Monthly Archives: October 2018

Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) Garden

Posted on by
4

For the 2018 Presidential Grant it would be not only aesthetically beautiful for the members of our college community, but incredibly sustainable for Union to plant a milkweed garden in front of Schaffer library (rather than the present lack luster shrubbery). Now you might be asking–why milkweed? What’s so cool about milkweed? Can this plant produce both milk AND weed? Well no, BUT milkweed is the sole plant monarch caterpillars are able to eat and the only plant monarch butterflies lay their eggs in. The monarch population since the mid 1990s has been invariably decreasing and this is directly due to the deforestation of the milkweed plant.

In a recent U.S. Geological survey they have found that we will need to plant an additional 1.8 billion milkweed stems in North America in hopes of restoring the monarch community to what it once was. This is an especially important mission for those who live in the United States because the monarch butterfly is our national butterfly(; although, this job should not be the sole burden of the United States and the monarch butterfly should not be the only insect we work to repopulate because of its’ national status). This planting would be relatively inexpensive (6 milkweed seed packets for only $18 on amazon with that student prime!), extremely impactful to the monarch population, and beautify our campus further. For more information on the falling monarch population in North America click on the graph below:

Water Waste

Posted on by
3

The use of plastic water bottles can be harmful to the environment specially when not recycled properly. A proposal that I have in mind to eliminate the consumption of plastic water bottles, is to install a water fountain in every house. This may seem like a difficult challenge or expensive but in the long run of our community, it would benefit everyone greatly. The new water fountains would help students spend less money on water, while eliminate the use of plastics water bottles. The water fountains would also provide students with the access to clean drinkable water within their own house, without having to struggle.

Green Proposal, Plastic Problem

Posted on by
3

I think one area of campus where I see a lot of waste and not a lot of sustainability is the bookstore. On campus, the bookstore gives away a massive quantity of plastic bags, which are often discarded quickly after use. This practice is extremely not sustainable, and contributes to a lot of pollution. As we have seen in math of sustainability, using an excess of plastic is incredibly harmful to our environment–this includes our oceans, our groundwater, our wildlife, as well as many other aspects of life. Another issue with this practice is that there doesn’t seem to be a good way to recycle these plastic bags on campus; I often see them being placed in trash bins. As a green proposal, I think that Union would be wise in starting an initiative to give students reusable bags, and to encourage students to use these by charging a small fee for the plastic bags, similar to how some grocery stores do.

Green Fee Proposal

Posted on by
3

Honestly I think that there have been some incredibly viable and productive ideas that have both been produced in this class and through past Green Fee proposals. Obviously plastic waste and the absurd amount of disposable cups that go through this campus could be the most plausible, but I think competition needs to be inherent within these projects. Something like using an existing program, coffee stamp cards maybe, and every time you bring a reusable coffee mug to Starbucks or Dutch you get a punch on your card. The person with the most amount of completed cards could receive declining or have a more legitimate prize which could further motivate the students. In the end there is a lot left to be done, I found a very interesting report on sustainable College Campuses in America that lists Green Mountain College as the most sustainable campus in America.

Ditching plasticware

Posted on by
3

Plastic is integrated thoroughly in Union College’s dining services. Plasticware, straws, and lids for paper coffee cups are offered in all dining halls and Wold Starbucks and it’s improbable to think that all of these different plastics are recycled. There is plasticware in my off-campus house which never gets recycled when used and the coffee cups from union dining services are countlessly tossed into the regular trash instead of recycling. Moreover, plastic is terribly unhealthy considering the chemicals necessary to produce such objects. I propose that all plasticware is banned on Union’s campus and I’m including the straws and the lids because while they are small in size, they are hugely detrimental to the environment given their frequent usage. Upper dining hall has a washing station for silverware, why not connect that station to a potential one in Dutch? I am rarely at skellar, so I’m not positive on the utensils that are offered, but plasticware should be outlawed there as well as West. Getting rid of plastic utensils and other miscellaneous plastic objects should be a Union priority if the school is serious about environmental sustainability.

Green Fee Proposal

Posted on by
5

My idea is to apply for a grant in order to fund research about the cost/benefit of green renovations to the residence halls. This is important because while the administration and trustees may think renovations are not in the budget, it could save money in the long term. This research would focus on assessing how long it would take for certain renovations to pay back themselves and be more cost-effective than just maintaining the current system. The main renovation that I think is important is a new heating system because that seems to be an area that generates a lot of unnecessary energy. If we could show the board concrete data supporting that renovations such as these will save the school money, they may be more likely to dedicate funds to such a project. This would benefit this school, the environment, and the students’ quality of life.

Green Fee Proposal: Wind Energy

Posted on by
4

Union College is known for the Nott Memorial, and the students of Union College know that the wind that is generated around the Nott across the Rugby field can be very strong. As a college, we should work to utilize this potential wind energy and put in wind turbines or a windmill that can harness the wind energy that is generated. Although wind turbines are unattractive, they could be beneficial considering how hard the wind blows and the energy we would receive could potentially save our school a lot of money. Every student at our school can vividly remember how strong and cold the winter winds are on our campus. If we could harness and store that energy then our school could potentially utilize a majority of this wind energy when weather conditions are optimal.

Paper Reduction Proposal

Posted on by
3

My green fee proposal concerns reducing the amount of paper used on campus. Paper makes up 27% of municipal solid waste in the U.S., more than any other material that Americans throw away. College campuses are clearly a place of mass consumption of paper due to the amount of assignments printed, tests, and note taking. In order to reduce this, I would suggest that all professors ban printing of assignments and use online submissions for grading instead. Another suggestion is requiring online note taking rather than writing them out in a majority of classes besides upper level math or engineering etc. Finally, we should only purchase paper that is made from recycled materials. For example, there is already a few notebooks in the bookstore made from these recycled materials. Although this idea can be tricky for reasons such as better memory retention of written out notes, or classes that cannot type equations, I think that it can help with certain classes. Together, the individual paper-saving efforts made across departments can help to reduce Union College’s waste and carbon footprint, building momentum towards becoming a more sustainable campus.

Presidential Green Grant Proposal

Posted on by
3

To make Union more sustainable, I propose that Union College should expand dining options on campus.

I, for one, frequently visit local eateries for meals when instead I could choose to stay on campus. No, its not sustainable for me to do so, nor is it eco-friendly. But occasionally my stomach overrules the voice in my head. I get tired of the same, bland dining hall food, or of the same 12 options shared between Reamer and Rathskeller.

I think its also obvious that, compared to other schools, Union lacks a variety of dining options.

RPI, in addition to its dining hall, has a Moe’s and an on-campus pizzeria.

Cornell, according to a recent study, has nearly 30 different on-campus eateries, and ranks 5th-in the nation in terms of colleges with the best food.

Take a poll of Union students. I think the vast majority would agree that Union could stand to add some dining variety to on-campus life.

Having to seek a change of pace for a meal off-campus shouldn’t be necessary. And it sure isn’t sustainable.

Green Fee Proposal

Posted on by
3

It’s been discussed a bit before, but I think a solid idea to lower plastic waste on campus would be by giving all freshman a metal or plastic refillable water bottle, whilst getting rid of plastic cups and purchasable plastic bottles in reamer.  This plan would only work if we got rid of plastics in reamer, as it would force students to use the water bottles that are given to them.  Union already has refill stations in place around campus, so the only real cost would be the purchasing of the bottles for incoming freshmen.  The campus would also save money, as the cost of purchasing plastic water bottles and cups for reamer would be taken out.  Also, by having students use their own bottles, the mindset of not wasting plastic would also be instilled in the campus community and would hopefully be remembered for the rest of their lives.