RAD Sustainability

By Rhianna Hruska, 2nd Year Master of Environmental Studies candidate, Secretary/Treasurer of the Clean Energy Committee, and Sustainability Resident Assistant for the Mods.

Sustainability House after a Successful Work Party

Have you walked through the edible mushroom path between A building and the apartments?  It’s one of the many amazing housing projects created by RAD Sustainability!  For four hours on the morning of Sunday February 28th, the Sustainability house participated in a work party led by Joe Anderson, who is RAD’s Sustainability Crew Lead.  Sustainability residents learned how to inoculate logs with three different types of mushrooms: Lion’s Mane, Oyster, and Chicken of the Woods.  The logs would be drilled with holes in a diamond pattern a few inches apart and the holes would be filled with mushroom plugs.  Once the plugs were hammered into the drilled holes, they were sealed in with wax and set aside to dry.  Once they were finished, the logs were placed in the edible mushroom path.

Edible Mushroom Path

As a part of the sustainability housing theme, residents are expected to complete ten sustainability volunteer hours.  Work parties are a great way to complete those hours while building community with others and learning from each other.  The sustainability house has beginning and end of quarter meetings to discuss potential projects that the residents could work on either together or individually.  This allows everyone to pursue their own sustainability interests.  If you could see yourself participating in these kinds of events, apply for Sustainability housing next year! Applications are currently open.  The application can be found at: http://evergreen.edu/housing/themes/sustainability.htm

By Rhianna Hruska, 2nd Year Master of Environmental Studies candidate, Secretary/Treasurer of the Clean Energy Committee, and Sustainability Resident Assistant for the Mods.

Sustainability House at Taylor Shellfish

On the bright and beautiful morning of February 22nd, the Sustainability Residents took a tour of Taylor Shellfish Farms in Shelton, Washington.  Taylor Shellfish is one of the largest shellfish farms in the United States and their headquarters in Shelton is about fifteen minutes away from Evergreen.  Our tour was led by an Evergreen Master of Environmental Studies (MES) alum, who studied and wrote an MES thesis on shellfish.  The tour took us through two buildings where the shellfish get brought and processed after harvest.  We also got to step inside a below zero degree freezer where the shellfish are stored before being shipped out to their respective locations.

Along with showing us the infrastructure needed to run a family-owned company that sells its shellfish products both nationally and internationally, our tour guide also described the importance of clean water in the Puget Sound in order to maintain safe and productive shellfish farms.  Taylor Shellfish is conscious of its water usage, especially during drought, and waters a poplar plantation to allow the water that is used on site to be returned to the aquifer that it was drawn from.  Ocean acidification, the decrease in pH in the ocean due to the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, is a pressing issue that the shellfish industry has been paying attention to since it effects the success of their shellfish farms.  Sustainable practices help the company prepare for the long-term effects of climate change.

Geoducks at Taylor Shellfish

The tour ended at Taylor Shellfish’s store that sells a variety of shellfish items, including smoked oysters and geoduck clam chowder!  Taylor Shellfish also has internships available, so if any Greeners are interested it could be a great opportunity to learn more about the shellfish industry.

Part of the sustainability theme is to attend a half day retreat.  So if this type of event looks like something you would want to be a part of, then definitely apply for sustainability themed housing for next year!  Applications are currently open.  The application can be found at: http://evergreen.edu/housing/themes/sustainability.htm

By Rhianna Hruska, 2nd Year Master of Environmental Studies candidate, Secretary/Treasurer of the Clean Energy Committee, and Sustainability Resident Assistant for the Mods

Did you know Evergreen housing offers a sustainability theme?  Mod 303 is a place for residents interested in living an environmentally conscious lifestyle.  There are two rooms open in the theme for this year!  Current on campus residents interested in the sustainability theme can apply and live in one of the Mod 303 rooms for the remainder of this academic year.   Applications for the theme open on February 1, 2016.  The application can be accessed at this link: http://evergreen.edu/housing/themes/sustainability.htm.  Residents interested in sustainability-themed housing next year can also apply.

What does the sustainability theme entail?  Residents will attend a half day retreat at the beginning of fall quarter and will volunteer for ten hours a quarter in sustainability projects of their interest.  The sustainability housing community will meet together twice a quarter with the Sustainability Resident Director and the RAD Sustainability Crew Lead to brainstorm sustainability projects/ideas for the quarter.  For example, last year the sustainability community helped build a spiral herb garden in front of Mod 303.  I spent my volunteer hours in the RAD Aquaponic Greenhouse.  I did water testing, harvested plants, and fed the fish in the system.  The theme provides an opportunity for residents to get involved and contribute to campus sustainability projects!

If you have any questions about sustainability themed housing, RAD can be contacted at: rad@evergreen.edu, (360) 867-6132, or by stopping by the RAD Front Office on the third floor of A Building (Room 301).  If you have any questions about RAD Facilities’ sustainability projects or want to hear about ways to get involved, reach out to RAD Sustainability at radsustainability@evergreen.edu.