New Carp Czar

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

No, It's a giant, jumping Asian Carp. Escapees from southern catfish farms, the Asian Carp have been moving north for years. Now, they are approaching the Great Lakes.

Already, Asian Carp represent 9 out of 10 fish in the Illinois River.

In order to prevent this invasive species from invading the Great Lakes fisheries, the Obama Administration has appointed a "Carp Czar" to keep the fish downstream.

It's a Good Tray to Die:

Cafeterias Kill Trays, Save Water

Carrying two plates and a coke is a challenge many college students say they can handle. The lunch lines at food courts and cafeterias at college campuses have lost the clatter of trays. Hoping to save water, conserve energy, and reduce food waste, colleges are dumping trays and hoping students can still balance their salad bowls, pizza, and coke without them.

This is no doubt sad news for students in the frozen North who have long re-purposed the slick trays as sleds in the winter months. Check out this video of Ithaca College students using their trays for enter-tray-ment.

It also must come as a disappointment to punsters at campuses across the country who carved monikers in the trays: O. Tray Simpson, It was the worst of trays, and, perhaps the most ubiquitous t-shirt and tray figure at institutions of higher learning: Tray Guevara.

The New York Times, in a front page story, noted that the trend of ditching trays is spreading. The College Sustainability Report Card (a great tool for assessing how green universities and colleges are) found that 126 of the 300 schools it surveyed are abandoning cafeteria trays. So, adios trays. Like sands through the hourglass, these are the trays of our lives.

Graduating with a Green Collar:

Professionalizing Sustainability in Higher Education

If you wanted to get a green job, to be part of the green economy, to do good and get paid, how would you do it? The field of "sustainability" is struggling as it professionalizes. Universities are facing pressure from students who demand degrees and curriculum that will prepare them for green jobs. Who decides how a green professional is trained? What courses should a freshly-minted college graduate have to get a job in the green economy? Let's explore how some campuses are answering these questions:

Arizona State University was the first school to offer a degree program in sustainability. They actually offer two degrees with two different course programs. Within ASU's Bachelor of Science in Sustainability students can emphasize economics, managing ecosystems, or resources and technology. The Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability emphasizes humanities and social science courses in environmental policy, international development, and urban sustainability. ASU also offers graduate degrees in sustainability that have a great deal of flexibility and are largely designed by students and faculty advisors. Though the Sundevils have a leg up on many universities with their School of Sustainability (see the video below), other schools are putting together programs, as well.

Welcome to the School of Sustainability from Institute of Sustainability on Vimeo.

The interdisciplinary nature of sustainability poses problems and opportunities for universities as they try to decide what makes a green professional. ASU has split their degree: one for harder sciences and one for humanities and social sciences. The division of most institutions into different colleges (Letters and Sciences, Agriculture, etc.) can work against a truly interdisciplinary approach to sustainability.

Responding to student demand, many schools are evaluating their slate of courses with an eye to selecting those that have a focus on the environment. Others are scrambling to cobble together courses they already offer to put together a degree program. For a true sense of the diversity of coursework and programs that identify themselves as sustainable, check out this list.

Most large universities seem to be developing "institutes" that can help them bridge the disciplinary divides to make broad coursework in sustainability possible for students. The University of Wisconsin is taking its Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies in this direction. The Institute, named in honor of Earth Day's founder Gaylord Nelson, now only offers a certificate in Environmental Studies if you are an undergraduate. At Wisconsin, like many other schools, students have to commit to a disciplinary home base in politics, forestry, biology, business, or any number of other departments and then build their degree program with the help of faculty advisors. This multi-disciplinary degree in environmental studies is the approach other schools take: University of Delaware's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, the University of Florida's Natural Resource School, and Ball State's sustainability minors are all examples of ways schools approach sustainability and environmental studies.

Schools of Architecture and Design have also been quick to incorporate sustainability into their degree programs. Check out the University of Texas and Yale University have programs that emphasize sustainability and environmental awareness in design. Colorado State University has a program in Construction Management that offers an emphasis in sustainability.

There is a lot at stake in this professionalization battle. Which disciplines will dominate the debate on sustainability and the environment will have far-reaching consequences for our world. What courses do you think should be a part of a degree in sustainability? Should the engineers, biologists, business leaders, or policy folks steer the debate on environmental issues?

Farmers' Markets on the Quad:

More Campuses Host Markets For Students, Staff

Across the United States, demand is soaring for local and regional foods. Farmers' markets have benefited from this interest in buying and eating locally. The USDA estimates that there are over 4,700 markets across the country. Around the town square or in abandoned shopping center parking lots, farmers' markets are popping up like daffodils in spring. Now, more colleges and universities are making space on campus for farmers.

Of course, the harvest season does not neatly overlap with the semester system. Still, many areas are able to host markets in the fall and late spring when both students and fresh fruits and veggies are plentiful.

Building Community
Markets are becoming centers of community life. Adding musicians to the good, local food, makes the market a social space where community can grow. At markets like the one at the University of Southern California, the farmers' market is a great place to hang out. The USC on the other coast has also started a fun, community-oriented market and shown that Gamecocks love farmers' markets as much as Trojans.

Sustainable Education
Farmers' Markets are also an opportunity for learning. The connection to agriculture is about understanding food systems, sustainability, and health. Student councils, student health services, and dining services have all gotten involved in bringing farmers to campus. Faculty in agriculture, rural sociology, nutrition, and environmental studies have joined to make markets a reality at their universities. The market presents numerous opportunities for service learning for students and created bridges to internships and even summer jobs at local farms. At UC-Davis, a group reading of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma resulted in a market on the East Quad. Farmers' Markets also give campuses with Ag. Colleges a place to shine. Cal Poly Pomona has a Farm Store where they sell meat, eggs, and produce from the College of Agriculture--it doesn't get more local than that.

Healthy Choices
The availability of fresh fruits, veggies, and other foods is also an improvement to many pizza-heavy student diets. Even though access to full kitchens is limited in most dorm settings, students can still find healthy choices at the markets that don't require cooking. Trail mixes, dips, and "snackable" fresh produce are big sellers at campus markets. According to surveys at UC-Davis, most students eat two or fewer servings of fruit and veggies a day. Now students can put down the Papa John's for something from Farmer John.

Some Schools with Farmers' Markets:

• Brown University
• Rice University
• The University of Arizona
• Kapiolani Community College
• Harvard University
  

Ashes to Ashes, Rice Crispies to Dirt

Collegiate Composting Saves Cafeteria Scraps from the Landfill

College campuses are getting into the composting game. Determined to reduce their "solid waste streams," students and staff are pitching their scraps and left-over lasagna into compost bins.

Ohio University has the largest "in-vessel" composting machine at any college campus. Installing the behemoth composter near their dairy barn has prevented 25% of Ohio University's solid waste from making it to the landfill. Instead, they convert tons of food and landscape waste into nutrient-rich soil in a mere 14 days.

The University of Vermont found that a partnership with a local non-profit business served their composting needs. Students and dining hall staff use food waste bins to separate compostable material from other waste. The scraps are then hauled to a composting facility where they are eventually used by local farmers and gardeners. Every week UVM collects 4.96 tons of food waste to be turned into compost.

Composting is catching on at the University of Washington, too. At UW, students even eat with compost: forks and spoons made of corn that can go right in the compost bin. Composting is so popular, it even generated a fabulous musical:

Spin Me Right Round, Baby:

Appalachian State Captures the Mountain Breezes

Wind energy isn't only for wide-open spaces on the plains. It can be small and successful almost anywhere. App State's wind energy focuses on smaller turbines that can catch even the smallest breeze or the mightiest wind.

With a grant from the Department of Energy, Appalachian State created a "wind map" of North Carolina and found that the state was suitable for wind projects both large and small. They even created detailed county maps for folks in Western North Carolina. It turns out that the western counties have 1 million acres of land with Class 2 or better wind resources. They have set up demonstration stations and will allow people to borrow anemometers (wind-o-meters) to assess whether their homes, farms, or neighborhoods are candidates for small wind power.

Appalachian States' "Wind Working Group" is also getting down to business. They are writing model ordinances for communities eager to include wind energy, demonstrating commercially available wind power that would be suitable for schools, and organizing workshops for groups and individuals interested in wind power.

Kitchen Sink Conservation:

Harvard's Green Skillet

Powering down equipment, high efficiency appliances, and low-flow sprayers are bringing Harvard's cafeterias into the sustainable fold.

The staff at dining services at campuses across the country are not often engaged in reducing institutional carbon footprints -- but they should be. Harvard's Office of Sustainability challenged instituted a competition to reduce energy consumption among the campus kitchens.

The kitchen staff got creative: the winning team reduced energy consumption by 23%. Over 500 kitchen staff participated, and all kitchens met the goal of reducing energy consumption by at least 10%.

Harvard's efforts to build a culture of sustainability is more than just a top-down effort to bankroll lots of LEED-certified structures. The Green Skillet competition is one of a wide range of efforts to use resources efficiently across campus. Two large science complexes on campus were energy hogs until a "Shut the Sash" competition paid labs to close fume hoods. Even in the dining hall, Harvard's crimson has shades of green.