The Colgate Community Garden is now accepting applications for its 2015 Garden Plot Program. This is an exciting opportunity for individuals in the community to be able to tend their own garden plot within the Colgate Community Garden. The garden team hopes for the Colgate Community Garden to become a place where community members can come together to enjoy learning about gardening and sustainable living.

Each of the garden plots offered are approximately 4 ft. W x 8 ft. L x 10 in. H.  Plots are constructed using rot-resistant, untreated lumber.  Program participants will have access to the garden and garden tools but must provide their own seeds and plants.  A $25 annual fee per plot and $5 annual refundable deposit is required for use of one of the garden plots. A Garden Plot Agreement must also be signed by participants, showing agreement to following the rules and guidelines established by the Colgate Community Garden.

Community Garden Plot space is limited and applications will be accepted first-come, first-served. For more information about this program or to apply for a garden plot,  please contact Community Garden Manager Beth Roy (eroy@colgate.edu, 315-335-1433).

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By Breanna Giovanniello ’16 (Environmental Studies and Geography Major from Cold Spring Harbor, NY)

Seattle is attempting to divert 60 percent of its waste from landfills by the end of 2015. To help them achieve this goal, the city recently announced its plan to fine residents for putting compostable food in the trash bin starting this past summer. Seattle has a long history of improving its waste stream. In 2005, Seattle prohibited recyclables from the garbage and began curbside food waste collection. In 2009, they required all residential properties to either subscribe to food and yard waste collection or participate in backyard composting. The city has an ambitious climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also supporting vibrant neighborhoods, economic prosperity, and social equity. Seattle demonstrates a strong commitment to actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance climate resilience. Should we be using Seattle as a model city for the rest of the United States?

Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption (approximately 1.3 billion tons) gets lost or wasted annually. This food waste not only adds to landfill waste (the world’s largest producer of methane gas), but it also amounts to a major squandering of resources including water, land, energy, labor, and capital. In developing countries, food waste occurs at the early stages of the food value chain due to the harvesting and storage techniques utilized. However, in medium- and high-income countries food is wasted at later stages in the supply chain. In the United States, 30% of all food that is produced is thrown away each year. That adds up to approximately $48.3 billion worth of food. This food loss is completely avoidable so what can we do to trim our waste?

We don’t have to jump to imposing fines on those who don’t compost, like Seattle, but we should be more aware of our impact. Three years ago, Frank Dining Hall switched to tray-less dining, which has helped to significantly cut down on food waste. What else can you do to reduce food loss?

• Buy smarter: don’t buy more food than you can eat before it goes bad.
• Rethink your portion size: restaurant servings are much larger than necessary so take your leftovers to go instead of leaving it for the trash.
• Don’t forget about those leftovers: if you’ve spent money purchasing it or time cooking it, don’t forget to eat the remaining portion of your food.
• Compost whatever remains you might have. It’s tough to have zero waste, but that doesn’t mean we have to send it to the landfill.

We should strive to become a society of sustainable consumption and think about using resources more efficiently, which includes keeping food out of the garbage!

Sources:

http://www.unep.org/wed/2013/quickfacts/

http://www.seattle.gov/util/MyServices/FoodYard/HouseResidents/FoodWasteRequirements/FAQs/index.htm

http://grist.org/news/seattle-to-shame-residents-for-throwing-away-food/

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Thanks to support from the Dean of the Faculty’s office along with faculty, students, and staff, last year was an exciting season for the Colgate Community Garden.  Last spring, the garden was moved from College Street to a new location on Broad Street south of the Townhouses called the Snyder Property.  Through lots of hard work and determination, the new 1⁄2 acre garden produced over 2000 pounds of food last growing season – the most we have had since the garden project started in 2010!

The garden team was led by garden consultant, Beth Roy and student interns Alex Schaff ’16, Quincy Pierce ’16, Brett Christensen ’16, and Glenna Thomas ’17. The Garden Interns were assisted in the spring and fall semesters by the student club, Green Thumbs, along dozens of student volunteers.

More than 100 individuals came to the garden throughout the season for visits or to volunteer their time. We are also grateful to all the Facilities’ staff who helped at the garden with tasks such as delivering wood chips and mowing, and were instrumental in the garden relocation process.

Approximately half of the produce that was harvested at the Colgate Community Garden was sold to students, faculty, staff and community members at a farm stand in the COOP.  The Farm Stand was constructed by intern Alex Schaff ’16 and was opened and filled with vegetables every Thursday.  Students were able to pay for their produce in cash or by using their ‘Gate Card.  Any produce that was not sold was donated to the Hamilton Food Cupboard.

For the 2014 growing season, approximately 60-70% of all produce that was grown was donated to the Hamilton Food Cupboard. For the second year in a row, Sam Stradling and the Food Cupboard donated several plants to the Garden in exchange for the donation of fresh produce later in the season.

The Garden also contained a number of raised bed garden plots available to Colgate community members who planted, managed, and harvested some of their own food.  For the 2015 growing season, we hope to expand the number of raised beds available to our community.

In 2015, we will also create a new “demonstration area.” This area of the garden will focus on new and innovative ideas in vegetable gardening (e.g., straw bale gardens, potato towers, and others).

Cooking classes or demonstrations will continue to be a goal of the garden. The team hopes to continue to work with Susan Weitz of the Chapel House, and perhaps even team up with Dining Services and the Shaw Wellness Institute to have cooking demonstrations on campus at the COOP.

If you have ideas on how to make the garden even more successful and/or want to get involved in any way, please contact Green Thumbs (greenthumbs@colgate.edu) for more information.

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The Office of Sustainability just completed Colgate’s annual greenhouse gas inventory and we are happy to report that our emissions are at an all-time low.  In FY 2014, our gross emissions were 13,002 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTeCO2), down from 13,391 in FY 2013. Since our baseline in 2009, we have reduced our emissions by 4,842 MTeCO2 or by 28 percent. Despite a dramatic increase in the consumption of fuel oil #2 following the heating plant upgrade and a particularly cold and long winter, 2014 marked a year of positive trends. Colgate’s continuing drop in emissions associated with our vehicle fleet, refrigerant use, fertilizer use, electricity consumption, commuting, business travel, and paper use is due to the ongoing implementation of effective behavior change programs, numerous energy conservation and efficiency projects, and meticulous implementation of the projects and policies specified in our 2011 Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S-CAP).

Greenhouse Gas Emissions at Colgate University. Fiscal Year 2009 vs 2014.

Projects that have reduced our campus carbon footprint include a lighting upgrade in Sanford Field House.  The installation of a solar energy array on 100 Broad Street. The replacement of all washers and dryers on campus to more water and energy efficient ENERGY STAR rated models.  Trayless dining in Frank Dining Hall.  We also installed alarm systems on all 112 fume hoods on campus to help prevent energy waste when sashes are left open unnecessarily. We estimate that the fume hood project has reduced energy use by 20-30% in each of our science buildings. We also purchased four new bikes for our Green Bikes Program, maintained a reduced mowing program to include over 30 acres of land, and achieved LEED certification for the Lathrop Hall renovation. These projects are part of a suite of projects that have not only reduced our campus carbon footprint but have also resulted in over $500,000 of avoided annual spending due to energy, water, and resource conservation.

In Fiscal Year 2014, Colgate also received American Tree Farm System certification for our 1,059 acres of forested land which confirms our long-term commitment to sustainable forest management. This certification coupled with a comprehensive tree survey estimated that 1,578 tons of carbon are sequestered annually by Colgate’s forested lands.  This coupled with our investment in renewable energy certificates (RECs) and carbon offsets have reduced our net campus emissions to 4,634 tons.  See figure below. This is one of the lowest levels of emissions of any institution in the country and puts us in excellent position to achieve our institutional goal of carbon neutrality by 2019.

Colgate University’s Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions

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By Adam Berk ’15

Environmental Studies and Music Major from Denville, NJ

Riding a bicycle is a fantastic way to get from place to place. The “fuel” used is efficient and clean, and the “burning” of this fuel keeps you fit and is relatively silent. Luckily, the Colgate community can rent out bikes via our Green Bikes program for whatever rental period is desired. And while biking around campus is manageable, the state of the nation’s biking infrastructure is… shameful, at the very least, and it is one of the many ways that people are deterred from riding.

Photo Credit: Ella Mullins

Although the hipster culture that often came hand in hand with biking may be on the decline, public use of and access to bicycles continue to grow, particularly in cities. But potential bicyclists often hold on many mistaken beliefs that steer them away from riding on the road. Perhaps the most prevalent is the idea that danger is characteristic of biking.

Yes, riding a bicycle can be dangerous, but much like driving, this is typically only if the rules of the road are ignored by drivers and/or riders! Furthermore, learning how to “ride a bicycle” is the minimum amount of training required to get to and fro. Knowing how to scan for traffic without swerving, getting off the seat before coming to a complete halt, make minor bicycle repairs, and position yourself based on the speed of traffic are just a few of the skills that are beneficial to a bicyclist. Regardless, bicycles are internationally recognized by law as vehicles, whose riders have the same right to the road as automobile users. Newer bicyclists should keep this in mind, as they may be fearful about being overtaken and possibly colliding by cars, though it would be more prudent to worry about other, more common dangers, especially since theses tend to be exacerbated by anxiety.

So what can be done besides waiting for road infrastructure to become more accommodating or for public opinion to change, or simply just “getting over it”? One of the easiest—and most fun—ways to become a safer and more confident bicyclist is to find others who share a similar interest in riding. If (after reading this post, perhaps?) you are feeling particularly passionate about biking, you could possibly even bring the Colgate Cycling Club back to life! Of course, cycling is not for everybody and there are more relaxing ways to learn without even having to ride. Whatever you do, however, be sure to wear a helmet whenever you ride—they might not always be stylish, but they are certainly more fashionable than head injuries. If you do not own a helmet, one of the many donated by the Shaw Wellness Program and Dean of College Division can be rented by contacting us at greenbikes@Colgate.edu or dropping by our office at 245A Ho. No matter how you do it though, do not be discouraged! The hardest part of riding a bike is the road.

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Update: January 23, 2015
During spring semester 2015, Sodexo introduced local burgers every Tuesday during lunch and Thursday during dinner at Frank Dining Hall.  They are also introducing a new local quesadilla to the COOP in February!  These are popular items for students who want to support sustainability and our local economy.

By Emily Adams ‘15, Sodexo sustainability intern & Environmental Geography major and Peace and Conflict Studies minor

I am very passionate about advancing sustainability on campus by sourcing more fresh, local and sustainable foods at Colgate. YUM! For this reason, I was very excited when I became Sodexo’s new sustainability intern on campus. I can’t imagine a more exciting opportunity at this stage in my Colgate experience! Additionally, Sodexo is in the process of hiring a Food Service Manager of Sustainability Programs.  Together, we will be working to make positive changes to the dining services here at Colgate.

Colgate’s Sustainable Food Systems Advisory Group – a group of students, faculty, and staff – in partnership with Sodexo are already working together on exciting new initiatives to make food more sustainable on campus. We are working towards goals of enhanced transparency surrounding the sourcing of our food, larger amounts of local and sustainably grown food, increased interaction with and purchasing from local farmers, and reduced food and overall waste.

Sodexo already sources some local foods.  However, in the past students had no way of knowing which foods were locally produced.  Because it is important to know who is growing our food, we have begun to label local foods throughout our dining facilities. These foods are now being displayed with specific references to the New York town or farm where they are coming from. Additionally, a large map of New York State, which shows where we are obtaining different local foods, now greets students as they enter Frank Dining Hall.

Map of foods produced in New York and served in Frank Dining Hall.

In addition to increased labeling, Frank Dining Hall has started a new weekly Farm-to-Table Sunday dinner in which the entire meal consists of only locally sourced foods. In conjunction with this local dinner, the area farmers who source these meals will be highlighted in weekly fact sheets posted alongside the menus. This will increase knowledge about who is growing Colgate’s food and how it is being produced. Stay tuned as we are also working on developing local burger and quesadilla options for the Coop.

Reducing food waste is another important way to advance sustainability in dining services.  For this reason, we will be providing tasting samples of food so that students do not have to take a full portion of a meal to determine whether or not they will eat it. There is also a new “Spotted” reusable mug program where coupons for free 16 oz. hot drinks at any dining location will be rewarded to people seen using reusable mugs on campus.

We are really excited about the future of sustainable dining at Colgate.  By sourcing more local and sustainable foods and by reducing our overall waste, we hope to be able to make significant positive changes in every students’ dining experience while also reducing our ecological and carbon footprints. With your help, we know we can reduce energy usage and waste from production, transportation, and storage; support our local economy; and obtain fresher, more nutrient-rich food.

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Update: January 19, 2015

It’s official.  Despite the polar vortex in the United States, 2014 was the hottest year on record. As temperatures and emissions continue to rise, dialogue continues about whether or not to build the Keystone XL pipeline which would open up a new frontier of dirty energy.

Update: March 19, 2014

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), America’s premier scientific society, warned the world is at growing risk of “abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes” because of a warming climate.  As a scientific body, the AAAS rarely intervenes on policy issues.  However, in their new report, What We Know, they stated, “We consider it our responsibility as professionals to ensure, to the best of our ability, that people understand what we know: human-caused climate change is happening, we face risks of abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes, and responding now will lower the risks and costs of taking action.”

Click here to get the facts from AAAS.

Originally published on March 3, 2014

Last month, Pew Research Center released its latest poll results of American viewpoints on climate change. The results are worrying.  According to the poll, 67% of Americans believe that there is solid evidence of global warming while only 44% believe that human activities are responsible. On the contrary, 97% of climate scientists agree that global warming over the past century is due primarily to human activities. Clearly, the public is far behind the science on this issue.

Understanding climate change is not only about climate modeling and predicting the future. It is also about historic data and recent trends. Since the 1970s, the rate of global warming has tripled. The 2000s were warmer than the 1990s and the 1990s were warmer than the 1980s. Moreover, nine of the top ten warmest years on record have occurred since the year 2000. And 2013 was the 37th year in a row with above average global temperatures.

But what about this winter? Polar vortex became part of our vernacular and below freezing temperatures have been common and sustained. But if you look across the country and the globe, the warming trend has continued. At the same time we were experiencing -15 degree temperatures in central New York, regions in Alaska were recording temperatures above 60 degrees. That is unheard of. Also, California has been in a record drought, the Northwest has experienced above average temperatures, Sochi hosted one of the warmest Winter Olympics on record, Australia experienced temperatures over 120 degrees, and the U.K. suffered through unprecedented flooding. In fact, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies just reported that January 2014 was the 3rd warmest January on record going back to 1880.

This warming trend has not been benign. Over the past three years, 80% of U.S. counties have been severely impacted by weather-related events and the burden to U.S. taxpayers is taking its toll. Superstorm Sandy, for example, cost us over $60 billion. In 2013, there were over 41 weather events that cost $1 billion or more in damage. That is an all-time high breaking the record from 2010. The National Flood Insurance Program is currently $25 billion in debt (it is a $30 billion program) and on the brink of insolvency. The Crop Insurance Program is generally a $3-$4 billion per year program. However, in 2013, tax payers shelled out over $11 billion.  This was due in large part to severe droughts in the mid-West which also drove up corn and food prices across the country. Despite all of this, the American public remains complacent on climate change. Out of 20 public policy issues tested in the Pew poll, climate change ranked 19th in the order of importance among Americans.

Until the American public catches up with the science, we may lack the resolve to adequately address climate change. We need to get past climate denial and start aggressively working to reduce carbon emissions. At the same time, we also need to adapt to climate change that has already been locked into the system due to past emissions.

Here at Colgate, we are taking action on climate change. Since 2009, we have reduced our emissions by over 20% and our recently approved Campus Master Plan recommends significant climate-adaptation strategies to overcome flooding and changing weather patterns. These actions will better prepare us to thrive in a changing world.

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By Ben Campbell ‘16

On August 4^th, 2014, The Princeton Review rated Colgate University as the most beautiful campus in America, but that’s probably not a huge surprise to anyone who spends time here. As an intern in the Office of Sustainability and as part of our campus-wide pursuit to achieve carbon neutrality by 2019, I decided to take a closer look at the practices that make our campus so beautiful.

Taylor Lake at Colgate University

First, I looked into the methods employed to keeping the grounds on campus pristine. Facilities maintains over 500 acres of built environment and over 1,000 acres forested land. This requires 18 full time employees and several part time employees using fossil fuel-powered vehicles, such as lawn mowers and trucks, to cut grass, remove refuse, and maintain the general appearance of the campus. These vehicles used to maintain the ground use both gasoline and diesel, non-renewable sources of energy that emit greenhouse gases. According to Colgate’s 2013 Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Facilities emitted approximately 141 metric tons equivalent of CO₂ (MTeCO₂[1]) from diesel fuel and approximately 46 MTeCO₂ from gasoline fuel for activities related to grounds maintenance (i.e. mowing the Seven Oaks Golf Course and grounds of the main campus). Recently, Facilities has implemented a “reduced mowing” regime for over  30 acres of land on the old golf course, Seven Oaks, and the old ski hill. This reduction in mowing (from weekly mowing to now only a couple of times a season) has resulted in an annual savings approximately $2,000 in fuel and labor, and has reduced our carbon emissions by approximately 10 tons, which is the equivalent of not burning 1,125 gallons of gasoline.

During the winters, Facilities is tasked with keeping the many roads and paths on campus snow- and ice-free. Typical ice and snow management involves plowing and laying sodium chloride, a chemical that lowers the freezing point of ice. When sodium chloride (or table salt) runs off streets and walkways into the local ecosystem, it is hazardous to vegetation, water, and many lifeforms.  In order to avoid these environmental impacts, Colgate’s snow and ice management team uses magnesium chloride.  According to the U.S. EPA, magnesium chloride is a more environmentally friendly de-icing alternative.

As well as emissions from mowing, Colgate has emissions associated with fertilizer usage. However, Colgate only uses organic fertilizers instead of synthetically produced, inorganic fertilizers. In addition, the university uses foliar fertilizer, which is used for spot treatment (as opposed to blanket spraying). Foliar fertilizers reduce the treatment area as well as overall water consumption. Colgate’s ground crew also leaves grass clippings on the ground so they can decompose and return their nutrients back into the soil. Fertilizer application has gone down from 56,828 lbs. in 2009 to 17,630 lbs. in 2013.  Although Colgate’s grounds maintenance employs sustainable grounds keeping methods, they still have an impact upon Colgate’s net emissions via the nitrous oxide released.

So how can Colgate further reduce the approximately 170 MTeCO₂ of emissions that go towards making our campus more sustainable without compromising the beautiful results? The Sustainable Sites Initiative, which has attempted to create guidelines for sustainable landscapes, has some of the answers to ensuring institutions such as Colgate can be more sustainable:

1. Plant selection. By choosing plants that require little pesticides, fertilizer or water can go a long way towards creating a sustainable landscape by reducing the amount of attention the grounds need.

2. Controlling water run off. Most students know that when it rains at Colgate the hill turns into a series of flowing rivers, sometimes even taking over entire pathways. By improving drainage or implementing rainwater, capture can reduce erosion, as well as the potential of soil contamination from pesticide and fertilizer run off.

3. Increase sustainable uses of Colgate’s land. Colgate’s forested lands were recently certified under the American Tree Farm System for long-term sustainable management.   Colgate’s forested lands sequester over 1,500 tons of carbon each year as the trees grow and forests mature.  By increasing the campus arboretum, as suggested in the Campus Master Plan, we can further reduce emissions from mowed lawn while increasing the amount of sequestered carbon from new trees.

4. Switch fuel sources to renewable or low-carbon alternatives. By switching our mowers from diesel or gasoline to electric, hybrids, or biodiesel, we could mitigate what is a huge emission source for Colgate (approximately 141 MTeCO₂) and reduce noise pollution dramatically.

5. Educate yourself. From multi-million dollar fundraisers to several day sit-ins, the Colgate community has proven that it is capable of spectacular things. So educate yourself on sustainable practices and support keeping our campus beautiful, as well as sustainable!

Sources:

http://www.sustainablesites.org/

http://www.facilitiesnet.com/groundsmanagement/article/Planting-the-Green-Seed–8935#

http://www.colgate.edu/offices-and-services/facilities-(b-g)/departments

http://www.colgate.edu/docs/default-source/d_distinctly-colgate_sustainability_climate-action-planning/2013-greenhouse-gas-report.pdf?sfvrsn=0

[1] Metric Tons equivalent of CO₂ (MTeCO₂) is used to denote other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide or methane, as their environmental impact in terms of CO₂ so environmental impact is easily comparable.

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LET’S ALL COMPLETE 4 IN 4!
Before you leave for holiday break, complete four small actions in under four minutes to help us save energy and achieve our Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goal.

Before you leave for holiday break, don’t forget to:

1. Unplug. Unplug cell phone chargers, radios, speakers, clocks, printers/copiers, coffee makers!, tea kettles, microwaves and other kitchen appliances.  Many electronic devices continue to drain energy even if they are turned off. This is known as Phantom Load.   According to the U.S. EPA, Phantom Load is responsible for up to 40% of our electricity use!  In fact, a quarter of the energy used by your TV each year is consumed when the TV is off!
2. Turn off.  What you cannot unplug, turn off!  Turn off computers, monitors, lights, and all electronic devices.
3. Shut tight.  Close all windows and shut the blinds.
4. Turn down (the heat).  If you have a controllable office thermostat, lower it to 62 deg F. Please do not set thermostats to a temperature below 58 deg F and check to be sure thermostats remain in “Heat” (NOT “OFF”) position.

Be an energy Grinch this holiday season, do your part to help reduce energy and resource use on campus.

Be an energy Grinch this holiday season. Shut down and unplug!

Happy holidays from Colgate’s Office of Sustainability!

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