Green Campus Initiative at the University of Chicago

Youth Organize for Clean Air in the Windy City

2011-09-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

[This is a re-post of a blog entry from former GCI member Marie Donahue, written for the Will Steger Foundation's Blog; the original post can be found here: http://willstegerfoundation.org/about-us/wsf-blog/item/1289-youth-organize-for-clean-air-in-the-windy-city]

CHICAGO, IL—On Thursday, July 28th, Aldermen Joe Moore and Danny Solis re-introduced the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance to a newly elected City Council, with an impressive total of 35 co-sponsors (in Chicago, a city ordinance requires 26 votes and the signature of the mayor to become law) and with continued support from the Chicago Clean Power Coalition, a grassroots movement of more than 60 local community, health, and environmental organizations.

Child playing at Dovak Park with Fisk Coal Plant in the background [via Greenpeace].

If passed, the Ordinance would require the two outdated coal-fired power plants operating within city limits to clean up their act by installing modern pollution control equipment, or else shut down their operations. Chicago’s Fisk and Crawford plants, owned by Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of the California-based Edison International, are located in the city’s densely populated neighborhoods of Pilsen and Little Village. They are the country’s only coal-plants still operating in such a densely populated urban environment.

More than sixty youth and student activists interested in putting an end to Chicago’s two largest stationary sources of air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions, attended a public hearing concerning the Ordinance back in April, and another sixty youth turned out to the Ordinance’s re-introduction in last month.

Youth involvement from local colleges and universities, the Illinois Student Environmental Coalition, the Sierra Club, and other environmental groups have helped shape the renewed effort to pass the Clean Power Ordinance. Students have lobbied aldermen to become co-sponsors, increased media attention around the issue (watch these videos: ABC News7: Clean Power and YouTube: Chicago Clean Power Hearing), provided testimony at Ordinance hearings, attended regular planning meetings, and organized phone-banking sessions to spread awareness and garner support for the Ordinance. Caroline Wooten, a student at the University of Chicago and founder of the UChicago Climate Action Network, explains that youth-lobbying efforts were instrumental in convincing Ald. Newsome and Ald. Cochran to sign on as co-sponsors of the Ordinance this spring and summer.

With the Ordinance currently in the City Council’s Rules Committee, Laura Knezevic, Director of the Illinois Student Environmental Coalition, cautions that “there are never any guarantees when it comes to the City Council,” but she thinks that the Ordinance is “moving forward with renewed strength and more support than we had in the last session.”

With this momentum and the start of the school year approaching, Chicago student leaders are already actively engaged in planning a 350.org International Day of Climate Action on September 24, thinking up strategies to increase student involvement around the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, and drafting up new state-wide campaigns to decrease Illinois’ reliance on coal.

UChicago Members of the IL Student Environmental Coalition, Green Campus Initiative, and UCAN (formerly Students for a Just and Stable Future) organize with other community members for Clean Air at the 350 Get to Work Day, in October 2010.

Stay tuned, and attend a GCI or UCAN meeting this fall to learn how you can get involved!

Battle of the Bulbs Concludes

2011-05-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Here are the final results from 2011 BotB.

The Opening Ceremony was cancelled due to more rain. That's 3 outdoor events rained out this year. Better luck next year?

Congrats to Maclean for taking first place! We'll be doing a short documentary on them next year. I heard some pretty crazy stuff went on like charging phones in the library. BJ took 2nd and Breck took 3rd.

Rain rain, go away,

Willy

WEEK 3 RESULTS

2011-05-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

As you may have heard, it rained on our last s'mores event. It might rain for our planned Closing Ceremony, too. But we shall play with the weather and hopefully, it won't rain.

Here are the results from Week 3. BJ continues its impressive run to 55.21% points saved. However, Maclean has the lead with 74.2% saved. Breckinridge needs a good showing in Week 4, as they currently stand at 52.9% saved if they want to defend their championship.

On the other hand, many dorms keep doing worse.

S'moreS tonight

2011-05-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

hey guys,

S'mores tonight at Bartlett Quad at 9 PM. If it rains, well that would suck. So join the event and stay tuned!

Here are some pictures of our wood gathering expedition.

Steven gathering wire to tie the wood. Ingenious.

See ya tonight

Week 2 Results

2011-05-10T20:32:00.001-07:00

Jeez guys. 31 percent? nice.

Don't forget. S'MORES ON THURSDAY. Come out and enjoy the weather, turn off your lights, and UNPLUG YOUR APPLIANCES!

See ya,

Willy

How Does Breck Always Win Battle of the Bulbs? Interview

2011-05-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Self-explanatory. Video done by Jamie Manley.

BotB Week 2 Update: Chicago’s Green Festival, and way to win tickets!

2011-05-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

If you haven’t heard of the Green Festival before now, it’s good that you’re here reading our blog. Basically, the Green Festival, which comes to Chicago’s McCormick Place from May 14th to 15th, is the world’s "largest sustainability event in the world and continues to grow year after year." The exposition, sponsored by Green America and the Global Exchange, features renowned environmental authors, speakers, nonprofits, films, and businesses—all under one roof. The festival is a great opportunity to learn more about the world of environmentalism and engage in the movement, network with professionals in the field, and discover new ideas for sustainability.

Several notable speakers at this year’s Green Fest include Colin Beavan, star of the film "No Impact Man", Helen Cameron, Chicago resident and owner of the Uncommon Ground restaurants (visit her restaurants in Wrigleyville or Edgewater if you haven’t already), Gail Philbin of CNT Energy, a division of the local nonprofit Center for Neighborhood Technology, and Eric Heineman, Sustainability Policy Advisor for Governor Pat Quinn as well as the former (and first) Sustainability Officer at UChicago a few years back. There are plenty of other exciting people and organizations to network with at the Festival—so try to make it if you can.

Basically, Green Fest is an event you don’t want to miss. And we here at Green Campus Initiative are making it easier for students to attend. We will be giving away 25 FREE TICKETS for the Green Festival to the dorm with the most energy reductions during Week 2 (that is this current week) of our inter-dormitory energy saving competition "Battle of the Bulbs." So, turn off those lights, encourage your housemates to do the same, and try to make it to Green Fest next week!

And for those students who live off campus or who are not in this week’s winning dorm, ISEC (i.e. the Illinois Student Environmental Coalition) is offering students free tickets to the Green Festival if they volunteer for the event. Contact ISEC Director Laura Knezevic (lknezevic@greenstudents.org) by Monday, May 9th for more information if you are interested in the volunteer opportunity and attending Green Fest!

And as always remember to do it in the dark!

Signing off,
Marie

WEEK 1 RESULTS

2011-05-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

YO WEEK 1 RESULTS ARE OUT.

COME TO STUDY BREAK IN EX LIBRIS 9PM-10PM. MONKEY TAILS AND FRUIT SKEWERS. Turn off your lights and use shared lighting in the library.

Stay tuned for an interview with Breck residents about how they always win.

Seeeeee ya Tuesday,

Willy

Battle of the Bulbs Opening Ceremony Recap

2011-04-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

It’s that time of year again... Battle of the Bulbs, GCI’s annual month-long energy saving competition, kicked off last night in Hutch Commons! Although the rain kept us inside and our s’mores untoasted, the BotB opening ceremony was a success, complete with pizza, music (check out our playlist below), t-shirt sales and plenty of energy saving tips. If you missed it, do not fear! We will be celebrating BotB all month long with more events and of course keeping tabs on the dorms with the most energy savings. Don’t live in a dorm? It’s still important to conserve energy no matter where you live, so turn off those lights, unplug your computer and collect the savings!

In addition to last night’s kick-off, this year’s competition is literally going online and will feature real-time, smart-metered results that you can check with the help of Cisco and PulseEnergy. Just bookmark the dashboard here: BotB Dormitory Dashboard. May the dimmest dorm win!

Of course, we will also be sending updates on this blog and over the GCI listhost, so be sure to keep tabs on the RSS feed or sign up for emails if you want to be kept in the loop. And if you want to get more involved, be sure to drop by a GCI meeting on Wednesday or Thursday this week. There is plenty to do, and we could use your help!

And as always, do it in the dark!

Until next time,
Marie

BotB Opening Ceremony Playlist
(a bunch of “green” and energy-themed favorites)

“Paradise,” John Prine
“All of the Lights,” Kanye West
“Charlie on the MTA,” the Kingston Trio
“Power,” Kanye West
“This Land is Your Land,” Woodie Guthrie
“Flashing lights,” Kanye West
“Take Me Home,” John Denver
“Electric Feel,” MGMT
“Wagon Wheel,” Old Crow Medicine Show
“Big Yellow Taxi,” Joanie Mitchell
“Green River,” Clearwater Creedence Revival
“Blowing in the Wind” Bob Dylan
“Times They are a Changing,” Bob Dylan

Battle of the Bulbs Opening Ceremony

2011-04-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

Battle of the Bulbs Opening Ceremony April 25th, 8-10 PM in Hutch Commons (Hutch Courtyard if it doesn't rain!) If it doesn't rain, there will be s'mores, music, and food.

Battle of the Bulbs is an inter-dormitory energy reduction competition. It will last from April 25th until May 23rd. The competition works on percentage reductions from a previously determined, pre-competition baseline.

Be sure to check out our Facebook page for periodic updates on the competition and interesting internet things about energy consumption.

See you there!

Willy

Minutes from 4/13 and 4/14 Meeting

2011-04-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Wow guys. It's been a while since I've posted. I was abroad last quarter and kinda went AWOL from GCI. But now it's Spring Quarter and time for Battle of the Bulbs again! Nice.

So here are the minutes from last week's meetings.

Remember, Opening Ceremony is April 25th 8-10 PM in Hutch Courtyard. Come earlier and there will still be food left. We can't feed all of y'all.

Seeeeee ya,

Willy

We figured out what we're non-food, non-music things we're gonna have at the Opening Ceremony

· listhost signups

· tap water challenge

· big posters of facts and figures related to energy consumption (need help)

· historical exhibition (results from previous years, media from previous years, t-shirts)

· the Green Cup that Breck still has

· Seed bombs

· SJSF

As for food, we decided to have dinner food.

This year, we're also going to have an Educational Event. At this event, we'll have

· maybe a speaker

· facts and figures on energy consumption for the university. how much energy is used each day, etc.

· where does our school's electricity come from?

· basic education about electricity. do you know how it works

· progress of each dorm

· food, of course

In addition to our usual get-out-of-the-dorm-to-study study break in Ex Libris, we're going to have a 2nd Study Break. It will be an outdoor, glow-in-the-dark chalk art competition. It's simple, it's outdoors so they're not using their lights, and we'll keep the prizes simple (another box of glow-in-the-dark chalk) and have simple foods (hot chocolate or lemonade, cookies).

And as for our advertising campaign

· Facebook event but focus more on personal sharing. people sharing event on own facebook page, change status, change facebook profile picture, writing on people’s walls and tagging event at the same time NEED HELP

· Giant posters in Reynolds, flyer on Environmental Center bulletain

· House e-mail listhosts

· Related listhosts (sustainability, environmental studies, ECO, SJSF?)

· Asking people to put flyers on their door (need help)

· Easels and big posters in public locations (Reg, Bartlett, South, Pierce)

· Facebook fan page

· blog posts (and linking to those)

Pinwheels on the Quad

2011-01-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

On November 18^th Students for a Just and Stable Future planted dozens of pinwheels on the quad of the University of Chicago Campus along with signs about the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance asking our local aldermen to support the ordinance. The pinwheels were made and decorated by University of Chicago students at the No Trash Bash put on by the Green Campus Initiative, an event that hosted environmental groups across campus with free food and a live band. SJSF’s pinwheel-making table at the No Trash Bash attracted people to learn about the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, and some students signed postcards to their local aldermen. The pinwheels attracted attention of passersby on the Quad, and many people stopped to read the signs.

Students for a Just and Stable Future took pictures of the event and sent them to Aldermen Cochran and Hairston along with letters, hoping to thank Alderman Hairston for her support and hoping to win the support of Cochran.

This action was done by campuses across the nation and was organized by Sierra Student Coalition. When we were done with the pinwheels, they were sent to Washington DC for an action on the greens of the mall with thousands of pinwheels to attract attention towards clean energy legislation.

by Caitlin Grey

No Trash Bash

2010-12-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

On November 18th, GCI held its annual No Trash Bash. This event aims to showcase environmental projects and organizations both on and off campus. We provided food and live music (Squat the Condos). The complete list of organizations present includes: I-go car sharing, Outdoor Adventure club, Veg Society, Sustainability Council, Peoplestox, 5 GCI pods, and Students for a Just and Stable Future. Even more, we focused on having "interactive" booths so that people could stay busy at the event. SJSF provided the opportunity to make mini windmills to promote clean energy, GCI Pod 2 did their tap water challenge, and GCI Pod 3 let people make seed bombs. Also, we provided a recycling and composting educational center to let everybody know how it all works at school (it's rather complicated).

Thanks to all those who helped and came out! We're gonna have another study break mid-Winter quarter to pump y'all up for Battle of the Bulbs and to publicize our pods' initiatives.

Here are the pictures from our major event of Autumn quarter. Thanks to Delia andJonathan who took these super pictures. More can be found at our Facebook page!

Cheers,

Willy

Minutes from 12/1 Meeting

2010-12-12T19:31:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Sorry about the paucity of posts this quarter. School picked up this quarter. But here are the minutes from the 12/1 meeting. Even more delayed blog post on No Trash Bash coming up!

Minutes from 12/1 Meeting

Helping UC Dems compile a list of environmental speakers for their Progressive Gala

topics: water (Marie), food deserts (Alba), environmental racim (Michelle), environmental justice (Carolie)

Winter Break plans

have a study break in 5th week to remind people that we’re still around and to showcase what our pods are doing
use this to advertise Marie and Tarah’s pod’s film series event
advertise and hype up Battle of the Bulbs
have different foods spread out at separate stations so people have to talk to you or at least make eye contact to talk to you
possible locations: McCormick Tribune, Ex Libris, OMSA?, somewhere central on campus

Fundraising Campaign

pair bake sales and t-shirt sales
t-shirts have been shipped; we added “green campus initiative, University of Chicago” to the shirt to give it some identification
work on publicizing the printer cartridge program we have with tabling and other methods

Pod Updates

Pod 1

environmental film series with The Cove and No Impact Man
make sure we get movie rights so we don’t get in trouble
make them big events with good food and bake sales, and maybe ticket sales to offset the costs of buying showing rights
also think about applying to SGFC for money

Pod 2

met with SG, Dean Boyer, and Aramark
working with Sustainability Office on water bottle refilling stations
do something for Water Bottle Day

Pod 3

working with Woodlawn Collaborative and setting up classes that teaches on growing plants
working on getting supplies to grow plants indoors for the Winter
pod members have a contact who can get them space in the greenhouse

Pod 4

had their vegetarian potluck this quarter

Pod 5

working on composting at upcoming culture shows in the Winter

Stay warm!

Willy

No Trash Bash yeaaaaah

2010-11-15T13:25:00.001-08:00

Hey guys,

No Trash Bash is tomorrow!

Food will include:

Jimmy John sandwiches
Tacos from Maravillas
Homemade Pies
Banana Muffins
Chips with Cheese and Salsa

Environmental Organizations will include

GCI pods
Students for a Just and Stable Future
Outdoor Activities Club
Veg Society
Roosevelt Institute
Sustainability Council
and others

Cool, Interactive Environmental Booths will include

composting/recycling at our school with recyclableball and compostableball
make your own mini wind turbines
making seed bombs

Music provided by Squat the Condos!

Free food. Awesome!

See y'all tomorrow,

Willy

Minutes from 11/3 and 11/4 Meeting

2010-11-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

It's 7th week. 1 week from No Trash Bash. 4 Weeks from Winter Break. 2 weeks from Thanksgiving. 9th week of the NFL season coming up.

Here are the minutes. Enjoy!

Minutes from 11/3 and 11/4 Meeting

Updates on T-shirt Fundraiser

ordered 75 (30 s, 40 m, and 5 l; we don’t want a bunch of leftover large and x-large shirts) t-shirts. $6.39 each, we’ll sell them for 10. they are of the polar bear design
probably get them near the end of the quarter so we’ll begin selling them in Winter quarter
ideas for selling: sell t-shirts at all of our events but not really worth the time to table and sell t-shirts; see if COUP will work with us to sell them in conjunction with the Polar Bear run; participate in the polar bear run wearing the shirts?

Updates from SJSF

will be making wind turbines as a publicity initiative for clean energy to be put up on November 18th
come to No Trash Bash on the 16th to help make some or contact Caitlin platenry007@hotmail.com

No Trash Bash Updates

Maya contacted the Acapella groups, but only one has responded. We’ll follow up.
Looked up food prices, specifically foods that require minimal utensil and plate use. Guy will make a decision on that by tomorrow
Worked on the Recycling/Composting educational station. Made posters and came up with a list of what we need to collect. We will also implement a game for that.
Kai and Caroline came up with some ideas for our second cool, interactive environmental station after coming up with our first one- wind mill turbines
Determined layout for NTB in McCormick Tribune Lounge
David made the post-event survey

See you laters,

Willy

Students Rally on Day of the Dead

2010-11-08T07:27:00.000-08:00

by Paul Kim, First Year, Student for a Just and Stable Future

On Monday, November 1st the Day of the Dead, a group of about 75 individuals, marched from the UIC quad to Alivio Medical Center in Pilsen in support of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance. Among the activists were students from UChicago, Loyola, and UIC. The ordinance, which has the support of 17 out of 50 aldermen as of November 5th, would ‘clean up’ or shut down the Fisk and Crawford Coal Plants in Chicago. The plants cause 66 premature deaths, 104 heart attacks, and thousands of asthma attacks per year, all while making a very small monetary profit.

The rally began at 4:30 at UIC with speeches from a number of organizations including Greenpeace, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), and Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO), which emphasized the threats that the coal plants pose both to the health of the neighborhood and the climate stability of the world. From there, demonstrators in skeleton-masks and holding signs marched through the chilly evening, chanting and distributing fliers, past the still-smoking coal plant to the Alivio Medical Center. The medical center had been the site of a previous rally against the coal plants on the Global Day of Climate Action 10/10/10. Here, members of various groups represented at the march took the time to get to know each other to strengthen the inter-organizational network throughout Chicago. At 8:00, “Mountain Top Removal” was screened at the Decima Musa theater, sponsored by the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, or LVEJO.

Pod 5 Blog post

2010-11-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Pod 5 of GCI is working on implementing composting in the dorms. Here is their pod leader, Huiting's, short description of their project.

Compost is a great fertilizer and natural pesticide. Plus, it reduces food waste. Why not compost more of our food scraps?

As a pod, our goal is to introduce on campus composting to residence halls with high kitchen usage. As a university, we compost considerable amounts of food from the dining halls, but the students do not see the impact of this great work. We hope that by placing compost bins in some of the dorms, the students will become more aware of what composting is and how it impacts the environment.

Our first goal is to find appropriate areas in kitchens and courtyards to place compost bins. After giving demonstrations and simple compost how-to’s, we will assign student representatives to tend to the compost periodically. If done properly, there will be very little mess and odor, and there will also be minimal effort involved.

Compost can be used for everything from potted plants to large gardens, and it is a great source of organic material and nutrients. In great quantities, it is even useful in wetland restoration and as landfill covering. We may be starting small, but we hope that our composting project will eventually expand into a campus-wide initiative that promotes sensible and sustainable practices.

Please e-mail any questions, comments, or suggestions to huiting@uchicago.edu

Thanks,
Willy

ISEC Conference!!!

2010-10-27T16:36:00.001-07:00

Let's go!!!

E-mail Marie at mariedonahue@gmail.com if you're interested. We'll be leaving as a group to ward off the cold.

Minutes for 10/20 and 10/21 Meetings

2010-10-25T15:26:00.000-07:00

Whoa there! It's already fifth week. Well, no matter, here are the minutes from the most recent meetings. Also, stay tuned for updates from pods about their projects. Nice!

Minutes from 10/20 and 10/21 Meetings

Pod presentations

Pod 4: November 13 6-8pm, Vegetarian Potluck. RSVP

Information on vegetarianism and vegetarian pledge
South lounge Reynolds club
Only invite members from GCI and pod members’ houses. don’t want too big of an event
Have them bring their own silverware? What to do after eating (games, music, other events?)
Event should have something about composting, waste, and recycling
Have people bring recipes so people can be aware of any potential allergies. Also, we can start a GCI cookbook!

Pod 1: Community Outreach—my pod

ISEC Conference—November 6th
Reaching out to groups on campus

Come up with lists

Clean-up days that will include other groups on campus, aiming for an event in November
Contacted Washington Park Conservancy but their last event is this week
Other organizations include Friends of the Chicago River, Chicago Park District, and a CEPA event

Pod 5: Introduce composting to dorms

At dorms that have most kitchen waste and at dorms where we have a presence
Everything depends on the dorms’ enthusiasm for composting
Questions include which dorms, what kinds of composting for each dorm, partner with the Uncommon Garden project
Also, a question came up for who will compost at food events this year? pods or eco-consulting?
Education about composting will also be important

Pod 2: Phasing out Plastic Water Bottles

Working on the tag line. “Friends don’t let friends drink from plastic water bottles”?
awareness is one part (tap water challenge) but the other part is to actually phase out water bottles by contacting vendors and providers
Director of ISEC wants to have tapwater challenge at the Fall Conference
Maybe compromise by having vendors letting us put signs next to refrigerators or getting the environmental facts out there

Pod 3: Gardening (Alba)

62nd street garden with organic vegetables and other empty lots nearby
Pod member Lindsey has numerous connections with the surrounding community
Meredith knows a school who wants GCI to come and teach about gardening and plants
Talk to facilities managers’ about using flat roofs to host pots
Use gardens to teach university community about environment, earth, and plants

Networking

We got everybody’s contact info for future listhost advertisement
We will be sending out a Google docs form soon for those who couldn’t make it to the meeting

Woodlawn Collaborative

Website
Offshoot of university to increase community engagement
We determined that nobody at the meetings could come up with a program or event currently, but that we are aware of the space we can use
Perhaps we can have an event in the future there

Meatless Monday

Tabling for ‘Meatless Monday’ for Veg Society
Amjones@uchicago.edu Anna Jones

Cobb Composting

More information here
They need help tabling to spread information. The contamination rate is currently too high.

No Trash Bash

8th week: Wednesday, the 17th
Purpose: showcase environmental initiatives on and off campus
Goals: GCI publicity, 20 people added to the listhost, talk and make connections with event attendees
1. Environmental intiatives on campus—each at a table: 5 pods, 2 GCI divisions, Sustainability Council, OAC, SDS, a Roots and Shoots chapter?,
2. Environmental Stations— showcase and educate about environmental issues on campus (recycling in dorms, simplicity of composting in dining halls, interesting and/or interactive activities)
3. Businesses—Washington Park Conservatory, etc…
Music- acapella groups and loud, exciting music
Food- whatever we can get with our annual allocations and Guy’s organic food production
We will be sending out a sign-up for how you can help

Just chillin in 65 degrees in October,

Willy

10.10.10 An International Day of Climate Action

2010-10-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

by Caitlin Grey

Although it may not be as exciting as November 11th of next year for most people, this Sunday, October 10, (10-10-10) was a big day for environmentalism. 10-10-10 was an international day of climate action organized by 350.org, with over 7000 registered in 188 countries, and the University of Chicago was part of this global call against climate change.

Around twenty students of the University of Chicago, primarily members of the Green Campus Initiative and Students for a Just and Stable Future, met at 11:30 in front of the Regenstein Library on Sunday to bike and bus to Pilsen, a historically immigrant neighborhood of Chicago, to rally against the Fisk and Crawford Power Plants.

Students bussed and biked around the various blockades and detours in place for the Chicago Marathon that day to join around one hundred other environmentally concerned Chicago residents in front of the Alivio Medical Center, a block from the coal-fired power plant that causes health problems and pollution in the area.

At the rally we heard speakers from various organizations including Green Peace, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Sierra Club, and the Huffington Post, made calls to our local aldermen asking them to close down the polluting power plant, signed petitions, and added to a live art installation. We also took a picture to be featured on 350.org along with photos of thousands of other actions across the globe.

As a first year I was thoroughly impressed by this event as my first environmental action in Chicago, and found it very valuable to learn about one of the environmental problems in this city. It was inspiring to see people of all ages, races, and genders with a common interest in the health and future of communities that suffer from environmental degradation.

Minutes from 10/6 and 10/7 Meetings

2010-10-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Well, that was quite the first two weeks for GCI. We're now settling into pods and working on making No Trash Bash, our major event for Autumn quarter, happen. Remember, it's never too late to join. Our next meeting is 10/20 and/or 10/21 at 6 PM in 002A in Reynolds Club. Here are the minutes from the healthily attended meetings of this week.

Minutes from 10/6 and 10/7 Meetings

Katy Alberti from Chicago Conservation Corps’ helping bars and restaurants be more sustainable project

need volunteers to help recruit bar and restaurant managers to participate
audit current consumption on energy, water, and waste production
just like consulting work
contact Katy Alberti katyal6@mac.com if interested

SJSF (climate activism division)

regular meetings on Wednesday at 7 PM in 002A of the Reynolds Club
10/10/10 Work Day on Sunday. Blog Post
contact Caroline Wooten caroline.wooten89@gmail.com with questions or interest

Eco-Consulting Division

first meeting was on Friday at 4 PM
work with RSOs on how they can have more sustainable practices
contact Mira Scarvalone mira.scarvalone@gmail.com with questions or interest

Focus the Nation

they wanted to know if we could host a Clean Energy Forum, an opportunity to educate students about clean energy
we decided that while a great event and beneficial to tap into a national network, we could not do this right now
this project depends on somebody taking a strong lead, and at the moment, nobody could do it
also, we felt that our school, at the moment, does not have a strong environmental presence. we want to put our energy and effort in building up this presence before doing an event like a Clean Energy Forum that would benefit from a stronger movement at our school

S’mores Party Debriefing

purpose (accomplished): get GCI’s name out there; show people that we have fun
goods: good location, good food, good concept, blender attracted a crowd due to its novelty, good divying up tasks and setup,
not goods: set-up table didn’t facilitate easy sign-up for listhost, didn’t tell people to limit their marshmallow in take, burning wood isn’t good for the environment, inaccurate advertised duration of event
do gooder: have more of a circle set-up to corral people to talk to each other, be more aggressive in meeting new people and talking about GCI (this is our event, after all), spend some time in figuring out take down (grills were just moved back to where they belong), advertise a shorter time period (we’re always going to run out food, so don’t have an event drag on for too long after we run out food)

Discuss and debate No Trash Bash

No Trash Bash has been GCI’s major event for Autumn quarter. we have free food, live music, and a showcase of environmental organizations and projects. we also have side environmental stations like a natural dye tie-dye station and a make-your-own-cereal-box-notebook station
we decided to have the same structure of the event but add more of these environmental stations like tap water challenge and some plant/growing things stations. make things interactive
also, take this opportunity to really advertise our own initiatives
explain recycling and composting at our school. use this as an educational opportunity
also showcase an environmentally sustainable event for other RSOs to take note (have as little waste as possible, provide composting and recycling, creative decorations, using non-flyer advertising, etc.)
Trunk, the administrative and big event organizing part of GCI, will take the lead on making this event happen. All tasks are open to everybody. We expect everybody to help as much as they can and to work the event.

Fundraising

our regular income comes from printer cartridge recycling and bake sales. last year, we got money from absorbing a dying RSO and winning a t-shirt design competition. these will probably no happen this year, so we need to work extra hard on raising funds
upcoming fundraising ideas: bake sales, electronic raffle at No Trash Bash (NTB), least unique bid auction, plant, flower, or small evergreen tree sales, selling simple crafts items like rugs made out of t-shirts or t-shirt place mats, and slush fund.
Trunk will be managing fundraising. e-mail Willy wwgu44@gmail.com if you want to help or have an idea

UChicago for Pakistan

We will be helping with getting corporate sponsors and donations. e-mail Willy at wwgu44@gmail.com if interested in helping

Thanks to all those who came!

Going to watch the Texas Rangers clinch,
Willy

Chicago Clean Power Coalition: Coal Day of Action 10.10.10

2010-10-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

Chicago is home to a lot of great landmarks—the John Hancock building, Wrigley Field, the Bean (or Cloud Gate, if you prefer). But the Windy City also has a couple of skyscrapers that are a little less family-friendly, the Fisk and Crawford coal-fired power plants. These edifices may not be a part of the famous skyline, but they are a serious threat to the health of Chicago’s residents. Built in the 1920s, they face lenient emissions standards, are the reason that Chicago now has one of the nation’s highest asthma rates. In addition to chronic illness, air pollutants from Fisk and Crawford are responsible for 500 emergency room visits and 40 premature deaths each year.

peoplesworld.org

Now is the time to clean up emissions from the old coal plants—not only for environmental reasons, but also for the health of Chicago residents. On Saturday, October 10, people from around the world will gather to support clean power in their communities and political action for sustainability as part of 350.org’s Global Work Party. This will be the most widespread day of political action in history, with 6227 events in 185 countries. Green Campus Initiative Students for a Just and Secure Future will be leading U of Cers downtown to join their fellow Chicagoans in demanding a cleaner, coal-free future. We’ll be meeting in front of the Reg (1101 E 57^th St) on Sunday, October 10, to bike or take the CTA to the rally. If you need to borrow a bike, check out the UChicago bikeshare program (http://sustainability.uchicago.edu/campus/recycles.shtml).

Please come out to make the call for a clean city even louder!

Get to work Chicago!

By Claire Brindley

Pods!

2010-10-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

From an e-mail sent out to our listhost:

Hey y'all,

Thanks to all those who came out to the first week of meetings, the S'mores Party, and the RSO Activities Fair. I hope y'all are excited about working on all the pressing environmental issues around us. GCI does that through its pods.

Here's a recap of the pod system. Each pod consists of 3-4 people with a leader. The pod, as a unit, decides on what environmental project to work on. Nobody assigns to the pod what to do. Projects all have tangible goals and/or end results. It will be up to the pod and the project as to whether or not to hold meetings. Much of what you'll do will be through e-mails, phone calls, and individual work. GCI's main purpose in using the pod system is to get things done. Small groups, flexibility, and maximum motivation seek to achieve that goal.

We currently have 4 pods (we will form more depending on the number of people). The pod leaders have already come up with potential pod projects, but it will be up to you, pod members, to decide what the pod works on.

Pod 1 led by Marie and Tarah
Potential pod projects: park clean-up application and proposal, ISEC Fall campaign support and recruitment, Winter quarter movie series, working on crafts work (re-use) for our events throughout the year

Pod 2 led by Lauren
This is the only pod working on an already determined project. They will be working with Corporate Accountability International on a campaign to phase out plastic watered bottles on campus.

Pod 3 led by Alba
Potential pod projects: formation of a bee/butterfly garden, working with local community organizer Dorothy Pytel on teaching at after school programs, and expanding and starting community gardens in Hyde Park

Pod 4 led by Julie
Potential pod projects: organizing vegetarian potlucks to promote vegetarianism, establish a system for donating leftover foods from Hallowed Grounds, Einsten Brothers, and Div School Cafe

And if you feel like you can lead, have a great idea, please please please come forward. This is a member-driven organization and therefore, we are very flexible.

E-mail me as to which pod you'd like to be in.

If you are in a pod, definitely fell free to join our two divisions: Eco-Consulting (mira.scarvalone@gmail.com) and SJSF (caroline.wooten89@gmail.com).

They are not mutually exclusive.

Thanks!
Willy

S'mores Party

2010-09-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

There will be a s'mores party THURSDAY from 9-10:30 PM on Bartlett quad. There will be fire, marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. There will also be a blender bike where you can make smoothies (yourself).

We will also be showcasing our projects for this year and explaining our projects and goals.

Come out and just chill.

See you tomorrow,

Willy

Agenda and Reminder for FIRST MEETINGS OF THE YEAR

2010-09-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

Come out TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, OR THURSDAY for our first general meetings. All at 6 PM in 002A of the Reynolds Club.

Agenda below.

Agenda for 9/28, 9/29, and 9/30 Meetings

Pass around listhost signups
Introductions about why you’re drawn to environmentalism, why you’re at this meeting
Overview of GCI structure- purpose, goals, brief history, past events, stories
Explanation of pod system- pros, cons, why, how, details
Previous and potential pod projects (by pod leader)
Explanation of two divisions within GCI
Eco-consulting
Students for a Just and Stable Future
S’mores Party (bonfire event)- inform people, see how peole can help with publicity and event, explanation of purpose and goals
10/10/10 event- what it is, what’s going to happen, purpose and goals
Bake sale on Thursday- who can bake, who can table, purpose and goals, why bake sales?
General time for questions, ideas, and comments

Cool!

Willy

New GCI Dvision- Students for a Just and Stable Future

2010-09-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

We're announcing a new GCI division for the school year: Students for a Just and Stable Future. This will be the main activism branch of GCI as we attempt to bring back the endeavors of previous RSOs. This year, GCI has decided to expand its reach to both activism and environmental community service. We're excited for the new possibilities and the broader range of influence we can have. Here's a post from Caroline describing this new division.

With growing scientific data verifying the severity of global warming, and with Congress’s recent failure to enact legislation to adequately address this crisis, the need for individuals to demand real results from their lawmakers is becoming ever more apparent. This year, students at UChicago will have the opportunity to fundamentally transform the discourse around climate legislation in Illinois, and in doing so, hopefully change the actions of our state and federal politicians.

Students for a Just and Stable Future (SJSF) is a student-led, volunteer network that pushes for bold solutions to the climate crisis. Founded in 2007 by four students in Massachusetts as Mass Youth Climate Action, SJSF has since experienced a few name-changes and significant growth. In 2009, SJSF launched the Leadership Campaign, pushing for state legislation that would help bring Massachusetts to 100% clean electricity by 2020. The Leadership Campaign gained international recognition for its tactic of “sleepouts.” Students slept in tents on their campuses and weekly in the Boston Common to protest the use of dirty electricity in their houses, dorms, and apartments. Students for a Just and Stable Future is also known for its summer internship program, New England Climate Summer, in which students bicycle around New England and work with individuals and organizations in the communities that they visit to help build and strengthen the climate movement.

This year, Students for a Just and Stable Future is expanding to states beyond Massachusetts. UChicago will be the first school in Illinois to be home to an SJSF chapter, which will serve this fall as a division of Green Campus Initiative. Plans are already underway to get UChicago students to attend one of 350.org’s 10/10/10 Work Parties happening in Chicago. Students will join fellow Chicago residents in opposing the continued operation of the Fisk and Crawford coal-fired power plants in Chicago. They will likewise stand in solidarity with people across the globe who on this date, will be getting to work to make their communities more sustainable and to demand that their political leaders do the same. Currently, there are 3562 events registered in 165 different countries, and GCI and SJSF are excited to be a small part of this truly global day of climate action.

Beyond participation in this empowering event, SJSF will work to get UChicago students involved in ongoing environmental activism in Chicago. Additionally, members will reach out to other campuses in Illinois, and begin to define legislative goals of their own.

Students are in a unique position to call for the real change that is needed to address the climate crisis. As young people, we want a just and stable future for ourselves and subsequent generations, and we understand that fossil fuels cannot be a part of this future. We recognize that economic and technical challenges to transitioning to 100% clean energy as quickly as possible are far inferior to the political challenges. We look forward to building the political will to make this transition possible. We are excited for any and all to join us!

Potential Pod Project Ideas

2010-09-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

As the school year approaches, we've been preparing potential pod project ideas. Come tomorrow, September 23rd to the RSO Open House in Reynolds Club South Lounge from 12-1 PM to take a more in depth look at what we do, who we are, and why we're here.

A quick note on pods. Pods are GCI's mechanisms for enacting change. They're small units, 3-4 people with a leader. The most important thing about pods is that the members choose what to work on. Nobody is assigning anything. If your pod is interested in a topic, your pod is working on that.

The pod leaders for the coming year have prepared some potential ideas to guide discussion. They just that, potential pod projects. Only if you choose them will y'all be working on them. We're really flexible.

So here are the potential pod project ideas. Please come in with more ideas, so we have the best selection to choose from. And when pods complete one project, they have many more ready to work on. The best problem we can have is to have so many projects to do, but not enough people.

I'm only giving y'all a taste of the pod projects. They have actually been fleshed out with timelines and tasks, but we don't wanna take too much space on this blog for that. So come find out more at the RSO open house!

Composting and recycling at culture shows and major food events on campus
Recycling at Bar Night through Green Greeks
Help RSOs purchase biodegradable supplies
Event that shows how conserve ingredients and re-use leftovers
Educational organic food campaign
Phasing out use of plastic bottled water on campus
Getting recycle bins in all the trash rooms in all the dorms
Expanding Uncommon Garden project to other dorms
Building bee-and-butterfly friendly gardens
Habitat restoration right here on campus
Organizing toxic tours for students to the Fisk and Crawford coal power plants in Pilsen
Monthly vegetarian potlucks
Environmental film screenings
Reach out to after-school programs looking for teachers on sustainability and earth stewardship
Work on ISEC campaigns and recruiting students to participate in their events

Remember, we're also going to have separate divisions within GCI, different from pods. Divisions work on ongoing projects that have a broader scope than pods. Our two current divisions are Eco-Consulting and Students for a Just and Stable Future (which you can find out more about at tomorrow's RSO open house).

See you tomorrow,

Willy

GCI Eco-Consulting Division

2010-09-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

I'm excited to announce a GCI Eco-Consulting Division. It will be headed by Mira, whom you can contact at mira.scarvalone@gmail.com for more information. What follows is a brief description and outline of the structure, function, and purpose of an eco-consulting aspect of GCI. From Mira herself:

The goal of the eco-consulting division is to provide specific advice and
strategies to different RSO's on how they can green their practices and events.
While GCI already provides guidance to RSO's in general on how to make their
events more sustainable (and hands-on help in certain cases, such as with
composting at cultural shows), the goal of this project will be to research and
report on how particular RSO's can green their own events, rather than providing
advice for all RSO's at once. By tailoring these suggestions to one particular
RSO at a time, the hope is that these strategies will be made crystal clear and
be easy to implement. In addition, the research will entail some sort of
quantitative or qualitative measure of the benefits of implementing certain
green strategies, such as waste saved, % recycled materials used in an event,
etc. While many RSO's may not have environmental sustainability as one of their
chief objectives, the hope is that by researching green practices, they can be
presented in a way that seems easy to implement (and may improve a club's public
image).

The division will be open to all students with an interest in these kinds
of projects, which can range from those interested in consulting to
environmentally knowledgeable people. The hope is that the eco-consulting
projects will help the RSO's and the student body at large, and in general raise
awareness on campus of environmental issues.

On another note, pod members are free to work in this division in addition to their work as pod members. No group of GCI is exclusive. We hope that with an eco-consulting division going on, we can merge two important fields that UChicago students have generally been interested in: consulting and sustainability.

E-mail Mira if you're interested! Work starts ASAP.

Willy

Disorientation Guide

2010-09-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

Check out the Disorientation Guide, the alternative O-book. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any articles about GCI in before the deadline. But this is an excellent resource if you've got some questions about the non-official stuff.

Take a look.

Septembering,

Willy

Battle of the Bulbs Closing Ceremony Pictures

2010-08-23T12:13:00.001-07:00

Just thought they should come up here someday. We had it in Hutch Courtyard with bonfires- fires in grills. Take a look!

Yeah sorry about the quality. We'll bring a real camera next time.

Julie with the raffle tickets! Yay!

Jefferson looking cool. Or something like that.

Alba and Michelle! Michelle saved the day by finding twigs and sticks to get the fires started.

Lauren doling out crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows like a boss.

and fire! cool!

School is a-coming,

Willy

Oil Spill Boards

2010-07-31T11:03:00.000-07:00

So Marie, Alex, and I met and decided on a plan about how to respond to the oil spill. We decided on setting up two boards in public areas.

One board, lamely called the Board of Consumption (PLEASE help us think of a better name), will focus on daily acts of consumption of products related to crude oil that are often overlooked because of convenience or other reasons. It's goal is not to get people to stand there and absorb information, but instead to get people to think twice about common items and actions in their lives that have a direct link to the unhealthy process of crude oil production. It will go up in the Reynold's Club right outside the C-shop (pending approval).

So, we're planning to have 3 common, plastic items on there- styrofoam cups, plastic utensils, and plastic water bottles. We've looked up how many items of these you could make with 1 barrel of oil. So, next to these items, which will be taped to the board, we'll write x(a number), with (a number) = the number of that item that could be produced with the total amount of oil spilled. Then we'll have statistics/charts/graphs accounting U.S. dependency on oil and household use of oil.

We decided not to push too hard on blaming/angry activist/anti-corporation track. Don't get me wrong. There's a time for that. But because this is something public, something that a lot of people will see, we're going to take the high road and point out the problems and disaster, but frame them as something that we all have a connection, too. We're going for a personal connection.

The second board will have more information, tentatively called The Board of Information (again, PLEASE help with another name). As the name suggests, we'll have more information no this one. 3 major sections- environmental impacts, economic impacts, and how to take action/help clean-up/and short legislative/political happenings. Also, we're going to have a timeline of major events and milestones at the bottom of the board. And to put a nice touch, the timeline will go well into 2011 and 2012 to emphasize that just because the well may be capped, the effects of this disaster will remain prevalent for years to come.

Oh, and of course, we will cite all the information we get. There will undoubtedly be some people who will dispute the data on grounds of unreliable or biased sources.

This board will go up in the library (pending permission). We felt that people who are going there will probably be more inclined to take the time to read some material.

So, that's our plan. As summer ends, we'll review and revise our gameplan for the school year.

As usual, comments, questions, and concerns are always welcome!

Cloudy skies,

Willy

BP Oil Spill

2010-07-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

So I know GCI has not done much on the oil spill. And I will offer the following pitiful excuses, from me at least: exams, 3 weeks in China, and intensive Arabic course that's still going on. But I think I've arrived at a comfortable equilibrium in balancing work, GCI stuff, and life chores. Let me present to y'all some project ideas concerning the disaster that GCI is currently considering.

It all started when Guy shot me an e-mail with some basic information and pictures of the spill seeing if we could put this up in some kind of board. Seeing that it was exam week, we were all too busy to take any action before the year ended. And then the year ended.

Since then, the spill has released even more oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, more information has come out over the circumstances surrounding BP's failure in preventing this disaster. And since then, the spill has supposedly been stopped and relief wells are being constructed.

I admit that at this moment, I have not devoted much time to finding out what exactly is going on. But I've been following the major reports, and here is a proposed plan as to what GCI can do in awareness.

In the summer, we'll start with areas with high traffic in the summer only. I'm thinking places like Bartlett, the Reg, and Reynold's Club. What to put there? Each site will have a different sort of demonstration. Some possible demonstrations: a board with graphs, pictures, and text blurbs or flow charts; a physical, tangible representation of the oil spill and the effects of the oil spill; a station to write letters and petitions for our representatives urging them to take action that will prevent such disasters in the future (I'm sure numerous NGOs are currently working on such campaigns).

We already have easels from BotB to set up posters and other attention-grabbing things.

When the year starts, we're going to expand and update on the projects from the summer. But we're also going to shift our focus to ways to actually make an impact (activism). That will take some work and it's something that we did not do much of last year. Still, if we can attract a lot of people very early in the year in working on the environment through GCI/ECO/GAIA, then that is a battle won.

Cool. Feels good to be working again.

Willy

Final BotB Results

2010-07-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

So if you missed our Battle of the Bulbs Closing Ceremony, here are the winners for 2010 Battle of the Bulbs!

1ST PLACE- Breckinridge with a total reduction of -33.4% points from their baseline

2ND PLACE- Pierce Tower with a total reduction of -22.75% points from their baseline

3RD PLACE- Maclean with a total eduction of -15.95% points from their baseline

So! Breck repeats as winners. Congratulations. Pierce came out of nowhere to come in 2nd. And Maclean joins them as another first time podium occupant. Kudos to y'all.

More fancy charts, graphs, facts, and figures to come later. Just wanted to get this out there. Our super awesome graphic design folks will hopefully get this done quickly.

As for the winners, they will get to decide to donate a certain amount of GCI's money, based off of how much energy they reduced, to an environmental non-profit of their choice. They also get study breaks and a fancy championship banner. Oh, and Breck retains the Green Cup. Badass.

Awoooo,

Willy

Back!

2010-07-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

First, I'd like to apologize for just dropping off the face of the planet during Battle of the Bulbs. Things got busy, exams came, and then a trip to China all prevented me from updating. Still though, it was impolite to not inform y'all what's going on. If in the future things in real life get testy, I'll notify y'all.

So, there's lots of unfinished business to write about from this past year, mainly for Battle of the Bulbs. And then we can begin talking about the Summer and next year. Looking forward to building on what we accomplished this year. We're all more experienced and more hungry, me thinks.

Here's a Table of Contents for the upcoming posts. A way for me to stick to an agenda and to not forget topics.

1. Battle of the Bulbs Closing Ceremony

2. Battle of the Bulbs Overall Thoughts

3. BP Oil Spill Stuff- What is GCI going to do?

4. GCI Operational Structure for Next Year (fancy for how things are going to work)

After these posts, who knows where we'll go! A lot of stuff will go on behind the curtain (through e-mail exchanges), so I'll do my best to report on those. I'll be back in Chicago in a couple of days, which for GCI at least, is better than me in Texas.

Have a good day!

Willy

Week 3 Results

2010-05-24T11:02:00.001-07:00

Sorry we forgot to send these out. Here they are!

EVERYBODY IMPROVED! Except for Blackstone and Broadview.

Closing Ceremony

2010-05-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Bonfires on Hutch Courtyard.

Stick it to the Electricity Company study break

2010-05-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

TODAY 10 PM- 11 PM

Ex Libris

Corn dogs

Strawberries dipped in chocolate

Monkey Tails

Caramel Apples (a bitch to make)

Every 10th person gets a free reusable shopping bag. We also will have t-shirts for sale and CFLs to hand out (free). We're also doing some surveying for our t-shirt sale for this guy.

Don't study where you live. Take advantage of the Reg's lights which are on all the time. Share the lights with others. Eat food.

We have a lot of food. A lot. Please come.

See ya there!

Week 2 Results

2010-05-11T21:42:00.001-07:00

Here are Week 2's results. Kudos to those who have improved!

And it's in color. Ooooh.

Study Break tomorrow. Next blog post will be about that. Chyeah!

Week 1 Results

2010-05-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry for being late, guys.

Week 2 coming up next.

Broadview and South Campus. Tsk tsk

FAQs

2010-05-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

Here are some FAQs about Battle of the Bulbs. If you have any more, just comment here or shoot me an email at wwgu44@gmail.com

Hope your first week of energy reduction was good. Remember, 5% is Week 1's goal!

What can I actually save electricity on?

-Anything that plugs into an outlet (e.g. cell phone charger, laptop charger, TVs all draw “vampire power”)

-Turn off lights in dorm rooms and common areas and lounges (in Snell and BJ, you can also turn off hallway lights; there is no way to turn off the hallway lights in Max)

-Laundry (also cost-effective to fill up a load; or hang-dry your clothes!)

What about South Campus?

-New baselines were for all dorms from April 12-18 and April 19-25, averaged over both weeks.

Why can’t we split up the Max dorms?

-Now we can because new meters were just installed for each subdivision. South Campus, unfortunately, is one big building divided between West and East in name only.

How does heat control affect power usage?

It doesn’t show up in the meter for the building – but it still reduces the campus’s overall electricity usage if you turn off the A/C or heat when you don’t need it! For building systems such as air handling systems and exhaust fans, which are constant and run all the time, our usage has no effect on them.

How does cooling affect power usage?

It also doesn’t show up in the meter for the building, but – see above.

What about the rumor that Snell-Hitchcock’s electricity reading was higher due to construction of Searle a couple years back?

That is untrue. The electricity used by the construction site came from an upstream source because that is more reliable, whereas Snell is a downstream source of power. Same goes for Max P West and the new wing of the Reg.

Could lowering energy costs lower room and board?

No, have you met our administration? Just kidding. Room and board is a combination of a number of factors, and the greatest chunk of room and board comes from paying salaries for staff and facilities employees (janitors, receptionists), as well as debt repayment (e.g. from paving the quad, installing the sprinkler system). It is highly doubtful that reduction in electricity consumption in the dorms would make a significant impact in the University’s electricity costs overall.

Send any other questions our way!

Thanks,

Willy

Baselines for the Competition

2010-04-28T11:11:00.001-07:00

All right. It's Day 3 of BotB! Just letting you guys know what to work off of. Chris Keating of Facilities recorded every dorm's use of electricity in the 2 weeks prior to the kick-off. We've averaged them and that will be your baseline. The competition works by reducing your electricity usage by a percentage from this baseline. At the end, whoever has accumulated the most percentage points reduced wins. Now I know this isn't a mathematically significant number, but for this competition, it works. I feel like I've said that somewhere else, but oh well.

Here are the baselines!

Blackstone- 2760 kWh
Breckinridge- 3500 kWh
Broadview- 6990 kWh
Burton-Judson- 22248 kWh
South Campus- 66570 kWh
Maclean- 5686 kWh
Pierce- 10417 kWh
Snell-Hitchcock- 9398 kWh
Max P East- 13325 kWh
Max P Central- 14415 kWh
Max P West- 7877 kWh

Gogogo,
Willy

Last Year's Results

2010-04-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

Who's gunning for Breck?

Let's eat some grapes,

Willy

Battle of the Bulbs is Here

2010-04-25T19:06:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow Monday, April 26, 2010 it begins. Yes, it's in the Spring and not the Winter. We figured it makes more sense to turn off your lights and spend your time outdoors when the weather is warmer. Or not too cold.

BotB is an inter-dormitory energy reduction competition. For a month, all the dorms compete to reduce electricity usage. We have collected data in the last couple of weeks to set a baseline for all the dorms. Dorms then compete by percentage reductions which are than accumulated over the entire month. For instance, if you reduce your electricity usage in the 1st week by 15% but you then hold steady at a 15% reduction for the rest of the month, that's 60% accumulated. I'm pretty sure this isn't a mathematically significant figure, but for the sake of the competition, it works. You aren't punished for maintaining a good number, but there is still room for improvement.

This year, we will have 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd place prizes- a departure from last year. Therefore, if you quickly fall out of contention because the two time champion Breckinridge is kicking ass again, there's still a chance to win other prizes. What prizes you might ask? Come to the Opening Ceremony to find out or just come back for more information.

Even more, we're bringing in the apartments this year. Honestly, y'all/they've got the most to gain as they're footing the electric bills. Our effort in that centers around getting y'all/them to sign up for http://cubenergysaver.com/. We're also putting on something bold, something new. Show us your electric bill from April and May and we'll pay out monie$ for the top 3 percentage reductions. How much monie$ you ask? Whatever percentage you reduced. 70% reduction = $70 check.

So come tomorrow and chill at our Opening Ceremony. 8:30 PM in Hutch Courtyard. Run for Cover at 8:30 and Number 9, a Beatles cover band, at 9:00. Food from Chipotle, Backstory Cafe, Thai 55, and Cedars. Oh, and BATTLE OF THE BROWNIES!

Chill,

Willy

Sweeney's Sweets

2010-04-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

We at Green Campus Initiative bake. The bake sale was created by Green Campus Initiative. In a couple of years, we formed Sweeney's Sweets, the flagship brand of GCI baked goods. Crafted with love, passion, and fury, these delectable treats offer a palate of tastes and sensations. Thursday and Friday, April 22 and 23rd, you will have an opportunity to experience this wondrous delight.

The program for this week's bake sale includes Zesty Lemon Bars, Cookies 'n Creams Oreo Cheesecakes, Charlie Coala Chocolate Cookies with Cpecans, Creamy creamy cream puffs in your choice of creamy chocolate and Bavarian creamy cream, Guy's Super Snazzy Scones, and Sous-baker Ching Ling's Eastern Brownies.

Cobb 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM. Facebook it up.

A little information about the man who made the goods. Sweeney comes from an illustrious family of potato farmers. When Sweeny hit puberty, he didn't want to make potatoes. He wanted to make things that came out of an oven. Baked goods, that is. His family, while not ecstatic, were still loving and supportive. They then sent him across the Atlantic to study with the great Japanese underground criminal bakers. He has now emerged from the dark tunnels to spread his joy and LOVE to the masses.

Every time we have a bake sale, you will learn more about this living legend.

See you there,

Willy

BotB and a Case Study in Non-flyering Advertising

2010-04-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

We here at GCI work for the environment. While we're not perfect, we strive for a complete approach. Walk the talk, right?

Well after a year of events, we've finally reached a base camp in our climb to the summit. Let me tell you how we plan to use no flyers in our advertising approach for Battle of the Bulbs. Hopefully, some future or even current RSO leader will read this, be affected, and start employing these tactics.

Before I delve into our plans, let me tell you about an Eco-Consulting division of GCI we're planning. There's Eckhart Consulting and there's Campus Catalyst. Well, there will now be an eco-consulting group at our school. It's just an idea right now, but that's how they all start, right? Mira is taking the lead on this with several pilot test clients this quarter, actually. We will provide extremely targeted and specific help with RSOs looking to cut their carbon footprint, be more sustainable, and even save a few bucks. E-mail Mira at mirascarvalone@uchicago.edu if you're interested in making this happen!

Facebook

We will of course have a Facebook event. This event will run the entire month and will send out minimal messages. We will also design a specific internet flyer that emphasizes clickability (will people look at it/ click on it) and information (website, schedule of events, prizes). Also, we already have a Facebook fan page that shares links geared towards homework 1 minute breaks. These links are not essays, graphs, and news items. Instead, they're more graphic-orientated, short and neat tidbits, and of course environmentally related. We will continue this during BotB, just having a slant towards energy consumption and reduction.

Bulbs Blog

Our current website, bulbs.uchicago.edu needs a design update. When it goes online, there will be updates about events scheduled for BotB as it will be more than just an energy reduction competition. Also, this is where we will post tips and facts and figures. Even more, we plan to offer an inside look at the functions of GCI in hopes of giving outsiders a view on how we work. We will also post weekly results here. FAQs will also be in order, as we expect a lot of questions.

So how do we publicize a blog that doesn't already have regular ownership? Links in Facebook statuses would be one. Also, volunteers who commit to linking blog posts to their Facebook notes can do a lot. If you value your Facebook profile that much, it'll only be for a month. Also, whatever other advertising material we put out will have the hyperlink on. The same goes for all e-mails we send out.

The Maroon

We have an excellent newspaper with an excellent website. There's no doubt about it. So why not help them out by giving them a story to write about? This is our biggest event of the year, and so we must use any pre-existing advertising infrastructure. Now we have no control over the editorial process, but we definitely would like a front cover story. Even more, we should work together on submitting some op-eds. That shouldn't be a one man effort.

Housing System

While in a perfect world, every member on your own listhost will forward emails to their house listhost. Sadly, this doesn't happen. Due to our competition's benefits for the housing system (promoting competition, house spirit, and reducing costs), we directly e-mailed House RHs to ask for their permission in forwarding e-mails to house listhosts. Even more, we will ask RAs and RHs to mention the competition at house meetings.

Taking a page out of Relay for Life, we also will have a house meeting talking circuit. While we do have limited manpower, having a representative from the organization right in front of you explaining the benefits and prizes involved is the best way of communication: face to face, source to audience.

Big Public Publicity

We're not sure yet how we're going to do this, but here is basically a summary. Big publicity is something public that everybody will see. It will get people thinking, get people to notice. Some ideas that we shot down were a massive candlelight display in the dark or a shadow message that depended on the sun. Anything with light, electricity, or consumption will do. We might do something where we have a physical, tangible representation of energy you save through the competition. Something like that.

Chalking Campaign

This is related to our Big Public Publicity. We intend to do several high-detailed, large chalk artwork around campus in heavily trafficked area. Even more, we will pair this with more general, informational text based chalking around campus. If stencils would help, we will use those. For our weekly postings of the competition results, we plan to actually draw them in front of the Reg where people wait for shuttles. This will be in addition to the easels we usually put up in public areas.

Table Tents

This is where the majority of our paper use will be. Even then, we plan to use single sided paper (pre-used). Because the competition focuses on the housing system, and all housing residents use the dining halls, this allows us to reach as directly as possible to our audience without wasting resources.

Tabling

We have forsaken the model of attracting people to talk to you and then having long conversations about the environment. Constant tabling is taxing on your members, as they must sign up for long time slots. Even more, GCI isn't big enough to afford constant tabling. Tabling itself is stressful, as not everybody has perfected talking/yelling at strangers. Instead, we are using tabling as a way to quickly remind people about the competition through people. To do that, we're having lots of free giveaways (CFLs), selling t-shirts, and other ways to win smaller prizes. Even more, we're conserving our resources and energy and time by only tabling once a week.

Bake Sales

"We're Green Campus Initiative, a baking club"- what we said to prospies yesterday at the Prospy fair. We bake a lot, and we have the bakers to do it. Not only are they fundraisers, but they're ways to get people to notice you. And have them enough, you gain a reputation. Even more, in honor of Battle of the Bulbs, we will have a Battle of the Brownies. All sorts of Brownies. Dark chocolate brownies, white chocolate brownies, cookies in brownies, brownie batter, cake brownies, brownie balls, etc.

Pepsi,

Willy

Minutes from 4/7 and 4/8 Meeting

2010-04-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

I think in the course of the year, we've gotten far, far away from advertising through flyering. We are GCI, after all, and using lots of paper that is oftentimes ineffective does not fit into our mission statement. Click on the last link in the minutes. I'm pretty proud. Aren't you?

Here are the meeting minutes. Enjoy!

Minutes from 4/7 and 4/8 Meeting

Plant My Phone update

volunteers for flyering
volunteers for asking for permission from building managers
volunteers for monitoring collection sites
all got accomplished!
launch date TOMORROW
Facebook event

Phone Call With Erica

Booth student working on a smart plug product that solves problem of "vampire electricity"
Also working on a way to monitor electricity usage of your apartment or house from internet or phone
would like our data from previous BotB and this year's
sure, why not?

Purpose of BotB

Raise awareness of energy consumption and reduction
change behavior concerning energy consumption
make this year better than that. this may not be possible as many things have changed from last year. South Campus happened, too.
try to get the university to commit to some changes, demonstrate to the students that they're on board too

Increasing Participation of BotB

use group prizes like study breaks. have a gradient of study breaks though, like a restaurant study break for 1st prize and a Bartlett study break for 3rd prize
fund house trips with an allotted amount of money
we will do the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize

Get Apartments on Board

our main initiative should be education, as they're the ones who can feel the most direct effects of less energy consumption
we got free CFLs. Thanks Shola
we will promote www.cubenergysaver.com

Run-through advertising techniques

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AVyair7ldnEVZGZoOXo2ajlfMjA4d3J0dmdzYzI&hl=en

Baseball yes,
Willy

Plant My Phone

2010-04-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

Plant My Phone launches TOMORROW, April 12th!

We've partnered with the Sustainability Council (Ted and Daphne) to bring this program to UChicago. Around campus, there will be locations where you can grab a mailer bag. You can then put an old cellphone that was sitting in a cupboard in the bag and send it off. No postage needed.

Plant My Phone then (hopefully) gets the phone, refurbishes it and/or sells it back to a carrier or distributor, and uses the profit to plant trees.

Even better, for every phone you send in, you get a 1 in 500 chance to win $1,000. Send more phones in, the better chance you get to win the monies. $1,000 can buy a lot of things. Some that come to mind are almost 2 months of rent, a nice TV and a PS3, lots of clothes, and even more ice cream. You pick.

Bags can currently be picked up at these locations:
Max P Central lobby (next to the battery tube and printer cartridge recycling box)
Pierce
South Campus
BSLC
Harper Advisor Hallway (don't forget to meet with your advisor!)
Mitchell Lobby of the hospital

And we're currently looking for other locations, too! So be on the lookout. You can also pick up at the various Earth Week events around campus coming up. Attend the Facebook event here to keep plugged in. And don't forget to steal your friends old phones so you get a better chance of winning the $1,000. :]

We're also competing against other schools. Currently, Tufts is winning with 30. The competition ends in early June. Surely we can get more than 30?

Several GCIers worked pretty hard in 1 week to make this happen. It was literally 10 days ago when we started from scratch. And now, we're getting ready to make it official. Not bad, eh? Huiting e-mailed building managers for permission and flyered.. Shola flyered. Guy flyered and carried around boxes filled with goodies. Joanna flyered and typed up short informational blurbs about bag pick up sites. I flyered, too. Fantastic job, y'all.

Short,
Willy

Minutes from 3/31 and 4/1 Meeting

2010-04-05T21:23:00.001-07:00

From a joke book I read in 2nd grade.

Q:If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
A: Pilgrims!

Q: Why did the girl throw a stick of butter out the window?
A: Because she wanted to see the butterfly!

I remember guffawing like mad back then. I think I've changed. A lot.

ANYWAYS, here are the minutes. And woohoo for April!

Minutes for 3/31 and 4/1 Meeting

Eco-consulting

person in charge- Mira Scarvalone mira.scarvalone@gmail.com
would be very in-depth and specific consulting for RSOs looking to have more sustainable events and practices
test-pilot phase this quarter with Relay for Life and Progressive Gala
would strive for the professionalism of other organizations like Eckhart Consulting and Campus Catalyst but maintain an open attitude towards membership
e-mail Mira if interested!

Annual Allocations

it's time to apply for money again
to achieve success in funding applications, we should devote time and resources to writing out good applications
many recommended workshops and required meetings to attend
Alba maybe interested in working on it

Cellphone recycling

working with Ted and Sustainability Office to start Plant My Phone at UChicago
donate phones to plant trees as well as get a 1 in 500 chance to win $1000
we need volunteers to flyer and maintain the phone collection sites
e-mail Willy at wwgu44@gmail.com if interested in helping

BotB Incentives

VERY IMPORTANT, will decide if BotB is more successful than it was last year
the main goal is to improve participation
something green for the houses of the dorm
candlelit house dorm dinners
individual raffle for prizes
group prizes like study breaks or trips to somewhere
study break for all dorms that meet a certain threshold of energy reduction
have 2nd and 3rd place prizes so those dorms that aren't like Breckinridge still feel like they have a shot of winning something

Advertising for BotB

FB event for the entire month
FB fan page
Blog, both GCI and Bulbs
Listhosts- play off competitions through the house, RAs, RHs, IHC, RMs, and house meetings
something that's public, sustainable, promotional in a big way. gimmicky publicity item
flyers by lights to remind them to turn off
"turn me off" little man switches
table tents with reused paper
tabling if we have the resources

BotB side events

want to limit to 4 at most. 2 would be fine
bonfire, outdoor bbq, free food. some sort of outdoors event
sporting event in the dark. midnight soccer tournament with a glow in the dark ball, CTF on the quads, etc. also, use the Midway as a field
have at least one study-centric event. not sure what yet though. some suggestions:

petition to reopen Crear for one night. it'll be Old School. maybe a night in Harper
stake out big study rooms and offer music and food in the Reg

Opening Ceremony

APRIL 19TH IMPORTANT EVENT THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

main goal is publicity and promotion
it's okay if we don't educate people that much, although as we should. we just want to get BotB out there
music- Lakesigns, Number 9 (Beatles tribute band), acapella groups
have it outside in a minimal lighting area or work with surrounding buildings to only turn off lights for part of the event
holding the event in Bartlett quad would have less lights to turn of. location would be very important
all acoustic music? no electrical instruments? probably won't work because it would be too soft
free food of course
find some sustainable glowsticks
Rahul and Alba will work on fun facts and educational aspect of the event
bring in Earth Week too to publicize that

Get a calendar

SO many events. a calendar would be VERY helpful
Does anybody want to take this job on?

RSO Fair and Summer Breeze

crucial for recruiting
we need to start early as possible, and what better way to start at the prospy RSO fair

Apartments for BotB

got free lightbulbs, thanks to Shola
promote CUB energy saver, a program that targets apartment dwellers in how to save money on electric bills
will go ahead with some sort of bill paying program for those who decrease their electric bills the most

Least Unique Bid Auction

got several donations
check them out here
BotB is more pressing concern, so we'll put this on hold

Headphones on,
Willy

IS YOUR LAWN SAFE?? Come see free film screening of "A Chemical Reaction"!

2010-03-31T07:13:00.000-07:00

(click on image for enlarged view)

Thursday, April 15, 2010
5 P.M. – 7 P.M.
University of Chicago
Biological Sciences Learning Center, RM 001
924 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL

With a panel discussion of four guest speakers afterwards!

Watch the trailer here!

Also, here is a (slightly cheesy) Weed and Feed PSA:

HOLY SHIT WE HAVE A LOT PLANNED

2010-03-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

Ah it's Spring! It may still be 40 something degrees outside, but that will change soon. And as the trees and flowers emerge, so does GCI. We used Winter quarter to do some housecleaning, planning, and organizing for big things to come. And now it's time to deliver. Here are the awesome things that GCI is supporting, collaborating, and working on.

Battle of the Bulbs- Our annual inter-dormitory energy reduction competition. We moved it to Spring quarter this year to take advantage of the natural light. It begins with our Opening Ceremony on April 19th. It will involve side events, prizes, and lifestyle altering epiphanies.

GCI Spring Quarter Movie Series- THREE movies. FREE. YES.

Think Outside the Bottle- A campaign run by Lauren's pod to work towards the elimination of bottled water on campus. The stuff is just bad. E-mail her at tarpey@uchicago.edu to help out. It'll be the little guys vs. the big bad corporate fat cats. Join in on the fun.

Least Unique Bid Auction- Win a prize for $.01. Really. It's just like a normal auction, except you want to bid low. And be unique. For example, if there are 3 bids at 1 cent, 2 bids at 2 cents, 1 bid at 3 cents, and 10 bids at 4 cents, the 1 bid at 3 cents wins the item. Amazing deals are waiting for you.

Expansion of e-waste programs- We already have our printer cartridge recycling program that we will advertise much more this quarter. We're also in talks with Mr. Ted about implementing a cellphone recycling program. E-waste is bad, just like plastic water bottles.

Partnership with the Bookstore- They're holding a general publicity campaign for environmental books, and we have helped them with providing a list of books. They're also bringing in a local environmental author. Sweet.

Evan Greer- With some Social Justice RSOs, we are bringing folk songwriter and performer and workshop educator to the University of Chicago. Check out his work here.

Continued Composting at Culture Shows- This has been pretty successful. We're gonna keep on going. It's great publicity and education, and we're making people think twice about throwing away "trash".

Ashley's Uncommon Garden project- With Uncommon Fund money, Ashley will work for community gardens in campus dormitories. These gardens would provide a direct link to the growing local, organic food movement. The food would also go into house cooking adventures. Delicious. GCI is providing support for the project. Sign up to help here.

If I come up with more, and I probably will, y'all will be the first to know.

Goooooood to be back,
Willy

Hiatus/Break

2010-03-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated this in over a week. Sorry about that guys. My friends' Spring Break got in the way, and now the UChicago Spring Break will be upon us. So I decided to take this opportunity to get some rest and recharge for Spring Quarter.

Spring Quarter's gonna be big, so I gotta store up all the energy I'll be using.

See you later!

Oh, I'll be back for Spring quarter, too. Yay!

Taking the midnight train to Georgia,

Willy

Build-a-Bin Reminder and Pictures from KSO Composting

2010-03-08T14:50:00.001-08:00

Reminder! Build-a-Bin went on today from 12-3 in Bartlett! They will be there tomorrow and Wednesday, too. Go check it out and get a free recycle bin. Here are some pics of the decorated ones. You're welcome to decorate your own when you get there!

(my favorite)

So for those of you who don’t know, we have started a campaign to help events with large amounts of food compost their waste. The inaugural showing was at the CUSA show. Our sophomore game was at KSO. We plan to contact and work with SASA to do the same. If your organization has an event with massive amounts of food, please contact us if you want help composting! Here are our pics from the KSO event with everybody sporting their GCI shirts.

Steven, Director of Communications

Our storage facility.

Cool. Pictures don’t strain your eyes as much. Who doesn’t like reading a good photoblog post? Or clicking through facebook pictures?

Sincerely,

Willy

GCI's Least Unique Bid Auction (win things for really, really cheap)

2010-03-04T18:17:00.000-08:00

The first official announcement. Green Campus Initiative will be hosting a Lowest Unique Bid Auction. Official event name is TBD. Not sure what exactly that is? Keep reading!

It functions much like a regular auction. People make bids, and the winning bid wins the item. However, in order to be the winning bid, it must be the lowest (as in dollars and cents) and must be the only bid at that number. Let's look at some examples.

Jessica Alba, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Lupe Fiasco, all advocates of environmental issues, hear about this cool event called the 5th Annual Fundraiser for Awesome Environmental Organizations. This year, the theme is a lowest unique bid auction. There are hundreds of way cool items, like a wind-powered car and Bloom boxes.

In order to bid on one of these way cool items, you need to pay a very small fee of $1. For now, you can make multiple bids on 1 item (we might change this for GCI's event). However, our three heroes are penny pinchers and only buy 1 bid each.

They then decide to bid on the wind-powered car. Jessica Alba bids $.05. Leonardo DiCaprio bids $.04. And Lupe Fiasco bids $.06. Then come along some other people. Julie, Jefferson, Homaira, Steven, and Lauren all decide this car's pretty dandy. Julie and Jefferson both bid $.01 because their names begin with J. Homaira bids $.05, because she had a nickel left over from buying a Coke from the vending machine. Steven, unlike the other, thinks about this for a little bit. "Everybody's gonna bid $.01, and I saw Homaira pocket a nickel earlier. I'll do the smart thing and bid $.02". Lauren takes a look, too, but she doesn't like the car (she already has a bike).

The final tally of bids

$.01- 2 people

$.02- 1 person

$.04- 1 person

$.05- 2 people

$.06-1 person

The lowest, unique bid was Steven with $.02. At the end of the night, he drove home in a wind-powered car after giving up $1.02

Of course, we won't have wind-powered cars at our event (do they even exist?) Ours will be along the lines of gift cards and items from primarily environmental businesses. We're still working on compiling items, so stay in touch. GCI is also thinking about selling bids in the weeks leading up to the event. We'll maybe even provide internet bidding for those who won't be able to make the actual event.

Hope you're excited,

Willy

Uncommon Garden

2010-03-03T19:05:00.001-08:00

Hey y'all,

For those not familiar with our school's traditions, let me tell you about the Uncommon Fund. Every year, a committee forms to hear proposals about "uncommon" projects in the spirit of our school's quirkiness and some say, awesomeness. The total amount of money awarded usually hovers around $40,000. With multiple rounds of selection and presentations before the selection committee, receiving money is no easy feat.

It is with great excitement that I inform you of one of two environmentally themed projects to go through. Ashley Angulo typed up this blog post to explain this project.

Hi there,
My name is Ashley and I have the pleasure of sharing with you the great news that my “Uncommon Garden Project” is going to be funded. Why should you also be excited about this? Well, my “UGP” seeks to implement four dormitory gardens on the U of C campus. My hope is to have students operate and manage these gardens through their house councils as ‘Garden Docents’. Each Docent(s) will be responsible for the planning and cultivation of their plot. There will be a network of Docents that will ensure the gardens are sustainable and successful.
The dormitory project will work closely with Undergraduate housing and the Sustainability Council to bring local fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers to University of Chicago students and community members.
I’m clearly excited, and you should be to. Please join the face book group “Uncommon Garden Project” if you are interested (at any level) to stay updated on the project’s progress.

Congratulations! The Facebook group can be found here. Awesome.

Stomach full,

Willy

Social Media

2010-03-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! I'd like to take this opportunity to explain GCI's use of social media. And also to give a shout-out to the Program on the Global Environment. They too have a twitter site, here. Follow them to get announcements about the latest lectures, panels, and events concerning the environment. Or RSS subscribe to them, if you don't prefer twitter.

Currently, GCI operates a Twitter feed (on the right), a Facebook fan page, and a blog site. Each one serves a different purpose. Let me explain.

We use Twitter to publicize environmental news to readers and visitors. Our goal is to eventually have GCI serve as the organization everybody goes to for anything environmental. I'm not sure how long this will take, but it will happen. We've been using Twitter to broadcast links to analysis, news, and interesting tidbits about environmental happenings outside of our school. Climate change legislation, United States policy, international conferences, and interviews of prominent environmentalists have constituted the majority of our Tweets.

Our Facebook page is linked to this blog, showing all blog posts. The main purpose, however, is to provide more "interesting" links. Items that will garner a click in a 15 minute break from studying. Many shared items are more eye-catching and pop cultureish. We've also put up many picture galleries and slideshows, since nobody should read too much during their 15 minute study breaks. Usually, we post one link a day.

And our blog. This blog serves as our internet presence. We publish all of GCI's plans, analyses, and events on here. It's specifically for environmental happenings at our school and in Chicago. When school is going on, I try to get at least a couple of posts in a week. Now at home, my goal is one substantive post a day. Long ago we realized it would take a long time of constant content before any traffic started picking up, and we've stuck to that plan.

Currently, we're looking to expand our website. Get our own domain name and add more content. Such content would include updates on current projects, transparency on plans and future projects so prospective members can see what we're working on, and more coverage of environmental happenings in Chicago. Environmental happenings would include panel discussions, local and organic food events, and just about any thing. I think I've only scraped the surface in our blog coverage.

For content for our Twitter and Facebook page, we go through a list of RSS feeds and pick out the best ones. I personally read lots and lots of items a day. Here's the complete list of feeds in my environment section: Al's Journal, Green Student U, Triple Pundit, Getting to Green, Green Living on The Huffington Post, Green as a Thistle, A Fresh Squeeze, swyyne, Worldchanging: Bright Green, EcoStreet, WSJ.com: Environmental Capital, Yale Environment 360, Green, Inc., Sitchboard, from NRDC, Greenlaw Discussing China's environmental laws, ClimatePolicy, Climate Change, The Green Leap Forward, TreeHugger, Green Options, E2-Wire, The Blog of the Pew Center for Climate Change. Let me know if I'm missing any!

Savoring coleslaw,

Willy

pge twitter

gci twitter

gci facebook

gci blog

explain what each is for

Minutes from 2/24 and 2/25

2010-03-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

Minutes! A week later. Sorry guys. And sorry for not putting up the ones since forever. My B

2/24

Signed Marie/ISEC's letter to the senators

Marie, it's on the table in the UCEC!

Guy will get more post cards signed by his house (yay, thanks Guy!)

Deadline March 5

Sadly, Julie's gmail was not working down in the ucec for some reason :( so we could not look up info/emails on:

Rainforest Action Network (RAN)
Greenpeace Organizing Term (GOT) aka activist training
We will go over this next week!!

We need a flier to advertise for build a bin

Can Eric Li make this??
Get more decorations (magazines) for build a bin
Can use cereal boxes
Guy will help Julie decorate boxes (cuz pod that was originally assigned to recycling in the dorms is on major hiatus)

Discussed Evan Greer

Should have when? Thurs, Apr 22, 7-8pm-ish
In Hallowed Grounds if Stacey Brown confirms
Ask about getting a few workshops too, have one before the performance?
Should have food? Eh...

Discussed SPCP "A Chemical Reaction" screening

Should have when? Probably Fri, Apr 16, 5-7pm
In BSLC 001
Provide food, good food, like dinner, b/c need neighborhood folks to come out

BSLC's food policy?

Discussed schedule/events for Earth Week

Green frat party (Homaira's pod)

Charlie will send out survey, see if there's any interest among frats
Jefferson will talk to SigEp's head of philanthropy

Kick-off event for BotB!!!

Homaira's pod update, progress with green fees?

Marie at Green Fees info session tonight with Northeastern University
Meeting with Colleen, going to present plan

Tarah's pod update: movie screenings during Earth Week/month

3 films, on April 1st, 8th, 15th
Will serve cookies and healthy snacks!!
Suggested donation?
Movies: The Cove, Home, and Poisoned Waters (b/c documentaries are more worth your time!)
Will advertise on facebook (make an event), on listhosts
Start advertising 2 weeks prior to 1st screening

Rahul leading group of people to Summer Camp 2010 Music Festival

May 28-30th
If you're interested, shoot him an email!
Pete going anyway, to see the bands

Homaira, Tarah, and Pete got their amazing super legit polar bear design official GCI t-shirts!!!

Jefferson left before I could tell him :( totally forgot, my bad!!

2/25

Marie gave an update on the Green Fees info session from last night

Bottom line: it is going to take a long time to get them implemented. But we can do it!

12-3pm on Saturday, March 6, Lauren's pod will be building a giant water bottle to put out in the quad for publicity purposes for Earth Week. They will be meeting down in the UCEC so join if you can!

Also, they need help collecting (empty!) plastic water bottles (or gatorade, vitamin water, etc), so help out by saving yours and bringing them to the next meeting
Next Thursday's meeting will consist of going around to the recycling bins and collecting plastic bottles! Yay teamwork!

After some (more) discussion, we decided it would be wise to host the SPCP screening on Thursday, April 15, from 5-7pm instead. So it shall be. Julie will contact BSLC to request the change

We will serve a veggie platter and cookies to entice people

Evan Greer (and Anne Feeney) are actually pretty darn expensive, we will request workshops to get our money's worth!!
Re: decorations for Build a bin

Michelle will pick up magazines from the public library (they give them away each week), and also ask the university libraries to donate their magazines
Julie brought a bajillion issues of the Economist but those are not pretty glossy pictures of pretty folk
Hirsch suggested using the magazines sitting on the rack in the back of the UCEC, wow that's a good idea
At next Wednesday's meeting, we will be decorating these boxes!! Also we will leave them flattened so they're easier to carry over to B-lett
Oh yeah, forgot to put this in the minutes for yesterday: Guy is making some of his amaaaazing chocolate chip(??) banana bread for Build a bin, oh my god it is to die for, thank you Guy!!

Rebecca talked about her ideas/plans for reducing plastic bag use on campus

Targets: Bartmart, B&N bookstore, Midway Market? Sem Co-op?

Will talk to Willy about getting tote bags from sponsors

Also, potentially partnering with MAB (Major Activities Board) at Summer Breeze this year to get compostable or paper cups for the free beers

Elisa (yay we're glad to have you back!) is going to work on the SG legislation, having a "Green clause" for funding requests, and researching resources for compostables- where to get them, how much, etc

This resource guide could go in the RSO handbook, get posted on the wall next to where RSOs get the forms to fill out for withdrawing money from their accounts for events, etc.

Final announcements:

For their Think Outside the Bottle campaign, Lauren's pod will be tabling tomorrow 11-1 in Reynolds Club!

They will also be tabling on Tuesday and Thursday of next week, also 11-1 in Reynolds Club
So stop by to say hi!!!
FYI, March 11 is no bottled water day, and Lauren's pod will also probs (hopefully) be hosting a tap water challenge on that day

Shirts are here! Email me if you don't know if you got one and/or want to claim yours!

Yes!

Willy

Mom, Will This Chicken Give Me Man Boobs?

2010-03-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

I read this book. While written by a mom, I am not a mom. Mrs. Harding describes to us the her struggles with staying environmentally friendly while going through life. Ride the bus and encounter unpleasant strangers? Send out e-mails only to be ridiculed by relatives? No recycling in the Texas of Canada (Alberta)? So many puzzles!

The memoir is worth the read, I believe. It runs away from the policy, politics, and "big problems" that the environmental movement faces. Instead, Mrs. Harding brings us into her world, a world you might find familiar. She is a normal person with normal values. There's definitely something everybody can relate to.

And she isn't nor does she claim to be a super environmentalist! She does what she can do, debates about what she can't, and just tries her best. Definitely an attitude we can all adopt. Nobody's asking a mother of three to buy organic foods. You do what you can keeping the environment in the back if other things take precedence.

My thing with books and movies is that I like everything. So I liked this book, and I recommend it to you. If you wanna borrow it, feel free to let me know!

Wearing my bathrobe,

Willy

Think Outside the Bottle Campaign

2010-02-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

Lauren of GCI Pod 1 is currently working on a campaign to look at phasing out and eventually eliminating plastic water bottle consumption on campus. We've teamed up with the Resposnible Purchasing Network and Corporate Accountability International to achieve this goal. They have sent us research, plans of action, and advice. Today in this post, I will show the costs of continuing to use plastic water bottles and the benefits of not using them.

After reading their Responsible Purchasing Guide, I've learned these facts and figures. in 2007, Americans bought 8.8 billion gallons of bottled water that came in PET bottles using 17 million barrels of oil and 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.

Costs? Treating, filtering, and delivering water is .2 cents ($.002) per gallon in the U.S., 750-2,700 times cheaper than bottled water on a per gallon basis.

Safety? Over 90 percent of U.S. municipal water systems regularly meet or exceed the EPA's regulatory and monitoring requirements. Such requirements are more stringent than those for bottled water.

On to the actual plastic bottles. While they are all recyclable, in 2004 only 14.5% of non-carbonated beverage bottles made from PET were recycled. While that number may have gone up (or down), it is not very significant. And that doesn't even take account that plastic is not 100% recoverable. Furthermore, plastic water bottles are designed for one time use. Not repeated, reusable water bottles. The plastic begins to leak chemicals after more than one refill.

There definitely exists a need to reduce and eventually get rid of bottled water in plastic containers. Pod 1 still has lots of research and fact-finding to do, mainly in the area of the costs and benefits. But all the case studies in the packet have demonstrated lower costs and more environmental benefits for the organizations that have adopted alternatives to plastic bottles.

Obviously, we won't be forcing anything down on anybody's throats. It'll be a careful process geared towards our school's population. We'll also have alternatives (filters, fountains, coolers, reusable bottles, and wells) before moving on plastic water bottle consumption.

If you've got any questions, want to help out and join the campaign, or would just like to be notified of updates, email Lauren at tarpey@uchicago.edu

Cheering on the Mavs,

Willy

TOXIC: Garbage Island

2010-02-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

One of members, Pete, sent me a video from VBS.TV It details an expedition to document and study the giant plastic patch in the North Pacific Ocean. Check it out here (part 1) and here (part 2) and here (part 3).

Some highlights:

-women who miscarried in Japan had higher levels of Bisphenol A, a compound in many plastics

-this garbage size is bigger than Texas

-the dangers to humans, most of whom don't even know of this patch's existence, include the compounds that make their way up the food chain

I kinda wanna go to sea now, too. That'd be an experience.

This provides all the more evidence against using plastic water bottles, one of our current efforts. Not only is bottled water already terribly inefficient and damaging, but they use plastic!

I hadn't heard about VBS.TV before, but this looks like a pretty cool website. Lots of programming/videos about environmental and social issues. Neat.

Eating gummy bears,

Willy

What's Going On These Days

2010-02-22T13:16:00.000-08:00

Ah it's time for another edition of Things That Are Going On. Every now and then, I compile all sorts of environmental events and put them in a blog post. They are not regular nor are they comprehensive. Without further ado, here is the 3rd (?) edition of Things That Are Going On.

TONIGHT, February 22, 2010 at 6:30 PM in Stuart 104 is the UC Dems-GCI Corporate Sustainability and the Environmental Movement panel discussion. Featuring Dr. Pamela Cohen and Professor James Sallee! Take a look!

WEDNESDAY, February 24th at 6:15 PM at Blackstone Branch Library Toxic U will happen. "a lively panel discussion about environmental threats confronting families on Chicago's South Side" Two panel discussions in a week? What a deal!

ISEC's Green Fee Workshop will be on February 24th at 7 PM at DePaul's student center (2250 N. Sheffield Avenue) in the Conference Room (second floor, Suite 201). Kate Ekman will serve as a presenter/teacher as she successfully helped implement a campus green fee at Northeastern Illinois University. Come with questions!

There'll be a film festival from February 26-28th. Called the Peace on Earth Film Festival, it will screen films on topics from sustainability to social justice. And best of all, it's freeeeee! The event will happen at the Chicago Cultural Center's Claudia Cassidy Theater at 78 E. Washington Street. Done with midterms, psets, and papers? Check some of the films out this weekend! Schedule is here.

ISEC will also be taking a trip on March 10th to Springfield! It's the last day of classes, so make this decision with care. You'll get a chance to meet one-on-one with your representatives and senators. Pretty cool, huh. There'll also be training sessions on environmental issues and activism. Please contact Laura Knezevic at lknezevic@elpc.org for more info!

Build-a-Bin is our attempt to improve individual recycling efforts. Many dorm rooms do not have a recycling bin. So come get a free one from GCI! It'll be from March 8-10 in Bartlett (not Reynold's Club as said here) from 12-3 PM. Come get a free bin and decorate it, if you want, before or after your meal.

And here's a doozy. The Local Beet is a blog dedicated to local and organic food efforts in Chicago. Thus, they release regular calendars of events in the area. HERE is a list of events. Highlights include many winter markets, a Family Farmed Expo, and ad Chicago Food Policy Summit. Yuuh!

Going to a bookstore later today,

Willy

A UChicago Green Fee

2010-02-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

Good news! Homaira's pod has decided to work on implementing a green fee. This is basically a small increase in tuition with the money going specifically towards sustainability on campus.

This post will serve as a good introduction to this concept. Here's a list of other school's programs from the association for the Advancement of Sustaianbility in Higher Education, which we are a member of. Mandatory Student Fees for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

Some thoughts. While we're working towards adopting such a fee, we'll also have to determine who will manage the money. Students? Faculty? A mix? Will these committee members be monetarily compensated? How will we select this oversight committee?

We'll also have to figure out how to divide the money. How much money should go towards improvements on campus, environmental initiatives that bring in the community, and purchasing renewable energy.

Currently, I'm not even sure how we would proceed on this matter. More research will be needed. Thankfully, ISEC is hosting an event on how to implement campus green fees on Wednesday, February 24th at 7 PM. It'll be at the DePaul University student center at 2250 N. Sheffield Avenue in the Conference Room (second floor, suite 201).

I'll leave y'all with some more links to other school's successes.

Shake,

Willy

Corporate Sustainability and the Environment Panel Discussion

2010-02-18T21:06:00.000-08:00

Abstract

The environmental movement has blossomed in the past few years. Its values of efficiency, conservation, and reduction have spread to numerous sectors. Corporate sustainability, for instance, has emerged as a buzzword for businesses that seek to catch this green wave. Corporations and their brands rely on connections with the consumer, and when the consumers have taken up environmental consciousness, businesses follow. This panel will explore what businesses have done, are doing, and will do.

Our approach involves two different viewpoints. On one hand we have Professor Sallee, who has done research on climate change mitigation policies as well as tax incentives on environmental topics. Pamela Cohen, our other panelist, has worked extensively with businesses on how to implement sustainable practices. She has the most direct knowledge of what businesses are doing and how they've responded to consumers' demand for sustainability. We hope that this coupling can provide a more comprehensive look at this issue.

Some topics we hope to explore:

-public policies influencing the businesses

-importance of climate change in determining what businesses do

-consumer demand for moral and social practices such as sustainability or fair trade

-debate on comprehensive climate change bill and its reverberations for corporations

Thanks to the Amalia from UC Dems for approaching us and working together to make it happen. We had a really healthy working relationship and look forward to partnering in the future (Progressive Gala probably). Three cheers for teamwork!

Eating grapes,

Willy

GCI's Projects and Collaborations

2010-02-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

Check it out here! Compiled and regularly edited by Awesome Julie!

If you are a UChicago student, please take a look! If there's anything you'd like to help out with, e-mail one of us on the right side of this web page (under the Twitter). If you've got any questions, comments, or concerns, please let us know! We're very, very open to any suggestions and feedback.

If you aren't a UChicago student, please take a look and still leave feedback. Perhaps your university is doing a similar project and would like to offer some advice? Or maybe you're seeking some advice for your own school's initiatives. Both are just fine! We just thank you for spending some of your internet time with us.

Enjoying 61 degree weather,

Willy

ISEC Postcard Campaign (how we lost to Loyola)

2010-02-15T20:29:00.000-08:00

It's a new week. 7th, I believe. And because February is not like the other months, it'll be March before you know it! Hoorah for March.

I come today talking about the Illinois Student Environmental Coalition's (ISEC) postcard campaign. Marie, our representative to the steering committee, has put in many hours directing our efforts. We began participating last quarter, and the drive is finally coming to a close. The deadline for getting them is March 4th! Hooray for March.

Let's go back in time. Our first public event that made this opportunity to contact Senators Burris and Durbin was at our second bake sale of Autumn quarter. In the front entrance of Cobb, we sold our brownies and cookies while courageously asking strangers to support the environment. A comprehensive climate change bill was our goal, and to pass such a goal would require Illinois's senators' support. That was phase 1 of our strategy. The next step was to directly ask people at No Trash Bash to sign these postcards. I remember Jefferson walking around with a stack of postcards. Nobody could say no to him! At the same time, we covertly worked for signatures by personally beseeching classmates, housemates, roommates, and other mates to sign a postcard for the environment. We thought we had everything covered pretty well.

Well, with the results tallied, we were told we had come in dead last. Here they are for Round 1.

1%. 154. Damn.

I believe the goal was 5%. Needless to say, we got trounced. We got our booties whooped.

But alas! We are given another chance. They extended the deadline to March 5th. Ding ding ding! Round 2 here we come!

Our plan now is to have the postcards to sign at the mid-year RSO fair on Wednesday February 17th in Hutch. Furthermore, we've worked hard until this point to establish some sort of environmental network at our school. RSOs we've worked with, attendees to our events, and friends we've made. Let's ask all of them to help us out, ya? And personally, it's up to individuals to keep this going so that we won't lose again to Loyola. Stay tuned for future efforts for the underdogs of the year to come through.

Enjoying the Olympics,

Willy

A RSO Super-network

2010-02-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

You know what would be awesome? If there was a website or database that offered advice and tips for student organizations. Some features this site could have: fundraising tips, marketing ideas, an events pool, testimonials of successful projects, a community of student organizers, and a place where similar organizations can network and learn about each other.

If such an event exists out there, please let me know! If it doesn't and you're interested in working on it, please let me know! If you take this idea and make it happen, please give me some credit. :)

Kind of a short blog post. I'm kinda pooped, as I want to keep content here related to GCI and Chicago. Will come back after the weekend with buckets full of ideas! I promise,

Drinking water,

Willy

My Thoughts on Activism

2010-02-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

I'd like to first admit that I'm not sure if what I know about activism is "correct". Maybe it doesn't even matter, as everybody's interpretation is their own. Haven't done much research, haven't read books and blogs, and haven't really done traditional activismy activities. I'm just putting my thoughts down in writing. I just want to know if anybody out there would like to reply. Correct me, denounce me, support me, guide me, whatever.

Recently, I've thought about postcard campaigns, e-mail and letter writings, and phone calls to governmental representatives. How do they work? Do they even work? Does it matter? This is my take. So when our representative sees a big stack of letters on their desk, it lets them know there are this amount of people who care. They've cared so much that they've taken the time to sign their names. Yet there's another big stack of letters from a rival faction urging the representative to do something else. This rep's gotta make a choice, right? He or she's gotta weigh in what's right, what'll get a reelection, and what the higher ups say.

In the end, the side with more messages should win, right? In addition to just having more support, the winning side shows it has the willpower to mobilize more people. If I'm a rep, I sure don't want to face angry constituents who'll vote me out. But even more, I never would have given a thought to either side if I hadn't seen all this outreach towards me. Maybe that's the beauty of this tactic, as it lets me know there's a contingent out there working towards something, and that it cares enough to send me this huge stack of letters. Maybe... Who knows if actually works, though?

Something else I've realized about environmental activism, helped along by some words from Becca, last year's co-chair. To make real change successful, it must come from voluntarily. Take the environment, for example. If we environmentalists try to force changes on people, enacting laws and taking away meat (okay that's a little extreme), the non-environmentalists resent that. If however, environmentalists help non-environmentalists understand these changes through campaigns, public events, or just word-of-mouth, then there exists a solid foundation that better allows a movement to grow. A note about blanketing laws, such as a carbon tax. If they eventually lead to wholesome changes of attitude but initially incite anger or disapproval, are they still worth it?

At the Power Shift Michigan conference, I attended a workshop about something. I can't remember exactly haha. But I left understanding the importance of building broad and diverse coalitions. Whatever you can do to get the most people supporting your movement. Talk to groups who you may have thought wouldn't be that interested. You never know. After all, you're not part of that group! The workshop leader talked about how he led a campaign with Sierra Club to shut down coal power plants. This would not have been possible without the diverse coalition he helped build. And that brings me to another point. I wrote a post in my personal tumblr about religion and the environment. Imagine if religious fervor had an environmental shade! The things we could accomplish.

I've never gone to any protests which to me represent environmental activism. Is that wrong? I'm not sure, but to be honest, I am looking forward to going to one soon. But is that the only way, or best way, of demonstrating environmental activism? I don't think so. The GCIer tabling in the Reynold's Club who stops a stranger and engages them in conversation about reducing plastic bottle usage or writing to Senators and Representatives is an activist, as well. What about a friend who stops another friend from throwing the Coke bottle into the trash? Is that activism? I believe so. If activism is bringing to light an issue and working to change it, helping a friend out would qualify. I guess my point is that we should start accepting more activities as activism, some which may seem smaller than a protest but may have more of an effect.

That's about all I have right now. Maybe I'll add and revise my thoughts when I'm more learned.

Getting ready for bed,

Willy

Our Pod System

2010-02-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

This quarter we've implemented a pod system to get things done. A pod consists of 3-4 people with a leader. Pods work on projects that have clear, attainable goals. After finishing a project, it moves onto another. The members of the pod stick together so that a spirit of camaraderie and accountability forms. Also, I feel that our members are pretty normal so that pod members turn into friends. Then, doing "work" for GCI just becomes hanging out. You can even give your pod a name! Pods are also expected to meet and work outside of regular meetings. But with 4 people to spread it out, time commitments are never too much.

We currently have 6 pods. Here are some highlights of what they're working on. Lauren's pod has embarked on a campaign to phase out bottled water on campus. They also organized our bake sale last week. Jefferson's pod has already worked with CUSA in bringing GCI volunteers to compost and recycle at their culture show. They're also working on doing the same for the KSO show. Further events include the midnight breakfast, other culture shows, and large food-related study breaks. Jeremy's pod has taken on improving the recycling situation in the dorms. They will do an audit of the trash rooms, replace missing labels, and see if we can work on getting bins into every single room. Tarah's pod has already started work on Earth Month movie screenings- looking for available rooms, working with Doc, and compiling a list of films.

It's only been 5 weeks of this system, so it's still too early to accurately give an assessment. Initial results have been encouraging, though. I feel that this system best allows our members to do something meaningful. In these more intimate groups, everybody has a voice. It is the pod that decides on what project to work on which leads to more enthusiasm within the pod. Furthermore, with every single member actively participating, there should be no complaints within the group about GCI not doing anything. A lot of it, however, depends on the leader of the pod. He or she must be on top of their game with initiative to keep things going.

If anybody's interested in joining, please let me know! We've got many exciting ideas that need to come to fruition for spring quarter. They require people to work on them!

My goal is to never hear somebody tell me GCI doesn't really do anything. I hope that the pod system achieves that.

Need to take out the trash,

Willy

Build-a-Bin

2010-02-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

One of our ongoing projects has been to improve the recycling situation in the dorms. This involves replacing any missing bins in trash rooms, labeling the separate bins, putting up info sheets in the trash rooms, and working to get recycle bins into every single room.

Having recycle bins in every single room would be phenomenal, at least if my belief holds true. These are my beliefs. The majority of students care and want to do something for the environment. However, there are always more important things to do, like homework, finding a job, or having a good time. And there's no fault in that. But if the opportunity arises with the right combination of free time and willpower, then the majority of students will take that opportunity to help the environment. Furthermore, if faced with a choice between a sustainable and an unsustainable option, most of us will make the right choice.

All rooms, except for those in South Campus, do not have recycle bins in individual rooms. If you want to recycle, you need to set up your own bin. Granted, this is not a very difficult endeavor. But it does entail extra labor which many of us are not willing to do.

Let me tell you a story. Last year, I lived with football player suitemates. One day, I decided to put a box on a chair in the foyer. I then told my friends "This is for recycling". And before I knew it, they started throwing their Natty Lights in our recycle box. Given this easy option, why not?

Build-a-Bin seeks to address this problem. GCI will gather cardboard boxes, stockpile decorating materials, and make everything available to everybody. Get a free recycle bin! We're hoping to help people get over this small hump to lead a more green life. If the option is there, why not take it?

We will hold this event later this quarter, March 8-10 in the Reynold's Club from 12-3 PM. Come get your free bin!

Disappointed in the weather,

Willy

Minutes from 1/28 Meeting

2010-02-03T12:24:00.001-08:00

Hello! Here are the minutes! Hope everybody is dealing with the cold admirably.

Bake sale: TOMORROW in COBB, 9AM-12PM. Sign up for tabling if you haven't already done so. The more hawkers of goods we have, the better. :)

So even though this bake sale is officially called the "Healthy Foods Sale," it doesn't have to be healthy foods (I'm making choc chip cookies). We don't entirely have our theme together with why healthy foods is explicitly linked to GCI, so we're gonna shoot for a theme next time.

Lauren's pod (aka FTW) is going to put on a screening of Food, Inc. because everyone should watch that movie at least once
Willy signed us up for the Midyear RSO Fair (whoo way to go Willy!)

It is going to be on Wed, February 17, from 6:30-8:30pm. Since this falls during meeting time, we thought we would just table at the fair instead of having a meeting. We'll need to set up beforehand though, so still show up at 6!

Printer cartridge collection: expand to the Reg and Crerar
Aaaand we still need to come up with an event to collaborate on with the UC Dems, so I will forward the email out to logistics and everyone, if you have an idea, please speak up!
Build-a-bin is still in the planning stages. But we have a box supplier, for providing boxes for people (if they don't actually want to make their own recycling bin)
Organic lawn care film screening is set for a week or two before Earth Week, so sometime mid-to-early April.

Questions: should it be on a weeknight? During the day on a weekend? We want faculty and community members coming out to this too so when would they be most available?

Mandatory Fun, ideas:

lasertag
paintballing
ice skating at Midway
camping on the quads with OAC, or rock climbing
camping in the A-level for midterms!!!
and last but not least, MOVIE night, featuring: King Corn (about corn subsidies and Iowa caucus) OR Flow (about privatization of water) OR Food Inc.

This last one is my personal favorite, just to make the bias absolutely clear
Send in a vote for your favorite activity (aka movie) and we'll tally em up and DO IT!!

Should be reading books,

Willy

Student Government Funding "Green" Clause

2010-01-31T13:49:00.000-08:00

Back in the summer, we talked about working on a requirement to have sustainable practices at any event held with SGFC money. Any RSO looking to hold an event with SGFC money would only get the total amount of requested money if they worked to provide the most environmentally friendly event possible. Such an endeavor would include recycling, composting, biodegradable utensils, and paperless advertising. If an RSO wasn't willing to adopt such easy steps, then they wouldn't get all the money requested.

Well that was then. This is the new proposal.

Additions to the document "UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO STUDENT GOVERNMENT FINANCE COMMITTEE GUIDELINES" (Section IV, or perhaps a separate section):

To build a more sustainable campus, we advise that at the event your RSO:
Use paper plates, recycled napkins, and biodegradable utensils obtained through Green Campus Initiative or separately
Compost all organic waste (plates napkins, biodegradable utensils, and leftover food). This can be done by contacting the manager of any dining hall, and setting up a drop off time.
Ensure recycling by setting aside one receptacle for recyclables (trash can, box, or bin) for each trash can provided

Much thanks to Tara, Class of 2012 Representative, for proposing this. She was elected last year on a green campaign and has the support of GCI behind her.

Some things you may have noticed. We are not planning to require RSOs to practice sustainability at SGFC sponsored events. Because SGFC considers all funding proposals equally, giving preference to those who promise sustainable practices would go against their values. Furthermore, the problem lies more in RSOs not knowing about how they can be more sustainable.

So that's how we got here. I would like to argue for this clause to be added in a new section to highlight sustainability. The steps an RSO can take are not difficult. And if the problem is knowing, not reluctance to act sustainably, then visibility is everything. Those reading the SGFC guidelines would pay more attention to sustainability if it were its own section.

We still have some small issues to work out, such as how will RSOs obtain recycling bins.

I should mention that our ultimate goal is for RSOs to not need any prodding to hold events that acknowledge little steps we can do to help the environment. It should be an established practice that all events have recycling, composting, and biodegradable utensils. That's what we're working for, and I believe this addition to the SGFC guideline is one step in that direction.

Liking fried shrimp chips,

Willy

Battle of the Bulbs Plan

2010-01-30T15:05:00.000-08:00

Here is our some ideas for Battle of the Bulbs. Comment on what you like, what you want, what you suggest, what you find awesome and not awesome! We want your input!

If you're interested in helping out and making all of this happen, e-mail me at wgu@uchicago.edu

Sweeeeeet!

Battle of the Bulbs

Opening and Closing Ceremonies (must do)
We have $429 for the opening ceremony and $384 for the closing ceremony. We can be creative. Remember that our friend Brandon has a projector he's willing to lend. If the ceremonies had something to do with lights, that would make sense. Fireworks? Sparklers? Fire? Blacklights? Rave? Don't forget food, too.

Meet with Chris Keating and see if he can help us again this year (must do)

He's the one who gave us weekly readings of the meters. Thus, he is pretty important. We should set up a meeting with him and work out more details.

Set up Big Easels (must do)

We put up big tables of weekly results on easels in all the dining halls and other public places. We have the easels. We need to design a table (we can use last year's). Also, we need to start looking at printing options (Kodak's or others) and find the cheapest. Next, we need to contact dining hall building managers and just make sure with them it's okay to put up easels. Do we have enough easels, too?

Get the trophy back from Breckinridge (must do)

Breckinridge won last year and they ear before. We need to get the trophy back from them for this year's competition.

Figure out how to remind people in dorms (must do)

This competition is mainly about the dorms. What's the best way to remind people in the dorms about this competition? E-mails on a listhost? Posters and flyers inside the dorms? Other creativity?

Bringing in the apartments (must do)

One easy way to do this. Whenever we put out our propaganda about turning off lights, turning off appliances, etc., we don't specifically address dorm residents. We emphasize other aspects such as saving money or prolonging appliance life, aspects that apartment dwellers have to deal with. We can also look into Cub Energy Saver which we learned about at the ISEC concert.

Get Free CFLs to hand out (must do)

In previous years we've gotten free CFLs. We should look into if we can get them again.

Report on how the system actually works

What power plant do we get our energy from?
How much of our energy do we get from renewable sources?
How are our dorms heated?
What are the differences in efficiency of the dorms?
Does lowering one's thermostat also lower energy consumption?
What's the process from turning off lights or appliances all the way to the power plant generating electricity?

All we need to do is to e-mail Chris Keating ckeating@uchicago.edu and ask him these questions. He's Director of Facilities & Business Operations, Residence Halls & Commons. He's the one who has helped us with Battle of the Bulbs by giving us the meter readings.

Set up a website or other internet presence

We have bulbs.uchicago.edu which relocates to a blog. Can we or should we do more with the internet?

Study in a place that's not your dorm

If we have an outdoor athletic activity extravaganza, we should appeal to those non-athletic types. One idea would be to think of an incentive to get people to study in a public space like the library, Hutch, a coffee shop, or anywhere that's not your dorm. How about this. You enter the library and get a card with a timestamp. After studying or socializing for a set amount of time, you come out. You are then eligible to win a prize! Another idea. For every person who enters or studies in the Reg at night, somebody (corporation, school, us maybe?) donates money to a charity. They're not amazing ideas, but they are ideas. I think we should still explore this concept.

Prizes for the Winners

Whichever dorm wins, we can give the houses in that dorm a cash prize. We can also look into giving the residents in those houses individual coupons or gift cards so that individuals have an incentive to participate in BotB. While the winner trophy is pretty awesome, some monetary incentives might increase competition. After all, people respond to incentives, right?

Advertising Battle of the Bulbs through House Meetings

Colleges against cancer does this for their relay for life. We just need to figure out when the meetings are and have vocal volunteers. If we can offer incentives for winning dorms/houses, then all the better. This specifically targets those who will be participating in the competition.

Outdoor Movie

This event is geared towards getting people outside and not using lights. Movie can be decided later as well as refreshments. It'd be like Bollywood on the Quads or the giant movie about Chicago they show during O-week.

Using Videos to Market Battle of the Bulbs

Videos can be very useful, if done well. This would be on the creativity and the awesomeness of whoever wants to make the video. They'd be short ones showing how to save energy, talking about the competition in general, and other environmental initiatives. Again, this all depends on how good the video maker is.

Outdoor Athletic Activity Extravaganza

To encourage students to get out of their dorms at night and thereby turning off their lights, we will try hosting an outdoor sports extravaganza. We can look into booking Stagg and organizing flag football, ultimate, soccer, red rover, or anything else than can be played on a large field. We can also go the low-cost route and organize a massive Capture the Flag on the quads. I know somebody did this (was it Scav?) last year, and there have been broken bones and stuff in the past, too. At this stage, we need somebody to look into the possibility of organizing such an event. Who can we work with? Is it worth it? Will it be successful?

General Environmental Ideas that Could Go on During Earth Week or Battle of the Bulbs

T-shirt and Cloth Bag Decoration

This happened last year. Basically, we set up a table in the main quad in the middle of the day. We present decorating materials (sharpies, paints, glitter and glue, stickers?) and have t-shirts and cloth bags to sell. People are more than welcome to bring their own old t-shirts to redesign or their own generic cloth bags. We can also bring back the tie-dye. Some issues to consider. Should we sell t-shirts and cloth bags there? What decorating materials should we have?

Build-a-Bin

People complain about not having blue, labelled, plastic recycle bins. Why do you need them? A cardboard box labelled "recycling" by your imagination is the same thing. We will have to find cardboard boxes and decorating materials. Cardboard boxes can be found from local businesses, dining halls, anywhere really.

Environmental Disaster Movie Week (or Environmental Documentary Week)

Kind of like Shark Week. Right now, it seems like we might only be able to get one film with Doc. That could be the "crowning" achievement. We will have to decide on how to show the other films, either once a week or every day of 1 week. There are other things to consider. It's $45 for a sound system every time we use it. We have a projector. 4 days of movies in McCormick Tribune would be $180. We could charge for admission or for food/refreshments or ask for donations. We should consider the price, effectiveness, and potential attendance.

Renewable Energy Expo

We have a wind turbine parked somewhere in a physics building. We can bring it out as part of a renewable energy event. It would be cool if we also could bring in low-cost demonstrations of other technologies (solar, hydro, geothermal). Science-y things are kind of rare at our school :(

Super Garage Sale

Send out a call for donations of extra stuff. We will store it, set up a large place, and hold a giant garage sale. Whatever we don't sell we will donate. We'll probably have to impose a size limit on items donated. Another issue to consider is where are we going to store the items? The actual garage sale will probably be outdoors, so we could have people bring stuff as they come to shop. This event promotes thriftiness and decreasing consumption.

Clothing Swap

To glorify reuse, we will organize a clothing swap. Any clothing is welcome. For every piece of clothing you bring, you can take away as many. We just need space and lots of advertising.

Massive Cleanup of a Park or Beach

This would be a schoolwide effort. We'd probably partner with some non-profits who have done this before like Sierra Club. It would also serve as a spark to get GAIA going again.

Organizing a Sports Tournament

We would set up brackets, find space, and organize any sports tournament. Dodgeball or pickup basketball or any others. There would be a fee to enter into the tournament. We can then decide whether the winners get money or if all the money goes to a nonprofit.

In the future I am devoting my weekends to just reading and writing. Nothing else!

Drinking lots of water,

Willy

Movie Night Debriefing

2010-01-28T19:10:00.001-08:00

On January 12th, 2010, we had our first Movie Night of the year. We showed Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground and episodes of Captain Planet. Props to Emily and Linda for organizing the event.

Over winter break, we worked on a smaller event in accordance with our plan to hold smaller events for the quarter in preparation of Battle of the Bulbs. After narrowing down a list (Inconvenient Truth, 11th Hour, Planet in Peril, Planet Earth, Blue Earth, Home, Earth Days, No Impact Man, WaterLife, Collapse, The Cove, Wall-E, Whale Wars, Captain Planet, Who Killed the Electric Car, Houston We Have a Problem, Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground, The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warming, Coal Country, Food, Inc., Tapped, Arctic Tale, and March of the Penguins) of possible movies we came up with those mentioned above.

This event was geared towards recruitment. While I am more than satisfied with our current members, it's important that we continue looking for more. One day, we will all graduate and leave this wondrous place. But because we prepared and brought in new members, when we leave GCI for bigger and better things, there will be still be people around to keep things running.

At the actual event, we noticed that most people left after we showed Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground. This was actually contrary to our predictions, as we thought that something more "popular" like Captain Planet would get people out. Apparently not. Makes sense, as people would use their homework time for something worthwhile like a good documentary. Duly noted, guys!

I think there are talks of another Movie Night later in the quarter. We have the abridged version of Coal Country, so be on the lookout for that!

Gonna go watch the Mavs game now,

Willy