Test Your IQ in the Eco-Challenge – Win an iPad! NEW NEWS: The order is in for an iPad 3!

Go to http://www.NewEraOnline.org/Sustainability and take the Eco-Challenge quiz! You’ll automatically be entered to win an iPad when you complete the challenge! The challenge runs from March 5 – March 26 – good luck!

News Bit: Austin Passes Bag Restriction Law

For those of you who picked up your free usable bag last week at the Union, you’re in good shape if you decide to move to Austin!

“Austin, Texas, has passed a law restricting plastic and paper retail carryout bags. The law, which will take effect March 1, 2013, allows for three options: paper or plastic bag of thicker construction with handles, or reusable linen or woven bags, says Bob Gedert, director of Austin Resource Recovery, in an interview. Because of the replacement options, the city is characterizing it as a bag regulation, not ban.

The new law differs from what Austin City Council proposed in December, which involved a 52-cent interim fee for single-use bags. Gedert says administrative challenges, retail relationship to challenges and being accountable to the public made that “too difficult a path to take.”

Read more about this interesting and controversial step, HERE.

Source:  Waste360.com 

RecycleMania Results: Week 3

Here’s the results for Week 3 – we’re improving in our waste minimization efforts!

And here’s some of the items posted on the “Pledges to Save the Planet” wall at the Union last week:

  • Educate others on how to live simply & sustainably!
  • I will bring my recyclable grocery bag in the store when I shop.
  • Bike instead of drive!
  • Refilling my water bottle instead of buying new.
  • Using reusable bags, making “greener” choices when purchasing food, and car pooling more often.
  • Eat ogranic and buy loal. No plastic and natural products.
  • Educating myself on important environmental issue and following through with solutions.
  • Riding the bus more and reducing my meat consumption.
  • Volunteering for sustainable causes, planting trees, reusing, reducing and spreading the word.
  • Dedicating mindful effort constantly to reduce my negative impact & to encourage health, growth & education.
     

News Bit: Building a Sustainable Future Requires More than Science

“Contrary to popular belief, humans have failed to address the earth’s worsening emergencies of climate change, species’ extinction and resource overconsumption not because of a lack of information, but because of a lack of imagination, social scientists and artists say.

At a conference of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, British Columbia, experts argues that the path to a truly sustainable future is through the muddy waters of emotions, values, ethics, and most importantly, imagination.

Humans’ perceptions of reality are filtered by personal experiences and values, said David Maggs, a concert pianist and PhD student at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

As a result, the education and communication paradigm of “if we only knew better, we’d do better” is not working. Maggs told attendees at the world’s largest general science meeting. ‘We don’t live in the real world, but live only in the world we imagine.'”

Want to learn more about reality or the lack thereof? Read more HERE.

Source:  TriplePundit.com

Schedule of Events: RecycleMania Week

RECYCLEMANIA WEEK!

Pick up your FREE Reusable Bag (limited quantity available)

When:  February 27 – March 2

Where: Cloud Commons, University Union

What:

  • All Week
    Reusable Bag Giveway – 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
    Pledge wall – make a pledge, be entered to win a bike!
    Information & Displays
  • Monday, February 27
    Sustainable Rides Information – 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m
  • Tuesday, February 28 
    Featured Recycling Activity – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
  • Wednesday, February 29
    Sustainable Rides Information – 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m
    Featured Recycling Activity – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
    Food Vendor Booths – free samples! – 11 a.m – 1 p.m.
  • Thursday, March 1
     Featured Recycling Activity – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
  • Friday, March 2
    Sustainable Rides Information – 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m
    Featured Recycling Activity – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Check it out! Get a free reusable bag, try a craft, stack some caps, make a pledge, and recycle more!

News Bit: Buds to Suds

“Fans of beer will soon have yet another reason to imbibe, when a new partnership between Anheuser-Busch (now AB-inBev) and a company called Blue Marble Bio takes off. The two firms have launched a venture to convert brewery waste into a group of carboxylic acids that have a wide variey of commerical uses, including the manufacture of shaving creams and soaps. This renewable source of carboxylic acids will help the chemical industry along as it transitions out of petroleum-based formulas, and as a side benefit, the process also yields biogas that will be used to generate renewable electricity.

With the new venture, Anheuser-Busch also pushes the “green beer” movement up a few notches beyond the kind of measures that have becom expected from resopnsible beverage companies, such as water conservation, waste reduction and the intallation of renewable energy.”

Read more HERE.

Source:  TriplePundit.com

RecycleMania Results: Week 1

RecycleMania Week 1 Results
This year, UW – Green Bay is participating in three different categories of the ‘competitive’ division of RecycleMania:  Grand Champion, Per Capita Classic, and Waste Minimization. 

  • The Grand Champion category combines trash and each of the core recyclable materials to determine a school’s recycling rate as a percentage of its overall waste generation. To be ranked in this category, schools must provide their trash, paper, cardboard, cans and bottles weight. The winner will have the highest recycling rate, which means that they not only have reduced trash disposal through waste prevention, but also have a strong recycling program for the acceptable materials.
  • The Per Capita Classic is the original and most recognized RecycleMania competition format. In this category schools compete to see which can callect the largest combined amount of paper, cardboard and bottles and cans on a per person basis. Results are calculated by dividing recyclng weight figures with the full-time equivalent (FTE) student and staff population of the school.
  • In the Waste Minimizationcategory schools compete to see which produces the least amount of both recyclables and trash on a per person basis. Where other categories recognize school efforts to collect the recyclables generated on campus, this competition focuses on thier efforts to reduce the amount of waste generated, including recyclables. Results are calculated by combining the core recyclable materials (paper, cardboard, cans, bottles) and with the total trash weights for a campus and dividing this number with the campus’s population figure. Schools are recognized based on the lowest overall per person quantity.

 

 

 

To sort and view rankings for yourself, visit www.recyclemania.org .