Office of Sustainability

A National Wildlife Federation (NWF) report compiled from a recent workshop co-sponsored by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife entitled “Assessing Climate Impacts on Washington’s Fish and Wildlife” was recently released. The document highlights threats that climate change poses to the state’s natural systems and the people and wildlife that depend on them.

NOAA recently released their “Arctic Report Card 2009” which provides an update on climate related observations of the polar atmosphere, sea ice, oceans, land, ice sheets and biology.

Both of these reports are accessible in the “Resources” section of Department of Ecology’s Climate Change Impacts, Preparation and Adaptation webpage: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/adaptation.htm.

A new bike share program will be starting soon through Residential and Dining Services (RAD), the Greener Commuting Program, and The Evergreen Bike Shop, courtesy of a grant from the Clean Energy Committee!

Students with a current ID card will be able to rent a bike (for free) from RAD for 48 hours.

Please refer to the Bike Shop blog for further colorful details.

The edible forest garden planted last spring by MES graduate student Natalie Pyrooz and students from the sustainable agriculture program has been listed on the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Sustainability Case Studies site:

http://www.nwf.org/campusEcology/resources/yearbook/dspYearbookbyYear.cfm?year=2009#2009

(Scroll down for ‘The Evergreen State College’)

Evergreen continues to lead all state of Washington colleges and universities in sustainable paper purchasing practice!

We are the only public institution purchasing only 100% recycled copier/printer paper, and we’ve been doing it for well over a year now.

Green River Community College, Evergreen, and Western Washington University recently collaborated to develop a solicitation for 100% recycled content copier/printer paper. Green River CC, as the lead institution, has been awarded a WIPHE (WA Institutions of Public Higher Education) contract to Xpedx for Harbor 100, which is manufactured by Grays Harbor Paper located in Hoquiam, WA.

Evergreen has been purchasing this same product from Xpedx for over a year now; however this contract will lock in terms and pricing. Initial pricing on the new contract is 5% less than Evergreen’s previous pricing and 7% less than the state’s contract pricing for the same product.

Thanks to this collaboration we are able to continue our sustainable purchasing practice and reduce costs.

Want to promote sustainability and help the college address its budget challenges?

Here’s your chance.

When the Evergreen community put together a range of steps last year to address our budget challenges, we made a commitment to reduce our spending on utilities – electricity, natural gas, water, sewer and solid waste – by 10%. That’s $280,000 per year.

This is a challenge because, given the long term upward trend in energy prices, we may actually have to cut our utility use by more than 10% to get the savings we need. Also, our past successes in reducing energy use – through renovations and efficiency projects – make the job ahead even more difficult. We have already achieved many of the “easy” savings.

We need your help!

While Facilities Services will continue efforts to improve the efficiency of our physical plant and operations, that’s only part of the picture. We need to reduce consumption and we need your help to do it. We need you to make a few choices that – when multiplied by the more than 5000 members of our campus community – will add up to something big. We need to “be the change we want to see.”

What Can You Do?

· Keep the thermostat at 68 in winter (wear a sweatshirt or sweater) and 76 in summer.

· Turn off lights, computers and other equipment when they’re not in use.

· Use less (paper, power, water, packaging – bottles, cans, etc.).

· Reuse and recycle more.

Our Greener Living Guide has more sustainability tips for home and work (scroll down on the page).

Balancing Pain and Gain

Aggressive conservation programs often straddle the boundary between need and discomfort. Some of our conservation efforts may challenge you at times and there may be valid causes for complaints. We’re trying to strike a balance between energy savings and fulfilling our mission of teaching and learning. For instance, temperatures will be a little lower in winter and higher in summer. You will also see some “de-lamping” (removing some lights from multiple-light fixtures).

If you have complaints about enduring and excessive conditions that truly detract from our ability to fulfill our mission, please report them to the Work Request Center with enough specificity (room, time, and nature of complaint) to allow appropriate remedies.

Director Paul Smith and the Facilities Services staff welcome your suggestions to help them in their work. Please contact them at 867-6120 or facilities@evergreen.edu if you have ideas, questions or concerns. You can learn more about our energy use HERE.

The Snyder Creek culvert improvement is substantially complete!

Wild Fish Conservancy will be monitoring the stream in the coming years to study the fish populations. They have baseline data from the last few years for comparison.

The Snyder stream drainage comprises spring flows from the forest and storm flows from main campus. The storm water management improvements by virtue of the local storm water permit system may also help in the recovery of salmon and other native fish species in Snyder Creek and Snyder Cove. The culvert project will contribute to the overall health of Puget Sound in a small way, as well.

Go HERE for more information.

LokiLoka is a free, online resource for the conscientious, community-minded consumer. LokiLoka’s heart and soul resides in the easy ability to contribute your valuable information about resources and experiences to the locally-minded community.

Our mission is to sustain and propagate the culture that is created by locally-owned businesses, events, organizations, and artistry. We encourage people to patron locally-owned restaurants and bars, venues and clubs, stores and services, as well as experience the works of local performers and artisans.

Local businesses give a city its unique feel. Chain stores don’t create unique memories of place. People remember the places that can’t be found anywhere else, places that are created and operated by people who are trying to live out their dreams. Supporting local businesses and buying products made here is good for the local economy because less money leaves the state, remaining in the hands of the city’s people rather than ending up in the hands of a corporation’s CEO.

What does LokiLoka offer?

Right now the website offers a search that makes it easy to find locally-owned businesses, services, and products in Olympia and Portland. Each business’s page includes location, hours of operation, and contact information. The site also has a nice list of local events, including movie listings from independent theaters and happy hours at local bars.

We also strive to make LokiLoka’s search capability unique, so that you can find really specific things in the community. You can find results by searching almost anything….. community supported agriculture, outdoor seating, art supplies, bike builders, vegan or vegetarian friendly restaurants, non-profits, food carts, local artists and crafters, wifi, and locally made products.

Be a light in your community: Help save energy and money with Project Porchlight!

Project Porchlight is a non-profit that partners with Puget Sound Energy to distribute free energy efficient light bulbs in the Puget Sound area. They have some upcoming community events to pass out light bulbs and raise awareness about energy conservation.

Over the last few months, Project Porchlight has been working in communities throughout the Puget Sound, and they are finishing their outreach in Olympia and Lacey. By the end of October, they will have distributed 275,000 FREE energy-saving compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to residents in PSE’s residential electric service area all over the Puget Sound. They are building up to a big exchange event at the Olympia and Lacey Lowe’s where any PSE customer can trade in up to 10 old fashioned light bulbs for 10 energy-saving light bulbs for free!

They need community members’ help to spread the word about this fantastic opportunity and to help inform Thurston County residents of how much energy and money can be saved through the simple action of changing out a light bulb.

You are invited to join their events: In only 2 hours, each person that distributes light bulbs saves Olympia/Lacey residents about $2,000 in energy costs!!

1. Community blitzes:

Join Olympia Mayor Doug Mah and community representatives in this fun event! Project Porchlight will provide t-shirts and refreshments, do a short meet and greet orientation, then volunteers will travel in pairs throughout the neighborhoods around the center, to pass out free energy saving light bulbs in the community and spread the word about the exchange event! (They provide training, bags loaded with bulbs, and maps of the area you’ll deliver to).

Dates:

Tues. October 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Lacey Community Center

Tues. October 27, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Olympia Chamber of Commerce

2. Rock the Bulb events at Lowe’s.

It’s a fun, festive atmosphere where community members can bring in 10 incandescent bulbs and trade them for 10 free energy saving light bulbs!

They need volunteers to help run fun interactive booths and registration tables each day. These are a lot of fun, everyone gets a t-shirt and free lunch! This is perfect for a small group of friends.

Dates:

Sat. and Sun. October 24-25, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Lacey Lowe’s (5610 Corp Center Lane SE Lacey, WA 98503)

Sat. and Sun. October 31-Nov. 1, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Olympia Lowe’s (4230 Martin Way East Olympia, WA 98516)

*** Please SIGN UP to attend at their online VOLUNTEER FORM!

For more information or questions, contact  Sara Southerland at 360-404-2070, or refer to their web site www.projectporchlight.org.

RU2G’s (Re-Usable To Go kits)-

This year we decided to reduce waste by eliminating the compostable to go containers in the Greenery (Library 4300 great view!). We now have a reusable container from Eco-tainers available for purchase, $6.00 for the year (to Sept, 2010). The process works like this.

1) Buy into the RU2G’s program and get a 3 compartment kit with a liquid container.

2) Fill your container with your choice of items from the Greenery. The container must be able to close to carry out.

3) Take your food in your RU2G kit and enjoy lunch in your office, on Red Square, in your residence hall, or on a grassy field. Your choice.

4) On your next visit please bring the container back RINSED (we cannot except unrinsed containers). We will take your rinsed container and give you one we’ve washed and sanitized.

5) Fill-Enjoy-Rinse and Repeat!

More wild salmon could soon be swimming for The Evergreen State College woods with the removal of a major barrier to their upriver migration.

With assistance from partners including The Evergreen State College, Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, The Wild Fish Conservancy, People For Puget Sound, the Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration–Restore America’s Estuaries program, an undersized 3-foot wide culvert at the mouth of campus’s Snyder Creek will be removed and replaced by a 14-foot wide box culvert. The cost of the culvert project totals $214,000, and is covered by contributions from The Evergreen State College, the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, and the Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program.

The new fish passage will serve fish species such as coho salmon, chum salmon, cutthroat, and possibly steelhead. The bottom of the culvert will hold native stream bed. According to Jamie Glasgow of Wild Fish Conservancy, “Fish won’t even know they are in a culvert as they pass through it.”

Fish will once again gain access to almost one mile of spawning and rearing habitat. The work will also restore the natural processes of sediment, wood, and water transport – processes that researchers have found to be vital for fish and forest health. A work team, including contactor Horsley Timber and Construction, an engineer from Fisheries Consultant, Inc., an archeologist from the Squaxin Island Tribe, and fish biologists from Wild Fish Conservancy began construction on August 31 and construction will continue through September 6.

Bulkheads, barrier culverts, and other shoreline obstructions are threats to salmon habitat throughout the Puget Sound, and this project represents a potential model for actions around the Sound to restore fish access to critical breeding and rearing habitat. Restoring these habitats also has wider ecosystem benefits beyond the benefits for salmonids because it restores the ecological processes that shape diverse habitat structures. The shoreline of the College is one of the largest remaining stretches of undeveloped shoreline in south Puget Sound and thus restoration adjacent to that shoreline provides an opportunity for significant impact.

Horsley Construction was contracted by Wild Fish Conservancy after a competitive bid process. This method of public works required an innovative agreement between Wild Fish Conservancy and the college. Jamie Glasgow is the project manager for Wild Fish Conservancy.

Snyder Creek flows into Eld Inlet at Snyder Cove at the northwest corner of The Evergreen State College in Olympia.