ASC EARTH’s Blog

Hold on to your hats, it’s time for the schedule of events.

April 14 through April 19

Events:

April 14 – Film: “Who Killed the Electric Car,” 7 p.m., Carson Auditorium

April 16 – National Wildlife Campus Chill-Out webcast, 5 p.m., Porter Hall(Science and Mathematics Building) room 130

April 17 – Concert by Jenny Bird, Mark Dudrow, and Justin Dean 8 p.m., Leon Memorial. cosponsored by ALMA

April 18 –Mountainfilm on tour 7 p.m. Carson Auditorium, cosponsored by Adams State Adventure Programs

April 19 – Sun Day activities

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Garage sale – 8 a.m. until noon

River and riparian zone clean-up – 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.

Free community and teepee greenhouse radishes

Tomato Plants for sale p

Solar Expo, demonstrations, speakers, and information tables, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., south side of SUB, banquet rooms, solarium and Carson Auditorium

Attendance to all events is free and open to the public.

At each event, ASC Community Partnership will be selling re-usable grocery bags imprinted with the logos for ASC Community Partnership and EARTH.

Times and events are subject to change, to keep updated check the website and blog often for the latest information.

It looks to be a great week with a lot of fun events. Hope to see you there!

Katie

Don’t forget, next meeting of the EARTH group is April 1, 2008.  This will be an important meeting to finalize plans for Earth week coming up!

Watch that paper use!

Paper making is one of the most energy- and water-intensive industries.  It is estimated that each ton of virgin (non-recycled) paper requires 98 tons of resources to make.  That’s 196,000 pounds!  While it used to be true that recycled paper had some quality issues, this is no longer the case.  The ideal choice is to reduce your paper use but if you must print something, look for recycled alternative.

Maybe the U.S. as a whole doesn’t want to ratify the Kyoto treaty. But individual cities sure are interested.

Some of you may be interested in a presentation about the proposed SEED Park project in Alamosa, which will take place on Thursday, March 6 in Porter Hall, room 130 at 7 PM.  The presentation is sponsored by the Colorado Field Institute.  Light refreshments are typically served.

SEED is an acronym for Sustainable Environmental and Economic Development.  There was an all day meeting about the SEED Park in December, and this presentation will highlight some of the results/information from that meeting.

Hope to see you there!

Earth week (April 14-19) is less than 2 short months away so now is the time to come up with ideas for student participation in the activities planned. Marty Jones could really use some help on the coordinating committee so now is also the time to volunteer to help.

Our website has now been updated a bit with meeting minutes and a spreadsheet from the energy committee detailing energy usage per building on campus.

Don’t forget, the next meeting of the EARTH group will be March 4, 2008 at noon in the Student Life Center in the SUB.

Even though elections are 9 months away, already we are bombarded with campaign ads, polls and predictions of who will get nominated and who will get elected president.  On Greenpeace’s blog there is an interesting link showing the major candidates and which oil companies have given them money for their campaign.  Whether or not you agree with this kind of campaign giving, it really makes you think about where the money is coming from and what kind of implied promises are being made.  It’s up to us as voting citizens to vote for a person that believes in the same kinds of things we believe in.

Katie

The next meeting of the EARTH group will be February 5, 2008 in the student life center.

Don’t forget, we need volunteers to serve on a coordinating committee for EARTH Week activities in April. It’s great opportunity to be involved in sustainability on campus and great ideas are needed for events during that week. If you want to get involved, contact Marty Jones at mbjones@adams.edu

Katie

As promised, here is the agenda for the Focus the Nation coming up January 30-31, 2008.

Jan. 30th (School of Business Room 142)
6pm-8pm “The 2% Solution” Webcast
Local Foods by SODEXCO, Sponsored by ASC Community Partnerships 

Jan 31st  Carson Hall 

8:30am Welcome Adams State College President Svaldi; Erin Minks, John Salazar's
Representative

9:00am Environment and International Security----Dr. Mari Centeno, Assistant
Professor of Government

10am Overview of Local Environmental Issues:  Choices that will impact Us Locally
----Christine Canaly, SLV Ecosystem Council  

11am Citizens for SLV Water --Ceal Smith, Alamosa Riverkeepers  --Cindy Medina, Rio
Grande Headwaters, ---Nancy Butler, Rio Grande Water Conservation District---, San
Luis Valley Water Conservancy District--- Mike Gibson (panel discussion leader)

Noon---Lunch and Booths showcasing environmental initiatives

1pm ----Dr. Marty Jones---ASC EARTH group, Citizens of the World—ASC Student Group

1:30pm Solar Energy and Solar Job Grow Potential----Dr. Maria Valdez (USDA) 

2pm Natural Gas Drilling in the Baca and Rio Grande County--- Mr. Nick Chambers 

2:30pm EPA San Luis Valley Sustainability Project---Marie Zanowick 

3:00pm SEED Park---Mr. Roger Doane 

3:30pm Environmental Racism---Dr. Stephanie Gonzales, Assistant Professor of Sociology

4:30pm---Wrap Up/How to get involved     This is a great opportunity for Adams State students, faculty and staff
to join with our counterparts around the country and take action to
improve the future of our world. Focus the Nation    Katie

I found an interesting website through a blog I was reading that makes you think about where stuff you buy really comes from and the impact you have on the planet by buying this stuff. The Story of Stuff.

Just something to think about.

Katie