Category: Ideas (Page 17 of 24)

May 5: Climate Impacts Day, 350.org

April 19, 2012 / / 0 Comments

It’s time to Connect the Dots between climate change and extreme weather.

Protest, educate, document and volunteer along with thousands of people around the world to support the communities on the front lines of the climate crisis. Start an event here!

Record-breaking heat waves in Russia, wildfires in Australia, floods in Thailand. Every time we pick up the newspaper and read about another record-breaking natural disaster, it becomes increasingly clear that climate change is not a future problem — it’s happening right now.

Connect the Dots is a project of 350.org and its partner organizations, to shine a spotlight on the connections between extreme weather and climate change. They will use those connections to issue a wake-up call for our communities, the media, and our politicians.

They’ll kick off the project with Climate Impacts Day on 5/5/12, when thousands of communities around the world come together to take action to Connect the Dots and call for urgent action to stop the climate crisis.

Who: You, your neighbors, family, friends, and the rest of climate movement.

What: Actions – rallies, presentations, art projects, and more – that help your community connect the dots between extreme weather and climate change.

Where: All over the world.

When: May 5, 2012 (and beyond)

Why: Because climate change is not a future problem. It is happening right now, and it is devastating communities around the world. The world needs a wake-up call, and there’s no time to lose.

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

April 19, 2012 / / 1 Comment

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.

April showers and that resource called water

April 11, 2012 / / 0 Comments

April showers have definitely arrived and our thoughts turn to that most valuable resource: water. Don’t let that rain outside fool you! Water is still in high demand and any efforts on our part to limit water waste make a world of difference.In fact, the Water, Systems and Society (WSSS) program is holding its 3rd annual symposium on April 27 and the theme is “The Glass Half Full: Valuing Water in the 21st Century“, exploring the various complex and interlinking factors of valuing water throughout developed and developing nations.

Here at Tufts, the Campus Sustainability Council’s Water Working Group has begun reviewing current usage and existing initiatives related to water, such as the installation of rain barrels to capture roof run-off for landscape irrigation and low-flow shower heads and dual-flush toilets as part of bathroom upgrades in residence halls. The group is working towards preparing specific “SMART” goals for the university over the coming months. Feel free to submit your suggestions for any of the Council’s working groups (the other two focus on Waste and Energy/Emissions) – the Office of Sustainability will collect and summarize the suggestions on behalf the Council.

On a related note, the 24oz light blue Nalgene with a water bottle-stomping elephant on it has become a familiar sight around the Tufts Medford campus. You may recall that beginning last fall, the sale of single-serving beverages was eliminated from Hodgdon Good-to-Go, thanks to a campaign by student action group Tufts Against Plastic (TAP). Tufts Dining supported the initiative and even helped promote it by giving away the clear “Choose to Reuse” water bottle for free with the sale a fountain drink during the first two weeks of the semester. (Dining has since made the Nalgene bottles available for sale wherever plastic bottles of water are still sold and they offer a beverage discount for those who bring reusable bottles to Hodgdon Good-to-Go, Tower Café, Mugar Café, and The Commons.)

A full semester after the initial change took place, Patti Klos, Director of Dining and Business Services, estimated a reduction of over 133,000 disposable bottles per semester! That’s 73% fewer bottles from the previous school year when single-serving beverage bottles were still sold in Hodgdon. Read more about this story.

In the meantime, let’s continue to work on keeping our personal water usage to a minimum – from shortening our showers to turning off the faucet when we brush our teeth. See our Green Guide to Living and Working at Tufts for more tips on how to conserve water.

– Anne Elise Stratton
Communications Intern, Office of Sustainability

Apr 20: “Overcoming the Challenges of Climate Change” with Prof. Moomaw

April 10, 2012 / / 0 Comments

AN EARTH DAY TALK WITH PROFESSOR WILLIAM MOOMAW:
OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

When: Friday April 20th @ 11am

Where: Tufts Institute of the Environment’s Multipurpose Room, Miller Hall, 210 Packard Ave

Why: Because we care about the future of this planet, and too little attention is currently being paid in the United States to how we can solve the problems of climate change. Come learn – and suggest – what we can do about it. Refreshments will be served!

Professor Moomaw is the Professor of International Environmental Policy at the Fletcher School and Director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy. He is a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Co-Sponsored by Tufts Institute of the Environment, Tufts Office of Sustainability, The Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, the Climate Policy and Planning Coalition (CPPC), and Fletcher GREEN.

Apr 11: Inequalities of Class and Race in the Sustainable Food Movement

April 10, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Who really benefits from local, organic, sustainable, grass-fed, free range, and GMO-free food?

DATE: Wednesday, April 11, 2012
TIME: 12:00-1:15pm
LOCATION: Crane Room, Paige Hall

Please join Food for Thought and Tom Thumb’s Student Garden for a presentation and discussion with acclaimed Professor Julian Agyeman, Chair of the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University.  We’ll explore how the growing movement and public attention toward sustainable food and agriculture perpetuates inequalities in the food system today.

Food will be provided. 

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