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.

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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