Earth Day @ SU

From the University Sustainability Committee and the SGA

Earth Day 2012

Monday the 23rd - Eco-Tour

We are kicking off the week with a sustainability tour of Salisbury University starting in the Fireside Lounge at noon. We will be going around campus to learn just how environmentally-friendly our school is. This event is open to all SU students with or without a passion for the environment.

Tuesday the 24th - Recycle Madness

The SGA is hosting its 'Recycle Madness' event Tuesday, April 24th to promote recycling on campus. During this event we will be collecting as many recyclable materials as possible in a 4 hour span. Students are encouraged to bring aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic, cardboard, paper, and tin. We greatly appreciate the recyclable materials to be sorted and cleaned before dropping them off. For individuals who bring in at least 3 pounds of materials will be given something special for their efforts. This is a RSO recognized event and all RSO's who bring in at least 10 pounds of materials and have 2 of their members volunteer for the duration of the event will get credit. The RSO who donates the largest amount of recyclable materials will receive $100 and $50 for first and second place respectively. We also have AmeriCorps coming to collect all old sneakers that students may no longer need. They are participating in the NIKE Reuse-A-Shoe drive where they grind up and melt down the rubber to be reused as tracks and tennis courts.

Wednesday the 25th - Movie Showing

We are proud to present the film 'Houston, We Have a Problem' located in Perdue 156 at 6:30pm. This film takes a look into the Oil Industry and the controversy that comes with it. Ultimately, this is an educational, upbeat examination into the history and future of oil. The first 15 students who come to the event will receive a prize.

Thursday the 26th -Earth Day

Our largest event of the week is Earth Day locating in Red Square from 11:00am until 2pm. A day where Recognized Student Organizations, Environmental Classes, and local vendors come out to promote Earth Day. Blue Hen Organics will present information and sample materials from SU’s food waste composting program.  Everyone will have something special to share from environmental information to games and arts and crafts.

***

As part of SU's Sustainability Initiatives and in celebration of Earth Day, the SU Sustainability Committee shares some enlightening facts about environmental issues and SU's sustainability efforts.

• FACT: It's not that hard to recycle. You don't have to remove staples, plastic windows or spirals from notebooks. These get strained out when the paper is turned to pulp. Remove tape if you can because it tends to gum up the machines and never recycle greasy or dirty paper (no napkins!). However, those greasy and dirty paper and napkins can be turned into compost if you start your own compost pile at home.

• FACT: Save Water Without Spending a Dime:

  • Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. If you just wet and rinse your brush, you will save 9 gallons of water each time you brush
  • When shaving, fill the basin instead of letting the water run will save 14 gallons of water.
  • Fill a milk jug with stones and place it in your toilet tank to displace water if you do not have a low-flow toilet.
  • Use a timer to cut your showers down to five minutes.
  • Wash full loads rather than partial loads. Standard washing machines use 30-60 gallons of water for each cycle.

• FACT: As technology improves and gets cheaper, old cell phones, computers, iPods and digital cameras end up in the landfill. In 2005, the EPA estimated that there was about 2.2 million tons of e-waste, and about 80-85 percent of that ended up in landfills. Electronics can be recycled and the metals reclaimed.

• FACT: Americans use 50 million tons of paper annually-consuming more than 850 million trees. What a waste! Over the course of 50 years, a single tree can generate $32, 250 of oxygen, provide $62,000 worth of air pollution control, recycle $37,500 worth of water and control $31,500 worth of soil erosion. One tree can absorb more than a ton of carbon over its lifetime.

• FACT: Make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Using a clean air filter element can improve performance and gas mileage.

• FACT: Energy saved from one recycled aluminum can will operate a TV set for three hours and is the energy equivalent of half that can filled with gasoline.

• FACT: Help reduce global warming-by recycling half of your household garbage, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. It is easier than you might think because the cardboard, glass, plastic, bimetal cans, and papers take up a lot of space!

• FACT: Dress warmly in the winter-by turning down your central heating thermostat one degree, fuel consumption is cut by as much as 10 percent.

• FACT: In the U.S., we use enough office paper each year to build a 10-foot high wall that's 6,815 miles long-or two and a half times the distance from New York to Los Angeles. Toss it in the recycling container not the trash--every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil.

• FACT: Glass produced from recycled glass instead of raw materials reduces related air pollution by 20 percent and water pollution by 50 percent. In Wicomico County, recycled glass is ground up and used as filler in paving material.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  In 2006 alone, SU recycled more than 500 tons of items ranging from paper and glass to electric motors and oil.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  Through SU's partnership with Pepco Energy Services, Inc., SU is upgrading some 1,700 plumbing fixtures to conserve 11,000 gallons of water annually.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  Since 2003, SU has recycled 70 tons of its old computers and audio-visual equipment. There is an electronic recycling drop box at the Maintenance Building; for inventoried SU equipment, contact Information Technology to arrange recycling.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  As a certified arboretum, SU has also won the Green Award from the Maryland PLANT (People Loving And Nurturing Trees) Community for its commitment to forestry.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  SU continues to promote mass transit by expanding the capacity and pickup locations of the University's shuttle service, and at SU's urging, Wicomico County created a bicycle path from University Park to the Fruitland Wal-Mart. To meet increased demand, SU recently added 27 bike racks to campus for cycling commuters.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  The environment was a key concern in the construction of the Teacher Education and Technology Center. Some floors are covered with renewable and recyclable bamboo instead of petroleum-based products and up to 40 percent of the building's structural steel frame is made from recycled materials.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  Salisbury University President Janet Dudley-Eshbach signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, pledging to move SU toward climate neutrality.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  Through SU's partnership with Pepco Energy Services, Inc., SU replaced aging mechanical equipment or installing more efficient equipment for heating and cooling in 14 buildings on campus. These efforts have resulted in annual savings of 32,688 MMBTUs per year, which is the equivalent of planting 2,145 acres of trees or removing 1,571 automobiles from the road.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  Paper purchased for office use at SU is made of 30 to 100 percent recycled, post-consumer materials and then recycled again. Last year, the campus recycled 244.20 tons of mixed paper.

• SU DID YOU KNOW?
  Every year, students in SU's residence halls are participating in RecycleMania, a national contest of more than 400 colleges and universities throughout the United States that compete to see who can produce the most recycling. Last year's contest resulted in 41.3 million pounds of recycling. For more information about RecycleMania, visit their website.

Top