Sustainability in Action Blog

The Parking and Transit department here at ASU recently completed all three levels of the Green Office Certification program on all four campuses! This was a blistering accomplishment indeed and the Sustainability Practices office really commends their efforts! Way to go green devils!

In October of 2009, I happened across a Sustainability Fair on the MU patio during my lunch hour away from my faculty office in the ASU Counselor Training Center.  Always intrigued by activities of the School of Sustainability, I browsed the booths and displays, sampling foods and collecting brochures.   I talked to a group of students about the pledge tree they had displayed there.  On each branch of the drawing of a tree were suggestions about living a greener lifestyle, and those who stopped by were invited to put a leaf on the tree on the branch that indicated a pledge they were willing to make.   Trees  so often inspire strong feelings in me, especially in the fall as the air finally cools and autumn colors glow.  In October afternoon sunshine on an ASU patio, I was ready to make a pledge. 

Several of the actions listed on the tree branches were things I knew I could or would do, like using cloth bags for grocery shopping, or riding places on my bike more often.   But it made sense to pick one pledge of a new behavior to fully commit to doing every day.  Since I drink coffee most every day, I stuck my pledge leaf to the tree branch indicating a commitment to carry a reusable mug for my coffee, rather than buying and throwing away a paper cup each time I stopped at a campus coffee shop.  Since then I have brought my own mug from home most every work day, and I keep an extra mug in my office.  I carry the mug with me, and I estimate that I buy one cup per weekday on average for almost two academic years now, so that means I have reduced my contribution to campus garbage by approximately 320 cups since I made my original pledge.  That’s a lot less trash from just one person!

Now  I find myself noticing all the paper and plastic cups and food containers stuffed in overflowing campus trash cans, and I wonder what it would take to motivate more of the people who discarded them to pledge to bring their own reusable mugs and bowls.  If ten more people who drink coffee at the same rate I do also brought reusable mugs, there would be 3200 less disposable cups in the trash over the next two years; one hundred more people would mean 32,000 less cups trashed.  It takes some effort to develop the habit, but once established, it’s not much work to bring one’s  own mug.   I take the mugs home each night and stick them in the dishwasher, and I have a few mugs so I can grab one in the morning if the one from the day before isn’t yet clean.  It’s become a habit, and the pledge I made increased my commitment to establishing the habit.  I am interested to learn what could get more of us to bring reusable containers to hold our purchases rather than buying and trashing disposable containers with each new purchase.  What would get you to make a sustainability pledge you will keep?

By

Cindi Glidden-Tracey, Ph.D.

Clinical Associate Professor

Counseling and Counseling Psychology Programs

ASU School of Letters and Sciences

The last month of the 2011 spring semester was a time full of studying for exams.  We used that time to send out our own test to ASU students, but this test wasn’t for a grade.  We posted a Student Sustainability Literacy survey that students could take from their MyASU page.  We asked students about their opinions, their values, their awareness of ASU programs, and we tested their knowledge of some fundamental sustainability terms and issues. 

We were pleasantly surprised by the positive and knowledgeable response.  However, we plan to do the survey next Spring to aim for a response that is a bigger and broader representation of ASU students. 

From our results we found that overall students feel that sustainable behaviors are important or very important. 

Two-thirds of the students would like to know more about what efforts ASU is making toward sustainability and three-quarters would like to know more about tips for their homes or residence halls.

75% of students knew what the term “carbon footprint” means but only 45% knew what is meant by the term “triple bottom line.”

  These interesting results show that conservation is a more commonly performed personal sustainability practice (water, waste, and energy), than conscientious purchasing of food and goods, even though the importance of both conservation and conscientious purchases is generally recognized.  This may be because information about conscientious purchasing is hard to obtain or because conscientious purchasing is not yet as entrenched in our culture as conservation has become.

If you would like to review the results and the survey, please download our Executive Summary and a copy of the survey below. 

For the full report, email sustainabilitypractices@asu.edu

By Beth Magerman

If I can bike to ASU in the scorching, humid monsoon weather of Tempe, AZ, you can do it, too.  I have been biking along Rural Road from the north side of the lake to make the 2 mile commute to campus this summer. Here is my advice to you based on my experience.

Don’t expect it to be easy.  There will be days when the last thing you want to do is make the ride, but you will be proud of yourself when you do it.  If you commit to riding 4 days every week, as a goal, you can give yourself a day to carpool when you need a car or can’t bear to make the ride.  Also, even though the ride may be long, tiring, or hard, it is great exercise for you and it will get easier with practice.

• If it helps, you may want to remember that biking is saving you gas and parking money and it’s carbon-neutral.  I also find it motivating to remember that no matter how much I am biking, someone else is biking harder, faster and farther.
• Make sure you have an appropriate bike.  I switched from using my old, small mountain bike to a new, larger women’s hybrid bike.  At five feet and without much serious biking experience, I needed to get a new bike especially for me that fit right and that I knew I could count on.  However, if you feel comfortable doing so, you could find plenty of bikes for better prices online.  My advice is to consult with someone who knows bikes first to help you pick out the best one for you. Shop around at different stores to find the best bikes and the best deals. Don’t forget to look for coupons! 
• Make sure you have a good lock.  Last summer I left my bike on campus overnight occasionally. As a consequence I had a tire stolen, and then both the frame and another tire stolen.  If you must leave your bike overnight, leave it somewhere secure, such as in a residential complex or in a building if you have access.  According to the ASU police, never use just a cable lock. These are the easiest to break through. Stick with the sturdy U locks- they are much harder to damage.

Read more »

ASU officially has a “Green Office” Certification Program so going green in the office has never been easier!  We have ten proud locations to date that have reached their level one certifications and one blazing office that has already made it to level two! See below for information on how to get your office going with our fun, adaptable program and then check out the who’s who with our awesome Green Devils!

http://sustainability.asu.edu/about/resources/green-office/index.php

Click here for a full length article about the Green Office Program at ASU! http://asunews.asu.edu/20110531_GreenOfficeprogram

Certified Green Offices to date:

Career Preparation Center                                            Polytechnic      Level 1

Student Recreation Complec                                        Tempe               Level 1

Environmental Health and Safety Department     Tempe               Level 1

Education Outreach and Student Services             Tempe               Level 2

Cultural Engagement                                                      Tempe                Level 1

OKED Research Strategies                                            Tempe               Level 1

CFO Vice President’s Office                                          Tempe                Level 1

Department of Animal Care and Technology       Tempe                Level 1

Employee Assistance Office                                        Tempe                 Level 1

OKED Research Facilities Group                               Tempe                 Level 1

Canon Inititatives Office                                               Tempe                Level 1

OKED Finance and Human Resources                     Tempe               Level 1

OKED ERS                                                                            Tempe               Level 1

Please join me in a much due congratulations to all of these departments for playing their part in the big impact ASU is making.

Thanks to the story form located on ASU’s sustainability website: http://sustainability.asu.edu/practice/what-you-can-do/sustainability-story-form.php  submitting your personal take on sustainability is easier than ever! You can share your experience with a particular program, event or University mission in general. Read on for a fellow Green Devil’s take on sustainability here at ASU.

My story is simple. I try to help the planet by using, reusing and preserving. I am not the kind of person that attends a protest, stands for causes, or even have sustainability stickers all over their car. I don’t have tattoos or t-shirts that say “save mother earth!” or ever talk about it. My thing is, “keep it simple.” I buy used stuff. I love garage sales and thrifts stores where I usually find not only what i need it but great deals and even a treasure here and there. I hardly ever shop in retail stores (besides my perfume and food). Often I shop for others or invite friends to come along to save some money and have fun. I don’t promote life styles or ideals. Everybody should take care of themselves and EVERYBODY ELSE – This is our life prerogative, and it’s totally a personal decision. I do not believe in buying more stuff that says what I should be doing or believing.  I just do it.  Again, life is getting shorter, I just keep it simple. Peace out.

By Mary Carmen

Campus: DowntownPhoenix

Program: Education Partnerships

Join us for a combination of keynote speakers, guest presenters, and Ph.D. dissertation presentations discussing sustainability and its connection with education throughout our society

Prescott, Ariz. – May 4, 2011 – The Third Annual Prescott College Sustainability Education Symposium will be held May 18-21, 2011 at the College’s Prescott, Arizona campus. Save the date and plan now to join us for this year’s combination of keynote speakers, guest presenters, and Ph.D. dissertation presentations discussing sustainability and its connection with education throughout our society and our interactions with the environment.

Dr. David W. Orr, the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Special Assistant to the President of Oberlin College, will open the Symposium with a keynote address on Wednesday, May 18, at 7 p.m. in the Crossroads Center, Room 100.

Prescott College faculty, graduate students, and other noted experts will present across the three days of the Symposium, Thursday May 19 through Saturday May 21, on themes such as sustainability and the commons, social justice issues in sustainability, educational reform and innovation, impacts of climate change, agriculture and food resources, water and the Southwest, green government and public policy, and education as a path for creating cultures of change.

 Jaimie Cloud, Founder and President of the Cloud Institute for Sustainability in Education, will cap the Symposium with a Keynote address on Saturday evening, May 21, at 7 p.m., followed by a closing keynote workshop at 9am Sunday May 22, both to be held in the Crossroads Center, Room 100.

 Sponsored by Prescott College, the Symposium is free of charge and open to the public; however, we ask that attendees pre-register to assist in planning: http://www.prescott.edu/sustainability-symposium/index.html. Questions? Contact residencycoordinator@prescott.edu.