Anthony Cortese Visits SC

Listen to an audio interview with Dr. Anthony Cortese by SC's Curt Caden

Listen to a short audio clip by Dr. Anthony Cortese

Anthony Cortese, co-director of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), and co-founder of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), visited Southwestern from September 29 - October 1, 2008. Find out more about Mr. Cortese here.

He gave a public lecture on October 1, 2008 at 7:00 pm in Mossman 101 that focused on ways to make the green effort at Southwestern one that is embraced by the whole campus.

Cortese is the co-director of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Southwestern College President Dick Merriman was an early signer of this compact, and the college now is engaging in progressively green practices.

Anthony Cortese to Speak at Southwestern College

One of the nation’s top advocates for sustainable lifestyles is coming to Southwestern College. Anthony Cortese will give a public lecture Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m., in Mossman 101.

Cortese is the co-director of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Southwestern College President Dick Merriman was an early signer of this compact, and the college now is engaging in progressively green practices.

Academic dean Andy Sheppard says that Cortese will meet with several students, faculty, and administrators around campus and challenge them to think about various ways the college can “go green.” “I think the thing that is great about having Dr. Cortese here is that he is not coming to give us a top 10 list of things to do in order to reduce our carbon foot-print,” Sheppard says. “Rather, his visit will be spent on helping us to make a culture change in the way we consume our resources.”

Cortese was formerly the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. He was the first dean of environmental programs at Tufts University and spear-headed the award-winning Tufts Environmental Literacy Institute in 1989 which helped integrate environmental and sustainability perspectives in over 175 courses and the internationally acclaimed Talloires Declaration of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future in 1990.

Cortese is a founding and current member of the board of directors of The Natural Step US, and a founding member of the Environmental Business Council of New England. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been a consultant to UNEP, a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board and the President's Council on Sustainable Development's Education Task Force. He has been actively engaged climate change and other large system environmental challenges for 25 years. He is also a founding member of the U.S. Board of Councilors for the China – U.S. Center for Sustainable Development.

Cortese has B.S. and M.S. degrees from Tufts University in civil and environmental engineering and a Doctor of Science in Environmental Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

The public is invited to attend the Oct. 1 lecture by Cortese. There is no admission charge. For more information about Cortese’s visit to Southwestern College, contact Jason Speegle, Green Team director, at (620) 229-6311.

SC Green Team Director Saves Lots of Trees

Thanks to some hard work and an unusual find by Jason Speegle, almost 30 trees were saved from the paper mill.

Speegle, director of the Green Team at Southwestern College, was walking near campus when he saw numerous boxes filled with old textbooks sitting in a dumpster. As director of the sustainable environment group on campus, he was well aware of his chance to make a difference. He recruited Kate Norton, assistant women’s soccer coach, along with several of the soccer players and they began the seemingly endless task of preparing all of the thrown out text books to be recycled.

Textbook recycling is far from an easy chore, according to Speegle.

“You have to tear off the front and back covers,” Speegle says. “Then you have to physically tear the books into several parts in order to satisfy the requirements of the city of Winfield. The books averaged around 175 pages per book.”

Slowly but surely, the small group of students, Speegle, and Norton prepared each of the discarded textbooks to be recycled and a crowd of students began gathering and helping. Eventually 20 students had turned up to help.

“It ended up taking us around three hours to finish,” Speegle reports.

According to Speegle’s estimation, they saved just over 26 trees.

As part of the new Southwestern program, Speegle is recruiting and leading students in activities such as recycling, conserving resources on campus and in the community, and pioneering college use of renewable energy sources. The program promotes sustainability education as well as student leadership development.

“I don’t want to be the center of attention about environmental issues here,” Speegle says. “Everyone on this campus can be an environmentalist. My goal is to increase awareness about recycling and sustainability and to slowly attempt to change the culture of the college toward a greener future.”

Southwestern College purchasing department thinks green with new library carpet.

EcoWorx is the industry's first 100% sustainable, non-PVC tile backing system. And don't just take our word for it - the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded EcoWorx the Presidential Green Chemistry Award for its environmental and performance benefits.

EcoWorx has been recognized with Cradle to Cradle Certification, contributing to U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED® Green Building Rating System™. EcoWorx tile, EcoWorx Performance Broadloom and Eco Solution Q premium branded nylon are the only carpet products to receive Cradle to Cradle Silver Certification from MBDC (McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry), a third party consultancy founded by the world-renowned architect William McDonough and innovative chemist Dr. Michael Braungart.

Southwestern Purchasing looks for green products with office supplies:

By using Office Max:

As we all seek to reduce our collective impact on the environment, there are some specific things OfficeMax can do to help you achieve your goals.

Creating a “green office” is a good place to start.

Everyday products like paper, toner and furniture play a significant role in the life of your business.

Purchasing department at Southwestern look for green products in furniture:

New Counterweights for Steelcase Large Case Storage Products: An Environmentally Friendly Solution

Changes to many of Steelcase’s large case storage counterweight packages continue to demonstrate the company’s commitment to environmentally friendly solutions. New counterweights have replaced existing counterweight packages as of orders that shipped December 3, 2007.

The company’s new counterweights are made from 95% reclaimed steel mill slag, previously sent to landfills. The slag is ground and bonded with high density polyethylene in a unique manufacturing process which allows it to be formed and cut into weight packages. The counterweights can be recycled with other steel products at the end of their useful life. All of these factors demonstrate Steelcase’s continued commitment to environmentally friendly solutions.

New appliances and furniture

Here is some information that you may find useful in the “green” efforts. This summer we signed a new contract with our laundry provider that included 20 new washers and 20 new dryers. Our old top load washers were installed in 1996 and used over 23 gallons of water per load; the new washers are energy efficient front loaders that only take 14.8 gallons per load. The machines are ADA compliant; DOE 2007 compliant for energy and water standards, ENERGY STAR® qualified and have a Modified Energy Factor (MEF) of 2.16 and a Water Factor (WF) of 5.2.

This summer we also purchased new furniture for Honor and Shriwise apartments. The furniture was purchased from University Loft Company (ULC), which has taken a pro-active approach to the environment by implementing a Green Plan. ULC uses Hevea Brasiliensis (HB), also known as Environmentally Farmed Timber (EFT). HB produces a natural form of latex that is tapped from its trunk, and is used in the production of rubber. HB adequately produces latex for 20 years, after that time it is harvested for timber. Five Hevea Brasiliensis trees can be grown and harvested in the time one oak tree is ready to be milled.

To make room for the new furniture we recycled 2140lbs of steal bed frames and donated several sets of old furniture to a local organization.