Below is the third installment of Greening Your Dorm or Apartment. Be sure to check out parts 1 and 2, and if you have any suggestions, tips or quotes that would fit in this mini-series, please e-mail me at rose.croog@uconn.edu
Succulents? Excellent
A succulent is a plant that has thick and fleshy leaves, evolved to retain water. Why is this significant? Because these plants are adapted to arid climates or in the busy college student’s case: long streaks of time without water.
Some examples of these succulents that are structurally equipped to handle neglect are the famous Aloe Vera plant, Burro’s Tail (which looks like grapes), and my personal favorite, the Snake Plant. With that name, you just know it will look cool.
In addition to the snake plant, some of my other favorites that currently reside in my Hilltop apartment are the Yucca and the Pothos Plants. After a controlled experiment, I can confirm they are able to survive a whole Thanksgiving break without water.
Since I am far from a botany specialist, the following quote explains the environmental benefit of plants, taken from an employee in the LEED Credit Project regarding ‘The Biophilic Connection’:
“When plants transpire water vapor from their leaves, they pull air down around their roots. This supplies their root microbes with oxygen. The root microbes also convert other substances in the air, such as toxic chemicals, into a source of food and energy.”
Not only do these leafy specimens act as air purifiers, pulling in toxic chemicals and converting them into something they live off, but working around flowers and plants has been proven to reduce stress, promote productivity, and stimulate creativity. So if you’re convinced, stop by UConn Blooms or the Flower Pot in Storrs Center to make your purchase!
This past Saturday, members of EcoHusky attended the Yale Environmental Law Association’s conference, “New Directions in Environmental Law,” at Yale Law School in New Haven. A variety of speakers in the forms of panels, opening and keynote addresses, and discussions all united to display that the environment, sustainability, and climate change permeate a tremendous number of issues in law.
The day began with an opening address from environmentalist, author, and journalist, Bill McKibben, through a remote video call. An eloquent speaker, McKibben focused his message on using our passion, movement, and spirit as forms of currency to build countervailing power to the industries and big oil corporations ruling the world. He spoke of the necessary transition from education to confrontation, and how we cannot simply work at the margin; we must drive “core environmental change” through an active environmental movement. This, he said, will take everyone’s particular skill sets, as well as our willingness to be citizens of the globe.
Following was a panel on clean energy investing, presented by Judith Albert, Dr. Griffin Thompson, Andrew Darrell, and Daniel Winer. Each speaker provided a unique perspective on the necessity of collaboration to promote the use of clean energy. The government must work as a regulator to provide a positive role for businesses, investors must be connected with investment ideas they can be confident in, and green banks must work to leverage capital and offer long term, low cost financing for clean energy projects. There exist many barriers, as clean energy is still a new concept; however, successful communication between communities and the government can bridge that gap. The panel also spoke about the Supreme Court’s stay on the Clean Power Plan. While the recent news may have a “chilling effect” on investors, this does not diminish the long term impact of the plan.
Later were four breakout sessions to choose from, with topics such as forest resiliency and the environmental impacts of violence in Colombia and Somalia. I chose to attend the session, “Coordinating Animal Law and Environmental Law,” hosted by Paul Waldau, Randall Abate, and Jonathan Lovvorn. About a third of global climate change is linked to agriculture and land clearing, and meat facilities account for a significant amount of water and land contamination; therefore, there is a clear connection between animal law and environmental law. Animal law currently does not have the leverage that environmental law has because the connection to human health gives environmental issues more federal coverage and legitimacy. Animal law does, however, appeal to humans’ abilities to care about other species, and triggers protection instincts, but there still exist too few federal laws regarding animal rights. What Waldau, Abate, and Lovvorn hoped to convey was that environmental and animal law have mutually valuable movements that could be much more powerful if they work collectively.
After lunch, we heard from Christy Goldfuss, Managing Director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. What stood out most in her keynote address was the importance of bridging gaps, whether it be between millennials and baby boomers, government and private businesses, or local citizens and the government. These connections are all vital in addressing major issues and developing solutions to climate change. A common theme throughout the conference was that the issue of climate change often breaks groups apart, and what we need to do is bring them back together.
Next was another collection of breakout sessions, including Indian water rights and workers’ rights and environmental harms. I chose to attend “Drinking Water at Risk: Flint and Beyond,” a discussion hosted by John Rumpler of Environment America and Khiara Bridges, a Professor of Law at Boston University. The crisis in Flint has acted as a window to a more serious issue, a concept they referred to as environmental racism. Residents in minority communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards and toxins, including poor drinking water quality, proximity to fracking and factory farms, and susceptibility to the toxic chemicals from manufacturing. As Bridges stated, the lead and toxins are colorblind; governmental decisions and responses have shown racial inequality. Perhaps the best solution is to frame all of these environmental and human rights issues more broadly to encourage the interest convergence necessary for positive change.
Following was the panel, “Integrated Strategies for Climate Change,” comprised of Michael Gerrard, Kassie Siegel, Heather Whiteman, and Lemuel M. Srolovic. They spoke of the anticipated effects of current pledges and policies on global temperature based on greenhouse gas emissions, as well as feedback mechanisms and sensitive ecosystems. Whiteman focused on the impact of climate change on indigenous people and tribal water rights. She pointed out that tribal interests are often underrepresented in the Supreme Court; however, a notable accomplishment was the inclusion of indigenous rights in the COP21 agreement.
Lastly, Dr. Mark Mitchell, Founder and Senior Policy Advisor for the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice, closed the conference with remarks that tied the entire experience together. Although there exists a disproportionate impact of certain environmental issues, we are all affected, and conferences like this one provide us with the dialogue and tools necessary to change the future.
Ever think the “clean plate club” was just your parents’ invention to make you eat your vegetables? Well, think again! Finishing all of the food on your plate is actually a great way to minimize not just your carbon footprint, but also your methane footprint. When food sits in a landfill, it breaks down and produces methane, which is an incredibly potent greenhouse gas, even worse than carbon. Shockingly, nearly 40% of all the food in the United States goes to waste, which has a huge impact on the environment.*
In an effort to get students to be aware of the sheer quantity of post-consumer food wasted at UConn, EcoHusky conducts food waste studies each spring. For one week, student volunteers go to a selected dining hall over the course of four dinners, Monday through Thursday. This year, the study was conducted in Putnam Dining Hall during the week of February 1st, where a total of 256 pounds of food waste and 135.6 pounds of liquid waste were collected. This is a 61% drop in food waste from last year’s study in South Dining Hall where 660 pounds were collected, but this can be attributed to the fact that significantly less students eat at Putnam compared to South given its size and location.
One of the most exciting parts of the study is when students express interest in why we are collecting their leftover food, and are then both surprised and concerned when they see the amount of food waste in the buckets. On a normal day when the study is not being done, students are required to scrape the excess food from their plates into the garbage before they return them, but this is oftentimes done mindlessly without further thought as to what happens to that waste. The study does a great job in opening our eyes to how our individual and seemingly harmless everyday acts accumulate into much larger problems.
Fortunately, the Department of Dining Services here at UConn has several programs in place that effectively reduce the amount of pre-consumer food that gets thrown out. In South Dining Hall this past year they implemented LeanPath, an online, interactive program that reports on what types of food was wasted, which allows them to reconsider the quantities of food that are ordered. To learn more about LeanPath or to try it out yourself, visit http://www.leanpath.com/. Dining Services also conducts a “Perishable Food Sweep” at the end of every semester. The food that would otherwise spoil over the course of the intersessions is collected from dining halls and is brought to the Covenant Food Kitchen in Willimantic. With efforts on both the pre- and post-consumer sides of the food consumption chain, it’s important for all of us to consider what we are putting on our plates and how we manage our food. As the saying goes, “Take what you want, but EAT what you take.”
If you follow current events in environmental policy, you’ve been getting a real lesson in Constitutional checks and balances among the three branches of federal government. And if you consider yourself an environmentalist, you’re probably as shocked and angry as we are about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to stay implementation of EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP).
This decision overturned a lower federal court’s decision and occurred months before that court (the DC Circuit Court of Appeals) was scheduled to rule on the merits of a lawsuit challenging the legality of the CPP. The lawsuit was brought by 29 coal-burning/mining and oil-producing states, along with other fossil-fuel industry interests.
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling was along ideological lines, with five of the more conservative justices voting to block the CPP and the four progressive judges voting against the stay. The CPP is EPA’s primary regulatory tool for achieving carbon reductions over the next 10+ years, and it’s our nation’s best hope for achieving the progress called for in the Paris Agreement. It’s also pretty flexible, setting carbon reduction targets and giving each state wide latitude to figure out specific plans. Fundamentally though, it’s focused on forcing coal-fired power plants to reduce their carbon footprint or shut down.
So the Supreme Court’s decision was a huge victory for the climate deniers and a major setback for the rest of us. Below are links to two of the many recent articles and opinion pieces about the SCOTUS’s ruling.
As a result, in just a few short months, “climate realists” went from the highest of highs (COP21 and the Paris Agreement) to the lowest of lows. Count the UConn@COP21 group among the devastated. About a month ago, a colleague from the University of Colorado – Boulder posted a triumphant blog about the Paris Agreement. He remarked about how, in the weeks leading up to the Climate Summit in Paris, the presidents, chancellors, or other EVPs at more than 300 colleges and universities (including UConn), had signed a pledge advanced by the Council on Environmental Quality and Second Nature, reaffirming our commitments to climate leadership.
Then, the strangest twist of fate occurred last weekend. The Supreme Court’s most conservative member, Justice Antonin Scalia, died unexpectedly while vacationing at a Texas resort – may he rest in peace. But had he died a week earlier, SCOTUS would have been deadlocked in a 4-4 vote and the lower court’s ruling rejecting the stay of the CPP would still stand.
The net result of this sequence of events, is that the issue of climate change, already far more politicized than it should be in the U.S., has now become even more entangled in the highly-polarized Presidential campaign. Under the Constitution, the President nominates federal judges to fill any vacancy, like Scalia’s, and the U.S. Senate then approves or rejects those nominees. The next appointee to the SCOTUS could dramatically influence the outcome of close decisions on the most politicized issues for decades to come, including the likely appeal of the lower court’s decision in the CPP case.
Conservative Republicans who control the U.S. Senate, mostly representing states that are still heavily dependent on cheap and dirty coal for generating electricity, are threatening to block approval of any nominee advanced by President Obama. Meanwhile, the more progressive West Coast and Northeastern states, like Connecticut, which have long since transitioned away from coal, might actually stand to gain an economic advantage through the enactment of the CPP. Our state and others are joining EPA in the legal defense of the CPP and would like to see the President appoint a climate realist to SCOTUS, sooner rather than later.
It seems like now might be a good time for higher education to exert some climate leadership. With the Supreme Court’s decision, climate realists are on the ropes and the climate deniers are closing in for a knockout. EPA simply cannot lose this case! The CPP would have obvious air quality and public health benefits, all the way up to preventing the most catastrophic consequences of global warming per the Paris Agreement. But what can we do? Is there a role for law school faculty and students? If so, I hope our best and brightest are willing and able to step up to the challenge.
– Rich Miller, Office of Environmental Policy Director
Below is the second installment of Greening You Dorm or Apartment featuring miscellaneous and random ways to become more energy efficient and less wasteful while completing day-to-day tasks. Be sure to check out part 1 and if you have any suggestions, tips or quotes that would fit in this mini-series, please e-mail me at rose.croog@uconn.edu
In the Kitchen, Laundry Room, and the Bathroom
Up first, wait till the dishwasher is full, perhaps even overflowing, to run it. Less cycles mean less water, and less cycles mean less of those pesky, pricey detergent pods.
Same idea goes for your laundry, wait for a full load. It will spare you from doing that cumbersome washer-dryer transfer too often, which, without fail, will cost you a lost sock (or three).
Layer up in the winter rather than turning up the thermostat dial or calling in the Hilltop Apartments automated thermostat adjuster. This saves a ton of energy and therefore greenhouse gas emissions from burning natural gas to heat your college-home. Staying in the 68-72 range will assure the most optimal blend of comfort end eco-friendliness.
When boiling water, fill the kettle up with the amount of water you need. For example, if drinking a cup of tea in your favorite mug, fill that mug up with water and put it directly in the kettle.
Make eco-friendly choices when it comes to purchasing toiletries such as buying in bulk or at stores with zero-waste option packaging such as Lush Cosmetics.
Devoted environmentalist and resident of Celeron Square Apartments, Jacquelyn Filson, discusses making the transition to more natural beauty and hygiene products:
“If you make the switch to all natural products like shampoo bars, you can reduce shower time while also reducing superfluous packaging like store bought shampoos, facewashes, and conditioners. Also, all natural organic products are great because of the low negative impact they have when disposed of.”
Before Storrs turns into an icy wind tunnel, the farmers market on Storrs Road by the Town Hall is a great place to buy some fresh vegetables, fruits, jellies, pies, baked goods, and even hot sauce. The temperatures do drop, but that is no reason to stop buying local or supporting your local businesses. In fact, the Buy CT Grown website is your one-stop resource to find all things grown here in CT. You can use their search taskbar at the top of page to search for a product or check out the trails which detail all the different ways you can buy locally with different themes such as wine, beer, cheese. Coming soon: the UConn trail.
If buying local is something that truly strikes your fancy, take the 10% local pledge and spend 10% of your food and gardening dollars locally. Visit http://www.buyctgrown.com/ to learn more!
Among 407 participating universities from 65 countries, UConn has been ranked #2 in the 2015 UI GreenMetric Ranking of World Universities, and has maintained its #1 ranking among those with rural campuses. UI GreenMetric is an annual sustainability survey focusing on a combination of indicators including setting and infrastructure, energy and climate change, waste management, water, transportation, and education. With a total score of 7,156, UConn ranked highest among its peers in energy and climate change, with strong scores in the education and setting and infrastructure categories, as well. The energy and climate change section is weighed most heavily in the ranking, as it encompasses a wide range of indicators including green building, greenhouse gas emissions reduction policy, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. It is also important to note that this was the first year that the GreenMetric survey included a carbon footprint evaluation as part of its criteria.
Nearly 50 more schools participated in 2015 than in 2014, yet UConn still succeeded in moving up in ranking from #7 to #2. This we attribute to a variety of efforts and accomplishments. As a signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), recently renamed Second Nature’s Carbon Commitment, UConn made a promise to aim for carbon neutrality by 2050. Thereafter, all decisions regarding campus projects have been made with greenhouse gas emissions in mind, outlined in our Climate Action Plan. Apart from the presence of a wide range of sustainability initiatives at UConn, we attribute much of our success in the ranking to the diligence and cooperation of those involved in obtaining and compiling all of the data and information into concise, yet comprehensive, responses.
The following post is a kick-off to a series of posts written to help you make greener changes to wherever you live on campus. I know that serving as a steward to your environment alone does not drive all of us to change our actions. However, one thing that does is that greenish, crinkly, paper/linen stuff: money. All of these tips can lessen your environmental footprint while also leaving money in your bank account.
Used is IN
Savers, Salvation Army, UConn Buy or Sell: all of these shopping arenas are second-hand stores where you can find clothing, couches, chairs, tables, glasses, cookware, and even old Backstreet Boys CD’s.
I have never received more compliments on a piece of furniture than my red cushioned papasan that I bought from the Salvation Army. Many might ask, what is a papasan? Well, it is a stylish chair made famous by Pier 1 Imports Furniture that goes for $149.95 ($79.95 for the frame $70 for the cushion). I bought it from a thrift store in a used, like-new condition for $15. Not only did I save over $130, but by buying something in its second, third, maybe fourth cycle from a local enterprise, I prevented a new papasan from being made in the long-run (saving the environmental impacts of manufacturing and transportation) and my $15 dollars went to a social cause rather than straight into Pier 1’s income accounts.
Second hand stores are a beautiful opportunity to find cheap deals and to make a statement with your purchase. Consumerism is a rampant idealism of our society, but buying brand new doesn’t benefit your budget or the environment. So what does purchasing second-hand do? It gives you more power for your dollar. Instead of feeding a wasteful lifestyle, your money instead goes to the local economy, your pocket, and supports a larger shift towards a more sustainable society that uses existing resources to fulfill current needs. Also, by shopping at more charitable organizations you are investing your dollar in helping others. The Salvation Army who take 82 cents of every dollar to providing to food distribution, disaster relief, and other beneficial community programs.
Editor’s note: Yes, buying used items can be deemed “unsanitary”, “mysterious”, even “dangerous,” so play it smart and enjoy the hunt. Look for the items that look the cleanest and a few thorough washes are never a bad idea!
What is a wooden nickel you may ask? A wooden nickel is a small token that you receive at the UConn Co-op when you choose not to use a plastic shopping bag to carry your purchases. You can then insert this wooden nickel into one of four bins that each represent a different charity. Every time you do this, five cents are donated to that charity at no cost to you! The charities to choose from are the UConn Campus Sustainability Fund, Joshua’s Tract Conservation and Historic Trust, World Wildlife Fund, and UConn’s Sandy Hook Memorial Scholarship. The Co-op donates the monetary equivalent of the sum of the tokens in each bin to their respective charities. This program is formally known as the Co-op Cares Bag Program, and has drastically reduced bag use since it was started in 2008. By four months into the program, the Co-op had collected a total of 22,300 wooden nickels in the bins, equaling over $1,100 in donations! Since the cost of a plastic bag is roughly five cents, the Co-op decided to turn that spending around and give back to the community, all while reducing its carbon footprint! Although the driving force of the program is to reduce the consumption of plastic bags and to produce less pollution, you can also participate by donating your own money.
We challenge you to rethink your shopping habits and try out an alternative method of carrying your purchases out of the store. By using reusable bags, backpacks, or even just your good ole’ hands, we can work together to make plastic shopping bags a thing of the past.
Below is a collection of blogs reflecting UConn’s experiences in Paris and at COP21. They include:
Takeaways from UConn@COP21 Rich Miller
Race, Privilege, and Climate Change – Addressing global instability Cristina Macklem
For a worldview of climate change Rachel Smiley
Takeaways from UConn@COP21
Rich Miller, Director – Office of Environmental Policy
Now that we’ve had a month or so since our return from Paris to reflect, what are the key takeaways from UConn’s first-ever participation in the UN’s annual Climate Summit? Let’s start with the global perspective – COP21 will be long-remembered for two distinctly different reasons:
it occurred a few short weeks after ISIS-attributed terrorist attacks killed 130 innocent people at three popular locations in and around Paris; and
more importantly, it resulted in the Paris Agreement, which was approved by vote of acclimation among the 195 participating countries, finally including the world’s top two carbon emitters, the US and China.
Let’s hear it for the US’s decision to join the world’s most economically-powerful and globally-engaged nations in approving this historic climate accord. In so doing, the US sides with countries like the those in the EU and Japan, and disassociates itself from a shrinking group of increasingly belligerent, rogue nations that did not participate, like Syria and North Korea.
Like an Olympic torch for COP21, the Eiffel Tower illuminated an environmental theme.
The Paris Agreement will limit greenhouse gas emissions at levels needed to avoid global temperature increases of more than 2 degrees C. and thereby prevent the most catastrophic consequences of global warming. While skeptics say the agreement is not strictly enforceable, a schedule of annual and five-year progress reports will establish a “name and shame” system for assuring compliance with each country’s own emissions targets. There is precedent in environmental law for the power of public disclosure. Consider, for example, the successful reductions in the use and storage of hazardous chemicals after the adoption of Emergency Planning & Community Right to Know Act, which was part of the Superfund amendments during the late 1980s (aka, SARA Title III).
But back to the basics of UConn’s experience at COP21 and the related events and activities that occurred throughout Paris during our one-week stay, from Nov. 30 – Dec. 6. Perhaps the best way to describe it is like the Olympics for environmental policy wonks and climate activists, myself included. Extending the analogy, Le Bourget was the main stadium, with multiple other venues in and around Paris, and hundreds of thousands of spectators and participants from around the globe who had gathered to be a part of history. The Eiffel Tower was an inspiring analog for the Olympic torch – illuminated at times in green or with a “For the Planet” message throughout the event.
Our observations have been reported in two previous blog posts (Bonjour and Thoughts) written by several from the UConn cohort, which included 12 undergraduate students, faculty from four different academic departments – EEB, Geography, Political Science and NRE – and two staff from OEP’s Sustainability Office. This overview introduces the third such group blog.
In December, our UConn@COP21 social media reports and photos posted on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (#UConnTalksClimate), seem to have reached a wide audience. In deference then to our busy readers, here are 12 top takeaways written with Tweet-like brevity:
We did it! And they said it couldn’t be done with only seven months of planning. We represented UConn well, had an incredible experience, and returned safely – eager to share our experiences with the UConn community and beyond.
Coveted entry passes to the official COP21 and/or “civil society” proceedings were grossly over-rated. We had neither but still managed a busy schedule of events.
Several from UConn’s group sat in on Bill McKibben’s divestment presentation at Le Bourget
Colleagues from other schools who had passes to the official proceedings reported that it was about like watching the proverbial paint dry – no loss there for the (sans passes) UConn group.
Speakers, expert panels, discussion groups and exhibits at the vast COP21 Climate Generations Space (Green Zone) in Le Bourget, along with related events, like Climate Solutions, provided us with a substantive, immersive experience.
The impromptu climate change discussions, which the UConn group held every morning after breakfast, were a thought-provoking highlight of the trip for all.
Four faculty members from different academic departments and 12 students from nearly as many different majors (plus a great setting in the hotel lounge) made for lively, interdisciplinary group discussions every morning.
UConn was proud to co-sponsor the “Higher Education Leads on Climate” networking event for our colleagues – thanks to co-hosts Second Nature, Kedge Business School and AASHE.
Attendance, not including UConn and other co-sponsors, was relatively modest, with 30 or 40 guests from perhaps a dozen different colleges and universities. But the networking event clearly filled a void. We hope it’s the first of many higher-ed focused gatherings at future COPs. See you in Marrakech?
The higher education event featured lively presentations by Kedge’s CSR director and Second Nature’s Education Manager, then networking with colleagues from Edinburgh to Emory.
Extra security was everywhere in Paris – reports said 30,000 police, many in full body armor and armed with AK-47s, were on duty at COP21 venues and patrolling the main tourist attractions.
Extra security outside a COP21 venue in the wake of the November terrorist attacks in Paris
Once we arrived in Paris, we never felt unsafe, despite the anxiety of family and friends beforehand. As some suggested, this might have been the safest time to be in Paris.
The “City of Lights” did not disappoint. We saved enough time to see many of the 300 beautiful Parisian buildings, monuments, fountains and statues that are up-lit at night.
Our hotel was perfect, from its convenient location to the excellent service we received. On our last morning in Paris, hotel staff even arrived 30 minutes early to send us off on our return flight with a full breakfast buffet.
Our hotel entrance, street-side, in the heart of the Latin Quarter, part of La Rive Gauche. Note that Paris appears to be a “no gas guzzler” zone.
The hotel’s front desk clerks had heard of UConn, not surprisingly from our multiple championship women’s basketball team. Now they know a little bit more about other things that UConn stands for, like world class campus sustainability and climate science programs.
In the coming months, our outstanding undergrads, selected from 77 extraordinary student applicants, will truly earn their expense-paid trip to Paris. They’ll be sharing their experiences with the UConn community, and beyond, by organizing and conducting outreach events, demonstration projects, photo exhibits and more. Stay tuned!
After final exams a few weeks ago, most of our group of 18 met with President Susan Herbst, who was genuinely impressed with our accomplishment. She encouraged us to continue the UConn@COP group effort, and to develop longer-term and unique climate leadership and sustainability strategies for UConn. Toward the end of our meeting, which ran about 45 minutes longer than scheduled, she even brainstormed with us, offering some great ideas about how to reach the widest audience. She was pleased to hear that there were very few, if any, colleges and universities that participated in COP21 quite the way we did. If this kind of global, interdisciplinary and co-curricular experience is to happen again for UConn at future COPs, there’s no better nod of support to have than the President’s.
And, while we’re at it, thanks again to the senior administrators and others who believed in and enabled our vision last year, starting in May, when we began planning and fundraising for UConn@COP21: especially the VP of Global Affairs, Deans of CLAS, CAHNR, and the School of Engineering, along with faculty leaders in the Marine Sciences Department and at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, which is purchasing carbon offsets (with proceeds supporting the Indonesian Rimba Ray Project) to account for the greenhouse gas emissions from our international travel. Even UConn’s beverage contractor, Coca-Cola, which had a significant corporate presence of its own at COP21, contributed a student sponsorship share. Last but not least, the Campus Sustainability Fund, supported by individual and company donations from UConn (EcoHusky) Nation, helped transform our unlikely dream in April into an unforgettable reality by December.
Merci beaucoup, on et tout – au revoir, Paris!
Race, Privilege, and Climate Change—Addressing global instability
Cristina Macklem
A subway advertisement for the World March on Climate in Paris, France
A few weeks ago, my conservation biology class did an exercise on privilege, and the thing about privilege is that it is often hard to see unless it is brought to your attention. After completing the exercise, I realized how much of my privilege I failed to recognize and how insidious and complex the manifestations of privilege and racism are, particularly with regard to climate change and the environment. That experience was in the back of my mind as I traveled to Paris for COP21 with UConn. As an ecology student, I wanted to get a new perspective on climate change by attending talks and discussions focused on addressing issues pertaining to racism, women, and indigenous peoples. I hoped these events would help me to better understand the complexity of these issues and my privilege in these situations.
On our third full day in Paris, I attended a profound discussion on racism and climate change. The event included a panel of people from all races and walks of life. Each panelist took turns telling their own personal stories about the exploitation of their lands and people. The discussion focused on the idea that the root of our social and environmental instability is in the economic self-interests of a few powerful countries, a pattern that began centuries ago. Our willingness to exploit our land resources arose when we became willing to exploit and enslave people. We took the land and natural resources of many indigenous persons away and continued to abuse them and the land, until we reached the tipping point on which we currently balance. Between the war in Syria and the refugee crisis, senseless discrimination, catastrophic natural disasters, and the massacres in Paris just a few weeks before COP21, tensions in many countries are rising along with the average global temperature. At the conclusion of this discussion, there was an agreement that we cannot address climate issues and environmental degradation without addressing the social issues, which permeate from the foundation of our global society. The group also expressed concern that the decisions made during the delegations would reflect a select few privileged nations and not the interests of the majority of our world’s citizens.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Minister of Finance, Nigeria
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance who served on a panel for the Global Landscape Forum, also shared these sentiments. She spoke about the need for extrinsic financial support to adequately address the current and future climate-related issues facing her country, which, many would argue, are largely caused by the past actions of the would-be extrinsic financial contributors. Even though these developed countries are responsible for many of our current climate concerns, she wasn’t optimistic that their contributions would be sufficient. As a result, she has been forced to find and utilize extremely limited domestic financial resources to mitigate any losses and damages and to develop ways to reduce emissions in her country.
This panelist now has a reason to be optimistic because the final draft of the agreement document states that developed nations will pay a minimum of “USD 100 billion per year” to support the “needs and priorities of developing countries.” While it still remains to be seen how the developed countries will allocate these funds to the developing countries, it is absolutely a step in the right direction to stop the cycle of social and environmental destruction that we have created.
My week at COP21 truly transformed my outlook on climate change. In order to address current global instability effectively, we must first have a united global community. We cannot sit back and let things continue as they have. We have to act together to change policy, behavior, and land use. We must recognize our privilege and learn to value the input and concerns of the global majority and compensate them accordingly. We owe it to the environment, humanity, and the continued existence our planet.
For a worldview of climate change
Rachel Smiley
After a very short week at COP21, I quickly realized that we in the United States are strikingly sheltered from the effects of climate change, which undoubtedly contributes to our nation’s reluctance to take action and the ongoing refusal of some to accept that dramatic action needs to be taken.
It may seem like the US is doing fairly well. We don’t have to worry about entire cities closing down because of smog. Our economic position allows us to deal with the drought in California without worrying about running out of food. Sea level rise doesn’t put our entire country at risk of flooding. The general public in the US hasn’t experienced any significant changes (yet!!), so dramatic action to mitigate climate change isn’t seen as a priority. Arguments for climate action often refer to the impacts it could have in the future.
Two UConn students participating in a group discussion at the COP21 Green Zone
However, my conversations with people from places already being significantly affected by changes in the climate opened my eyes to the urgency of the issue. Island nations are pushing to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C instead of the proposed 2°C, because sea level rise is already causing their people to lose their homes. The Middle East and Northern Africa, whose economies rely on fossil fuels, are active in coming to an agreement to limit CO2 emissions because they are currently experiencing large scale droughts and dust storms.
In Paris I witnessed so many people who were exceptionally passionate about finding solutions to climate change because they have personally seen what kind of destruction to people’s livelihoods results from increasing global temperatures. So, does the US wait to suffer huge consequences before we are serious about cutting emissions and investing in renewable energy sources? Hopefully the COP21 agreement will ensure that the US doesn’t experience the widespread effects of climate change to such a degree. Regardless, I think it is important for everyone in the US to take a broader worldview of the issue and understand the harm that rising temperatures is already having on so much of the world.
This year, UConn students can enjoy the white fish delicacies provided by the dining halls knowing that they are making an eco-friendly choice. Thanks to recent initiatives taken by Dining Services, the University has begun sourcing 60-70% of its fish purchases locally through Red’s Best, a company in Massachusetts that ensures quick and fresh fish delivery to regional buyers.
Making the move to purchase locally is positive for the environment because it helps to minimize carbon emissions associated with transportation. Focusing specifically on the fish industry, strict purchasing demands can be difficult to meet without long shipping journeys made by planes, boats, or trucks. With the help of Red’s Best, UConn has bypassed this transportation problem through buying the “daily catch,” a flexible assortment of fresh fish caught daily in Massachusetts.
Beyond the locality of UConn’s fish, whitefish dishes yield other environmental benefits as well. Compared to beef operations, which emit 11.3 to 18.3 tons of CO2 for each ton of “live weight” meat produced, wild-harvest fisheries emit an average of only 2.3 tons of CO2.* Because of this, eating fish can be a good alternative for students trying to reduce their carbon footprints.
Some examples of these succulents that are structurally equipped to handle neglect are the famous Aloe Vera plant, Burro’s Tail (which looks like grapes), and my personal favorite, the Snake Plant. With that name, you just know it will look cool.
This past Saturday, members of EcoHusky attended the Yale Environmental Law Association’s conference, “New Directions in Environmental Law,” at Yale Law School in New Haven. A variety of speakers in the forms of panels, opening and keynote addresses, and discussions all united to display that the environment, sustainability, and climate change permeate a tremendous number of issues in law.
Later were four breakout sessions to choose from, with topics such as forest resiliency and the environmental impacts of violence in Colombia and Somalia. I chose to attend the session, “Coordinating Animal Law and Environmental Law,” hosted by Paul Waldau, Randall Abate, and Jonathan Lovvorn. About a third of global climate change is linked to agriculture and land clearing, and meat facilities account for a significant amount of water and land contamination; therefore, there is a clear connection between animal law and environmental law. Animal law currently does not have the leverage that environmental law has because the connection to human health gives environmental issues more federal coverage and legitimacy. Animal law does, however, appeal to humans’ abilities to care about other species, and triggers protection instincts, but there still exist too few federal laws regarding animal rights. What Waldau, Abate, and Lovvorn hoped to convey was that environmental and animal law have mutually valuable movements that could be much more powerful if they work collectively.
After lunch, we heard from Christy Goldfuss, Managing Director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. What stood out most in her keynote address was the importance of bridging gaps, whether it be between millennials and baby boomers, government and private businesses, or local citizens and the government. These connections are all vital in addressing major issues and developing solutions to climate change. A common theme throughout the conference was that the issue of climate change often breaks groups apart, and what we need to do is bring them back together.
Ever think the “clean plate club” was just your parents’ invention to make you eat your vegetables? Well, think again! Finishing all of the food on your plate is actually a great way to minimize not just your carbon footprint, but also your methane footprint. When food sits in a landfill, it breaks down and produces methane, which is an incredibly potent greenhouse gas, even worse than carbon. Shockingly, nearly 40% of all the food in the United States goes to waste, which has a huge impact on the environment.*
So the Supreme Court’s decision was a huge victory for the climate deniers and a major setback for the rest of us. Below are links to two of the many recent articles and opinion pieces about the SCOTUS’s ruling.
Conservative Republicans who control the U.S. Senate, mostly representing states that are still heavily dependent on cheap and dirty coal for generating electricity, are threatening to block approval of any nominee advanced by President Obama. Meanwhile, the more progressive West Coast and Northeastern states, like Connecticut, which have long since transitioned away from coal, might actually stand to gain an economic advantage through the enactment of the CPP. Our state and others are joining EPA in the legal defense of the CPP and would like to see the President appoint a climate realist to SCOTUS, sooner rather than later.
Savers, Salvation Army, UConn Buy or Sell: all of these shopping arenas are second-hand stores where you can find clothing, couches, chairs, tables, glasses, cookware, and even old Backstreet Boys CD’s.
What is a wooden nickel you may ask? A wooden nickel is a small token that you receive at the UConn Co-op when you choose not to use a plastic shopping bag to carry your purchases. You can then insert this wooden nickel into one of four bins that each represent a different charity. Every time you do this, five cents are donated to that charity at no cost to you! The charities to choose from are the UConn Campus Sustainability Fund, Joshua’s Tract Conservation and Historic Trust, World Wildlife Fund, and UConn’s Sandy Hook Memorial Scholarship. The Co-op donates the monetary equivalent of the sum of the tokens in each bin to their respective charities. This program is formally known as the Co-op Cares Bag Program, and has drastically reduced bag use since it was started in 2008. By four months into the program, the Co-op had collected a total of 22,300 wooden nickels in the bins, equaling over $1,100 in donations! Since the cost of a plastic bag is roughly five cents, the Co-op decided to turn that spending around and give back to the community, all while reducing its carbon footprint! Although the driving force of the program is to reduce the consumption of plastic bags and to produce less pollution, you can also participate by donating your own money.
