End of Year Recycling Tally

38,474.3 pounds.

19.2 tons.

Of recycling. This does not include the secure paper that gets collected, which I would guess is at least another few thousand pounds, and it definitely doesn't include all the items that were collected during Give and Go to be reused, or any of the composting that was done (another few thousand pounds).


Yes, it is the end of the year. And over the course of the spring semester, the recycling team collected a grand total of 38,474.3 pounds of recycling. Over the course of the entire year- 65,078.4 pounds (32.5 tons). Well done, recycling team. Well done. That is the equivalent of 12 adult male Asian elephants. Or 260 newborn elephants.

I have to add that a few thousand pounds of that recycling was done in the last week of term, after finals, when everyone apparently cleaned out every single liquor bottle they had drank throughout the year. I could tell, because they had signed and dated each and every bottle, and many of them dated back to September. I'm not sure what has prompted this trend, but it certainly makes end of year recycling a lot less fun. All those glass bottles are pretty heavy.

I also found, as I was recycling, several couches, refridgerators, tvs, two countertop grills, a coffee maker, a VCR, an untold number of lamps and trash cans, about a million storage boxes of some variety, a lot of unopened beers, books, clothing, two pairs of rubber boots, bedding, pillows, a desk, hundreds of hangers, vases, and a fish bowl. Oh, and my personal favorite, a deck of Bible Go Fish cards. I'm kind of mystified by how all these things get thrown away. We do offer a pick up for unwanted items- there is a drop off in the Student Center, where items can be left to be donated to thrift stores and the food pantry. But apparently some people were uninterested in taking the time to move their goods to the appropriate place. Leaving them instead for the poor housekeepers (and me) to haul away.

So while we've done an excellent job at recycling, we've still got a ways to go. Next year let's make it the goal to reduce as much waste as possible- and not just the bottle and can kind!!


Here's a fun post on recycling written by one of my favorite people ever, the trash guru clickclackgorilla: Save the Earth with Our Easy 12-Step Program

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Things to Do This Weekend!

Readers, April is a difficult month for posting because there's so much going on. In fact, there's so much going on, that I thought I'd post the entire list, here for your perusal. All events are free unless otherwise specified:

Thursday, April 22
EARTH DAY CELEBRATION
11am – 2pm
Hodson Hall Commons and Cater Walk
An open community event for students, staff, faculty and friends of the college featuring foods from local farmers on our menu. We will be hosting a farmers market along Cater walk and showing the film "2 Angry Mom’s" in the Center Stage.
Fee to general public for lunch buffet $6.00

Friday, April 23
"Nourishing Traditional Diets for the 21st Century", a talk by Sally Fallon
7PM
Author Sally Fallon Morell exposes the dangers of low-fat diets and urges a return to traditional food choices and preparation techniques. She will speak in Hynson Lounge, Hodson Hall, Washington College. Sponsored by the Anthropology Department and the Center for Environment & Society.

Saturday, April 24
Mutt Strut & Earth Day Festival
9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Fountain Park & Memorial Row
Chestertown

The Kent County Humane Society, the Town of Chestertown, and Washington College's Center for Environment & Society will present the annual Mutt Strut & Earth Day Festival in downtown Chestertown on Saturday, April 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Festivities begin in Fountain Park with the Farmers' Market, live music, and registration for the 13th annual Mutt Strut. The dog parade starts at 10 a.m. and winds through Town, finishing at the Courthouse where Shelter Associate Courtney Phelps presides over a series of "pawsitive" pet tricks, canine competitions and agility contests. There is a $10 registration fee for Mutt Strut, while Earth Day and pet fair festivities are free and open to the public.
Earth Day features eco-friendly exhibitors, crafters and vendors; free paper shredding; free recycling of fluorescent bulbs; free recycling of rechargeable- and alkaline batteries; environmental education, and opportunities for kids of all ages to learn why it is important to take care of Mother Earth's air, land and water. "The social, environmental and economic choices we make today have real consequences for the planet," says Mayor Margo Bailey.
For more information, call 410/778-7295 or visit ces.washcoll.edu and www.kenthumane.org.

* 8:00 AM - Farmers' Market opens in Fountain Park
* 9:00 AM - music begins on Memorial Row
* 9:00 AM - dog walkers register in Fountain Park
* 10:00 AM - dog parade begins
* 10:30 AM - dog agility contests begin in Fountain Park
* 1:00 PM - festival ends on a happy note

Mutt Strut & Earth Day is a community event sponsored by the Town of Chestertown, the Kent County Humane Society, and the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College.

Sunday, April 25
Taste of the Town
Featuring sampler plates of the signature dishes of 15 of Chestertown’s finest restaurants and caterers, including the beneficiary of the event, the Culinary Arts program of the Kent County High School.

Participating restaurants and caterers range from nouvelle gourmet to those famous for regional classics such as Maryland Crab Soup.

The tented event will take place from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m in Chestertown’s waterfront Wilmer Park.

In addition to food, Taste of the Town will offer beer, wine from the local Cassinelli Winery, beverage stations, a cookbook sale, raffles for restaurant gift certificates and
a live auction of select premier items donated by restaurants and sponsors.

"Skipjack: America's Last Sailing Oystermen", Christopher White and the Watermen of Tilghman’s Island
5pm – 6pm
Decker Theatre, Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts
Join us for a powerful discussion about the decline of the oyster harvest and the future of the oystermen's way of life. The event will include a talk by Christopher White, author of the critically-acclaimed new book, Skipjack: The Story of America's Last Sailing Oystermen, and a unique public conversation with four legendary senior skipjack captains: 89-year-old Arthur Daniels, Jr. and his son Stan Daniels, both of Deal Island, and Wade Murphy, Jr. and Stanley Larrimore of Tilghman Island.
You are invited to "Meet the Captains" at the post-program Oyster Reception and book signing. Attendees will also have an opportunity to explore a remarkable exhibition of skipjack-inspired art, including photography, paintings and models by Chesapeake masters Marion E. Warren, A. Aubrey Bodine, John Barber, Carolyn Egeli, Tim Bell, the CBMM Modeling Club, and many others.
The event is co-sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College.

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Upcoming Local Food Meeting

If you live in Chestertown, on the Eastern Shore, or nearby, and are interested in local foods: eating them, supporting local farmers, and being part of a community that cares about it's members, then please join us on March 16, 2010, for a discussion on food freedom in our area. A small group of concerned citizens have decided to do something about the constant threats that endanger our access to local foods, the question is, what? What does our community need to make local foods available to everyone in the community, to increase knowledge of healthy foods and how to prepare them, and to assist local farmers in staying in business? In the interest of answering these questions, we are calling a meeting of all interested parties to find out more. In the future, we will most likely keep in touch by monthly or bimonthly updates on our activities, meetings, and information about local food in the area. If you are at all interested, PLEASE attend the meeting, if you are interested but cannot attend, please keep checking back on my food blog for updates. If you chose to join us, we will be doing our best to spread the word on articles, legislative actions, events, and opportunities in the area pertaining to local foods and food freedom.

Please pass this information on to anyone else who may be interested! We hope to see you at the meeting on the 16th.

Advocate for Local Foods
March 16, 2010
5:30 PM
Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River
914 Gateway Drive
Chestertown MD 21620

Even as small farms multiply and more local produce and farm products become available to consumers, the state government is just as quick to create new regulations making our access to those same products more difficult. Come learn about recent legislation that may threaten our ability to purchase our food at the farmer's market, as well as standing regulations that make it difficult for farmers to produce value-added products locally and direct market them to consumers. We will discuss what we as conscious citizens can do to ensure our right to choose our own foods, educate ourselves about the healthiest choices for ourselves and the environment, and advocate for food freedom throughout the state of Maryland. Activists from the local food movement around the state will be on hand to answer questions and propose solutions. Free and open to the public.

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RecycleMania: Now at WC

The Recycling Program, located within the Center for Environment & Society, has been incredibly busy during these first few weeks of the spring semester in order to coordinate a wide variety of events and competitions promoting recycling and sustainability initiatives on campus. One such event that is currently underway is RecycleMania, a competition among over 600 colleges and universities to compare the efficiency and effectiveness of recycling programs by collecting results from participating colleges and universities in a variety of categories.

According to their website, RecycleMania is “a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities.” This competition, which was founded in 2001, occurs over an eight-week period and is currently in its second week. Sunday, January 17 marked the beginning of the two-week trial period, which precedes the official competition. During the two trial weeks, recycled materials at WC weighed in at 1.26 lbs. per capita and 1.57 lbs. per capita. Unfortunately, these numbers did not carry through to the first actual week of the competition, during which recycled materials weighed in at 0.49 lbs. per capita.

WC has been participating in this competition since 2007.

RecycleMania categories include Grand Champion, Per Capita Classic, Waste Minimization, Gorilla Prize, and Targeted Materials, including Paper, Corrugated Cardboard, Bottles and Cans, and Food Service Organics.

Additionally, the Recycling Program is hosting its own private competition among dorms to promote recycling. The competition, which started on February 1, is comparing recycling by weight per capita by dorm, and the dorms with the highest total pounds of collected recycling per capita will be announced at the end of the semester. Dorms will be penalized for their “grossness factor,” meaning that pounds will be subtracted from their total at the discretion of either the Recycling Assistants or the Recycling Coordinator based on quantity of un-recyclable products found in the recycling bins, and also for any items, such as food or plastic cups, that are particularly gross or annoying to find within the bins. The winning dorm will be recognized in the Elm and online, and results will be posted each week. Full details will be available at georgegoesgreen.com.

The Recycling Program has expanded this semester to include additional dorms. The only dorms not currently participating in the on-campus recycling program are Caroline House, Minta Martin, Reid Hall, and Queen Anne House. These dorms will receive new recycling bins, and therefore will be included in the competition, as soon as the snow clears and the recycling team can distribute bins among the halls.

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George Goes Green in US News & World Report

Look! We're in the news!

5 Unique Ways to Go Green if You're Living in a Dorm

I'm just amused that every time I'm quoted in a national newspaper, its for saying something that I have never in my life said. I definitely did not say "But if you want to get fancy, try organic hand towels and bamboo cutlery." I don't think I even said anything remotely resembling that. But, ah, well, the press. They do like to embellish.

At least we got featured! That's pretty exciting.

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Compost Testing Yields Good Results

Since the start of this semester, it has been my goal to put some science behind the composting that goes on at Washington College, and yes, we do compost by the way. Mid-September, I met with Dr. Sherman, associate professor of chemistry at Washington College who specializes in soil chemistry. She agreed to guide me through the testing and soon I was on my way to determining the quality of our compost.


The procedures were taken from the manual Test Methods for the Examination of Composting and Compost (TMECC), developed by the U.S. Composting Council. The purpose of following these procedures rather than our own is to have the ability to analyze our compost according to widely used standards. Also, in the future we may want to market our compost to the public, and following the TMECC procedures will allow us to put a Seal of Testing Assurance on our compost.

So far, three tests have been performed on the compost from last year, which finished decomposing over the summer. It has been tested for pH, conductivity (soluble salt concentration), and moisture. It is still in the process of being tested for organic matter, which will tell us the percentage of carbon-based materials in the compost. This does not, however, tell us the carbon to nitrogen ratio which is most important during the process of composting, determining the ability for the pile to decompose aerobically and at the correct temperature. This test is quite complicated, so we must send samples to select labs with the proper equipment.

These are the results:

pH: 7.43
Conductivity: 10.83 dS/m
Percent Moisture: 42.8%

Analysis of the results:

A pH within the range of 6.0 and 7.5 is optimum for compost according to the TMECC. In this range, necessary nutrients are available for microbes and the compost can decompose readily. If the pH were below or above this range, necessary biological processes would not occur. A pH within this range indicates that nutrients necessary for plant growth are available. The presence of toxic metals is also an important factor in compost quality. Toxic metals are indicated by a pH less than 5, so we do not need to be concerned about toxic metals in our compost.

Electrical conductivity measures the soluble salt concentration in a sample. Salts are important factors in compost quality because high concentrations can damage seedlings, prevent or delay germination, and decrease nutrient availability. Low concentrations may indicate low fertility levels. Typical compost samples have a conductivity of 1.0 to 10.0 dS/m, and although our reading was slightly higher, it is not excessively high and will not likely damage plants when mixed in with soil.

The percent moisture measures the amount of water in the sample. Percent moisture does not really affect its quality, but rather its ease of handling and transportation. A preferred moisture range is 40-50%, so our compost should be easy to handle.

By the end of the semester we should have results for the organic matter tests as well as results from a sample being sent to a soil analysis lab to determine carbon/nitrogen ratio.

You may be wondering about the actual application of the compost on campus. Some of the compost from last year’s pile has just been applied in front of Daly Hall. Now with these data we can rest assured that the plants are growing in quality compost. Look for signs in front of Daly indicating the use of the compost and be on the lookout for more signs in other areas in the future!

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One Day Only, Hazardous Waste and Recycling Drop Off

MIDSHORE HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION

MERCURY THERMOMETER COLLECTION

"eCycle" - CONSUMER ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

SATURDAY, NOV. 7 - 8 am to 2 pm - DENTON, MD - Free !

Click below for the full announcement.


Household HAZ Waste & eCycling events on Saturday, Nov. 7 - (One Day Only)

Rain or Shine, 8 am to 2 pm

Caroline County Public Works, Denton, MD

For your information – SEE DETAILS BELOW or visit www.midshorerecycling.org regarding specifics about:

* A one day collection of old fuels, solvents, lawn & garden pesticides, oil-based painting products and many more items, including Mercury Thermometers.

* A Recycling event for electronics such as computers, computer peripherals, TV's and many other electronic items.

DIRECTIONS:
From West:
Take Route 404 East to Denton (stay on 404 East, don't take Business 404)
Cross Choptank River
Right at Denton / Greensboro Exit (McDonalds, Pizza Hut)
Right onto Route 619 South (6th Street)
Right on Wilmuth.
For GPS & Mapping programs, the street address is 520 Wilmuth St, Denton, MD 21629


Future Events:
* Spring 2010 - Queen Anne's County, Date & Location TBA
* Fall 2010 - Talbot County, Date & Location TBA
* Spring 2011 - Kent County, Date & Location TBA
* Fall 2011 - Caroline County, Date & Location TBA


Who May Participate:
* Residents of Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne's & Talbot Counties
* NO Business, Industrial or Commercial Farm Waste
* Residency and Household Status Verification will be requested

What Will Be Accepted:
* Gasoline, Gas/oil Mixes, Fuels
* Acids
* Cleaners
* Solvents
* Automotive Fluids
* Bleach
* Ammonia
* Pool Chemicals
* Dark Room Chemicals
* Household and Lawn & Garden Pesticides
* Insecticides & Herbicides
* Painting Products: Oil Based Paints, Paint Thinner, Turpentine, Wood Preservatives, Wood Strippers, etc.
* Dispose of solidified LATEX paint with trash - to solidify, add dirt, mulch, kitty litter, etc.

Pre-arrange large loads. Empty fuel containers returned upon request. Stall will unload vehicles.

What Will NOT be accepted:
* Explosives
* Ammunition (contact Fire Marshall at (410) 822-7609)
* Medical Waste
* Radioactive Materials
* Picric Acid (Don't transport - call MDE at (866) 633-4686 or HazMat Co.)
* Compressed Gas Cylinders (propane, refrigerant, etc.)
* Asbestos
* Smoke Detectors
* Materials from BUSINESS, INDUSTRIAL, OR COMMERCIAL FARM SOURCES

Suggestions:
* Buy quantities that match the task
* Try to use materials up
* Find a use or reuse for materials
* Follow label instructions
* Label all items & store in proper containers
* Choose safer products & substitutes
* Keep out of reach of children
* Put dirty empty cans in trash
* Recycle clean & empty metal cans
* Recycle lead acid vehicle & marine batteries at retailer
* Recycle motor oil, antifreeze and tires at existing transfer stations during normal operating hours
* Motor Oil & Anti-Freeze Dropoff Locations
* Recycle Rechargeable (Ni-Cad, etc.) batteries at Radio Shack, True Value and other location see www.rbrc.org
* Don't bring latex paint
* Solidify & dispose of latex paint with trash

Project Partners:

Midshore Region - (410) 758-6605
Caroline County - (410) 479-4040 or (410) 479-0520
Kent County - (410) 778-7448
Queen Anne's County - (410) 758-2697
Talbot County - (410) 770-8170
Midshore Landfill (MES) - (410) 820-8383
MD Dept of the Environment - (800) 633-6101

Funded by Midshore Counties (Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot) & available grants.

__________________________________________________________________
Mercury Thermometer Collection

Turn in old mercury thermometers:

* Weekdays at either the Kent or Queen Anne's County Health Departments
o Kent County Health Dept (410) 778-1350
o Queen Anne's County Health Dept (410) 758-0720

* At the Fall 2009 HHW Collection Event
o Where & When:
+ Saturday, November 7, 2009
+ 8:00am to 2:00pm
+ Caroline County Dept of Public Works - Denton, MD
+ See Directions Above

Visit the Maryland Department of the Environment's Mercury Website

__________________________________________________________________
Consumer Electronics Recycling


Where & When: (also see new drop-off sites below)
* Saturday, November 7, 2009
* 8:00am to 2:00pm
* Caroline County Dept of Public Works - Denton, MD
* See Directions Above

What will be accepted:

Computers:
* CPUs, Keyboards, Monitors*, Mice, Printers, Cables, Modems
* Computer Speakers, Scanners, External Disc Drives, most other peripherals
* Note - for computer equipment only, see the list of new county drop-off locations below.

Other Electronics:
* Televisions*, Remote Controls, VCRs, CD Players, DVD Players
* Calculators, Cell Phones, Telephones, Radios, CB Radios, Stereos^
* Facsimile Machines, Answering Machines, Copiers

Pre-arrange Large Loads
*Recycling fees for TVs and Monitors will be waived for the November 7, 2009 collection event.

Please assist with unloading, if able.

What will be NOT be accepted:
* Large or small appliances, power tools, household items, manuals, diskettes, packaging
^Wooden-cased TVs, stereos or speakers

General E-Cycling Information:
* Typical monitors & televisions have 4 pounds of lead
* Lead & other toxic and valuable metals can be recovered and reused
* These bulky items with toxic materials can be kept out of the landfill
* This event is a pilot program with the Maryland Department of the Environment, Midshore Regional Recycling Program and eCycling partners.


New - Computer recycling drop-off sites were recently set up in each Midshore County for computers & computer peripherals;

*
Kent County - Nicholson Drop-Off Center near Chestertown;
*
Queen Anne’s County - Grasonville Transfer Station in (8-5 daily - except Thursdays & Sundays);
*
Caroline County - Hobbs Transfer Station near Denton (Tues, Wed, Fri 11-6; and Sat. 8-4 ) ;
*
Talbot County - Chesapeake Center at 713 Dover Road in Easton, by appointment on weekdays with Lisa Korrell at 410-822-4122, for details, there is $10 fee for monitors (TV's also accepted: $15 fee) .

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Local Food Week!

In ye old Dining Barn. Oops, I mean, the Dining Pavilion.

This week Dining Services does a toast to local foods, so many of the things on the menu will be brought to you straight from Kent County farms. At the moment the dining hall doesn't seem to be labeling the things that are local to distinguish them from those that are not, but trust me, they are there.

Have you noticed the quality of the food seems to be going up, as well? There were actually three things I could eat when I popped in for lunch last week and they were all delicious. The Dining Hall has not had a good history in making food for vegetarians, but that was a pleasant surprise. Today we were back to slightly above normal, however.

In other news, we are now over on facebook as well, so if you are a mysterious reader of George Goes Green and are somehow not friends with me on facebook, get yourself on over there and become a fan.

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And Another Head's Up

There are some new recycling bins on campus. They look something like this:


Except slighter prettier I think.

Point being, starting next week the residence halls on the north half of campus will begin to be serviced by the dedicated recycling staff. Previously, they had to rely on the county service. Which works rather well except that it required students to remember to put their recycling bins on the curb. And, sad to say, students are not always so great about remembering to put their recycling bins on the curb.

Now, no one will have to remember to pick up the recycling! Except us, but that's our job, so its not so hard to remember. We will be picking up recycling from all of the Western Shore dorms, Harford, Chester, and Sassafras. Bottles and cans go in the pretty blue containers like that one (look up). Paper and cardboard go in the old green county bins. So long as they are DRY and NOT mixed with bottles and cans. Or food. Please refer to www.georgegoesgreen.com for further info.

As another head's up, in case you didn't know, you can also recycle things other than bottles and cans and paper on campus. Such as batteries, and some electronics. You can take these to the help desk in the basement of Wm Smith.

Keep checking back for more updates as the year progresses. This year we plan to make WC a recycling powerhouse.

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Just a Head's Up

So, the summer is winding down. There are students again on campus. (Hello, students!)

I just added up the summer recycling. I'm missing some of the county numbers- they weigh our cardboard when they take it away, and tell me how much it was at the end of the month- but aside from that, the total is in.

It's 13,933.5 lbs. Which translates to about 7 tons. I'd also like to point out that aside from occasional help from my roommate/coworker (thanks!!!!!) I collected all that by my lonesome.


I don't ever want to hear anyone say girls can't do heavy lifting. Take that, recycling. Take that.

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Take That, Recycling

Thanks to the kick ass team of recyclers here at Washington College, I am proud to present you with the final totals of recycling collected in spring semester (from the end of January to this very day).

The five best interns a recycler could ask for managed to amass a grand total of:
5,249.9 lbs of mixed paper
11,389.2 lbs of bottles and cans
4,200 lbs of cardboard

These are astonishing numbers, let me tell you. Especially when you consider as of this time last year we were... well, we weren't really recycling much at all. Let's be honest.

I cannot thank these dedicated students more for their amazing hard work, especially in whole heartedly committing to a program in its fledging year... and especially for pulling together an extra 2700 lbs of recycling by challenging the sororities to a competition- an unheard of number considering it was collected in only 4 weeks. One day I'll post on here about the amount of work that goes into recycling- it's definitely a candidate for Dirty Jobs.

For now, let's just say the Recycling Fairy strikes again!

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Earth Day '09

The winners for the 2009 George Gets Ingenious competition was also announced at Earth Day. Congratulations to Nicolas Bash '10! You can view his entry and all the other great ideas for sustainability here.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, gratuitous puppy photos from this year's Earth Day and Mutt Strut in Fountain Park. To see the rest of the photos, check out the CES website. Click to enlarge! And please excuse blogger's inability to line up pictures.

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Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone!

In celebration there will be local foods featured in the dining hall tonight, from our very own Homestead Farm, located in Millington, MD. This may be a small selection, but expect to see local foods more often in the dining hall, especially in the fall when we move back into Hodson.

Woo!

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101st Post!

Loyal Followers,

I've just realized we hit 100 posts! Somehow I have a hard time believing that, but I suppose, since I started this blog during George Goes Green last year (and it is that time again) it has been about one year- and 100 posts in one year is a pretty respectable number.

In celebration, here is a fun, non-rant link about bicycles, which I love dearly. Maybe we should start collecting the recycling on campus by bike. Extraordinary Loads on Ordinary Bikes

Also, please excuse some temporary messiness while I redesign the look of the blog.

Thanks for reading!

Green Georgia

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Deadline Extended - Please Enter Now! 60 Seconds or Less Video Festival

Showcase the work you’ve already done in classes! Make a trailer for a longer video assignment, re-edit something that’s over a minute - we want to make sure your work gets seen because we know there are great projects out there on campus now!

(And - if you think you can turn something out quickly, why not make that idea into reality or turn in another quick project?)

You now have until Monday, April 6th at 12:00 pm to turn your videotapes in to Nancy Cross in the Miller Library (Lower Level.) Don’t miss this great opportunity to show your friends what you’ve created this year.

There’s still a chance to win a digital video camera or hundreds of dollars worth of prizes! If no one enters, no one wins and we’ve only got five entries total at this point. Still lots of chances to come away with something.

The Awards Presentation Reception and Ceremony will be April 7th and will kick off at 6:00 pm with wine, cheese, fruit and candies from around the world in Toll Atrium. The video presentation and awards ceremony will start at 7:00 pm in Litrenta.

Hope to see your entries soon (full rules at www.wcmc.tv) and see you in Toll!

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George Goes Green! Again.

Once again, it is time for our annual George Goes Green marathon! As George Goes Green is now practiced all year round, and not just in April, we've made this year's theme: An Action a Day Keeps Global Warming at Bay. On the George Goes Green website you can find a calendar with tips and suggestions to help make every day a green day. We'll also be posting tips, pictures and video here on the blog throughout the month of April.

This year we also are leaving behind the energy competitions of the past. As this is the fourth year of George Goes Green, we figure you've got the idea by now and should be saving energy ALL year round. Instead, we're focusing on individual actions and innovative solutions to sustainability, through a series of events (including our sustainability workshop, which I will blog about at some point) and the annual George Gets Ingenious competition. Here is your chance to win $250.

No, for real. YOU CAN WIN $250. I know I could use that much.

The rules and guidelines are posted here for your edification: click here

Photos, suggestions, and other submissions can be sent to tholste2@washcoll.edu. For Washington College students, faculty and staff ONLY please.

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Recyclemania

For the fourth year running, Washington College is participating in Recyclemania. This is a national competition among colleges to encourage campus recycling and waste minimization. We are participating in the Per Capita Classic competition, along with rival colleges from our athletic conference including Gettysburg, Dickinson, McDaniel and Hopkins- all of whom are currently beating us except Hopkins- so get recycling!

You can help by using the recycling bins around campus, and encouraging your hallmates to put out their green county bins every week. If you don't have one, ask your RA to contact the recycling coordinator at recycling_coordinator@washcoll.edu.

You can keep updated on the results here.

You can find out more information about campus recycling at George Goes Green

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Welcome back!

Again.

And again, there are new recycling bins! Yes, while you were gone for holiday, the recycling fairy came in the night and waved her magic wand and bins appeared in the rest of the major academic buildings. Or possibly she and some helpers assembled bins for about 7 hours and ended up with a lot of blisters. Either way!

The small offices will have to wait just a little bit longer, but will also get bins by the end of the year. So! Use the bins! Recycle!

We are also participating in Recyclemania again this year, which is a national competition of colleges to see who can recycle the most! You can check out our ranking here.

Lastly, we are taking a trip to Florida again this Spring Break to volunteer in the Everglades. So if you are interested in going, come to a SEA meeting and look out for ads about the deadlines.

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Survival Crafters

No, we’re completely serious.

You take survival skills- and by survival skills I mean actual, if civilization collapsed tomorrow I’d be able to get by survival skills, not how to get a job survival skills, because if civilization collapsed tomorrow that would get you nowhere- and you combine them with the quilting bee or knitting circle concept. Throw in some snacks, and you’ve got our group.

We (students and staff at the college) have started an informal group of people who are interested in learning more about primitive techniques for making stuff- from tools to rope to nets to dishes to food to clothes- whatever catches our interest. Relying on the knowledge of our members and whatever we can scrounge together- we are embarking on an adventure in learning how to survive the way others have for centuries (and more environmentally friendly, to boot). We'll probably spend half the time on campus and half out in the field, learning to collect and test out the things we make. A group for people who like the outdoors, extreme camping, and crafting.

And why, you say? Well, the reasons I’m sure vary- some people are just really interested in recreating Native American techniques (that would be the anthropologists of the bunch). Some people are hardcore campers and want to know how to get by if they’re stranded in the wilderness. Some people have watched too many episodes of Survivor Man.

And still others of us have taken a look around at our society and figured, hm, something’s not quite working here. You can spend a lot of time arguing the what and the why, but we’re choosing to spend our time studying how societies have worked in the past- and worked so well they’ve lasted for thousands of years, without completely destroying the environment on which they depend. They had to be doing something right. And we intend to recreate it, to the best of our modern, unskilled abilities.

If that’s not enough incentive, hanging out with a bunch of cool people, relaxing, keeping your hands busy, and eating cookies should do it for you.

We hope to see you in the new year. If you’re at the college and would like to be kept apprised of our activities, join our facebook group, Survival Crafters.

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One day only e-recycling in Easton

MIDSHORE HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION

MERCURY THERMOMETER COLLECTION

"eCycle" - CONSUMER ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

SATURDAY, NOV. 1 - 8 am to 2 pm - EASTON, MD - Free !

A one day collection of old fuels, solvents, lawn & garden pesticides, oil-based painting products and many more items, including Mercury Thermometers.

A Recycling event for electronics such as computers, computer peripherals, TV's and many other electronic items.

Directions to 7341 Barkers Landing Road, Easton, MD (Yellow Signs will be posted):

From Route 50,
East on Rt.331 (Dover Road),
Right onto Dover Neck Road,
Left onto Barkers Landing Road,
Left into Landfill
Follow directional signs and instructions to the drop-off area.

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