Westminster College Environmental Center

2011-08-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgnHRo_2r74

WATCH THE ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER'S VIDEO ON ALL THE COOL NEW STUFF ON WESTMINSTER CAMPUS!
BIKES, GARDEN, STARS, etc!

Farms in the City

2011-04-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, when the weather was beautiful, the Environmental Center Fellows took a trip to a local Utah Farm in West Valley. The Farm is owned by the Bell family, and a lovely farm at that. They have chickens, a dog, rows and rows of gardens, neighbors that have llamas, etc. The Fellows got to take a tour of the farm and the surrounding comunity then got work helping the Bells with some farm work. Leslie, Shannon, and Kerry took on the task of helping to build a chicken coop fence. Kyle, Morgan, and Casey helped to harvest potatoes that were in the ground. Kyle likes to claim he found the golden potato (even though he stabbed through a good many before finding it). All in all, it was a very educational and fun trip!

Not-so recent happening

2011-02-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

So I finally uploaded the pictures from the Environmental Center camera and I now have tons of news, musings and photos to share! I'm gonna start with a run-through of what we did this Fall that hasn't been covered in other blog posts.

The Bike Collective ran a weekly bike repair shop on campus and sold U-Locks!

The Garden Produced a ton of veggies and ran a weekly Farmstand

We held an Environmental Center Open House and a Environmental Studies Open House:

and... We hired four awesome Sustianability Fellows: Morgan, Casey, Kyle and Leslie

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This spring we are working on bike parking, cooking and cheesemaking workshops, the Energy Challenge, S*T*A*R*S (a sustainability tracking system for the school) and the employees of the Environmental Center continue to hold rocking "Martys" (a meeting and party).

The Whole World in My Hand

2011-02-08T16:05:00.000-08:00

"An EcoSphere is a completly enclosed glass sphere or pod, that houses a complete Eco system. Each sphere is filled with micro-organisms, bright red shrimp and algae and filtered sea water. All these things live harmonisly together in a clear glass ball of beauty. It's like having you own little world. Self contained and self sufficient."

Kind of like our world, except more harmonious and sustainable.

The Month of October!

2010-11-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

The Envrionmental Center has had a lot of stuff going on this month! The second weekend of October, the student employees along with advisors got to go to Denver, CO for the National Sustainability Conference! There were sessions on everything from Organic Gardens to the STARS (Sustainability Tracking and Rating System. Everyone had a lovely time and it was a great experience.
Once back everyone continued on projects: Bioneers Conference (this weekend!), implementing STARS here at Westminster, the bike shop, zero-waste events, etc..oh yeah and the Halloween Marty was a great success.

The month of October flew by. Hopefully, November is just as productive.

2010-10-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

Environmental Studies Gathering - 9/3/10

1st zero waste event of the semester!!!

Quite the success! Fun, food and recycling was had by all!

Canning

2010-09-23T13:34:00.001-07:00

On Monday September 28th, we held a canning workshop taught by the fantastic Rebecca Brenner. We canned pickles and raspberry jam, yummm! It was a lot of fun to be able to use the new science building's Food-Science Lab.
I was surprised at how simple the whole process was, it took a few hours but the recipes weren't hard of labor intensive. This was the perfect example to how simple it is to eat "closer to the earth." I was inspired to go home and bake my super-easy-overnight bread and I've started to look at cheese making kits online. It was also great to talk with other students, faculty and staff who are interested in sustainable food. It’s such a fun community to share eating with!
Several of the Environmental Center employees came to the canning workshop with me. Kyle enjoyed the satisfaction of creating something yummy, which is good for him and the environment. He also loved learning new skills. Sarah's favorite part was seeing how simple it was to preserve the year’s harvest.

Here is the recipe for the pickles we made:

Dill Pickles:

Ingredients in the jar
8lbs of 4-6 inch cucumbers
Cut lengthwise to jar line
Green or dried dill
Garlic cloves
Notes:Place three cloves of garlic and two stems of dill in the bottom of each Jar. Cut cucumbers however. Pack jar tight. Make sure to leave about an inch or room in each jar. Remember to pack jar really tight.
Brine recipe:
¾ cup sugar
½ cup canning salt
1 quart vinegar
1 quart water
3 tbls mixed pickling spices (optional)
Notes: bring to boil let go for ten minutes. In Salt Lake City boil jars for 25 minutes… enjoy!

Student Piece: Ray Warner

2010-02-08T14:23:00.000-08:00

First of all I believe that the only way to make people change is to make them aware of an alternative way to live that is not too inconvenient for them. As the Dead Kennedys stated on the album “Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death”, America’s priorities are ones based on what is easiest, not always what is right or just. I have personal experience converting the people around me to the practice of recycling and being more energy conscious on the home front as well as in the workplace. Last year most of the 5 other people I lived with, in Olwell were not used to recycling in their homes prior to coming to college. Two of my roommates claimed that their home states did not even have recycling programs. Either way, I live with 3 of the same 5 from last year and other than once in awhile when I find a can in the trash, I can safely say I have made a conscious impact on their everyday habits regarding energy conservation. At my workplace over the summer I was surrounded by older men and women who were not only ecologically uneducated to an alarming degree, but were also traditionalists, set in their ways and unwilling (at first) to change. My place of employment just so happened to be an RV and boat dealership, where most if not all of the employees were avid outdoorsmen and women in one respect or another. This fact came to be a key talking point for me when informing them of the necessity to recycle to not leave company cars running for extended periods of time and so forth. There were a few incidences where I even had to break down step by step natural (and unnatural) processes such as the water cycle and the realities of deforestation and how such things affect them personally while enjoying the nature they so claim to love. Even little steps personally taken such as encouraging people to throw away their cigarette butts in obviously placed containers provided in popular smoking spots instead of carelessly tossing them around the lot in the long run, can have positive environmental impacts.
I believe that education is only the first step towards progression, but in the case of the many people we see everyday around us who can’t tell what should go in the black can as opposed to the blue one, we must teach them to crawl before they can ever walk.

-Ray Warner

Outdoor Retail Show

2010-01-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend in Salt Lake City is the Winter Outdoor Retail Show. I am torn between the want to have the newest coolest gear around and the knowledge that my old hiking boots are just as good as this year's model. In fact they are probably better because not only are they super comfy, but by not buying new shoes I reduce the need to use more resources and energy.

To keep from purchasing everything in sight I have been watching Do the Green Thing's youtube video about consumption: http://www.dothegreenthing.com/actions/stick_with_what_you_got

Have a great weekend!
m

Happy Mass Public Transit Day SLC!

2010-01-20T12:21:00.000-08:00

In the aftermath of a horrific week of air quality, residents of Salt Lake City are devoting the day to taking public transit, biking, or walking instead of driving their cars. The goal is to decrease harmful air particles, making our air cleaner and our lungs healthier.

Upon planning my bus routes to and from school today however, I found that I am actually unable to participate. Getting a bus to and from the Avenues during the day is hard enough, but apparently after 7:40pm it is literally impossible. Since I don't get out of class until 7:30 tonight, I opted for driving instead of being stranded. And since I got here at 9:00 this morning, my sacrifice is that I won't drive home until after that evening class.

UTA seriously needs to step up their game and make getting around Salt Lake easier at all times of the day. If they get enough ridership today, maybe that will influence them to make better and more comprehensive routes. So, all you carbon-emitters out there, take a break from your car today and take the nearest bus or Trax route. You'll breathe easier - from cleaner air and a break from the stress of driving! As for me, I will see you on the bus tomorrow.

Contributed by Kelsie D.

Learn more about this event on their facebook page.

The Avatar Effect...

2010-01-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

As I was casually surfing the web the other day I came across this article on CNN regarding some curious side effects of the new hit movie Avatar. Many people have reported that they have felt the urge to commit suicide because our world has just become as many people said "Too small" and that Earth no longer offers us any mystery as it once did. People are bumming that we have no "Pandora" to explore and that the bore and corruption of our society today has just become to much for them to handle. Many of these accusations got me thinking about the deeper meaning of this new film. After experiencing the movie in Imax 3D (Amazing a must see!) I feel that it conveys a strong environmental messages to all of us on Earth. If greed, corruption, and consumption continue to dominate the lives of billions of people around the globe than all hope for the Human race and mother nature is lost. People need to start looking at the big picture and began to understand how intricately biotic(Living) and abiotic(nonliving) things on earth are connected just like the mystical species of Pandora. Everyone, now, is concerned about the green movement, but what are we actually DOING? I see people driving Hummers in the city and throwing away recyclable materials! Nothing is being done to spot major corperations rethink how they run their business practices! Why? When are we going to make a change as a human race? When will that time come and who will be bold enough? I think that Avatar is letting us know that if we don't change soon we will destroy everything! All the raw beauty in our world will be gone. So my answer to all of you folks who are suffering from the AVATAR EFFECT is to stop, take a minute to think about your life and how you could pioneer change in our modern world (this is our generation's calling afterall). Make sustainable changes in your lives as easy as buying local and seasonal food, using public transit, recycling, and turning off your lights. If everyone learned once again to live in harmony once again with nature, then and only then could we go back to the "Pandora" we once had and Earth as well as the Human race would be better off.

K-nut

Homemade

2010-01-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

For my New Years resolution I want to become more self sufficent in the kitchen. And I think I will start with attempting to make my own yogurt. I found a recipe from 101 cookbooks, but it recommends that I need a yogurt maker. Anyone know if it is possible to make yogurt without a specific yogurt maker?
Have a great week!
-Posted by Meghan J.

New Year's Eco-Resolution

2010-01-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

It is absolutely infuriating that in the face of a world water crisis, companies such as Pepsi, Coke and Nestle are bottling water and selling it back to us to make a profit. Water is a basic human right and we can not allow it to be turned into a commodity.

My New Year's resolution is to be smarter than bottled water companies and drink for free what they are trying to sell me.

What is your New Year's resolution?

Contributed by Sarah C.