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Eco-Reps Weekly Updates

October 17, 2012 – 11:38 am

Zero Waste Week

Today, October 17th, is the start of Zero Waste Week! From October 17th to October 24th, 200 students will participate in this challenge to raise awareness that trash doesn’t just “disappear.” Participating students will place all trash that will not otherwise not be recycled or composted in a clear plastic bag that they will carry around with them for the week. Students should feel less compelled to create waste since they’ll have to carry it all with them! The plastic bags will be dropped off on the RezQuad at Mt. Trashmore on October 24th and the amount generated by the participants will be compared to the trash generated from a comparable sized dorm.  Visit the Office of Sustainability, the Crafts House, or find your Eco-Rep to be a part of the challenge!

Sustainability Day

October 24th, the end of Zero Waste Week, is also Sustainability Day! This event, taking place from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm, focuses on raising awareness of what has been done and what needs to be worked on to become a sustainable campus. Events for this year’s Sustainability Day include Mt. Trashmore, which will feature individual piles of trash taken from Miller, Houston, Carmichael, and Hill Halls, and “The Story of Bananas” dinner at Dewick. “The Story of Bananas” dinner seeks to educate students on the path of the dining halls’ most eaten fruit from farm all the way to compost. Check out the five stations, play the fun foodie game to win banana themed prizes, and enjoy foods with bananas! In addition, Annie Leonard, the author of “The Story of Stuff” will be holding a talk, question and answer, and book signing session in Cohen Auditorium from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

Eco-Rep Events

Last night Eco-Rep Sidney May, the Eco-Rep for Wren Hall, held her first event. She set up a tap water vs bottled water taste test and raffled off a Brita reusable water bottle! Sidney threw residents a fun curve ball by serving only tap water. Residents had fun doing the test and were almost always surprised they tried two cups of tap water. Way to go, Sidney!

Hill and West residents, don’t miss the Sustainability Dinner event tomorrow night put on by Eco-Reps Chantal Davis and Laina Piera. The dinner will focus on sustainability of the food in the dining halls. You can’t miss the delicious Flatbread pizzas they’ll be serving for dinner! The event takes place from 6-7pm in the Hill Hall Lounge.

Plus, look out of Do It In the Dark, an inter-dorm competition to see which can reduce their energy consumption the most over a one-month period! More information to come in our next post!

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Eco-Rep Updates

October 1, 2012 – 11:23 pm

APPS on APPS

Interested in being an Eco-Rep? You don’t have to wait until next year! We are accepting applications for the spring semester RIGHT NOW! Deadline is November 2nd but apps are accepted on a rolling basis, so apply! Now. 2013_Spring_Eco-Rep_App

 

Meet & Greet

Each Eco-Rep was responsible for having a “Meet and Greet” event the first few weeks of school. We are happy to report that these events were AWESOME!  I am one of two representatives for South Hall and we had 71 people come by and chat with us!  We had baked brownies and cookies and then had brief conversations about green things at Tufts as people passed by in the lobby. The best part of this   event was that people recognized us from the all hall meeting! I fielded really thoughtful questions on composting in the dorms, composting in the dining halls, recycling, my job description, and our Terracycle initiative. What a great start to the year!

Terra–what?

I just mentioned our Terracycle initiative, but I realize there is a good chance you don’t know what that is. Have you ever seen those purses made out of Lays chip bags? Or wallets out of Cheetos? Well, those are from Terracycle! The company upcycles materials and makes new products. Eco-Reps collect chip bags and granola bar wrappers, mail them in, and then get $$ to fund programs in the dorms.

Read more about Tufts Terracycling here: http://sustainability.tufts.edu/terracycle/

AND check out the Terracycle “About Us” page http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/about-us.html  and check out how it works! http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/how-terracycle-works.html 

Events

Eco-Reps are busy planning and putting on our first events of the year. I had the pleasure of attending a discussion on The Story of Stuff last week! I appreciated everyone’s comments on the book and reflections on sustainability here at Tufts. The cynic in me doubted that many people had actually read the book, but this event proved me wrong! Props to Lauren Deaderick and Hayley Welsh for hosting the  first official event of the semester!

Book discussion in Tilton with Eco-Reps, Resident Scholar, and ACE Fellows

Why do YOU go green?

I did a quick youtube search for “go green” and came up with this video: That’s Why I Go Green. The lyrics to the song were written by a kid and then the group sang it and made a music video. I know nothing about the organization but I like their vid! I go green because I believe we can make a difference! Why do you go green?

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Eco Reps enjoy retreat to New Hampshire

September 25, 2012 – 11:44 pm

The 2012-2013 Eco-Reps spent the last week of August training for the new school year. While most of the training took place on the Medford campus, the group took an overnight retreat on the last night of training week to Woodstock, New Hampshire, to spend time getting to know one another, hiking, and training Tufts’ “loj.”

The group, which included the 15 Reps, 2 coordinators, and Tina Woolston, the Director of the Office of Sustainability, arrived in New Hampshire on Friday afternoon, August 31. They spent the afternoon and evening hanging out, cooking, and roasting marshmallows.

Early Saturday morning, the whole group woke up to go on a hike of Mt. Tecumseh. The hike lasted through the morning, and gave the Reps an opportunity to grow together, through partner hikes and trail games. At the peak, the group enjoyed a picnic lunch. Standing tall at 4,003 feet, the summit provided great views of the surrounding forests and mountains.

The entire group of Eco Reps enjoy the view from the top of Mt. Tecumseh. The hike was an exciting part of the Eco Rep retreat at the end of August.

After returning from the hike, the group had a busy early afternoon of training. They started by brainstorming events for the upcoming semester. Each Rep is responsible for three dorm-wide events each semester, and this brainstorming session led to a lot of ideas for how to plan successful events.

Next, they troubleshot how to handle difficult scenarios and situations that may come up throughout the year. To conclude the day, the Eco Reps re-evaluated the goals they had set at the start of training week, and prepared to leave the loj.

After a great overnight retreat, the Eco Reps returned to campus ready to take on the fall semester!

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Re2Pack, food for the summer and the MassCommute Bike Challenge

May 7, 2012 – 9:25 pm

With commencement only two weeks away, you are probably (a) taking finals and writing papers, (b) preparing for commencement, or (c) moving off campus for the summer or (boohoo!) for good.

We can’t offer you much help with the first two things but if you are indeed moving off campus, you should know that TuftsRecycles has a list of things that they collect for recycling, among them: books and school supplies, carpets, crutches and air casts, electronics, clothing and linens, hangers, and unopened cans of food. Look for the proper boxes in the dorms and check the TuftsRecycles website for more details.

World Peas CSADo the CSA folks miss their fresh organic vegetables? I know I do. Most local farmers’ markets won’t start for a few more weeks (usually after Memorial Day). Download a schedule of farmers’ markets near Tufts from our website to look for one near you. In the meantime, don’t forget to sign up for the summer CSA with World PEAS, a program of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project sponsored by Community Teamwork Inc. and the Freidman School of Nutrition.

Don’t forget - the 2012 Bay State Bike Week is going on from May 14-20 and you can still register and help Tufts win the MassCommute Bicycle Challenge. Tufts’ total miles wentfrom 130 to 537 in a week but we are still a distant 4th behind BU. Come on, Jumbos! If you signed up, contact us at the Office of Sustainability. We have a few t-shirts to give away. (Supplies limited)

Best of luck and enjoy the sunshine!

Fannie
- Communications & Outreach Specialist, Tufts Office of Sustainability

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It’s Earth Week! What are you doing to celebrate?

April 19, 2012 – 4:44 pm

Earth Week has finally arrived! Are you ready to celebrate the beauty that surrounds us and attend some awesome events? This week is stock-full of exciting programs, lectures, conferences, and festivals all focused on one topic: our earth and how we can keep it (and us) healthy!

While there are events throughout the week, the main Earth Day event on campus,Tufts Sustainability Collective‘s annual Earth Fest, will be held on Friday, April 20th from 1-5pm on the Academic Quad! Stop by to partake in fun eco-friendly activities including a clothing swap by the Eco Reps, a Student Action Squad BYOShirt tie-dye; a composting workshop; plant-your-own seeds by Tom Thumb’s Garden, and of course delicious free food! There will be live music and a wide variety of info booths. Come one, come all – let’s have some outdoor fun learning about and celebrating the earth!

Set aside some time for your planet this weekend, whether you attend the Tufts Energy Conference, go to a screening of YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip, or listen to Professor Moomaw’s lecture on climate change. Should none of these events catch your eye, just take a step outside and enjoy nature’s springtime splendor – you just might be inspired to “green” your life.

-Anne Elise Stratton

Communications Intern, Tufts Office of Sustainability

 

P.S. Don’t know how you’re going to keep this multitude of environment-related events straight? Luckily, we’ve added them all to our Environmental Calendar, located on the Office of Sustainability website. The front page of our website and our blog also have detailed event information, as always.

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Eco-Reps visit local wind turbine

April 12, 2012 – 1:08 pm

Last Monday, the Tufts Eco-Reps (along with a few Eco-Ambassadors and staff members who graciously offered to give us a ride) took a field trip to the wind turbine site at McGlynn Middle School in Medford… a mere three miles from the Tufts campus! If you’ve ever driven down I-93 or the Mystic Valley Parkway, it’s hard to miss the towering 150-foot-high structure next to the Mystic River. The renewable energy icon was officially unveiled back in January 2009 but has already generated upwards of 250,000 kWh of energy since it became operational 3 years ago.

Tufts students and staff members visit Medford wind turbine site at McGlynn Middle School

Northern Power Systems, the electrical engineering company that built and manages the turbine, provides real-time data of the turbine’s total energy production, saved energy costs, and even the current rotor speed! Our hosts, Carey Duques, Director of Energy and Environment for the City of Medford, and Alicia Hunt, Medford Energy Efficiency Coordinator, explained thatteachers at McGlynn Middle School have incorporated hands-on lessons from the turbine into their classroom curriculum in order to teach students the benefits of community wind. Although the project faced opposition from those fearing it would be an eyesore, a Medford clean-energy committee worked on the project for three years and was able to raise nearly $650,000 in grant money to pay for the turbine. The project has a payback period of 5-7 years with a carbon emissions offset of 133 tons per year. Read the case study about this exciting innovation in renewable energy in our very own community.

On a national level, there is good news from the US Department of Energy (DOE) – last week, the Obama Administration announced an agreement to streamline offshore wind development in the Great Lakes. The DOE also awarded more than $5 million for advanced fuel cell research and $10 million for promoting zero-emission vehicles.

If you are interested in exploring more topics related to energy, The 2012 Tufts Energy Conference is being held on campus next week from April 20-21. Register here. We hope to see you at Cabot Center next week!

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Eco-Rep Semester Update!

December 20, 2011 – 4:43 pm

It’s hard to believe, but the semester is finally coming to a close and with that, the Tufts Eco-Reps Program officially concludes its third semester run after returning from a three-year hiatus.

The Tufts Eco-Reps, as you probably already know, are a group of residential students who work to encourage environmentally responsible behavior in their hall-mates and peers. They accomplish this through organizing group activities and collaborative projects, and by representing the Eco-Reps Program at various on-campus and off-campus events.

The fall semester started off with a bang, as this year’s newly selected bunch of Eco-Reps completed training and immediately jumped into their new roles by implementing compost bins in their respective dorms and hosting meet-and-greet events.

As the semester rolled along, the Eco-Reps began planning and hosting eco-related events in their dorms. Josh Metersky, Eco-Rep for South Hall, hosted a Make-Your-Own-Pizza night with dough from Flatbread Pizza and organic, local ingredients. Eco-Reps Katie Segal and Mel Rubin chose to host a joint event for Hodgdon and Bush on sustainable holiday crafts, utilizing recycled and donated materials to encourage responsible consumption over the holidays.

The Eco-Reps also took a part in the Tufts Sustainability Collective’s ‘Sustainability Night in Dewick,’ by hosting an entertaining Trashion Show where students designed and modeled attire made out of trash or reused materials. The event also served as a kickoff to the new Terracycle program, an initiative for “upcycling” chip bags, granola bar wrappers, and candy wrappers and making them into really cool products like tote bags and speakers.

The Eco-Reps as a group was also able to attend the 2011 Eco-Rep Symposium at Babson College last November. Tufts Eco-Reps had an impressive showing –  giving two presentations, running an icebreaker, and participating in various roundtable discussions and breakout sessions – showcasing to other schools our program successes, as well as taking in new ideas to improve our program in the future.

The Eco-Reps have also hosted multiple Meatless Meals, with over 200 participants over the course of the semester, and on average collected over 200 gallons of compost from dorms every week! They have worked hard to revamp the Green Dorm Room Certification process and hope to encourage even more students to certify their dorms as ‘green’ in the spring.  Look out for the Eco-Reps next semester, as they plan on hosting even more exciting eco-events and programs!

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Dec 1: Sustainability Dinner and “Trashion” Show

November 21, 2011 – 6:22 pm

On Thursday, December 1, the Tufts Sustainability Collective is partnering with Dining Services to offer an exciting sustainability-themed dinner in Dewick! Food will be sourced from local sites, and there will be a variety of organic options. This is a great way to learn about the issues surrounding your food while enjoying a delicious meal.

The Dewick stage will feature performances by multiple bands, and a “trashion” show at 6:15 by the Eco-Reps! Design your own runway attire made out of trash or reused or recycled materials, and then enter to be one of our models. Models with the best runway attire, as decided by our audience, will win awesome prizes, like gift cards to JP Licks and Dave’s Fresh Pasta! To sign up to be one of our models, fill out this form: goo.gl/10ecM or visit the Facebook event page.

Come see your friends model their recycled outfits and learn about the university’s new terracycle collection program in this exciting show. Terracycle a program that recycles chip bags, granola bar and candy wrappers into really cool products, like tote bags and speakers!

All you have to do is show up at Dewick for dinner! If you need further convincing, here’s sustainability dinner menu. See you there!

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Tufts Eco-Reps shine at Symposium

November 6, 2011 – 1:52 am
Jessie and Rachael introduce the day's first ice breaker

Jessie and Rachael introduce the day's first ice breaker

I’m so proud of our Eco-Reps! Today they rocked the Babson/GreenerU Eco-Rep symposium – they ran the ice-breaker for the whole group, gave two presentations, sponsored the composting for lunch and dinner AND had the best showing of any school! Here are some pictures:

Claire summoning group 2

Claire summoning group 2

Josh explains the next step in the ice-breaker

Josh explains the next step in the ice-breaker

Jessie and Rachael presenting

Jessie and Rachael describe Tufts Eco-Rep training program

Laina, Claire and Katie explain Tufts' dorm composting

Laina, Claire and Katie explain Tufts' dorm composting

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