WesEON

EON Constitution Proposal

2009-05-10T22:20:00.006-04:00

Mission:

EON is a network of students that work together both to raise awareness of and implement working solutions to environmental issues both within and beyond the Wesleyan community.

Purposes:

1. Provide a network for sharing information and collaborating among environmental groups and campaigns on campus.
2. Provide an accessible environmentalist community that acts as a hub for recruitment.
3. Provide the space and resources for members to work together on unified, large-scale campaigns.

Structure:

1. EON holds monthly meetings that are facilitated by two Coordinators.
a. Meetings take place on Monday nights at 9:00pm. The Coordinators decide on the specific dates at the beginning of each semester.
b. The purpose of these meetings is primarily to coordinate among the several environmental groups and campaigns on campus.
c. Meetings also provide the opportunity for EON members to select particular issues or campaigns to collectively focus on.
2. EON consists of standing committees, ad hoc committees, and independent groups.
a. Standing committees have at least one chair or contact person who holds the central responsibility for coordinating the committee’s interaction with the larger group.
i. Each committee keeps an updated list of active members, and all such lists are given to the EON Secretary.
b. Ad hoc committees are created and dissolved as necessary to plan for one-time events and campaigns.
c. All groups with an environmental focus, including those that wish to remain organizationally independent from EON, are encouraged to designate members to attend EON meetings, with the objective of forming close and lasting partnerships.

Leadership Roles:

1. All EON leaders are nominated and democratically elected during the first meeting of each semester. If a leader cannot come to an EON meeting, ze is responsible for designating someone else to fill hir role.
a. Two Coordinators
i. Organize and facilitate monthly meetings.
ii. Take charge of student recruitment.
iii. Check and respond to emails sent to weseon@gmail.com.
iv. Assist and guide committees when necessary.
b. Treasurer
i. Keeps track of all EON funds.
ii. Acts as the group contact for the SBC.
1. All committees should make requests to the SBC through EON rather than on their own.
c. Secretary
i. Takes minutes at all meetings.
ii. Sends out email updates to the EON community.
d. Administrative Liaison
i. Facilitates communication between students and university administrators.
e. Social Coordinator
i. Organizes informal social events.

Standing Committees (subject to change):

- Energy
- Compost/Waste
- Awareness
- Landscaping

Ad Hoc Committees (subject to change):

- Earth Day
- Focus the Nation
- Dining
- Procurement

Independent Groups (subject to change):

- SAGES
- WSA
- Long Lane Farm
- Farmers Market
- Bike Co-op
- Earth House
- Outing Club
- WesDems

Spanish Lit and Alternative Energy...in one comic?

2009-04-27T06:09:00.005-04:00

Possibly my dream come true.
I realize it's been months, and that in all likelihood no one is still reading, but as long as I'm around this blog will never completely expire. And anyway, this was just too good not to share:

(via xkcd)

Plastic art

2009-01-05T20:41:00.011-05:00

I've mentioned things like this before, but somehow it never gets old: art made of plastic bottles! Check out this design sponge post on Gülnur Özdağlar. My favorites are his bowls (see left).

Court Sides with Greenpeace

2008-12-14T17:31:00.006-05:00

Last year, six Greenpeace activists attempted to shut down a coal-fired power plant in Britain by climbing the chimney and painting the Prime Minister's name down the side. The defendants pleaded not guilty and focused their defense on 'lawful excuse' (we have the 'necessity defense' in the U.S.), which excuses those who break the law when it serves a necessary greater good. The jury recently accepted the defendants claim that they shut down the plant in order to defend from the global impact of climate change and they have been acquitted of all charges.

Aramark Study on Trayless Dining

2008-12-14T16:44:00.005-05:00

The Aramark food service company recently released the results from an extensive study on trayless dining that involved 186,000 meals at 25 colleges and universities. Their findings showed a 25-30% reduction in food waste per person on trayless days, which in some schools added up to more than a 50 pound reduction in food waste per person over the course of the year! Might traylessness be in Wesleyan's future?

EON Week!

2008-12-02T11:33:00.001-05:00

Here's the schedule of events/activities for this week!

Waste Awareness: Trayless Week at Usdan
ALL WEEK, 12/1-12/6 [Due to some difficulties, look for this sometime later in the week]
lunch and dinner, Usdan Marketplace
Currently, we throw away 150 lbs of food waste every day at lunch. Food waste will be collected and measured at each meal during the week of 12/1-12/6. Let’s see how much waste we can reduce by not using trays! *trays will be available for those who absolutely require them.

Film Series: Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest
TUESDAY, 12/2, 8 pm
PAC 002
Fern Gully is a childhood classic not to miss. With such talent as Tim Curry, Robin Williams, and Christian Slater, Fern Gully just might be the cutest and most hilarious representation of deforestation and pollution out there.

Film Series: Double Feature: “Is God Green?” And “Gimme Green”
WEDNESDAY, 12/3, 8 pm
PAC 002
“Is God Green?” is part of the PBS series Moyers on America. It “explores how a serious split among conservative evangelicals over the environment and global warming could reshape American politics.”
“Gimme Green” is a short documentary “that examines the American obsession with the residential lawn.”

What is Sustainability at Wesleyan? Dinner and Discussion
TUESDAY, 12/2, 5:30 pm
Usdan 108
A dinner and conversation about the current state and future of sustainability efforts at Wesleyan. Bill Nelligan, Director of Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability will give a presentation on Wesleyan’s Green House Gas Report. Discussion and brainstorm to follow.

Flower installation in Usdan
THURSDAY, 12/4
lunch and dinner, Usdan ground level table
Learn about a proposal we’re writing to replace grassy areas on campus with native plants.

Pi Café cups interactive art installation
SUNDAY, 12/7
afternoon, Pi Café
Experience how many cups we use each week at Pi Café. Reusable mugs will be available and there will be a discount for those who purchase drinks with a reusable mug.

We hope to see you there!

Event: A Photographic Window on Causes of Climate Change

2008-11-04T14:14:00.004-05:00

A Feet to the Fire-related photography exhibition is opening tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Van Vleck Observatory. The exhibition is put on by students in an astronomy class this semester (Seminar on Astronomical Pedagogy) and is "a visual documentary exhibiting waste and carbon use excesses on campus." After the opening, there will be a viewing session through the observatory telescopes.

Event: Photo exhibition

Date: 11/5/08

Time: 7:30 pm

Location: Van Vleck Observatory

More about this and other Feet to the Fire events can be found here.

Inigenous Activist Leo Cerda To Speak Thursday!

2008-10-28T21:04:00.002-04:00

SDS and EON bring you Leo Cerda!

Leo Cerda is an indigenous human rights and environmental activist from Ecuador. He was born in the Amazon region of Ecuador, and his activism has focused on that area. Since he was 14 years old he has been fighting oil exploitation in the Amazon region of Ecuador, speaking in indigenous villages across Ecuador about the costs and consequences of the oil industry. These costs range from the destruction of the local environment to global climate change. He has also worked to support sustainable alternatives to oil for indigenous communities, including organic products cooperatives.

He will be speaking about the destruction he has seen and experienced in the Ecuadorian Amazon, what local groups are doing to resist this destruction, and what we, as American college students, can do to help.

He will speak Thursday October 30th at 6pm in Exely 150.

Energy in the Elections

2008-10-20T09:00:00.003-04:00

"The presidential race grabs the headlines, but it is hardly the only contest that matters for the future of energy and climate policy." -Kate Galbraith, New York Times

Check out the the New York Times' list of energy-related races here.

Climate Justice Workshop, Tuesday October 21st

2008-10-16T22:59:00.004-04:00

On Tuesday October 21st, activist and musician Evan Greer will be facilitating a workshop called "Connecting the Dots of Climate Justice: Community Autonomy and Sustainability." The workshop starts at 4 30pm and it will take place in the WestCo Cafe. It will be followed (after a break) by a concert in the Cafe at 9pm with Evan Greer, Broadcast Live and Crocodiles.

Below is a description of the workshop and a link to the flyer!

hope to see you there!
Connecting the Dots of Climate Justice
Workshop / Strategy Session
with Evan Greer of the Riot-Folk! Collective & Rising Tide

This popular-education workshop weaves together music, stories, guided discussion, images, and games to help groups to identify and understand the root causes of climate change and the related systems attacking our planet and our communities. With this knowledge, we will brainstorm creative responses that everyone can take part in.

Climate Change is too often framed as simply an issue of too much carbon in the atmosphere. Climate Justice is about seeing climate change as the product of hundreds of years of colonialism and other forms of injustice, and recognizing that the communities who will be most affected by climate change are the same communities who are already oppressed by this society.

Everyone has something to bring to the discussion, and we will cover topics and ideas ranging from gender liberation to community gardening. The focus will be on identifying ways to strengthen local organizing and connect with other social movements in our area.

Facilitator Evan Greer is a twenty-three year old activist, educator, and musician from Massachusetts. He tours internationally as a political songwriter and is a founding member of the Riot-Folk! Collective, a group of 9 musicians who work together to use their music to support grassroots justice organizing. Evan has spent time as a relief worker in New Orleans, a street medic at the G8 Protests in Scotland, and a youth and community organizer in Boston, where he currently lives. His deep involvement in movements for social and ecological justice gives him a unique perspective on the many ways that we can address the problems facing our planet and our communities.

[formatting edits: alex, 10/19]

Things that are happening in the near future

2008-10-16T16:18:00.003-04:00

The near future being this weekend...

Green Corps Info Session TODAY (Thursday) at 7 pm in PAC 002
Where on Earth are We Going? Seminar, Saturday 8:30-12
Table under the Festival on Foss Hill tent this Saturday from 12-3

Film Series: The End of Suburbia

2008-10-13T20:52:00.007-04:00

The EON film series presents

What: a film about oil
When: TOMORROW, Tuesday 10/14 at 8 pm
Where: PAC 002

Composting with Green Machines

2008-10-12T17:43:00.007-04:00

You may have all noticed some strange, green plastic barrels around campus. They look something like this:

Well, they aren't just any plastic barrels, my friends; they're green machines! And they are just waiting to be filled with your food scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags and wilted flowers! All you have to do is put in your compost, give the barrel a spin and you will have done your part in composting at Wesleyan.

The only rules are:
1. No meat, dairy, or large amounts of grease (protein takes longer to break down) and no plastic, paper or metal. Everything else organic goes in to decompose!
2. When you're done turning the barrel, please leave it lid down so that unwanted liquid can drain out.

The compost, when broken down, will be driven out to Long Lane Farm to help the vegetables there or will substitute fertilizer on beds around campus.
If you live near a green machine (look for them on Fountain, Lawn, by WestCo, near Fauver, at Mocon Circle, near Low Rise, at the Wash. Houses, in front of Usdan and in the Butts Courtyard), you can just use an old yogurt container, pot or bowl (with a lid) to store your compost until you have time to walk it out to the green machine to empty it.
Thank you for composting- the worms and I love you for it.

For more info on compost:
http://vegweb.com/composting/
http://compostguide.com/
If your green machine is full or smells horrible, e-mail compost@wesleyan.edu!

Article: Is immigration an ecoissue?

2008-10-11T11:46:00.012-04:00

I came across this article while cruising through online news this morning.

It brings a lot to the table and could make for quite the discussion.... I'd like to hear what people think.

[This is a world map showing carbon emissions from 2000. Check out all the different ways you can see the world @ worldmapper.org]

On a similar note, I'm reading an amazing book right now called Hope's Edge, which is Frances Moore Lappé's follow-up from Diet for a Small Planet. In Hope's Edge, Lappé and her daughter travel around the globe meeting with a variety of people who are trend-bending in the face of so much that's wrong with the world. The book's a few inches thick but an easy, enjoyable read, so if anyone wants to borrow it when I'm done, let me know. It's for sale at Broad Street, too. If your optimism and hope ever need a boost, this is the book for you!

[formatting edits: alex, 10/12]

Photo of the Week

2008-10-07T23:27:00.003-04:00

(tree on a beach in niantic, ct)

Environmental Symposium on October 18th

2008-10-06T23:28:00.003-04:00

Check out this article in the Wesleyan Connection about the upcoming Environmental Symposium, to be held Saturday, October 18th in Science Center 150. There's more information on the website of the Environmental Studies Certificate Program. Speakers will include Wesleyan's very own climate change celebrity, Gary Yohe (pictured above), William Blakemore '65 of ABC News, and Richard Houghton of the Woods Hole Research Center.

CAKE

2008-10-03T20:08:00.000-04:00

(This is John McCrea, the lead singer of Cake. After one concert, I managed to catch him out back and somhow spluttered, of all questions, "do you like Kurt Vonnegut?" Why I asked that, I don't know. For the record, he said yes).

Cake has been my favorite band for a hugely long time. Once, in high school, I drove three hours and went through the giant pain that was booking a hotel room as a minor (it involved some calls from my mom) because I wanted to see them so badly. My favorite game is "guess the Cake song" (mostly because I get it right pretty much every time). Needless to say, I'm obsessed.
Part of the reason I keep coming back to Cake is that not only is their music amazing, but they are a band that actively cares about things. A glance at their news page quickly reveals that issues like big oil, global warming, and Washington politics are important to them. They definitely have strong opinions and aren't bashful about being upfront about them, but they're not just talk...they actually do things, like encourage concert-goers to carpool, give away trees at concerts, and install solar panels on their studio. Here's a video about their solar panel installation:

Pretty cool, yeah? I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs (predictably, it's impossible for me to choose just one). Enjoy!

Toxic: Garbage Island

2008-10-02T00:43:00.003-04:00

I heard about this web series last semester in my student forum, and finally got around to watching it at the beginning of this year. It's a 12-part series of web episodes chronicling the travels of three VICE magazine reporters as they journey to the Pacific Gyre, the location of the elusive "Pacific Garbage Patch." The result is hilarious, hip (there's a lot of American Apparel), and even a little raunchy (there's some kissy kissy at one point). The level of plastic contamination in the ocean is driven home with visuals of the samples they collect along the way and interviews with the captain and researcher on board. The basic deal is that there are TONS of tiny bits of plastic in the ocean (which happen to collect at this point in the Pacific Ocean where four major currents intersect). The plastic bits come from everything from regular trash to industrial waste (especially common and terrible are the pellets leftover from the manufacture of plastic items). Lots of the plastic is bisphenol-A, a pretty nasty chemical.

Anyway, there's lots more (much more than I can summarize here) in the videos, so check that out. Also read this article written by Thomas Morton (the guy from the web series) about his frustrations with environmentalist types and also an interview with Michael Shellenberger (author of The Death of Environmentalism). He's all about focusing on industry and the development of that instead of trying to limit or "just use less." Personally, I'm for reducing and using less, though I do think it would be most productive to work on both fronts (encourage industry along with trying to foster a cultural shift to a less consumption-obsessed society). But I also still need to actually read the Death of Environmentalism, so who knows, maybe that'll impact my opinion.

Photo of the Week

2008-09-30T15:02:00.003-04:00

Look how breath-taking our world is!
(I took this from an airplane, flying over Mexico this summer. It strikes me how the urban sprawl looks like its crawling over every spot of green. This view of the earth makes me want to go hug some trees and help conserve it even more. )
-Aurora

Tonight's collective action: Green Jobs Now

2008-09-29T12:04:00.004-04:00

(students at wes declare their readiness for green jobs)

Green Jobs Now action day was a success! We collected upwards of 70 signatures and took some sweet photos (see above). If you missed us in Usdan, it's okay: you can still sign the petition (you just don't get to take a snazzy picture with the sign).

At least we're not in the five that fail?

2008-09-16T18:41:00.003-04:00

Check out Sierra Club's "Cool Schools" roundup of the top ten eco-minded colleges and universities. We're not on the list...yet! There's also a list of "green reads" that looks sweet...hypothetically speaking, since who has time to read a book outside of class?? (Power to you if you do).

I just posted this on Wesleying, but...

2008-09-12T16:44:00.000-04:00

...the Ginger Ninjas are coming to Wesleyan TOMORROW! The concert is in conjunction with a ResLife BBQ (which means food is only for Hi Rise/Lo Rise and T-Square residents) but the music is free for all.

In 2007, the Ninjas became the first band in the history of rock and roll to tour by bicycle, unsupported by automobile. On a 5,000 mile odyssey from their home in Northern California to the pyramids of southern Mexico, they promoted transportation cycling while also exploring the frontiers of pedal-generated electricity, using their own bikes to power a hyper-efficient sound system. (Sounds pretty much amazing to me). They call their style "mind shaking love groove folk funk roots rock explosive international pedal powered mountain music for a pleasant revolution."

See this video for more:

See also:
-myspace
-website

What: Ginger Ninjas epic bike-powered concert
When: Saturday, 9/13 at 1:30
Where: High rise/Low rise courtyard

Tree Removal on Campus

2008-09-11T00:58:00.002-04:00

(Maple from Lot U...which is by Freeman??)

Justin at Wesleying just posted a great thing about tree removal on campus. Apparently, Physical Plant keeps a photo log of every felled tree (plus a little more)...

Links:
Wesleying post on the subject
Physical Plant grounds website

Creative pursuits + climate change

2008-09-05T13:21:00.004-04:00

UCS (The Union of Concerned Scientists) and Penguin Classics (the book publisher) are compiling an anthology titled Thoreau's Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming...and you could be in it!

From the website:

"The Union of Concerned Scientists and Penguin Classics—along with bookstores across the country—are encouraging all aspiring writers and photographers to submit their personal stories and images about global warming for publication in a new online book to be published in 2009, Thoreau's Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming.

The submission process is open to anyone in the United States through November 15, 2008. A panel of judges will select the top essays and photographs to be included in the book. Writers and photographers whose submissions are selected for publication will receive a limited edition printed copy of the book and will be invited to participate in book promotion activities."

More at the website.

Winona LaDuke lecture

2008-09-03T21:12:00.003-04:00

Winona LaDuke gave a talk today entitled "Indigenous Thinking about a Post Carbon, Post Empire Economy." It would have been better if I'd posted that before the talk...oops. Anyway, she was a powerful speaker and a very inspiring woman. She advocated for a cyclical worldview rather than the linear one we currently ascribe to, arguing thinking in cycles is the way to sustainability. I highly recommend her book All our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. I read it freshman year and I'm really glad to have been reminded of it today because it represents an important perspective on our relationship with the natural environment. During her talk, LaDuke detailed actions her community (the White Earth Reservation) has taken to grow local foods, install solar panels, and concentrate jobs on the reservation so people don't have to commute to off-reservation jobs. She said that if her community could do it, so could we. This really inspires me to continue working for change here at Wesleyan--I hope it does the same for you.