Looking forward to NACUBO ...

Four of our SOSA members have been selected as the representatives of Philadelphia University at the NACUBO Conference on Sustainable Solutions for Businesses and College Campuses. We will be going to collect and share new ideas about Sustainable Development. We will be conducting a webcast through this blog.

Be sure to tune in from March 31-April 2!

Minutes for SOSA meeting on 3/25/08 at 11 A.M.

Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting. It was nice to see some new faces as well! A warm welcome goes out to all of those new members who have decided to improve the condition of our local environment and, indirectly, the our planet.

In our previous 2 meetings we were brainstorming and gathering ideas and problem solving. We arrived at some pretty solid solutions and have decided to commit to several initiatives rather than a fair, per say. Volunteers have taken up leadership positions for each initiative that we have created.

The list of initiatives, their leaders and contributing members are listed below. If you would like to be officially listed as a member of any of these initiatives or would like to be switched please contact me by e-mail, layton2@philau.edu.

ORGANIC vs. INORGANIC TASTE TEST
Leader: Liz Cozzi
Viktoria Unger
Dawn Rulli

SUSTAINABLE STRUCTURE/ INSTALLATION
Leader: Don Cowan
Ted Layton
Kyle Ramey
Eric Magenheimer
Chris Didra
Crystal Russel
Devon Goryer
Drew Cerjanic


TRAYLESS DAYS at DINIGN HALLS
Leader: Jamie Merlino
Kyle Gronostajski

CFLs vs. INCANDESCENT DEMO:
Leader: Ted Layton

Building a SUSTAINABLE STRUCTURE!

Thank you to Don, Kyle, Eric, Chris, Crystal, Devon and Drew for volunteering for this especially profound sustainable initiative. Your expertise will prove to be valuable in this task. We have no time to waste debating our personal tastes and deciding the proper message to convey or the types of materials and processes used.

I have attached an image that I would like you to refer to as a I describe what I propose as a plan for what we can construct at virtually no cost and with little time. The picture is one that i took with my picture phone of an art installation that was exhibited at First Friday not too long ago. Felt pieces were cut to size, stacked on a pole and arranged to look like a dense forest. I think we can design an installation of a similar scale with the same type of imagery. By this low cost and quick building process, We can create a forest full of "recycled trees" to visually demonstrate the direct impact our own trash has on the local environment. In order to properly communicate this message we must use ONLY RECYCLABLE PRODUCTS, from ON CAMPUS RECYCLE BINS. We can mash them in a 2 ton press at Smith House and pierce them with a drill at A&D. We can slide the mashed pieces onto a conduit pole that has been bent into a "tree trunk" and branch forms.

Please get back to me with your thoughts on this idea at your next greatest convenience. I would be happy to make some changes, but I believe this plan to be exactly what we could do to make an installation that would grow over time and by the Spring Fling be an impressive series of structures.

Getting greener all the time,
-Ted

Another helpful resource for our Initiatives!

The Sustainable Business Network applies Sustainable practices to every part of the business world, from the efficient use of heating and recycling of documents in the office to fair trade and low waste marketing strategies in the field. http://www.sbnphiladelphia.org/resources/links

FAU's Enviro Club Synchronizing Efforts with Awareness Day!

We are not alone!

As we all know. There are student organizations popping up all around the country at many different schools. Ted has networked with another Student Organization, Enviro Club, that is quite active at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Ted plans to stay in contact with them to share ideas, information, success stories and bureaucratic hang-ups. Please support our friends in Florida by checking out their website at:

http://fauenviroclub.wikispaces.com/

Message from the PRESIDENT!

I hope you all had a great break! Here's all the initiatives we talked about at the meeting for the fair. Our next meeting on this Tuesday (3/25) at 11:00 AM so we should all get ideas together and assign tasks. We DEFINITELY need advertising. I will send emails out to all of the students and some SOSA design majors to see about making some posters, flyers, etc., and we should be able to get something on the monitors in Kanbar. 

We can send out school-wide e-mails to inform the entire student body about what we are doing, even if you are looking for more volunteers. Contact me if you are interested in a universal e-mail. 

 

The initiatives the LEADERSHIP has decided have our group sponsor inslude:

ORGANIC vs. NON-ORGANIC FOOD Taste Test- The thought will be mostly fruits, vegetables, simple snack recipes and small portions of meals. Viktoria will contact Weaver's Way, Whole Foods, and Dr. B for info on how to get this event sponsored or if they can at least donate or discount the food.

LIGHT BULBS- The concept is that a lemonade style stand would have a visual demonstration of the efficiency of incandescent bulbs against energy-efficient ones. Ted has a contact at IKEA so he's going to check out possible donations or discounts.

RECYCLING INSTALLATION- Don suggested that an installation made entirely of PhilaU waste would be a profound way to impress upon students the volume of waste they generate in a week. Don needs to seek the permission of physical plant and we'll send out feelers to find arch and design students who would like to help. We should be fine with the people in SOSA but we might as well extend the option to everyone.

TRAYLESS-(Jamie)- When the Leadership Team met, we decided to put the trays in the center of the dining hall on a table and take them away for 1 day a week. The plan, as it stands it to have the trays on the table for 2 weeks and then take them away for 1 day during the last 2 weeks (depending on feedback). I will to contact dining services & set up a meeting for next week. Advertising will be key in the success of this initiative. Students will need to know what exactly is happening to their trays and why. This link will lead you to an article that describes the model by which we should implement this experiment. http://media.www.dailycampus.com/media/storage/paper340/news/2008/03/06/News/Trayless.Experiment.Successful-3256052.shtml

FUNDRAISERS

Staple-less Stapler Sale - Follow up with Elise Berrocoal

Late Night Bake Sale for Design Students in A&D and Smith House and Ravenhill Studios for Reading and Studying Session.

Night at Buckets (or somewhere else)?? ---My friend who did it for design said we just have to talk to Buckets (or wherever) and it's $20 to get in and I think open bar for a few hours and we'll get $5 from that. We would just need to advertise A LOT and it might be hard to do this semester bc there are senior grad nights and things like that going on at bars.