Nowadays, you can purchase organic roses, chips cooked with solar energy, hemp milk, Earth-friendly chocolate and even composting toilets.
While purchasing such items, is not necessarily a bad idea, the health of the planet cannot depend on natural food store shopping aisles alone.
In other words, keep it simple. Buying a hybrid car makes a difference, but don’t forget the small (not to mention cheaper) ways to make a difference.
Despite the Dalai Lama’s concurrent visit, more than 30,000 environmentally conscious Seattleites ventured to the city’s first annual Green Festival April 12 and 13. The two-day event featured hundreds of booths and more than 125 speakers illustrating how to be environmentally sustainable.
Espresso Express looks like any other independent coffee place in Seattle. Behind a counter, an espresso machine steams milk for a nonfat, extra hot cappuccino and a stained microwave heats up an unusually large croissant. A glass display case holds a variety of baked goods begging to be eaten. At tables, people make use of the free Wi-Fi, checking their e-mail and surfing the Internet.
Customers stream in and out; some are regulars, some are just stopping for a quick pick-me-up, and others are paying to fill up their cars with biodiesel at the pump outside the café.
At the University of Washington the commitment to the environment is evident all across campus. As a result, Washington is one of only six schools to receive an A-, the highest grade attained on the 2008 College Sustainability Report Card, published annually by the Sustainable Endowments Institute in Cambridge, Mass.
Many water and lighting outlets are sucking energy at an unneeded rate. One UW team is hoping to conserve energy in UW sororities and fraternities by swapping out older light bulbs for more energy efficient bulbs.
The Greener Greeks project was created to educate students about energy and water efficiency and create ways to further seek change. Chris Bruno, member of the conservation project development team and former UW SEED director, and Angie Gaffney from Chi Omega, created the project.
Eight UW graduate students are working with local American Indian tribes on a research and education program about biofuels in the Bioresource-Based Energy for Sustainable Societies program.
Led by professors from the UW’s College of Engineering, College of Forest Resources and department of American Indian studies, the program approaches biofuels in a comprehensive curriculum.
At the conference, a papier-mâché polar bear and a petition with 1,000 signatures was presented to Sen. Craig Pridemore (D-WA), asking that the Washington state legislature make climate change and other environmental issues a top priority.
Junior Tamara Mitchell gave a speech addressing why climate change is an important issue for the legislature and important to college students across the country.
Tomorrow, students from WashPIRG chapters at the UW, as well as Evergreen State College, Whitman, Western Washington and Green River Community College will be taking their Campus Climate Challenge to Olympia for a day of environmental awareness and advocacy.
WashPIRG members will be meeting with several state representatives and senators to discuss four environmentally progressive bills, which they hope will be passed by the end of the current legislative session on March 12.
“The use of biofuels, particularly biodiesel, is in the news, and many people have been asking, ‘What is the Motor Pool doing?” according to the Motor Pool newsletter.
The University currently uses B5 in their diesel-powered vehicles. “B5” is a classification of biodiesel that consists of 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent petroleum diesel. The UW Motor Pool has been using B5 since the fall of 2006, when a biodiesel pump was installed at the motor vehicle depot.
The University earned an average grade of “A-” on the 2008 College Sustainability Report Card, an independent environmental sustainability evaluation of campus operations and endowment investments.
Of the 200 schools evaluated on the report card, the UW is tied for the highest average grade with Harvard University and Dartmouth, Middlebury and Carleton colleges, and the University of Virginia. The Sustainable Endowments Institute, a special project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, published the report in October 2007.