Second Cowley County Electronics Recycling Event

The Cowley County Conservation District along with Cowley County K-State Research & Extension, The City of Winfield, Sunflower RC&D, Winfield Correctional Facility, ABCDE, USD #465, and Southwestern College Green Team combined resources to conduct the second of two Cowley County Electronic Waste Recycle Days August 28, 2010 at the Agri-Business building in Arkansas City. Over an entire semi-truck trailer was filled (35 pallets) with electronics that Cowley County residents brought to be recycled.

Electronic waste is an ever-growing product, that when recycled, keeps toxins out of landfills, preserves our natural resources, and provides jobs through recycling centers and packaging facilities. In order to conserve natural resources and the energy needed to produce new electronic equipment from virgin resources, electronic equipment can be refurbished, reused, and recycled instead of being thrown into a landfill. E-waste contains valuable materials such as gold, silver, copper, steel and plastic. It makes sense to recycle these materials instead of throwing them into our landfills.

Items that were accepted included televisions, computers, mice, keyboards, cameras, microwaves, DVD and VCR players, cell phones, MP3 players, just to name a few.

Green Team Excels in National RecycleMania Competition

Southwestern College’s Green Team participated for the second year in RecycleMania, a national collegiate competition focused on waste minimization and recycling. In the Per Capita Classic, which measures the weight of recycled material per student, Southwestern placed 61st out of 346 colleges and universities, just edging out the University of North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Brown University. The Per Capita Classic champion was the United States Coast Guard Academy. Among Kansas institutions, Southwestern was the Grand Champion, the winner of the Per Capita Classic, and had the best results for several targeted recyclables: bottles and cans, paper, and corrugated cardboard. The other Kansas schools that participated (and trailed SC) are Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, Bethany College and Johnson County Community College.

Kansas Envirothon Returns to SC Campus

Southwestern College in Winfield was the host for the 2010 Kansas Envirothon on Wednesday, May 12.

Holton High School was tops among 14 schools represented.

The Kansas Envirothon is an outdoor, environmental high school competition where students learn and are tested on soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatics and a current issue. Each school is allowed to send one team of five high school students to the state competition. Holton High School will represent Kansas at the Canon Envirothon in Fresno, Calif. The current issue for the 2010 Kansas competition is "Protection of groundwater through urban, agricultural and environmental planning."

“One of the reasons that Southwestern College offered to host the Kansas State Envirothon competition was to demonstrate that environmental responsibility is one of our institutional priorities,” says Jason Speegle, Green Team director at Southwestern College. “The Envirothon has a long tradition of environmental based scholastics. Southwestern has great facilities and great students, faculty, and staff. The ability to bring all of those elements together makes for a great event.”

Southwestern faculty members Rick Cowlishaw, Charlie Hunter, and Pat Ross participated in the event by being presenters. Cowlishaw and Hunter discussed current issues with the students while Ross discussed aquatics.

“The Kansas Envirothon was great this year,” Speegle says. “It was somewhat easier for us to plan the logistics since this was our second year to host the event. We were also able to interact with the Cowley County Conservation District in the planning and bring in more quality presenters from the area than we did last year.”

SC Graduation Regalia Is Environmentally Friendly

Southwestern College Commencement was Sunday, May 9, and SC teamed up with Jostens to use environmentally friendly graduation regalia.

“Our Jostens representative informed us that Southwestern College would be one of the first colleges to use the elements gown exclusively,” say Jason VenJohn, Moundbuilder Market merchandise manager.

This gown carries a strong environmental story while preserving the elegance and tradition of graduation. The acetate fabric fiber is made from natural wood sourced exclusively from renewable managed forests. Acetate fabric is proved to decompose in soil within a year.

The gown contains an Eco-Zip coil zipper with tape and teeth made from 100% recycled PET. Earth-friendly plastic gown packaging is proven to decompose in a landfill within a reasonably short period of time. It contains ECM BioFilms material that facilitates the decomposition process.

In addition, Jostens donates $1 to an environmental sustainability project for every gown purchased.

Southwestern Senior Helps Winfield Business "Go Green"

Several businesses in Winfield are now more energy efficient thanks to the efforts of one Southwestern College senior.

Cassi Reimer, Ulysses, decided for her senior Leadership project to share her energy efficient knowledge with some Winfield businesses. She performed home energy audits at Long & Neises CPA, Buterbaugh & Handlin, Hometown True Value, Moonshadow Bookstore, Winfield Chamber of Commerce, the office of Dr. Alan Marcotte DDS., and State Farm Insurance.

Along with the energy audit, Reimer also checked the water flow out of the faucets and toilets, and checked for recycling. “After the audit, I calculated how much energy and money they would save if they made some green improvements, for example changing all their light bulbs to energy efficient ones,” Reimer says. “Then, I gave them the results and asked if they wanted to make any changes. I told each of them if they bought the supplies, I could provide the manual labor.”

Three of the businesses accepted Reimer’s offer.

• Moonshadow Bookstore had Reimer caulk the windows and seal the door to reduce the airflow.

• Hometown True Value asked Reimer and her volunteers to remove an old air conditioning unit. They removed it and replaced the hole which will reduce heat loss and excess air flow.

• Buterbaugh & Handlin installed a hot water heater jacket and sealed socket/light switch gaps behind the plates to reduce heat loss.
Matt Bradbury, owner of Hometown True Value, liked the ideas that Reimer offered.

“She gave a different perspective to look at,” Bradbury said. “When you’re around the business day-after-day, you don’t realize the changes that can be made. She came in and gave me a fresh new way to look at my business.”

Reimer says that these businesses should begin seeing money savings in their energy bills. “I had big dreams for this project and I am so grateful to these businesses for allowing me the opportunity to help,” Reimer says.

Cowley County Recycles Electronic Waste

The Cowley County Conservation District along with Cowley County K-State Research & Extension, The City of Winfield, Sunflower RC&D, Winfield Correctional Facility, ABCDE, USD #465, and Southwestern College Green Team combined resources to conduct the first of two Cowley County Electronic Waste Recycle Day on April 27, 2010. A second date is planned for August 28 at the Agri-Business building in Arkansas City.

The electronic waste is an ever-growing product, that when recycled, keeps toxins out of landfills, preserves our natural resources, and provides jobs through recycling centers and packaging facilities. In order to conserve natural resources and the energy needed to produce new electronic equipment from virgin resources, electronic equipment can be refurbished, reused, and recycled instead of being landfilled. E-waste contains valuable materials such as gold, silver, copper, steel and plastic. It makes sense to recycle these materials instead of throwing them into our landfills.

The collection site was the Cowley County Fairgrounds from 3pm-7pm on Tuesday, April 27. Items that were accepted included televisions, computers, mice, keyboards, cameras, microwaves, DVD and VCR players, cell phones, MP3 players, just to name a few. A complete list can be found at www.cowleycountyconservationdistrict.com. A total of 1.5 semi-truck trailers worth of electronics were collected to be recycled. Twelve students from Southwestern College volunteered during the afternoon.

The program was free to Cowley County households, government agencies, and educational institutions, but a $1 minimum donation was requested to cover the cost of transportation to the Rice County recycling facility. Businesses were also allowed to bring items, but were assessed a $5 fee for each monitor and television. All items will be secured and electronically cleaned, so by recycling e-waste through our program you are assured there will not be any security issues.

The E-Waste program is funded in part by a grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Rice County Recycling and E-Waste with the support of the Solid Waste Management Reduction Initiative through Sunflower RC&D.

Sweep Winfield a Success

The city of Winfield is cleaner following the first “Sweep Winfield” event.
On Saturday, April 17, Southwestern College students teamed up for the first-year event, “Sweep Winfield,” organized by Kate Norton, assistant women’s soccer coach and Green Team Southwestern member. After two hours of combing the streets of Winfield, seven teams consisting of approximately 70 SC students collected more than 1,125 pounds of waste, and 25% of it was recyclable.
“It was exciting to see the number of students that participated along with the enthusiasm and competitive spirit that they brought,” says Jason Speegle, director of Green Team Southwestern. “It’s not glamorous, but the students made it fun and it benefits Winfield by disposing more than 1,100 pounds of waste.”
The groups participating in the event from the college were the Green Team, athletic training, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, football, Leadership Southwestern, and Phi Delta Theta. The team that collected the most garbage would be declared the winner. The golf team won first prize by collecting 254 pounds of garbage. Women’s soccer finished second (228 pounds of garbage) and football finished third (197 pounds of garbage).
Each member of the winning SC golf team won a prize bag filled with goodies donated by numerous Winfield businesses. Sponsors included Braum’s, Posh, Sodexo Education, Cuppa Jo’s, City of Winfield, Gottlob Lawn & Landscaping, Salon Avant, Gambino’s, Health World, and Winfield Recreation Commission.
“I thought the event went really well,” Norton says. “The participants had fun and were very competitive. I hope this becomes an annual Winfield event.”

Earth Day Celebration 2010

The Southwestern College Green Team kicked off their Earth Day celebration with “Sweep Winfield” on Saturday, April 17.
“Sweep Winfield” took place at several areas around Winfield. Teams were in the vicinity of College, First, Main, and Sixth Streets.
According to Kate Norton, assistant women’s soccer coach and Green Team member, the goal of “Sweep Winfield” was not just to pick up trash in Winfield but to also bridge the gap between the community of Winfield and the community of Southwestern College.
Numerous Southwestern College organizations participated in “Sweep Winfield” including the Green Team, athletic training, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, football, Leadership Southwestern, and Phi Delta Theta.
Winfield business sponsors for the event included Braum’s, Posh, Sodexo Education, Cuppa Jo’s, City of Winfield, Gottlob Lawn & Landscaping, Salon Avant, Gambino’s, Health World, and Winfield Recreation Commission.
Several additional events commemorating Earth Day include:
• Monday, April 19 at 7 p.m.—Home energy rating presentation in the Southwestern College Welcome Center. SC grad and certified residential energy rater Scott Kuhn will present.
• Tuesday, April 20 at 7 p.m.—Renewable energy information session on the Cole Mound Plaza (Mossman 101 in case of rain). Brian Robinson from Cates Supply will present.
• Wednesday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m.—Hope for Creation simulcast in Beech 104, presented by blessedearth.com. At 7 p.m., a nature hike around the SC campus beginning on the Warren Apartments lawn. Larry Schuster will guide the tour.
• Thursday, April 22—Earthday is plant-a-tree day at the college.
• Saturday, April 24—Creation Care Day, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The SC Green Team will host area high school students for workshops on Biblical views on creation care.
• Tuesday, April 27—Electronic waste recycling collection at the Winfield fairgrounds from 3 to 7 p.m.

SC Green Team Receives Grant Through Kansas Campus Compact

The Southwestern College Green Team educated Winfield High School students on Thursday, Jan. 28 regarding the importance of sustainable living.
The Green Team spoke at Winfield High School Thursday morning in the auditorium as a part of the Commemorate Kansas/Serve Kansas mini-grant that was awarded through Kansas Campus Compact.
Sydnee Nelson, Clay Center; Timothy Henry, Caldwell; Sarah Rommelfanger, Baldwin City, and Tendai Kwaramba, Zimbabwe, students from the Southwestern College Green Team that developed and gave the educational presentation on sustainability in Kansas. The scope of the presentation included the history of Kansas as a leader in agriculture and sustainable living in the past as well as practical suggestions for sustainable living now and into the future.
The project culminated with a presentation on renewable energy by Brian Robinson and Justin Cates of Cates Supply at the Southwestern College biology field station. Cates Supply recently installed a 2.5-kilowatt solar array and a 200-watt wind turbine which provide all of the power for the Biology Field Station. The students were allowed to tour the biology field station with Rick Cowlishaw, Southwestern College assistant professor of biology, and see firsthand how renewable energy functions.
The Commemorate Kansas/Serve Kansas program was created to promote higher education participation in activities that foster a greater appreciation for Kansas history and promote opportunities for students, faculty, and community members to do measurable, meaningful, sustainable service to their communities in support of the Kansas State Historical Society’s efforts to commemorate the 149th Kansas Day. Six other institutions participating in the Commemorate Kansas/Serve Kansas program were Butler Community College, Fort Hays State University, Garden City Community College, Hutchinson Community College, Kansas State University, and Seward County Community College. “These creative projects are an indication that students and faculty at Kansas colleges and universities are aware of the importance of connecting their education with a civic purpose that serves all of Kansas’ citizens,” said Matthew Lindsey, executive director for Kansas Campus Compact
The Southwestern biology field Station is located on 240 acres of land approximately 10 miles north of Winfield. It will provide the students with a combination of Kansas’s past and present (agriculture) and its future (renewable energy generation).