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  2008 GHG Emissions Inventory posted

  July 15, 2009 at 3:26 pm

  Last year's greenhouse gas emissions have been calculated and the information is now available. Check it out and compare it to 2007's data and even to other schools!

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• Carleton student stress patterns and the SRF Initial Proposal deadline: an informal study

  January 14, 2009 at 10:02 pm

  Sustainability Revolving Fund projects are being submitted through a new format this term.  The SRF Committee will review all project ideas submitted by Friday of 3rd week (Jan. 23).  The Committe will then provide detailed information about campus resources specific to your project and identify the keys to turning your idea into a successful application.  "But I'm stressed," you say.  Nay nay.  Read the following ground-breaking study which will explain how there is no time like the present to reduce some GHG emissions at Carleton, making us all happier in the process.

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  December A Record Month For Carleton Wind Turbine

  January 6, 2009 at 11:00 am

  Minnesota's weather often seems to me the creation of a disgruntled, vindictive child.  Take, for example, the average wind speeds in the months of December and January.  At the time when temperatures begin to really dip, southern Minnesota often experiences some of its highest average wind speeds of the year, so that an otherwise reasonable 5 or 10 degrees F can go to 10 or 15 below in a heartbeat.  But while it's bad news for my face, all that wind is great news for wind turbines.

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• The Green Horizon of Sustainability Assessment

  October 24, 2008 at 11:43 am

  Over the past several years, college sustainability rankings and ratings have popped up all over the place but the STARS ranking, to be launched by AASHE in January 2009 will be the most comprehensive ranking yet.  It deserves serious attention from Carleton as both a ranking and a resource for future action.

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• College Sustainability Rankings, Subjectivity and Criteria

  October 15, 2008 at 4:34 pm

  Carleton recently recieved an A- for the second straight year from the Sustainable Endowments Institute and was an honorable mention for the Sierra Clubs "Top Ten Cool Schools" list.  But Carleton has been conspicuously absent from other list.  Ray McGaughey explains how these rankings are very subjective and differ in their grading criteria.

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• Green, Greener, Greenest: Comments on Carleton’s Place in “Green College” Rankings

  October 14, 2008 at 11:47 am

  While numeric classifications tend not to shape members of the Carleton community, rankings of all sorts determine the way that others view our college. Evaluations of campus sustainability efforts form the latest lists. So I’ll cut to the chase—does Carleton measure up? We have been placed on some and absent on others, and while the value of magazine blurbs and ever-changing ranking remains dubious, I offer the following observations and comments about Carleton’s place among the Green:

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• The Mighty Turbine - January 2008 Data

  February 6, 2008 at 2:56 pm

  

  While the students and faculty at Carleton suffered from cold temperatures and blustery wind chills during the month of January, Carleton's wind turbine had a heyday. Throughout the month, the turbine generated 419,506 kilowatt-hours of electricity, generating the college $20,136.29 in income (since all energy produced is sold to Xcel Energy). However, if the energy generated from the turbine flowed directly to Carleton, it would have provided the campus with 36.4% of its needed electricity (based on 2006 use). Also, by providing renewable energy to the community's power grid, the turbine averted almost 258.44 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

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  The perfect tool for winning Green Wars

  February 5, 2008 at 9:17 am

  Think that you would participate in Green Wars if you didn’t have to constantly unplug and re-plug everything in your dorm room? Props if you already do (keep it up!), but for those less inclined, check out Belkin’s new tool: the Conserve, an eight outlet surge protector equipped with a wireless remote control which allows you to cut all power to unused appliances which still draw “phantom” power, such as televisions and cell phone chargers, with the flick of a button. According to Belkin, phantom power can comprise up to 15% of a household’s utilities, thus allowing for the Conserve (estimated to be $49.99) to pay for itself. (Picture above)

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• Can you spot the vending miser?

  February 4, 2008 at 11:40 am

  There have been large changes with the sustainability program at Carleton, so it’s easy to see how some of the little things can get overlooked. However, one of the little things that the writers of Shrinking Footprints are excited about is the vending miser. The many vending machines—loaded with lights, electronics, and a cooling compressor—that are spread across campus comprise a significant electricity demand for the College. A Tufts University study determined that each of their vending machines drew 3,468 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, with average carbon dioxide emissions of 2.26 tons and a financial cost of $381. Though Carleton’s electricity is cheaper, by installing vending misers we can still halve the College’s energy and carbon expenses. What is a vending miser? The device simply consists of a motion sensor, which activates the lights on the vending machine when an individual passes by, and the “miser,” a box that controls the frequency which the machine’s compressor runs. The installation of misers on the least-frequented vending machines on campus would be instrumental in Carleton’s energy efficiency initiative, a critical component for meeting the goals of the Presidents Climate Commitment and also in the spirit of this month’s Green Wars.

  The cost of the vending miser (a princely $165 per unit) is no longer an issue either—check out Carleton’s Sustainability Revolving Fund to learn how the Sustainability Assistants are purchasing the units based on their energy savings.

  Also, Carleton has installed a prototype vending miser on only one of its machines. Can you find it?

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• Academic Travel and Global Warming

  January 24, 2008 at 12:03 pm

  

  There's a good article in this week's issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education:

  How do we reduce our contradictions or, better yet, our carbon emissions? The solutions are obvious, which is why no one wants to talk about them. They would require sacrifice, or at least a new way of thinking about and conducting our professional lives. Bring up the issue among a gathering of scholars and you will get something like the following responses:

  • "I know that flying is an environmental problem, but travel is essential to my work (and I really like San Francisco in the fall)."
  • "My research is a collaborative enterprise. I need to discuss it with colleagues face-to-face (over wine and cheese)."
  • "The importance of my research outweighs the environmental costs of air travel."

  All of those points are reasonable (despite my parenthetical interjections). However, only the third argument directly engages the issue. And in some cases it might be accurate. The environmental costs of flights by scientists whose research, teaching, and outreach deal with environmental problems might be offset by their contributions to the development of sustainable policies, practices, and technologies.

  But what about the rest of us?

  I'm not sure how much professors at Carleton wrestle with this dilemma, but I'm curious to see if there was a survey, how many would give one of those three answers? However, the emissions from air travel are not just the fault of our faculty, but also the students who often fly home for breaks and study abroad. Should all of this stop? I'm by no means one to point fingers, but is there anyone looking at carbon offsets?

  Photo by Flickr user Gilbert R. used under a Creative Commons license

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• Higher education sustainability expert coming to Carleton

  January 10, 2008 at 12:10 pm

  On January 14, Anthony Cortese will present a lecture entitled “Sustainability in Higher Education.” Dr. Cortese has been a national leader in organizing colleges and universities around the cause of sustainability. Specifically, he is a co-founder of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and the Higher Education Association Sustainability Consortium. He is also a co-director of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, which commits higher education institutions to address climate change by assessing and reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. President Robert Oden of Carleton is a signatory of this agreement. During his visit, Dr. Cortese will also meet with faculty to discuss the development of sustainability curriculum. His public talk is part of a yearlong public lecture series on the topic of climate change sponsored by the Environmental and Technology Studies program.
  

  The lecture will begin at 7:30pm in Boliou Hall, room 104. Refreshments will be served.
  
  
  
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