Andrew Logan ’18On April 28, the Center for the Americas will host its 2017 Americas Forum on “Food Justice and Sustainability” at the Ring Family Performing Arts Hall at 2:30 p.m. The keynote address will be given by Alok Appadurai ’00. Appadurai is the the founder of Fed by Threads, a sustainable, sweatshop-free, multi-brand, American-made organic vegan clothing store that has fed over half a million meals to Americans in need. He also recently founded GoodElephant.org, a global network that aims to promote social and environmental reform by nurturing compassion and empathy. His time at Wesleyan helped to inform his current projects. As a…
Lauren RubensteinOn March 31, Wesleyan hosted #BeTheChange, Connecticut's annual Campus Sustainability Conference, featuring former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy as the keynote speaker. Organized by the Connecticut Alliance for Campus Sustainability, the theme of the day-long conference was "Engagement and Empowerment around Climate Change: Fostering Inspiration and Action at the Local Level." About 150 students, staff and faculty from the state's public and private colleges attended the conference, which also included workshop sessions on climate and sustainability action; empowerment on campus; engaging in state policy and legislation; engaging in community and municipal action; and engaging at the grassroots level. Several…
On March 31, the Connecticut Alliance for Campus Sustainability will run its fourth annual Connecticut Campus Sustainability Conference on campus from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The theme for this year’s conference is "Engagement and Empowerment around Climate Change: Fostering Inspiration and Action at the Local Level." Discussions will center on sustainable citizenship in Connecticut and how to take action at multiple levels, including the role of universities, state policy makers, students, municipalities and individuals. The conference encourages the involvement of attendees and invites them to share their work on campus sustainability as break-out session speakers. Register online.
Bill HolderDuring Earth Month Wesleyan is celebrating its progress toward a sustainable campus. “From planning to composting, from university-wide utilities to low-flow showerheads, we are reducing our carbon footprint and creating a culture of sustainability," said Jennifer Kleindienst, sustainability director at Wesleyan. With leadership from Kleindienst, Wesleyan has developed a Sustainability Action Plan – a broad commitment to sustainability that is the result of more than a year of effort from over 130 students, faculty and staff. The plan is intended to guide the university’s efforts in this area over the next five years. “Wesleyan as a whole can contribute to…
Olivia DrakeDuring the academic year, Wesleyan's Green Team is researching, communicating and implementing effective strategies that increase sustainability within their own departments and the university. Since 2014, the team has started sharing a "Green Minute" at Administrative Assistant meetings; purchased utensils to distribute to staff at annual meetings; installed a water cooler in Woodhead Lounge; encourages staff to bring their own cup or mug to meetings; received funding to install cabinets to house dishes in Woodhead Lounge to be used for key events; and encouraged the placement of houseplants in office spaces. They're currently focusing their efforts on managing waste sustainability, making sustainable purchases, reducing energy in their departments…
“There is no single ‘right way’ to be an environmentalist.” This is the philosophy of the Wesleyan Green Fund, which since 2010 has provided financial support to a wide range of sustainability projects on campus. Overseen by six to eight students, and advised by Sustainability Director Jennifer Kleindienst, the Green Fund has received 50 proposals for grants from over 30 organizations and individuals this year alone, and distributed close to $100,000 in funding. The money distributed by the Green Fund comes from a $15 per semester opt-out fee paid by students along with tuition. About 90 percent of students participate,…
Wesleyan's Green Team, currently comprised of six administrative assistants, is researching, communicating and implementing effective strategies that increase sustainability within their own departments and the university. They're currently focusing their efforts on managing waste sustainability, making sustainable purchases, reducing energy in their departments, encouraging colleagues and working to shift the culture of their areas to be sustainable. The Green Team is always open to new members. For more information on the Green Team, e-mail Anika Dane or Blanche Meslin. Also, visit the Green Team's Green Tips page for ideas on how to make your office more sustainable!
Bryan Stascavage '18On July 31, nine Green Team members and a liaison from the sustainability office met outside the Allbritton Center to discuss their goals for the coming year. The Green Team focuses on finding simple measures that all Wesleyan offices can enact to conserve resources. Anita Deeg-Carlin, administrative assistant for the Physics Department, who initiated the formation of the team in 2014, led the meeting. The team’s hope this year is to focus on small, practical steps that can spark interest and change among other community members. Anika Dane, administrative assistant in molecular biology and biochemistry, suggested the team look into the…
#THISISWHY In this News @ Wesleyan story, we speak with Brent Packer from the Class of 2015. Q: Brent, where are you from and what are you majoring in? A: I was born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Growing up nearby Amish farms and having tortoises, dogs and a semi-domesticated duck scampering around my house piqued my environmental interests. At Wesleyan, I’m a member of the College of the Environment with a double major in economics and environmental studies. Q: You are the founder of Potlux, an online community where collegiate sustainability initiatives are aggregated and shared. What is the…
As a 2015 Humanities Research Centre Visiting Fellow, Associate Professor Jennifer Tucker will study Victorian sustainability, photography, law and river pollution prevention reform at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia. Her appointment will be May 15-July 15. Tucker's ongoing research, tentatively titled “Science Against Industry: Photographic Technologies and the Visual Politics of Pollution Reform,” traces the historical roots of the use of visual evidence in environmental science and pollution reform. Using nearly 300 visual representations (drawings, engravings photographs, and graphs) from archives and libraries, many of which have never previously been studied, she analyzes the scientific impact of new forms of visual representation in chemical climatology and examines the…
A new Energy Conservation Policy, adopted by Physical Plant and the Office of Sustainability, will ensure that Wesleyan's energy use is consumed in the most sustainable manner possible while maintaining indoor temperatures that are safe and comfortable for teaching, research and operational purposes. The policy aims to minimize the university’s energy consumption and direct/indirect carbon dioxide emissions while defining standards for reasonably comfortable indoor environments within each building. The policy promotes environmental, financial and social sustainability. (more…)