Math of sustainability video
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My Sustainability Action (in 5 seconds!!!!)
The use of a $20 reusable water bottle can save the average American $6,180 after five years of use, which is the bare minimum life expectancy of a reusable water bottle. If one person switches to a reusable water bottle, 217 plastic water bottles will be saved from going to a landfill that year, not only do they save you a lot of money and help the environment, but they are also a healthier option as opposed to plastic water bottles. Reusable water bottles are lead and BPA free, which is beneficial to you and your families’ well-being. By switching to a reusable water bottle, Americans can save themselves thousands of dollars, help the environment by lowering the amount of plastic waste in the United States, and keep their families safer.
Shouldn’t we all be Swell?
Within the past decade at Union College, students and faculty have been working extremely hard to decrease the fossil fuel and carbon footprint of the school. This has been a beneficial contributes to the school because now we have more recycle bins around the school and distributed toilets where we can choose the “type of flush” that we want. For this proposal, I propose that every incoming freshmen will get a free aluminum – swell type water bottle. Every year, 17 billion barrels are used to create at least 50 billion disposable water bottles in America alone. Also, reusable bottles such as the well can save an American about 200$ per year. Plastic bottles have also been linked to contain BPA (which is a plastic linked to cancer). So why not, where we can decrease our own risks and the rest of our student body’s risk? Furthermore, this being said, investing in the metal water bottles is very costly, but as a school that has a student body dominated by athletes, this would be a great investment to decrease out plastics purchase and increase our reusable bottle community. Although we are a small population, if all colleges and universities take part in this, the rate of oil required for plastics can decrease significantly.
Green grant, saving water in the bathroom
For the green grant, I would like to see the school further initiate their solution that helps reduce the amount of water waste from toilets and sinks. There are already more sustainable flushing systems and motion-sensored sinks in some of the bathrooms on campus, but I think it should be a universal theme in every building, in all facilities. These sustainable practices are highly beneficial in saving water.
In terms of the dual flushing toilets, they “take water-efficiency one step further: using 1.6 gallons for solid waste and only .8 gallons for liquid waste.” As opposed to using 1 1/2 gallons of water per flush, everywhere that has implemented this system gets to dave almost an entire gallon per flush.
Additionally, “millions of gallons of water are wasted every year through faucets that are left running for too long or not closed properly after use…It is believed that installing motion sensor faucets can save as much as 30% to 50% on overall water use.”
It would be nice to see Union implement these ideas further into campus, as a lot can be achieved by sticking to these sustainable practices.
Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) Garden
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
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
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
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
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
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.
