The trials and tribulations of Eco Reps part 1

Being a freshman the transition into this semester was definitely interesting, a roller coaster ride at times.  Everything was new, including the Eco-rep program.  At some points I was upset at the direction it seemed we were headed but at other times I knew that we were right on track for our goal.  For example, the zero waste week challenge was great because of the amazing energy that filled the eco-reps and resultantly the entire campus.  We were able to raise awareness and the event was definitely a success.
However, the times that there seemed to be a lull really crashed down on our entire team.  Specifically, the period after zero waste week when it seemed like we were not actually getting anything productive done but just hypothesizing.  Especially since we're a group that is highly focused on acting now and doing as much as we can in the moment, during the planning process it can be really boring.
In general there were many times where I felt that I was growing really in love with the program but also other times when it seemed like I was distancing myself.  The key I believe is to stay involved and focused on our goal, which is to raise sustainability awareness.  If we combine the exciting events with the proper planning I believe we can succeed and truly raise awareness on campus.

*Recyclopse*

EBAY is making moves!

eBay can see themselves as a little greener today, after announcing the new “eBay Box” which is made from completely recycled materials, feature water-based inks, and are designed so as to limit the amount of tape used.

According to the eBay website “if every box gets reused at least five times, we could protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year.”

The eBay Box will go live in the US from October, around 100,000 boxes are accepted to be in circulation. eBay is also hoping that buyers who receive the box will then turn into sellers to reuse it.

Newer 

Recyclopse Reunion

Hey all,
This past week was great as far as getting back in contact with old friends.  Also, Recyclopse was able to make his first appearance in Niskayuna, New York and made quiet the impression. A lot of the information that he learned over the past couple months went to great use especially when he was talking to friends who have shown interest in sustainability.  Another great advantage of the past week was being able to teach family about the new methods used in living sustainably.  For example, tips on conserving water and energy in the house will be able to save my family money and save the environment energy.  A lot of my older methods of energy use and waste disposal waere inefficient; this definitely helped make this trip eventful.
  Another great adventure for Recyclopse was talking with old friends around the bonfire.  We were able to talk about how we each have changed and become interested in different things; for me it was this new adjustment into Recyclopse.  Although some people I talked to did not understand the purpose of this conservation movement, what was more important was talking with the friends that did want to understand more.
  Ultimately the trip was a great way for Recyclopse to meet friends and teach them what he now knows.  It taught everyone and also showed how I have changed and how I am looking forward to becoming a better person, a more sustainable person.

*Recyclopse*

The end of Zero Waste Week

Success!!! We successfully finished the zero waste week challenge and I believe we were able to make a positive impact on the Babson community.  The number of people that I ran into that had questions on "that bag on my backpack" were outstanding.  Either way, the purpose of the challenge was to raise awareness and we definitely accomplished that.  Although the number of people that "legitimately" participated in the event may be different than the number of bags received that was not the purpose.  The purpose was to allow our student body to start thinking GREEN.  With the help of many enthusiastic volunteers I believe that our presence on campus has definitely increased and this will help us with our next challenge for the spring.
Looking forward I would definitely recommend doing this challenge again.  It allowed us to confront the student body with a problem and show that there are people out there that are interested in becoming involved.  Recyclopse may not have enjoyed carrying around garbage with him all day but then again it was a great lesson to learn how to waste less.  Often times people would say that as long as you recycle everything you can you are being sustainable.  On the contrary, the most important thing is limiting the amount you are wasting and not just recycle more.  If you are constantly conscious of what you are buying and how you dispose of things it will make you that much better at making the environment safer or more sustainable.

*Recyclopse*

Zero Waste Week...in the middle of it.

Hey all,

As you know Zero waste week started on Monday and is now fully on!! It has been an exciting time for all of us eco-reps because it has definitely made it easier for us to raise awareness of the presence of the sustainability office on campus.  Whether people are walking up to me asking how they can get involved or even asking what the purpose of the week was, all of this publicity has been great for us.  Recycylopse has definitely learned the value of these big projects and how to be an example for others.  Many people said that they did not necessarily want to join in the challenge but it was easy to see that they were definitely intrigued by the project and respected what we were doing.
I would say about 15 to 20 percent of campus seems to be involved in the challenge which is a very good turnout but this does not factor into account the number of people that are becoming aware of our initiatives.
For me personally it has not been too difficult of a challenge especially since I try to recycle as much as I can throughout the day; after all, my name is Recyclopse.  However, there are always those small things that you do not think are making an affect on the amount of total waste on campus but in reality play a significant role.
The best conversation I've had about the challenge was with a few anti-sustainability supporters who think it's all a hoax.  I realized that they would not yield in their opinion that our environment can exist without endangerment no matter what we as a society do to it.  After they constantly argued with me I realized that although I cannot change the mind of this one person I can try to change the mind of others.  There will always be people against what you are doing but it is your job to persevere and push through the obstacles.  Alongside this conversation, I had a few very engaging conversation with people who want to become more involved in the sustainability efforts on campus but did not know how.  It was great to see members of the campus try and help out with our efforts, it definitely took a weight off of my shoulders seeing them so excited about something that I have great passion towards.

*Recyclopse*

Fundamentals of Global Warming

funny cartoon

Zero Waste Week

Zero Waste Week

Hey all,

For those of you who don't know zero waste week is starting on Monday, November 1st.  Zero Waste Week is sponsored by the sustainability office and it's purpose is to make campus more aware about the sustainability movement.  How do you join? Stop by the sustainability office in Reynolds for your free attachable plastic bag.  The responsibility of each volunteer is to attach this bag to your backpack and carry it around with you for the week.  You will have to put everything that you would normally put into the trash into the bag (excluding some extremes like bodily fluids or food).  It's important to remember the purpose is to understand how much each of us waste and not to torture yourself.
Other than this, Recyclopse has been doing well.  There are a bunch of ways you can become more sustainable and here is a list of some.
1). tell your friends
2). every time you buy think about whether it's sustainable or not.
3). try alternate forms of transportation
4). eat less meat
5). install a programmable thermostat
6). Turn off unused lights and electronics
7). Switch to cleaner energy providers
8). Use reusable bags
9). Lower the temperature of the water heater
10). Switch lightbulbs to cf

These are just a bunch of ways that we all can try and limit our energy and waste to become better.

Great ways to be Green

Great ways that I found anyone can become eco-friendly.  link is http://greenliving.lifetips.com/cat/63696/10-simple-steps-to-living-green/index.html

Go green – Plants, That Is

Houseplants have more advantages for your home than just looking pretty. Houseplants can actually filter the air in your house and rid it of pollutants. Follow these guidelines to make your houseplants work for you:

• Keep one houseplant per every 10 square yards to help keep the air clean in that area

• If you mix night synthesizing plants (like orchids) with regular plants, your plants will work around the clock to filter your air

• Use a general mixture of plants to try to filter out as many pollutants as possible

Different plants are good for different pollutants, for example:

• Philodendrons and aloe plants are especially good protection against formaldehyde

• Gerbera daisies, peace lily, and English ivy are good protection against benzene and trichloroethylen

Use Homemade Remedies

There are many problems and tasks that can be solved by using home remedies or other natural solutions. Avoid environmental issues by skipping harsh chemicals in detergent and other cleaners, and make your yard a safer place by using natural pest remedies. Make your own cleaners. Rather than buying cleaners, detergents, and other products with harsh chemicals, make your own with simple ingredients you have lying around the house.

For example, combine baking soda and vinegar, and flush with boiling water, for an effective drain cleaner; use lemon juice to remove mildew; and use corn starch to deodorize carpet. Get rid of outdoor pests naturally. You don't have to use harsh pesticides in your garden to get rid of outdoor pests.

Try companion planting, which combines plants that attract pests (like roses) with plants that pests avoid (like chives). Or, hand-pick pests off your plants – it's time consuming, but definitely a good way to get rid of aphids and Japanese beetles. You can also apply garlic juice or blended hot peppers to your plants to deter pests. Rid your home of unwanted visitors naturally, too. You don't have to spray, buy ant traps, or apply other chemicals to get rid of indoor bugs, either. To get rid of ants naturally, squeeze a lemon at their point of entry and leave the peel. Use flypaper if you are plagued with flies, or even make your own with honey and yellow paper. And don't kill spiders at all (unless your house is infested), as they will help get rid of other pests.

Be Conscious With Your Garbage

When throwing away garbage, know what is recyclable, consumable, and able to be composted. Also, when you purchase food or other items, be conscious as to how much waste it will produce. Separate your garbage, and be aware of what is toxic and should be disposed of with specific care. For example:

• Start a compost heap for your food waste, but make sure you know what kinds of waste can be composted – human and animal waste and some kinds of food waste should not be put on a compost heap. You can then use your compost for a nutrient-rich fertilizer

• Have different cans or containers for plastic, paper, and non-recyclable items to make recycling easier

• Buy food in bulk to avoid excess packaging

• Don't throw away toxic household waste, like paint, paint thinner, car oil, and the like; call your garbage service provider to see what should be done with these kinds of wastes

• Avoid producing waste as much as possible by using reusable coffee cups, water bottles, pens, and razors

By being conscious about the waste you produce, you can reduce your footprint on the environment.

Reuse, Reuse, Reuse

Part of green living is, of course, recycling; sometimes, though, reusing items can be just as effective as recycling. If you put some thought into what you're throwing away, you may find that some of your trash is your – or someone else's – treasure. Some simple ways to reuse:

• Since plastic grocery bags can't be recycled, take them back to the store and use them to bag your new groceries

• Don't throw away old books; donate them to libraries or school programs

• Get creative! Make art out of old fabric, office and school supplies, or books; if you're not the creative type, find an organization that collects such materials for artistic purposes

• Rather than using disposable paper towels, use rags, sponges, or towels to clean up messes or for cleaning

• Rather than throwing away plastic containers that take-out food comes in, wash and save them to store leftovers, vegetables, or other food in

• Use rechargeable batteries to reduce hazardous waste from dead batteries

• Go through clothes and shoes periodically (every month or so) and donate items in good condition that you don't wear to a charitable organization

• For old photos, journals, diaries, and the like that you don't want to keep, call the local historical society and see if they would be interested in taking the items

• Old appliances like refrigerators – even ones that don't work – can often be donated to charitable societies and refurbished for further use

Be Green at Work

Green living isn't just for home. You can follow a few simple suggestions and make your workplace more environmentally friendly, as well.

• Reduce paper. When printing, use both sides of a piece of paper in order to conserve. Keep a scrap paper pile for misprinted or unnecessary documents to either print on or write on. Try to reuse envelopes as many times as possible to cut down on waste. Also, consider purchasing a mesh or cloth coffee filter as opposed to disposable paper filters.

• Reduce your waste. Bring your own coffee cup or water bottle to work to avoid buying Styrofoam or paper cups and throwing them away every day. Also, bring your lunch in a reusable container rather than a disposable paper bag. Lastly, make sure your company has an easy-to-use recycling program and that everyone is educated on how it works.

• Be conscious of your supplies. Some office supplies are better for the environment than others; for example, try to use paperclips rather than adhesive tape, and use crayons or colored pencils instead of solvent-based markers. Consider refillable pens and mechanical pencils rather than disposable ones.

Treat Your Body to Green Living

Be aware of what you put into and on your body, and you'll be living a greener – and healthier – life.

Food: buy organic meats, produce, dairy products, and eggs, and you'll be reducing the number of pesticides and genetically modified food that you eat. To make sure you're getting the best organic food, look for the USDA label that indicates the product is organic. Also, shop in the organic or health food section of the grocery store, or shop at a specialty or health food store.

Beauty Products: many beauty products such as soap, lotion, shampoo/conditioner, and cosmetics are made with artificial fragrances and chemicals. Look for beauty products that are all-natural, made with herbal and flower extracts. Also look for beauty products that are packaged in recycled or recyclable containers, and that have not been tested on animals.

Clothes: buy clothes made with natural fibers, such as cotton, hemp, and wool, and made with all-natural dyes (such as vegetable dyes or herbal dyes). By wearing all-natural clothes, you'll be helping the environment by avoiding cloth that required a lot of energy and waste to produce, and you'll be helping yourself by avoiding irritating and uncomfortable synthetic fibers and unhealthy chemical dyes.

Think Green For The Holidays

Being green all year round is important, but you should also be environmentally aware around the holidays. There is perhaps no time of year where more waste is produced, with wrapping paper, Christmas cards, and gift packaging. Be aware of the waste you're generating and try to reduce it as much as possible. Some suggestions:

• Instead of using metallic or glossy wrapping paper, which are toxic when burned, consider using fabric bags or recycled or recyclable paper

• Newspapers, old paper bags decorated with stamps or other artwork, old maps, blueprints, and kid's artwork make colorful and different wrapping – and serve to recycle paper that may otherwise be thrown away

• Consider using baskets, flower pots, dishtowels, or kitchen containers for “alternative” packaging items

• Buy sturdy gift boxes that can be reused year after year

• Choose gifts that have as little packaging as possible

• Use rechargeable batteries instead of regular ones for kids' gifts that are battery-operated

• Consider sending Christmas postcards rather than regular cards to reduce waste

By thinking green for the holidays, everyone can enjoy the season more.

Think Locally

Buying locally produced meat, produce, and dairy products helps the environmentin many ways, and also helps the local economy. Consider shopping at farmer's markets or looking for foods labeled “locally grown” in specialty stores. Why is buying locally a good idea? • Since food has less distance it must travel, it doesn't need as much packaging or preservatives, reducing the waste produced and making the food healthier.

• You can discuss growing techniques, pesticides and fertilizer used, and harvest times with the farmer, because usually he or she is the one directly selling the produce or meat, so you know what you're getting.

• Food is often fresher, having been harvested recently and not having to travel great distances to its destination.

• Local growers are usually smaller operations than “superfarms,” and are less likely to use mass growing techniques, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and treating their animals more humanely.

• You are purchasing directly from the grower, putting more money in his pocket and avoiding “middlemen” like distributors and shippers.

• You are putting money directly into your local economy by supporting local farmers, which will help all businesses overall.

Keep Your Home in Good Repair

Being conscious of various places in your home that can help or harm the environment is an important step to living green. Here are some ideas for keeping your home in good repair in order to reduce water and energy usage:

• Make sure all faucets and toilets are in good repair and don't leak. A leaky faucet or toilet can waste massive amounts of water every day.

• Replace your hot water heater with a tankless water heater or water pump, if you can afford it. If not, wrap the heater with an insulating blanket to conserve energy.

• A programmable thermostat can help regulate the temperature and use less energy, automatically turning up the heat in the morning and turning it down at night.

• Install plastic window energy conservation kits to reduce the cold air coming in from the outside. You'll be able to set your thermostat lower and save money and energy while heating your house.

• Make sure you turn off lights, air conditioners, radios, etc. when you leave the house.

• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs rather than incandescent light bulbs in yourlight fixtures to save on energy while lighting your home.

Drive Intelligently

Living green does not necessarily mean going out and buying a hybrid car; you can reduce your energy and gas consumption without having to buy a whole new vehicle by being a conscious driver.

Combine errands: As much as you can, combine your errands to reduce the amount of driving you're doing overall. Also, look for the shortest route between point A and point B by checking a map or looking up directions on the Internet.

Carpool: The fewer cars on the road, the better. See if you can ride-share with people that work with you, or even people that work around you. You'll be saving on gas and reducing pollution at the same time.

Use human-energy transportation: When you're just running out to the grocery store for a few items, try taking your bike or walking. You can carry a large string or cloth sack, or a backpack, to put your groceries in to carry them back home. You'll also be doing something good for your body!

Take the bus: While not all cities have extensive subway or train systems, almost all cities do have a bus line. Check the schedule and see if there's a bus stop by you, and if it goes to work, school, or other places you frequent. Paying a buck or two for bus fare is a lot cheaper than paying two to three bucks for a gallon of gas.

Recyclopse special sauce

The goal of Recyclopse is to send the message of sustainability and living a life of healthy habits by following the methods laid out by environmentalists.  What I can bring to the table is my ability to converse and ameliorate myself with any type of person.  Whether they be an athlete, a member of greek life, or a workaholic; I have the ability to work well with any type of personality.  This allows me to teach every single person I meet on campus about the new movement towards sustainability.  Also, what I lack in knowledge I can more than compensate in with drive in order to send a positive message.  I already have my connections within the freshman class as well as with upperclassmen at Babson.
  I also can understand the truth about being sustainable which is that it must be practical for people to want to implement these ideas in their everyday lives.  Many environmentalists think that if they share facts with the unknowing pubic they will immediately begin living sustainability.  This is a common misconception, the public needs to learn the basic knowledge about living alongside the environment that isn't taught at schools.  The root of all problems in sustainability among the public is the lack of education in living a environmentally friendly life.  If I am successful in teaching as much of the public as possible in being sustainable and conscious of the environmental I will be able to honestly say I have done my job as eco-rep.

*Recyclopse*

Behavioral Challenge

  One of the toughest adjustments for me in college have been sleeping habits. On average I have been getting only 5 hours of sleep a night because of the extra work and numerous activities I've been involved in.  That is why I challenged myself to get a good night's sleep every night which would hopefully lead in me not wasting my time in the day by taking naps. The method I used was negative reinforcement. If I take naps during the day then I will force myself to not listen to music for the rest of the day.  For the past two weeks it has worked extremely well because I have only taken one nap.  When I took the nap I couldn't listen to any music for the rest of the day which really upset me.  This led to me being more diligent and not napping/wasting time during the day.
After this few weeks I have become better at working throughout the day and resting throughout the night.
  The benefits are that I have more time to do work and social events that create a positive college environment.  With this experiment succeeding in the way it did, I am confident I will continue to work on limiting the amount of time I waste in the day and having more time to rest at night.

*Recyclopse*

my transformation into RECYCLOPSE

I have recently inherited an alter ego known as "Recyclopse".  You will see where this name comes from later in my blog and will know why it's so fitting.  This alter ego has come out just recently as I have decided to become more involved in the sustainability movement.  Recyclopse's job is to help people who do not know how they can help the environment become healthier, stronger, and better.  His first action was to talk to all of his friends about his new position on the environment.  At first they thought it was more of a joke but realized that it was serious.  When talking about the environment it's easy to brush it off as someone else's problem but the reality is that it is everyone's concern.  Recyclopse was able to teach and show several students the real meaning of being sustainable.  One of the most impressive things that he learned was that although teaching is incredibly helpful, the best way to influence others is by being an example.  Instead of forcing other students to become sustainable, I chose to show them how easy it is to do the small things.  These things being recycling, using less electricity and water, and wasting as little as possible.
The most difficult group of people to influence is the "cool" people.  When Recyclopse was trying to influence a more popular social group they immediately when to joking about the matter and paid little attention to the importance of it.  Many people can find being sustainable a lame or uncool thing to do when it should be seen in a completely different light.  It bothers me that being environmentally friendly should be seen as something weird or outlandish when it is in fact an altruistic ideology.  When one cleans up their environment they aren't just thinking about themselves, they are thinking about how they can positively influence the entire environment.
It was easy to notice those people that respected Recyclopse but just as easy to notice those that saw him as outlandish and weird.  The biggest argument against his ideas was that the environment is not being affected and that it is all just a crazy hoax to disturb peoples' way of life.  On the contrary, this movement is the only effort trying to preserve our environment and our lives. If people continue to ignore Recyclopses' message they will see that an even bigger monster, ecocide, will soon come and destroy our way of life.

  *Recyclopse*

The Office-Recyclops