The book for the spring semester is Green Metropolis by David Owen.
 
A challenging, controversial, and highly readable look at our lives, our world, and our future.

In this remarkable challenge to conventional thinking about the environment, David Owen argues that the greenest community in the United States is not Portland, Oregon, or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York, New York.

Most Americans think of crowded cities as ecological nightmares, as wastelands of concrete and garbage and diesel fumes and traffic jams. Yet residents of compact urban centers, Owen shows, individually consume less oil, electricity, and water than other Americans. They live in smaller spaces, discard less trash, and, most important of all, spend far less time in automobiles. Residents of Manhattan- the most densely populated place in North America -rank first in public-transit use and last in percapita greenhouse-gas production, and they consume gasoline at a rate that the country as a whole hasn’t matched since the mid-1920s, when the most widely owned car in the United States was the Ford Model T. They are also among the only people in the United States for whom walking is still an important means of daily transportation.
 
Book Group Schedule:
 
We are going to stick with our Thursday evening meeting time from last semester – see below.  Time:  5:30-7PM. Place: Sessions (http://www.yelp.com/biz/sessions-greensboro) on spring garden street!
 
DATES:
Feb 23
Mar 29
April 12
 
NOTE:  the author will be on the UNCG campus on Tuesday, March 20.  In addition to a keynote address in the evening by The New Yorker magazine writer David Owen on his book Green Metropolis, the committee is  planning an afternoon panel addressing urban sustainability from the perspectives of the science of sustainability, urban policy and sustainability, and sustainable urban design. David Owen’s book will be used as a jumping off point for the panel, which will then give a set of thought-provoking comments based on their own research and experience.

UNCG’s Vampire Energy Slayers program will be presented in a poster session at the Smart and Sustainable Campuses conference at the University of Maryland in April.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the program. Anyone interested in participating should let me know! We have new materials to use, and there is still a lot of work to be done!

The reason I am always talking about turning off your computer is because it is the easiest thing you can do (besides turning off a light!) that helps us saving energy on campus.  I’m taking notice of those of you who are turning off computers and sending students out armed with thank you notes and candy!  Your office might be next on the list!

Here is a crazy idea.

Maybe progress in sustainability isn’t only made by ecologists, climate change scientist, waste reduction and recycling specialists, environmentalist, engineers, or even politicians… 

I want to suggest creative thinkers like you are able to engage in a meaningful and productive conversation about sustainability.  I think you are able to communicate a sense of urgency necessary for change, and you might hold the answers to getting ourselves out of the mess we currently find ourselves in. 

With this in mind, I invite you to participate in UNCG’s new Creative Sustainability Initiative.  This is an amazing opportunity for THREE students to win a grant and participate in multiple special events. It is great for campus, perfect for your resume – wins all around! CSI has been developed through a partnership between the Office of Sustainability, the Sustainability Committee, and the Weatherspoon Art Museum.

For details on how to apply, please review this request for proposals . The deadline is March 30th.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Good Luck!

I’ve been keeping big news to myself for days, and I am stoked to finally let you in on all the excitement!

Thanks to the support of Ben Kunka, our very own recycling and waste reduction guru, we are recycling plastic bottle caps! We have started the program with a dozen bins at the following locations:

• North Spencer – kitchen
• South Spencer – kitchen
• Music Building – first floor by the recycling bins
• Campus Rec – break room
• Studio Arts – second floor lounge (203)
• Sink Building – break room
• Weatherspoon Art Museum – kitchen
• Mossman – first floor by the recycling bins
• Housing and Residence Life – mail room

By recycling platic bottle caps you are helping to prevent this…

I’m big on resolutions, in part because I like lists. OCD aside, I also like the opportunity to take on a new challenge.  I have many goals this year for the OOS, and sustainability goals for myself. I hope sharing these with you will help you to develop a personal goal to incorporate sustainability into your life. Leave us a comment and share your goals for 2012!

Here are some high impact suggestions to get you started:

• Turn off your computer when you aren’t using it.
• Skip the plastic bags.
• Give up bottled water.
• Eat more locally grown food.

A few of my goals for OOS this year…

• Make this blog conversational (instead of announcement board)and useful for you. If you’d like to contribute – tell me!
•  Make the website more functional and interesting.
• Increase the number of students participating in our programs. If volunteering is on your list of resolutions – I can help you out.
• Throw an awesome Earth Day event! Woo!
• Increase the number of energy-focused programming on campus.
• Publish a campus green guide.

Trey, our sustainability coordinator has a few resolutions to share too…

• Complete the climate action plan by December.
• Renew our registration with STARS and work to improve our rating in 2012.
• Exceed the Chancellor’s 5% energy reduction goal.