City of Winfield Aids Southwestern Recycling Program

Last week, the Green Team had to scramble to find somewhere to recycle all of the recyclable materials collected at Southwestern College. The college has a “contract” with a recycling company out of Wichita. The company is supposed to pick up the recycling from the college once every two weeks. For some reason, the company has failed to continue with its regularly scheduled pickups.  According to Jason Speegle, Green Team Director, “they have not collected the recycling from the college since January 2. Our campus produces and collects a lot of recycling each week, so our recycling shed was certainly overflowing.” 

Southwestern made the decision to contract with this particular recycling company because they offered free pickup and single stream recycling, meaning the recycling did not need to be sorted. “The City of Winfield has a great recycling program and we were very happy with the recycling service that they have provided to the college over the years. However, as our recycling volumes have grown, the sorting of the recycling became overwhelming,” said Speegle.

The City of Winfield stepped in to help the college with its overflow of recycling. Green Team students and plant operations employees, in 6 pickups and a U-haul truck hauled the nearly 1,620 cubic feet of recyclables from the college out the Winfield fairgrounds. A crew from the correctional facility sorted some of the items into a large container that was eventually transported up to Waste Connections in Wichita for recycling. “We feel so fortunate to have city employees who are willing to work with the college and our students. The City of Winfield really bailed us out. I cannot thank them enough,” says Speegle.

Southwestern is currently looking for a recycling system. Protecting the single stream system is important to Speegle. “We would really like to avoid returning to the sorting method of collecting recycling, especially during the school year. My hope is to figure out a temporary solution to get us through May and then reevaluate during the summer.”

Southwestern to Install Second Wind Turbine

Southwestern College is one of four sites to have been selected to receive Wind for Schools grants this year. Last November, Green Team Director, Jason Speegle applied for the grant which is arranged by Kansas State University and funded in part by Westar. “I felt that we [Southwestern] had a very strong application. We had letters of support from the City of Winfield, USD 465, and Cates Supply (local wind turbine installers). I also received unwavering support from the administration of the college as well as the plant operations director,” according to Speegle.  Speegle says that he and the administration of the college learned a lot during the installation of the wind turbine in the summer of 2011 and that knowledge will certainly aid them in the process of installing this next turbine.

The details of the installation are not yet fully known. According to Speegle, “the announcement that Southwestern had been selected as a site was made a couple of weeks ago. We will receive more details in the near future.” Due to zoning, the site of the wind turbine installation will be near the new plant operations building in the corner of Warren St. and Viking Blvd. Southwestern will choose the type of turbine that is to be installed. The turbine will either be a Skystream 2.4, identical to the turbine installed at Southwestern in August of 2011 or a Raum 3.5, a slightly more powerful turbine.

Circle High School, Otis-Bison Junior/Senior High School, and Western Plains High School were the other three sites selected to receive wind turbine grants this year.

Green Team Collects Food and Clothing for Community

Sustainability is more than simply caring for the environment. The definition of a sustainable society ensures that all people of the community have their basic needs met. The students of Green Team Southwestern do not ignore this social justice component of sustainability. They organize projects that attempt to meet some of the basic needs that go lacking for some in the Winfield community.

The latest project put on by the members of the Green Team's social justice committee provided clothes and food for people in the community, all the while keeping those same items out of the local landfill. At the end of each semester, students pack up their things and move home for break or they move away from Southwestern to embark on a new adventure. Regardless of where they go, many students are simply unable or unwilling to cram everything they have accumulated at SC into their vehicles. Normally, the stuff the students deem unnecessary winds up in the dumpsters and later in the landfill.

The Green Team is giving students another alternative to throwing away unwanted, but perfectly useful stuff by organizing a "Move-Out Collection". Green Team students placed large boxes all over campus in hopes of collecting some unwanted clothing or food this past December, as the fall semester was winding down. Students as they moved out of the dorms could place unwanted items in the boxes and the Green Team donated the items to local non-profit organizations The items were then distributed to those who neededthem.

This December, the Green Team collected and donated around 50 large bags of clothing to Central Baptist Church in Winfield. "I was honestly shocked by the amount that was donated. I was sure that some people would donate, since some people graduated in December and left, but the sheer amount of support we received was amazing and humbling," said Kelcie Parrish, Green Team senior and coordinator of the Social Justice Committee. The Green Team also collected some canned food items and some money which was donated to the Winfield Food Pantry.

"The turnout was very surprising. It was cool to see how much the campus and community gave. I am excited for the spring drive," said Jess Ratzlaff, Green Team junior. The Green Team will spend time this spring semester gearing up for a larger "Move Out Collection" as graduation approaches.

Exterior Campus Lighting Audit

Last week, Alan Dykes, the Energy Manager for the cities of Winfield, Wellington, and Ark City took a tour of the SC campus night-time lighting to determine the current lighting’s effectiveness in safely illuminating the campus and to make recommendations on making the lighting more energy efficient. Accompanied by SGA Student Concerns committee representative Jessica McIver and Green Team members Sarah Rommelfanger, Ashley Bruno, and Stephen Strecker, Alan was able to evaluate the lumens (units of light intensity) and the placement of light fixtures around campus. The good news is that Alan felt that the light fixtures already present around the campus would provide sufficient light to make the campus a safe environment at night, if equipped with bulbs of appropriate wattage. This means that the only shortfalls in making SC properly lit at night is to replace burnt-out bulbs in existing fixtures. 

This is an exciting opportunity for the Green Team because Alan was also able to recommend types of bulbs that would be a great deal more energy efficient than the ones previously used in the unlit fixtures. The types of bulbs he recommended would be mostly energy efficient LED retrofitted bulbs. The new bulbs can go right into the existing fixtures, which helps cut costs. These LED bulbs are expensive, but they are also estimated to last 18-22 years, and use a fraction of the electricity that the normal bulbs use. They would also provide a white light which provides greater color definition than the yellowish high-pressure sodium bulbs at a lower lumen output so that the campus is safely visible without using excessive wattage.

The Green Team and the SGA Student Concerns committee plan to work together and compose a proposal using Alan’s expert advice to get the burnt out lights on campus replaced with these more energy efficient bulbs.

Changes toward sustainability don’t have to be a complete overhaul of the system, right down to ground level. One small step at a time can end up making a big difference.

Author: Sarah Rommelfanger

SC Hosts America Recycles Day Competition

The Southwestern College Green Team celebrated America Recycles Day and began a new tradition. America Recycles Day is an annual event hosted by the College & University Recycling Coalition and takes place every November 15. To celebrate America Recycles Day 2011, Green Team Southwestern hosted a recycling competition pitting campus organizations against one another in attempts to collect the most recycling over a 2-week period.

This year, four Southwestern organizations participated in America Recycles Day including Leadership, Tri-Beta, Phi Delta Theta, and Phi Beta Lambda. Large boxes were setup on the campus lawn and the organizations filled them with recycling throughout the day on November 15. The organization producing the most recycling (volume) was declared the winner. Tri-Beta was crowned SC Recycling Champion for 2011 and over 600 pounds of recycling was collected. Tri-Beta will receive a plaque made from recycled sunflowers to display until the 2012 America Recycles Day competition.

Country View Science Exploration Day

Students from the Southwestern College Green Team helped to educate students at Country View Elementary school about the basics and importance of wind energy this past Wednesday. The Green Team taught principles about electricity, basic energy conservation and how a wind turbine works to nearly 150 K-4th grade students throughout the afternoon.

To demonstrate how a wind turbine works, Sydnee Nelson and the other Green Team students led the children in the construction of paper pinwheels. Green Team students who participated in the afternoon were Nelson, Briana Cathcart, Elle Nguyen, Sarah Rommelfanger, Kelcie Parrish, Daniel Van Sickle, Shea Wilson, and Paul Swisher.

The Green Team presentations were part of the Country View Science Exploration Day, originally scheduled to take place at Island Park. Due to the weather forecast of rain, the Field Trip was moved to Country View. The day featured a total of 7 rotations for the students including the Green Team, a nature walk, a soybean and food presentation by the extension office, a demonstration of wind, water and erosion by the Cowley conservation office, a talk by Dr. Charlie Hunter and several Southwestern biology students, a leaf rubbing exercise and some time at the playground.

Green Team Students Master High Ropes

Sunday, October 2, Green Team Southwestern students went to Camp Horizon near Arkansas City, KS. Each month, the Green Team gets together for team social activities. This month's activity was to have a cookout and then brave the Camp Horizon high ropes course. The students performed 4 high ropes elements at a height of 25-30 feet above the ground.

The high ropes were an excellent team building activity. We learned to trust each other, challenge ourselves and our fears and encourage each other on to success.

Clint preparing for his jump

Tendai reaching for the trapeze

Clint on the balance beam

David and Daniel working together trying not to fall

Green Team Hosts Leader in Pollution Prevention

On Monday, October 3, Green Team Southwestern hosted a speaker during the annual Lunches with Leaders event at Southwestern College. Lunches with Leaders is put on by Leadership Southwestern and allows campus organizations to bring in experts from their specific fields to share their thoughts on leadership development and how they became the leader that they are today.

The Green Team presentation was given by David A.Carter, pollution prevention specialist from Kansas State University. Carter has served as a pollution prevention specialist with the Kansas State University Pollution Prevention Institute since June 2006.  Prior to coming to K-State, Carter was in private consulting, assisting federal facilities and private organizations in environmental compliance and implementing the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) standard.  Carter is certified as an energy manager by the Association of Energy Engineers and is a RABQSA-certified ISO 14001 EMS auditor.  Carter received his B.S. in Biology from Florida Tech and his M.S. in Toxicology from Kansas State University.

Carter spoke to a group of 23 Southwestern students. He spoke about his time in the military and how ways to become a leader are to be willing to speak your mind and be available to do what is needed. Carter got his start in the environmental industry in the military and said that it was the best decision he ever made. He has an intense passion for the betterment of the environment and he strives to live out his beliefs and values in his everyday actions.

Carter, while he was on the SC campus, also taught the students in the Introduction to Sustainability I class about energy efficiency later that afternoon. Carter and Green Team Southwestern Director, Jason Speegle became acquainted with one another during their interactions in the Resourceful Kansas program.

Southwestern Partners with Numana to SWIPE Out Hunger

Winfield, Kan., October 2, 2011 — Southwestern College partnered with Numana this year to package 33,912 meals for the Horn of Africa in a program called SWIPE, (state-wide packaging event). The event took place in the Roy L. Smith Student Center and over 350 SC students participated in the event from campus organizations Green Team, Leadership, Discipleship, All Athletics Teams, SGA and Stufu.

Numana provided 20,000 meals. The remaining 10,000+ meals were funded by SC. Each meal consists of rice, soy, freeze-dried beans, and a vitamin blend. At 30 cents a meal, the fundraising goal for the college was $3,000. Leadership, Discipleship, Green Team, SC Athletic teams, SC Chapel, Student Government, and Student Foundation all contributed financially to the cause as well as physically. Other donors included Winfield’s First United Methodist Church, Central Baptist Church, and the Kiwanis Club.

World hunger is one of the most dismal situations facing our world today, according to Lindsay Wilke, assistant director of Leadership Southwestern. Nearly 1 billion go to bed hungry every night and 25,000 people die every day from hunger related issues. But in just one hour, 10 people can package 1,200 meals and help save countless lives.

Green Team participants of Numana SWIPE event

"Service is ingrained in the culture of SC, from students to faculty and staff. To serve in a way that helps to decrease poverty, even a little bit is a tremendous honor, says Jason Speegle, director of Green Team Southwestern.

“We appreciate the community’s support as SC attempts to live out its mission of service and allow college students to contribute to a greater cause,” says Lindsay Wilke, director of Leadership Southwestern.

Southwestern College Receives Sustainability Award in Topeka

Jason Speegle - Director of Green Team Southwestern accepts Sustainability Education Award

Topeka— Friday, September 30, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s (KDHE) Bureau of Waste Management held its fourth annual Kansas Green Team Assembly in Topeka. This assembly celebrates the success of the state’s Green Teams and to shows appreciation for the commitment to environmental stewardship made by businesses in Kansas.
‘This annual event is a great way to showcase the green work taking place year-round,” explained Megan MacPherson, KDHE’s State Green Team Coordinator. “These business and individual are doing their part to not spoil Kansas and keep it clean for years to come.”
The following Green Teams were recognized at today’s assembly and received Green Team awards:

Dream Team Award – Hyatt Regency Wichita
This award recognizes a Kansas Green Team that has incorporated sustainable practices and principles into many aspects of its operations. The Hyatt Regency Wichita recycles 6,000 pounds of cardboard and 1,350 pounds of paper each month; the hotel also recycles plastic and aluminum. They have installed compact fluorescent lights in all their guest rooms and use t8 fluorescent tubes in their meeting rooms, all of which are recycled. Since 2006, they have reduced their gas, electric and water consumption by 9 percent. Each guest room has two bars of soap which potentially could be thrown away on a daily basis. They recover the soap from each room and ship approximately 400 pounds a month to a recycling company for sanitizing and distribution to organizations assisting those in need.

Continuous Improvement Award – SRS Record Center
This award recognizes previously honored Kansas Green Teams that have demonstrated a continued improvement in their program. The SRS Records Center has a four member team working to improve upon the shredding and recycling of records for SRS. The SRS Records Center headquarters a high capacity Allegheny industrial shredder which allows a large amount of paper to be diverted from the landfill. To date, a total of 92,490 pounds of shredded paper and 1,280 pounds of cardboard have been recycled.
 
Sustainability Education Award – Southwestern College
This award recognizes a Kansas Green Team that is an outstanding leader in the education and outreach of sustainability. This Green Team is heavily involved in campus sustainability education. Green Team members lead sustainability trainings in the residence halls and various institutional departments each year. They are also involved in community outreach sustainability efforts. In 2010, in collaboration with USD465, the Green Team began a community garden in Winfield. The purpose of the garden is to emphasize the importance of locally grown food and to support the local food bank. To commemorate Earth Day, they have planed activities such as Park-It-Week, Plant-a-Tree Day, a nature hike, various educational speakers and Sweep Winfield.

Leadership Award – Becky Carter, Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility
This award recognizes each year a Green Team leader who is a sustainability champion and agent of change within his or her workplace. Becky Carter has been a member of the Green Team at Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility since it was created. She has been instrumental in keeping their recycling program running and continuing to thrive.  Her main focus has been on educating the youth on the importance of recycling and how to do it properly. Carter also single handedly kept the recycling program at Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility operational since budget cuts discontinued the pickup of materials. She takes time every week to gather items around the facility and enlists the help of Green Team members help to deliver the recycling material. Carter has also been instrumental in the maintenance of the community garden.