bicycling would be to have limited parking passes, say, 20 times a semester. That would allow for when you need a car (heavy loads or really bad weather) and still have some parking. The cost could be a deal, and everyone who rides will have the advantages of a healthier lifestyle and the freedom of riding a bike. If you live too far then you can bike to a bus stop and put your bike on the bus and ride to the school.

And, of course, preferred passes could be given to people who drive cars that get more than 30 mpg, or drive smaller cars (more spaces per 1000 sq. ft.). currently with the size of cars a 1000 square feet yields only 3.6 spaces. (Maybe after enough people start riding bikes we can convert the extra spaces into a bike "station" with lockers and showers. Chicago has adopted these. ) With smaller cars the amount could be almost tripled. But not having a car is the best answer. Maybe a reduction in tuition for those who ride bikes (and a reduction in health care costs for professors and staff.)

I have to say that when I riding my bike to school is the fastest and easiest method of transport. No waiting for a parking space and saving the walk to the class. Now if we can only get some bike lanes and maybe even some of the special traffic signals for bicycles!

"Americans drive cars and taxis more than 1.5 trillion miles each year," said Gary Gardner, author of "When Cities Take Bicycles Seriously," an article in the September/October issue of World-Watch magazine. "Shifting just 5 percent of those miles to bicycles would save at least $100 billion. Much of urban travel is already "bike-sized": 40 percent of all trips in the United States, and 50 percent in Britain, are two miles in length or shorter. More than 25 percent of all trips in the U.S. are less than one mile.

"Cycling could eliminate some of these short, air-polluting trips," Gardner said, citing estimates that in a seven-mile car trip, 90 percent of emissions are generated in the first mile before the engine warms up.

From http://apta.com/services/intnatl/intfocus/bicycles.cfm

Fuel Efficiency - The Smart Car

In 2001 I saw the Smart car for the first time outside of Nice, France. I fell in love. Who wouldn't when they were so small (8' long) they can parks sideways in a normal parking space (3 fit in a normal space), and they get 50-60 mpg. The Smart Tower was used to pick out your car and then, like a vending machine, it would rotate to deposit your choice. Gimmicky, but cool.

May 10, 2007 Detroit Free Press

12,600 people have put money down for tiny Smart car

By JOE GUY COLLIER

United Auto Group Inc. said today that 12,600 prospective buyers have put down $99 deposits to reserve a Smart mini-car.

The Smart ForTwo, a two-seat vehicle made by DaimlerChrysler AG, is already sold in Europe and Canada. It’s expected to be available in the United States in early 2008.

United Auto Group, a Bloomfield Hills-based company that operates more than 150 auto franchises in the United States and Puerto Rico, is the U.S. distributor for Smart. The company expects to offer Smart through 50 to 70 dealers in the United States.

Reservations are being taken through www.smartusa.com. The $99 reservation fee will be applied to the purchase of a Smart car or can be refunded if a purchase is not made.

The Smart ForTwo will be available in three trim levels with starting prices from $12,000 to $17,000. United Auto Group announced earlier this week a Smart car tour set to stop in more than 50 cities. The tour, which will offer test drives and interactive displays, runs May through November.

I am one of those 12,600, but I am having some doubts now. Not because I don't love the car and the idea of a tiny car with great gas mileage in America , but because the gas mileage of the European cars 50-60 mpg (69 mpg for diesel) will not be achieved in America. In fact they are only "promising" 40+ mpg, and I have heard on the street that it will be only 37. The 40+ number though is verified by Smart Car USA in an email to me when I questioned this (below).

Dear smart Enthusiast
The smart fortwo is designed to achieve 40+mpg combined for the city and highway.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact us via email or by phone at 1.800.smartusa.
Thank you for your interest in smart USA. You will be hearing from us soon!

Michelle Fenner
Customer Service
1.800.smartusa

www.smartusa.com

ZAP the company that is "Americanizing" the car advertises it thus:
What is the fuel economy of the Smart Car?
According to the EPA, the Smart Car, Americanized by ZAP, is one of the most fuel-efficient cars available. Fuel-efficiency can vary depending on road conditions and vehicle operation. Visit http://www.smart.com for European test data.

40 mpg from a car that weighs only 730 kg (1,600 lbs.) and yet is safe because of its rigid steel frame...something is wrong here.

Eating Well

This weekend, I planted my garden. Mother's day weekend is the traditional weekend when freezes are over and planting can begin. It hasn't been freezing now for weeks.

I have had a garden just about every year that I can remember. And since moving to Michigan I have begun to can my produce after the end of the season. I am now thinking of extending the season some by getting a greenhouse.

I really do not like that our food comes such long distances and find that so many things just don't taste right any more. It began with tomatoes, but now so much "fresh" food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it reaches our homes that I cannot help but know that something is wrong. How much nutrition can our food have when it is picked still unripe and sprayed with compounds to ripen according to the transportation time? So I grow vegetables and fruits, and try to buy locally, but it is a problem in Michigan where 6 months of the year is downtime. Part of the way I get around it is to not use anything but my canned tomatoes during the rest of the year, and use Michigan grown cherries (yum) on my salads.

I have always made my food from scratch — slow food. It tastes better and is a far higher quality than what I can buy for an equivalent price. I almost never eat fast or processed foods. I always felt something was wrong with them, that the calories were empty, the nutrition vacant. Turns out I was right. Processed foods tend to have many ingredients that are unpronounceable, too much sugar, too much salt and fat. Who needs it?

Yet at EMU there are few, if any, healthy places to eat, just a lot of fast food emporiums, and school catering that is anything but healthy. So, I seldom eat at school, but wonder about the students who must eat there, and the many others who choose to eat there. Can't help but believe that eating such unhealthy food is part of the reason that health care costs have escalated as much as they have. People just don't eat food that is good for them, and sometimes, when they think they are eating healthy, they are not because the nutrition has been stripped from the food by processing.

Though I save money by cooking from scratch, the fact is that I eat well, very well. I can cook almost anything enjoy good foods, and know that what I serve will only be found in the healthiest of restaurants, and therefore will be expensive to buy eating out. It is expensive to eat well, but much cheaper than doctor bills later in life.

So, I grow my garden, and eat as healthy as I can, and I go to farmer's markets though they are small and for only a short period in Michigan. But at least now there is Trader Joes here in Michigan, and most of their food is preservative and additive free.

The Fourth Sector

Source: Detroit News, May 11, 2007

EMU. Wouldn't it be loverly?

The Fourth sector, one that is socially responsible, is where most people want to be today (at least I think so). Can EMU learn from this? Here is an article from the May 6, 2007 New York Times that explains the phenomena.

Make Money, Save the World

By STEPHANIE STROM

ALTRUSHARE SECURITIES is a brokerage firm, engaged in the sort of things you might expect of a Wall Street outfit, like buying and selling stock, and providing research on companies. Unlike its peers, however, the firm is majority-owned by two charities that each control about one-third of it.

So is it a for-profit business? Or a nonprofit fund-raising machine?

In fact, like hundreds of new businesses starting up around the country, it is both. Altrushare is an example of the emerging convergence of for-profit money-making and nonprofit mission.

The practice is even creeping into corporate bluebloods like General Electric, whose $12 billion Ecomagination business promotes its products' minimal environmental impact as well as their positive impact on the bottom line.

''We're a for-profit institutional brokerage, and we have to compete on execution and commissions and do so with the same technology and talent you would expect from a top-tier firm,'' said Peter Drasher, a founder of Altrushare, which is based in Bridgeport, Conn. ''What makes us different is our nonprofit ownership and our mission, which is to support struggling communities with our profits.''

The nonprofit sector is also part of the movement. Motivated by growing competition to attract donor dollars, charities are going beyond longstanding practices. Some are adopting innovative investment strategies or owning other ventures outright.

''I think what people are increasingly looking for, whether in the for-profit or nonprofit sector, is how you harness the vitality and promise of capitalism in a way that's more fair to everyone,'' said Juliana Eades, the president of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, a nonprofit mortgage lender that has begun dabbling in other types of financing.

The result is a small but budding practice -- what some label the fourth sector -- composed of organizations driven by both social purpose and financial promise that fall somewhere between traditional companies and charities. The term ''fourth sector'' derives from the fact that participants are creating hybrid organizations distinct from those operating in the government, business and nonprofit sectors. But because the types of participants vary widely and much of the activity is nascent, no single name for what is occurring has gained broad use.

''There's a big movement out there that is not yet recognized as a movement,'' said R. Todd Johnson, a lawyer in San Francisco who is working to create an online wiki to engage in the give and take of information for what he calls ''for-benefit corporations,'' another name for fourth-sector activities.

Consumers, employees, managers and -- perhaps most important -- investors are driving the phenomenon.

''Young M.B.A. students are not satisfied with going to work for a normal corporation because they are passionate to do good in the world and do it in business,'' Mr. Johnson said. ''People of faith want exactly the same thing, and there is a whole generation of people who've become extraordinarily wealthy as a result of the technological revolution and are now asking themselves if they can create change in the world.''

Those desires are reflected in the growth of so-called sustainable enterprise programs at the nation's most prestigious business schools, in the corporate marketing campaigns that emphasize social benefits instead of mere sex appeal, and a blossoming of new investment vehicles like Good Capital, Investors' Circle, Underdog Ventures and the Social Venture Network.

STILL, whatever participants call it, the fourth sector faces challenges. Current legal and tax structures draw strict lines between for-profits and nonprofits, and fiduciary obligations prevent asset managers from making investments with any aim other than maximizing profit. The social benefits that fourth-sector firms seek to unlock are not easily quantified and often take decades, not quarters, to attain.

See the Full article

It's not just me

Things have been rough between faculty and Administrators at EMU. Over the past 8 years there have been 3 strikes. Sustainability has never been close to on the table.

For years now, I have been reading and part of AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education), but only from outside the organization, because of the hundreds of schools that belong, my school EMU, is not one. Maybe this will change.

I found these short videos about Sustainability in Higher Education, and thought maybe they will help convince people that we need to address these issues at EMU.

And then after we have joined AASHE, we can join the other 239 schools and sign the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, or the Talloires Declaration that more than 300 schools in 40 countries have signed.

If the links do not work go to
http://www.arnoldcreekproductions.com/SustainabilityHigherEducation.htm
http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/html/signatories.php
http://www.ulsf.org/programs_talloires.html

Sustainable Berlin

A street in Schoeneberg district of Berlin. No SUVs in sight.

In 2006 America finally started to think green, but so far it has been superficial, much like the American steroid pumped or silicon filled models of brawn or beauty. For affluent Americans, Green is some new game that they will adopt because it is trendy, soon to be cast aside for the next. But there will be no next. This is no game. Going green is not only for the affluent. It is a wake up call for Americans about how greedy we have incrementally become. No wonder our image in the rest of the world is so tarnished.

In April 2007 I flew over to Berlin, Germany to visit my brother as I do most years. Aside from the fact that flying creates one of the largest carbon and ecological footprints a person can have, I have been separated from friends and family in order to pursue my chosen career, and my career and my need for family camaraderie allows this indulgence. I am a geographer, and part of my job is to observe the world and the interactions of humans with their environment. I live as lightly as I can (and always improving) to obviate this luxury.

Once in Germany, and this was one of the first times I have been there in nice weather (it is cheaper to fly in winter), it was a warm spring, with temperatures in the upper 70s. I came home with a tan from Germany!?! The talk of Berlin was of global warming, and how it was affecting the local area. No rain, high heat, and the possibility of another hot summer such as France and England saw in 2003, when 35,000 died because of the heat wave. No air-conditioning, the prediction of losing thousands of elderly and sick because of the intense heat were in the news while I visited. But in April the land was green, and the bikes were out. Everyone from grade schooler to elderly were on their bicycles doing their daily chores, living their life. The ease of traveling in a compact city on bikes was so refreshing, especially in relation to my home, where those (both of us) who ride bikes are aimed at by the motorists as if we were pariahs, or perhaps drunk drivers who had lost their license.

The other very visible artifact of my Berlin trip was the absence of SUVs, or large cars. I would look at a line of cars parked on the street and none would be a fuel hog SUV, but every one would get at least 30 miles per gallon, and very few of the models were available in the states. Even Ford, the most evident of the big three had several models on the German streets, most not available in the US. Two things struck me about the observation,
1. Ford had just declared that their North American division had lost lots of money the previous year, while Ford of Europe was profitable ,
2. The US automakers were still declaring that 50 percent of Americans wanted their SUVs, but the companies were all losing money, big time, and the foreign car makers were doing fine with smaller cars, and better fuel efficiency .

While US automakers steadfastly refuse to up their average gas mileage, the average CO2 output from US cars is 54,600 pounds annually, while German averages (for those who drive cars) is 27,700 or half. I calculated my carbon footprint http://www.carbonfootprint.com/USA/results.php, by the way, and though my air travel for my work puts me way out of my own league, I (16,000 kg) am still below the average US consumption of CO2 emissions (19,800 kg), probably because I drive less and bike more, and never have my heat above 65 degrees (too expensive).

CO2 Emissions (2003) from human originated emissions from burning fossil fuels.
Source: United Nations Human Development Report 2006 http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/indicators/202.html
Country Per capita metric tons
United States 19.8
Canada 17.9
Germany 9.8
Mexico 4.0

The Beginning of Persistence

Today, after months of thought, I "came out," and showed my sustainable colors. I am just tired of dealing with my office being 90 degrees in summer, and 50 degrees in winter because of antiquated and inefficient HVAC systems at Eastern Michigan University. I am tired of continually living in this completely unsustainable state and school and reading about how the school messed up again. There has to be a better way. I hope that with the help of other faculty and students we can make Michigan and EMU a better place to live.


My central focus will be making EMU a sustainable school, to bring it to the environmental and energy standards that all of America has finally become aware of (about time). My secondary focus is the number of ways that a normal, not wealthy person, can live a fairly sustainable life. As far as the school goes, well I hope others at EMU also believe. With that in mind I went to school today.

What I did today was discuss sustainability with a number of people on campus. It seemed to go well, but, persistence will be the name of the game. To me, it is how can anyone NOT endorse making the school healthier for themselves, and at the same time cutting our dependence on non-renewable energy?

More than 90 % of our energy in America is non-renewable, inefficient and therefore, polluting. Our dependence on fossil based fuel has put us in a hated war, blown up mountains in Appalachia, influenced global warming, and fouled our air, land, and water. It is time. It is time. It is time.

To me, it is a no-brainer, but, well, not everyone thinks like me. But maybe there is support out there, people who also think that our school can improve and make it a happy and healthy place to work.

The first step is an environmental audit, an analysis of various systems on campus from an environmental POV: measuring quantitatively and qualitatively the following and any others I have not thought of (please let me know what else to think about here):

• building design
• energy usage
• transportation
  
• food
  
• recycling
  
• water
  
• paper
• solid waste
• hazardous materials
• air quality
  
• environmental literacy
  

I have heard this may be a difficult accomplishment at EMU, but if I don't start, if others do not believe in this, then it will never happen. Once the audit is done it will be published, and the next step is working with the school to make the necessary improvements if any are called for (!)