Green Vendor Fair hosted by Rapphannock Community College, photo taken by National Wildlife Federation staff

Rappahanock Community College’s table featured their green workforce development course offerings including “Harnessing the Sun – Solar Systems: Installation and maintenance”, “Harnessing the Wind – Wind Power Systems: Installation and maintenance”, and a course specifically geared for kids, “Elementary Lego® Engineering 2 ‘Going Green’” for students (ages 11-12) to creatively build and modify machines applying basic engineering principles and green technology.

The Green Vendor Fair not only helped the community learn what products and services are available (including educational services available through Rappahannock Community College), but for the companies (potential employers) to highlight what green skills are in demand and how the educational providers (i.e., Rappahannock Community College) can help develop training programs to ensure they are meeting this demand. The Green Vendor Fair was partially funded through a grant of the Greenforce Initiative, a partnerships of Jobs for the Future and National Wildlife Federation. The Greenforce Initiative works in six regional across the country, including Virginia, to help advance greener workforce development at community colleges and bridge campus sustainability efforts as hands-on training opportunities for students. Rapphannock Community College and ten other community colleges in Virginia are partners in the Greenforce Initiative.

Learn more about Rappahannock Community College’s green workforce development offerings.

Check out National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology case study database for best practices in green workforce development.

Powering a Bright Future contains solution-based curriculum providing discourse on energy use and extraction, peak oil, fossil fuel subsidies, energy efficiency, equity, energy policy and even low carbon food tips. Authors include Lester Brown, Richard Heinberg, Amory Lovins, Sandra Steingraber, and others. This new resource can be integrated into college and university curriculum in the areas of science, economics, sustainability, environmental policy and more.

What you need to know about this new resource:

• This mini-course can be offered as a stand alone two-session course, or used as a supplement to complement any of NWEI’s other courses.
• Cost is $10, and this course is only available in PDF format.
• Due to the inherent connections between climate change and energy use, NWEI is offering this new mini-course in conjunction with Global Warming: Changing CO2urse. (You can now participate in both courses for $15)

Since 1993, NWEI has been leading the curious and the motivated to take responsibility for Earth. Through discussion courses and the annual EcoChallenge, NWEI helps engage communities in meaningful conversations that lead to “Aha!” moments about the way people live, work, create and consume. Learn about other NWEI discussion courses.

Check out National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology resources on energy, climate change, and sustainability.

Sustainable Skidmore

Topics covered in the S-Rep program include: waste reduction and recycling, climate change and energy conservation, food and composting, and more. S-Reps participate in training before the start of the academic year and meet biweekly throughout the semester to learn about selected topics and to discuss and plan activities for their dorms.

According to Skidmore, the most successful element of their S-Rep program is the creation of the Student S-Rep Manager position. By creating a position for a person that had previously been an S-Rep, there is an understanding of the challenges faced by current Eco-Reps that the Sustainability Coordinator (staff) may not have. The most successful S-Rep-initiated program on campus is “Skidmore Unplugged,” where residence halls compete to reduce their individual energy consumption over a period of three weeks every November. (An excerpt from Student Sustainability Educators).

Authored by Dr. Christina Erickson, Sustainability Director at Champlain College in Vermont, and co-published by National Wildlife Federation and AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education), Student Sustainability Educators can be downloaded for free, at www.nwf.org/EcoReps.

Student Sustainability Educators features examples from 18 campuses highlighting their efforts to design, implement and evaluate Eco-Rep Programs. Readers of the guide will find:
• Step-by-step action items and tips for creating, maintaining and evaluating a campus Eco-Rep program
• Brief descriptions of actual programs and their best practices
• Case studies of successes and roadblocks
• Activity, event, marketing and outreach examples
• Eco-Rep recruiting tools, sample job descriptions, and other resources

Reference:
In addition to Student Sustainability Educators, blog content includes highlights from the Sustainable Skidmore website.

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Campus Ecology program recently released a new, step-by-step guide to creating student peer-to-peer sustainability education programs—often known as “Eco-Rep” programs—on college campuses. Authored by Champlain College Sustainability Director Christina Erickson, “Student Sustainability Educators: A Guide to Creating and Maintaining an Eco-Rep Program on Your Campus” takes readers through the design, implementation and evaluation stages of an Eco-Rep program. Visit www.nwf.org/EcoReps for more information or to read the guide.

Readers of the guide will find:
• Step-by-step action items and tips for creating, maintaining and evaluating a campus Eco-Rep program
• Brief descriptions of actual programs and their best practices
• Case studies of successes and roadblocks
• Activity, event, marketing and outreach examples
• Eco-Rep recruiting tools, sample job descriptions, and other resources

“By creating Eco-Rep positions, Dr. Erickson shows how students and staff can effectively engage their peers in practices that reduce waste, improve public health, and make higher education more affordable,” said Julian Keniry, co-founder of NWF’s Campus Ecology Program. “This guide documents a powerful way in which students are taking ownership of their own communities and futures.”

“Christina’s work will be invaluable to students who are seeking ways to become more involved in campus sustainability,” said AASHE Executive Director Paul Rowland. “AASHE is pleased to partner with NWF to help get this information into the hands of students who can help lead the sustainability transformation on their campuses.”

With more than 60 active student sustainability education and outreach programs on campuses across the U.S. and Canada, and many others planned or underway, NWF and AASHE are addressing a demonstrated need for campus guidance in both creating and maintaining Eco-Rep programs. Often the main motivation for starting such programs is a desire to extend outreach efforts on issues such as waste reduction and energy conservation to a broader student audience, beyond those who are already “eco-minded.”

A joint webinar will be presented on April 18 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern to celebrate the launch of this new guide. Erickson will be joined by Eco-Rep staff at Babson College (Massachusetts), Lehigh University (Pennsylvania) and the University of Pennsylvania.

Women & the Environment Briefing at The White House, March 26, 2012 (image credit Microsoft Clipart)

The morning session was full of brilliant, energizing women from the EPA and other offices within the U.S. government talking about their roles and the continued need for women to take an active role in protecting our natural resources.

Highlights include:
Administrator Jackson states that, “it takes action, bold action to make things happen. We are counting on women to help with this work [protecting the environment] – environmental hazards that impact both women’s health and children’s health.”

Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, highlighted several victories that the EPA has experienced during the Jackson administration, including the first ever mercury standards for coal fired power plants.

Panel discussions included EPA staff working on a variety of issues including water, air and working in the areas of finance and enforcement. Nancy Stoner, Acting Assistant Administrator in the Office of Water, also known as the “water lady” spotlighted a few water-related efforts of the EPA including the Mexico Border Program which ensures safe drinking water and waste water services for border residents both in the U.S. and Mexico; there is an estimated 8.5 million border residents.

Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator in the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, talked about her role in pursuing individuals or groups that are in violation of U.S. environmental laws; enforcement action ranges from fees to criminal action. Assistant Administrator Giles comments that YouTube as been a help with finding out about violators plus highlighted that tips are always welcome from concerned citizens at www.epa.gov/tips.

Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator in the Office of Air & Radiation said that the Clean Air Act (CAA) is the most successful and effective health (and environmental) law in the U.S; the CAA covers pollutants such as lead and ozone, just to name a few.  McCarthy said that the regulations are important, but “it’s not just about regulations, it’s also about changing behaviors.” Education and communication are key for the American public to understand how their daily choices impact the environment.

The briefing on Women & the Environment was a gathering to celebrate and acknowledge Women’s History Month – March.

What happens in the classrooms across the world will change the world ~ Martha Kanter, Under Secretary, U.S. Dept of Education

The day included presentations by education leaders from Chinese Taipei, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Mexico, Chile, Canada, and the U.S. Spotlights included:

San Gee from Chinese Taipei, who hosted a presentation on environmental education in primary and secondary schools, with commentary that destruction during a 1999 earthquake presented an opportunity to rebuild with the goal of safe and sustainable development. Gee noted that one step taken to ensure a sustainable future was an environmental education act passed in 2010 requiring all faculty, staff and students in primary and secondary schools to participate in at least four hours of environmental education each year.

Sarah White, from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, led a panel on the vocational education and training system’s role in green growth and employment. White stressed the need for skills to be “portable,” meaning people need to learn skills that are useful across industries, are flexible and stay relevant. Panelist Wang Wenjin, from the People’s Republic of China, highlighted several goals toward sustainability for his community including the desire to establish more parks and green space that result not only in conservation of natural resources, but also in job creation. Wenjin also highlighted China’s establishment of a green building evaluation standard in 2006, and their goal to reduce reliance on coal from 74% to 54% by 2020.

A second panelist, Young Saing Kim from Korea, highlights Korea’s green growth strategies including the President’s proclamation of “Low Carbon Green Growth” as the national strategy for the next 60 years. Korea also set a goal to invest $38.5 billion from 2009-2012 in nine key green projects to boost economy and create 1 million jobs in the green sector; and be the world’s 7th green power until 2020 and the 5th green power by 2050.

The clear themes of the day were twofold:

1. Greening industries and greening jobs are essential to protecting the planet and its natural resources.
2. Sustainability education needs to be front and center from the beginning; ensure students are involved in primary school and engage them through higher education, whether that is career or technical training or a four year degree program.

Learn what National Wildlife Federaton’s Campus Ecology program is doing to support college and university efforts to infuse sustainability into the curriculum (search our case study database) and advance greener workforce development (through our Greenforce Initiative).

We have the power to impact the planet

This April 21st, the Ian Somerhalder Foundation challenges colleges and universities in California to get dirty! The Foundation aims to join more than 2000 schools, including colleges and universities, in a statewide effort to clean up local communities throughout California on Saturday, April 21st, 2012.

Clean-up your campus on April 21st! REGISTER TODAY! We have the power to impact the planet and clean-up California.

To learn more about efforts to green your campus and community in California and throughout the U.S. please go to NWF’s Campus Ecology website.

Ian Somerhalder plays “Damon” on the CW’s Vampire Diaries;  his Foundation aims to empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures.

Credit: NIOSH

NIOSH efforts on ensuring a safe environment for green workers 

Making Green Jobs Safe Workshop and Summary (NIOSH)

Making Green Jobs Safe, article in the Journal of Industrial Health

The Greenforce Initiative, a partnership of Jobs for the Future and National Wildlife Federation

NWF Campus Ecology’s best practices in green workforce training (choose “green workforce development” in the topic search in the case study database)

The mission of NIOSH is to generate new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health and to transfer that knowledge into practice for the betterment of workers.

The mission of the Greenforce Initiative is to advance green career pathways in six regions of the U.S. (IL, MI, NC, TX, VA, WA) and connect campus sustainability efforts to hands-on training for students.

Abonmarche Blog, February 28, 2012, Jeff Saylor

Shipping containers as Housing

Earlier this month, I gave a lecture at the Krasl Art Center (Krasl) in St. Joseph on the rehabilitation of shipping containers, primarily for housing purposes.  This event was part of the Creativity and Sustainability Lecture Series provided on a monthly basis by the Krasl.  Locally based Lake Michigan College is currently undertaking an initiative to determine a sustainable use for shipping container in the community, an initiative funded by a Greenforce Initiative Mini Grant.

Recycled shipping (or freight) containers bring efficiency and innovation to green building practices.  Shipping containers are water tight, stackable and incredibly strong: ISO standards require the roof to be able to withstand 300

Abonmarche Blog, February 28, 2012, Jeff Saylor

pounds per square foot and each corner of a container is able to take a vertical weight of 150,000 pounds.  These steel boxes are between 8.5-9.5 feet tall, 8 feet wide and between 20 and 40 feet in length.  They are made of corten steel and therefore rust-proof and, in many ways, an engineering marvel.

ISO standards limit the number of shipping cycles for which these containers may be used and recycling them is exceedingly cost prohibitive – melting one down requires 8,000 kilowatt hours of energy.  There are approximately 1,000,000 surplus containers worldwide at any given time and since the United States imports more material than we export, we have a surplus of shipping containers that are no longer eligible for use in shipping cycles.  Shipping containers have been creatively employed through a variety of ways to assist in providing creative housing solutions across the globe.  Shipping containers provide structure and a strong roof, though to make them

Abonmarche Blog, February 28, 2012, Jeff Saylor

NASA Project Team

Twenty-five participants attended the Institute last week, including 9 faculty from our three community college partners, three NASA staff, other project team members from the University of Toledo, Columbia University and Moraine Valley Community College, and JFF and NWF staff.

Reviewing NASA Resources with Amanda Staudt, NWF Climate Scientist

Over the next two years of this project new course curriculum and best practices will be shared on the partner campuses, campuses in the region, as well as colleges and universities in the NWF and JFF networks.

NWF’s EcoSchools program received a similar grant from NASA to develop curriculum for the K-12 audience in 2009. Resources developed through this program are being referenced for the community college project.