Massasoit's "Chair-ity" Project

The Massasoit "Chair-ity" Project is the result of a sustainability grant that was offered at the beginning of the Fall 2008 semester to art students at Massasoit's Canton Campus. The money ($250) awarded to Professor Janet Tooker, was used to buy sandpaper, brushes and paint to redo used, donated chairs.

Professor Tooker's assignment to the students was as follows: "You will be refurbishing an old wooden chair to create a unique piece of art which will reflect the influence of a particular artist from one of the periods we will study in History of Art II this semester." The sustainability issue is based on a statement from the Global Environment and Technology Foundation: "Rehabbing an existing piece of furniture requires 85 to 95 percent less energy than producing a new one."

The chairs will be auctioned to the public at the first Massasoit Community College Arts Festival held at the Canton Campus on May 16th and 17th, 2009. Proceeds from the sale of the chairs will go to the Canton Food Pantry.

MassRIDES Improves "Ridematching" Service

MassRIDES has upgraded its Ridematching service to feature instant ridematching! You can find others who share your commute! This ridematching service will scan a 15,000-member database for a match! Just create a profile and check if you have a match!

A free service of the Exective Office of Transportation, MassRIDES is the comprehensive transportation resource for people traveling in and around the Commonwealth.
MassRIDES can help you accomplish all of these things and more:
- Reduce your commuting costs
- Travel together in a carpool or vanpool
- Receive current transportation information
- Reduce traffic congestion within your community or at your worksite
Our database of thousands of commuters connects those who share similar commutes and are interested in carpooling or vanpooling. Whether you live or work in Massachusetts, sign up now.

Beware of Invasive Plants

The Landscaping Subcommittee hosted Kate Pawlin (right) of the New England Wild Flower Society. It was a very informative meeting!

One of the handouts that Kate provided was on “Invasive Plants.”

What are invasive plants? According to the New England Wild Flower Society “these non-native plant species are “overachievers.” Once established in natural areas, they outcompete native species. Invasive plants cause profound environmental and economic damage and are a major threat to native habitats worldwide. Some invasive plants have escaped from our home gardens and public plantings into natural areas. Each state has different problematic plants. Listed below are the top two dozen offenders.”

Although experts have determined that these plants are invasive in most of New England, and harmful to the region’s native plant communities, the plants listed in bold are still widely available through nurseries, in catalogs and on the Internet.

Norway maple
Bishop’s weed
Garlic mustard
Japanese barberry
Oriental bittersweet
Swallow-warts
Autumn Olive
Burning Bush
Glossy buckthorn
Himalayan jewelweed
Yellow flag iris
Blunt-leaved privet
Shrub-like honeysuckles
Japanese honeysuckle
Purple loosestrife
Japanese stiltgrass
Water-milfoils
Common reed
Japanese knotweed
Mile-a-minute vine
Common buckthorn
Multiflora rose
Water chestnut

For a list of recommended alternatives and information about removing invasive plants, visit www.newenglandWILD.org

New Sub-committee hosts meeting

The Brockton Sustainability Task Force Committee is pleased to announce that its new subcommittee, the Landscaping Subcommittee, Melanie Trecek-King, Chair, will be hosting the next Brockton Sustainability Task Force Committee meeting on Monday, December 1st from 12:00 – 1:00PM in the Science Building, Room S538. 

The meeting will feature Kate Pawling from the New England Wildflower Society. Ms. Pawling will be talking about Sustainable Landscaping featuring native plants and flowers.
 
This meeting is open to the college community. Please feel free to bring your brown bag lunch to the meeting.
 

Brockton Brightfields

The City of Brockton, MA has redeveloped a former manufactured gas plant site, or "brownfield", into a "brightfield" — a solar energy generating station that converts sunlight to electricity.

About the Brightfield:
The Brockton Brightfield consists of 1,395 SCHOTT Solar modules
manufactured in Billerica, MA. At 425 kW, it’s the largest solar array in New England and the largest brightfield nationwide. The brightfield will generate over 535 Megawatt hours of electricity per year — enough to power over 70 homes. The solar modules are south-facing and installed at a 42 degree angle to maximize electricity generation.

About the Site:
The Brockton Brightfield is owned by the city of Brockton. It is installed on a 3.7-acre parcel of land leased from Bay State Gas Company. The site is the former home of Brockton Gas Light Company’s gas works, a manufactured gas plant that operated from 1898-1963. Bay State Gas Company completed remediation of the property in August 2004. The site had limited redevelopment opportunities due to contaminants capped below the surface. The brightfield is an ideal, low impact development for the property.

Learn More...

Emerald E.A.R.T.H. Green Initiative

Karyll McKechnie, Manager of Cafeteria Services at the College is pleased to announce that as of December 1st, the Brockton and Canton Cafeterias will be selling coffee at a reduced cost to students, faculty, staff and administrators who use reusable travel mugs. If you bring your reusable travel mugs to either of the cafeterias, you will receive your coffee at a cost of $1.00.  The current prices for coffee at the cafeterias are Large Coffee $1.50 and Small Coffee $1.25.
 
Please note that the Cafeteria will only be accepting reusable plastic or stainless steel travel mugs; no glass or porcelain travel mugs will be accepted.  Also, no non-travel coffee mugs will be accepted.
 
This green initiative was proposed by the Emerald E.A.R.T.H. Club (Student Sustainability) on campus. By implementing this green initiative, the Cafeteria is rewarding those individuals who are trying to live more eco-friendly lives and reducing the number of paper cups being used at the College.

Stop the Deluge!

They’re not only mailbox stuffers. The 19 billion catalogs mailed to Americans every year consume 3.6 million tons of paper and 53 million trees. If you want to stop the deluge at your house, check out Catalog Choice, a new online service that will tell merchants “thanks but no thanks” on your behalf. The service is free, and it’s simple. Just register at www.catalogchoice.org to search and decline. You can also add an entry. The site, endorsed by the Ecology Center in Berkeley, Calif., the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, launched October 9th. As of April 1st, 694,478 people had opted out of 9,181,316 catalogs.

Massasoit's "Green" Convocation Held

Massasoit Community College's Fall Convocation, September 12, 2008. The theme of the Fall Convocation was "Sustainability." Pictured are: (L-R) Betty Ann Learned, Vice President of Administration/CFO, Eric Friedman, Director of the Leading By Example Program of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and Dr. Charles Wall, President.

Join The NG Climate Conversation

Most experts agree that planet Earth is in crisis. But hope remains as long as there are citizens, governments, and companies who are working to make a difference. There are countless ways each of us can help build a greener world, from starting a compost bin, to buying renewable power, to driving a cleaner car.

This site is an invitation to join the climate conversation. In it, you'll find examples of Earth's profound beauty, and see how grassroots conservation efforts and groundbreaking technologies are making a difference in the fight to restore our planet's health.

Find out more.

Campus Environment 2008

A National Report Card on Sustainability in Higher Education
Trends and New Developments in College and University Leadership, Academics and Operations (2nd edition)

How well are American colleges doing at greening their campuses?

How environmentally literate are today's college students?

What is the biggest obstacle to expanding green activities on campus such as energy conservation, sustainable landscaping, and environmental curricula?

Which campuses are recognized for their exemplary commitment to sustainable practices?

Campus Environment 2008 reveals the answers-the survey results will surprise you.
This comprehensive study by National Wildlife Federation and Princeton Survey Research Associates International reviews trends and new developments in environmental performance and sustainability at 1,068 institutions. It recognizes colleges and universities for exemplary efforts and awards academic letter grades (A through D) for collective, national performance on environmental literacy, energy, water, transportation, landscaping, waste reduction and more. The report analyzes collective trends in the areas of management, operations, and academics.

With 27 percent (more than one quarter) of U.S. colleges (presidents, administrators, and facilities managers) responding, the 2008 survey is the nation's largest study to date created to gauge trends and new developments in campus sustainability. It was also the first study of its kind when conducted in 2001.

------> Read the full report

Emerald E.A.R.T.H. Club Meetings

Upcoming Emerald E.A.R.T.H. Club (Student Sustainability) Meeting dates are as follows:

Monday, October 20th
Monday, November 17th
Monday, December 8th

All meetings will be held in the Student Senate Conference Room from 12:00 – 1:00 pm.

I know that everyone’s schedule is full, but it would be wonderful if members of the Sustainability Task Force Committee could attend the meetings and help support the students’ efforts.
Thank you!

Live Webcast

Join Al Gore in Supporting the Youth Climate Movement on October 29 at 8:00pm Eastern
On October 29th at 8pm Eastern, Al Gore will be speaking to Power Vote groups across the country in a live webcast!

Join us for this exciting opportunity!

Join Al Gore and over 250,000 young people across the country who are taking action through the Power Vote campaign to halt our Climate Crisis, and calling us to hold our elected officials accountable for repowering America through our voice and our VOTE on November 4.

Right now nothing is more important than seizing the opportunity to fight global warming at the most important possible battleground: the ballot box. And no one understands this more than the world's leading clean energy advocate and our favorite Nobel Peace Laureate.

We're going to be kicking off 6 days of hard core Get Out the (Power) Vote campaigning between October 29 - November 4, and Gore's talk with all of us will be an incredible and inspiring launch pad for action. But even before the 29th, we have some work to do. We need all of you to organize viewing parties in every city and on every campus in the United States on October 29.

Invite friends to your dorm room, reserve a classroom on campus, work with campus or local environmental groups, get a local movie theater to let you use it for the night, or find a projector and the side of a building...

GET THE DETAILS and REGISTER YOUR EVENT
Al Gore Web Cast on October 29, 8:00pm EST

National Wildlife Federation is once again teaming up with the Energy Action Coalition to support a youth led climate movement. Power Vote is a national, non-partisan campaign to mobilize 1 million 'climate voters' for the 2008 election.

Over 250,000 people from around the country have signed the Power Vote pledge, and more are joining everyday. Anyone can sign the Power Vote pledge. Help us create a clean just energy future, a million Power Voters strong.

Welcome to the Green Team!

This blog was developed by the Massasoit Community College Sustainability Committee for the purpose of sharing ideas that support the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.
Please join our efforts.