November 19, 2009 at 2:59 pm (Climate Change, Energy, Generally Green, Social Responsibility, Sustainable Solutions)
In a November 16, 2009 New York Times article titled, “Paying Extra for Green Power, and Getting Ads Instead,” author Kate Galbraith discusses the efficiency of paying energy providers extra for green energy.
Last year, the Student Environmental Advisory Board (SEAB) purchased green energy offsets for the Anschutz Library on the KU campus. The board voted to pay the cost difference between wind energy and conventional energy to power the library through March 2010. More information about this project is available here.
The NYTimes article questions whether or not the extra money paid for projects such as the one for Anschutz is a viable option for encouraging alternative energy solutions over the long-term. SEAB’s intent was to encourage the use of alternative energy solutions and educate KU students about alternative energy in Kansas. The board considered education and outreach an important aspect of the program. However, in retrospective, the money used to pay for the extra cost of alternative energy could have gone to a project with a higher return on investment.
According to the article, a significant percentage of the money spent on alternative energy through alternative energy sales such as Westar’s wind energy initiative “went into marketing and administration” rather than actual infrastructure. The utilities are essentially collecting extra money that they promise to use to support the development of renewable energy, a pitch that some customers find persuasive.
With only about 2% of customers agreeing to pay a higher monthly bill for alternative energy, the needed investment in infrastructure such as new solar arrays and the bolstered efficiency of a smarter grid will not be possible. I advocate that rather than relying on the investment of a small percentage of the population interested in helping the environment every person should pay a little bit more for the benefit of all. The environment shouldn’t rely on student groups like the Student Environmental Advisory Board to invest in wind energy, it should be everyone’s responsibility. That is what it means to be socially responsible.
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November 16, 2009 at 3:51 pm (Climate Change, Energy, Research, Sustainable Solutions, Transportation)
Discussion on the Environmental Capital blog post about tax incentives and the environment:
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/11/16/low-countries-high-taxes-the-dutch-take-aim-at-driving/
The Dutch government plans to create a new tax on driving. Rather than an annual road tax for their cars, drivers will soon pay a few cents for every kilometer (mile) on the road, in a plan aimed at breaking chronic traffic jams and cutting carbon emissions. The tax would provide incentives for owners to consume fewer miles with “higher charges levied during rush hour and for traveling on congested roads. Trucks, commercial vehicles and bigger cars emitting more carbon dioxide will be assessed at a higher rate.”
Imagine the passage of similar legislation in the state of Kansas, you would have to pay $0.07 (seven cents) for every mile that you drove. For example, my vehicle’s odometer shows approximately 112,000 miles. If such a tax were implemented the day the vehicle was purchased, we can calculate the total cost of the tax by multiplying 112,000 by 7¢ to get $7,840 (over the 10 year lifespan of the vehicle). However, with the removal of sales tax and other hefty charges at the initial purchase of the vehicle, the average price for a car would fall between 10 and 15%, making vehicles more affordable and accessible and therefore more abundant.
Would US citizens, or more specifically the residents of Kansas, drive fewer miles based on the knowledge that each additional mile costs 7¢? Or would we respond better to gasoline tax increases such as those widely discussed during the 2008 presidential primary season? The government, both state and federal combined, tax gasoline in Kansas at 43.4¢ per gallon. Does that provide enough incentive?
An argument may arise, “the implementation fo such a tax in the state of Kansas would adversely affect people communting in rural areas where alternative forms of transportation are not readily available.” Well, just as the charges levied during rush hour and on congested roads would increase, the same could be said for reducing charges to those people living in rural areas where congestion is not an issue and where there is no alternative to long drives to the grocery store.
Please discuss further in the comments!
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November 19, 2008 at 11:59 am (Food, LC, Social Responsibility, Waste Reduction & Recycling)
Think about how much food you eat in a day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and those snacks in between. Now think about all of the food that you didn’t eat; the leftovers from ballooning restaurant portions or the extras in the fridge from dinner Friday night. Next time you sit down to eat, take a hard look at your plate and try to think about what you really plan on eating. Do you have time to eat everything you’ve served yourself in a 15-minute lunch break? Should you really be eating a salad that size?
Strive to throw nothing away from your plate. As cliché and silly as it sounds, there are starving people in this world. Children in particular have fallen victim to the hunger that looms over some of the most impoverished continents. Basic foods have become a precious and finite commodity in our world. It is disheartening to know that children go to school every day without breakfast and growling stomachs and are expected to still do their best.
No, you cannot airmail your leftovers to Africa or India to feed the hungry there, but taking a minute to think about what is on your plate before you start eating is a great step towards considering the waste that occurs all over our planet every second of the day. Are you really going to eat all of that?
- Vanessa
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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November 19, 2008 at 11:49 am (Food, LC)
Being outside makes people happy. Studies have shown that kids who play outside learn better than kids who stay indoors all day. Such benefits probably carry over to some degree into adulthood. When you garden, you gain exercise, fresh food, and a sense of accomplishment. Gardening also has many environmental benefits, such as improving soil, air, and water quality, reducing the amount of processing and transportation used to get vegetables, and providing habitat for insects and other wildlife.
Campus Garden is a KU Center for Community Outreach project that encourages people to get outside while providing fresh vegetables for campus use. The gardeners meet twice a week (Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings during growing months) to plant, tend, water, and harvest tomatoes, spinach, okra, squash, peppers, herbs and whatever else we are given. Campus Garden, located next to Grace Pearson scholarship hall, always needs more volunteers. The project is currently small, but with more volunteers could become a large producer of obviously local veggies. For more information contact Margaret Tran at earth@ku.edu
- Jessica
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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November 19, 2008 at 11:27 am (Climate Change, Food, LC)
Being a vegetarian isn’t just for those who don’t want to eat meat anymore, it is increasingly popular among environmentalists. While driving a Prius and turning off your lights may be one step towards ‘greening’ your lifestyle, a vegetarianism is a simpler and cheaper way to not only stay healthy but to stay eco-friendly. The production of meat products is not usually considered a productive step in the right direction but after looking at facts about methane and the greenhouse effect, I was convinced.
In the past I was a vegetarian for almost a year, discontinuing only for health reasons, my only reason for giving up meat was to try something different. Why not? After researching the effects of methane on the environment for a discussion project, I was ready to try it again, this time with other motives in mind. The United Nations recently said, “Livestock is one of the top three or four contributors to climate change”.
The University of Kansas does wonderful things to help the environment by planting gardens and recycling, but I have noticed that when I am in the dining halls looking for some basic vegetarian food, all I seem to come up with are carrots and salads. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that being a vegetarian means eating veggies, but where’s the motivation when you are forced to live off of wilted salad from your dorm’s cafeteria, well there’s little. I propose that the university takes a second look at it’s option and even considers locally grow food. I may just sound like a ranting granola eating hippy, but the truth is; I eat green to go green.
- Grace
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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November 19, 2008 at 11:23 am (LC, Sustainable Solutions, Water)
The issue that really hits home for me is water conservation. I am from New Mexico so we don’t get very much rain, ever! Yes I have seen snow (although most people are very surprised by this) but as a whole the southwestern region of the United States is drying up. The average rainfall in New Mexico is around 12 inches or less per year.
In New Mexico we conserve water, but places like Kansas and really wet (or rich) places seem to take water conservation for granted. Something that the University of Kansas can do is to have more efficient toilets, showerheads, and faucets in all of the dormitories and Greek housing. I personally love the beautiful landscaping and gardens that we have around campus, but I am sure we can have more efficient water use when it comes to lawn care and gardening. We don’t have to go as far as xeriscape, like we have in New Mexico, but just conserving even a little can help in the long run. We can still have the nice landscape but instead filled with many beautiful shrubs and plants that thrive with far less water than other species. Also I always see the lawns being watered when it’s really windy, or being watered too much and the water is running down the street. Shorter and better-watched watering times would help a lot too.
I know it is not a huge issue in Kansas, but it could be one day, so maybe the University of Kansas could start headstrong on this and lead our way to a brighter, wetter future.
- Julie
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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November 19, 2008 at 11:17 am (Energy, LC, Sustainable Solutions)
When you grab your phone from the charger every morning and lazily drop the cord back on to the desk, one would never suspect the wire to have any ulterior, darker motives behind charging your precious iphone. However, it is in fact, a vampire cord! Rest assured you have little risk in being attacked late at night by the charger, but it is making an impact on your life. Chargers and appliances that most all of us utilize on campus continue to use power even while not in use, unnecessarily burning fossil fuels and cash for your microwave to sit there.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that US consumers and businesses waste over 4 billion dollars annually from this needless standby power. Now some appliances may need to be plugged in continuously, in which case power isn’t necessarily being wasted, but your fans, chargers, microwaves, coffee makers, lamps, and neon beer signs don’t need to be sucking down extra power when you aren’t using them.
The simplest solution is just to unplug the stuff you’re not going to use for a while. Using power strips are a good way to consolidate electronics and allow you to unplug all your little energy thieves at once. Going the distance, you could also buy EnergyStar labeled appliances that meet strict energy requirements before hitting shelves, saving you cash in the long run with lowered energy bills. Unplugging wasteful vampire appliances can save up to 10% on monthly energy bills. Sometimes a little self-awareness is all people need to change their habits and become a little more sustainable.
- Joe
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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November 19, 2008 at 11:12 am (Education, Energy, Green Building, LC)
Lately, it’s all about green, green, green; the color? No! The environment, obviously. But is that all there is? Maybe it is time to combine the two. Can’t we be “green” with pinks, yellows and oranges? FIDER knows what’s up. They are making it a requirement for all interior design students to learn and have a good understanding of what sustainability means. Though they are not making sustainability a mandatory aspect of design, at least the students are being educated about it. I’m sure you’ll agree when I say: this is a small step in the right direction.
Luckily, design students are not the only college goers with sustainability awareness. Oberlin College conducted a huge experiment proving that if students know their levels of energy use, they are more likely to cut it down; granted it was made into a contest for motivational purposes, but it’s still legit. Now, you may say, “So what? If it was a contest, it means nothing, anyone will do something for a prize”, but that’s simply not the underlying point.
A little knowledge goes a long way. People will care for the environment when taught about its importance and needs. If everyone knew all the simple, little things we can do to help sustain our resources, small gestures of sustainability would have a huge impact. Prove to me otherwise, and then we can talk. It’s about those that are making a difference, not those that are not. So, take a look around. Need a new color scheme? Is it time for you to call a knowledgeable interior designer? I mean… green isn’t all bad…
- Monica
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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November 19, 2008 at 11:09 am (Green Building, LC, Sustainable Solutions, Water)
Campus gardens are beautiful. There is no argument there. It seems as though some kind of flowering plant is always in bloom, no matter what season. It’s here that the problem arises. Sustainable gardens incorporate plants and flowers native to the area. They flourish in their native environments, requiring little if no maintenance, fertilizer, and extra water. Sustainable gardens also include perennial flowers that do not need to be reseeded.
Looking around KU, I have seen many people working hard in the various gardens, shoveling fertilizers and compost into gardens, digging up dead annual flowers, and watering existing plants. With the size of campus, and the number of gardens that can be found, I really wonder how much time and money are wasted on these not so “green” gardens. Furthermore, I am also curious about the affects of the fertilizer on campus. Could this be contributing to the nasty surface scum on Potter Lake? I think so. If you are familiar with the Potter Lake Project, students working to make it less of an eyesore also reported it to be polluted last year. Or even just how much water we are wasting irrigating those flowers.
I can turn the water off while I brush my teeth for the rest of my life and it won’t even come close to the gallons of water KU would save with sustainable gardens. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that KU has taken steps for a more sustainable existence. But I think that we can do more. If we convert the unsustainable gardens as KU to gardens that integrate native plants, perennial flowers, and plants that attract insects beneficial to the environment, KU could save time, money, and most of all, the environment.
- Taylor
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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November 19, 2008 at 11:04 am (LC, Waste Reduction & Recycling)
The University of Kansas does not have an adequate glass recycling program. It is just as important to recycle glass products as it is to recycle paper, aluminum and plastic products. Think about all those bear bottles that are just thrown away in the trash. Glass is a product that can be recycled completely back to its original self. Unlike glass, plastics are only downgraded, which is not as efficient as glass recycling. Manufacturers are using cullet (broken glass) to supplement raw materials. Using cullet saves money and helps the environment. Cullet costs less than raw materials and prolongs furnace life wince it melts at a lower temperature. Cullet also demands less energy from power sources like electricity, natural gas and coal. Less energy used means reduced emissions of nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide, both are green house gasses (http://www.solidwastedistrict.com/stats/glass.html).
Though it is vital to recycle plastics, they will never be recycled back to its original self. This process is called downgrading. Most recycled plastics are recycled into non-recyclable secondary products. Since most plastic reprocessing leads to secondary products that are not themselves recycled, this material is only temporarily diverted from landfills. Our choice is limited to recycling or wasting. Source reduction is preferable for many types of plastic and isn’t difficult. Opportunities include using refillable containers like those indestructible Nalgene water bottles. Also to buy in bulk from stores like Costco and Sam’s club. It’s also important to buy things that don’t need much packaging, and buying things in recyclable and recycled packages (http://www.ecologycenter.org/ptf/misconceptions.html).
- Rion
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
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