Summer 2017 Your source for sustainability ells pring Volume I1I No. 4

Newsletter of the Center for Sustainability and the Environment at Wells College. Sustainability Center Fall Activity Schedule

We are still looking to add some events and activities Nov. 13—Hope for the Climate (even with a for this fall, but we already have a pretty solid line-up: partisan Congress)

Sustainability Perspectives series looks at sustaina- Nancy Jacobson is a member of the Citi- bility from a variety of viewpoints. These talks are held zens’ Climate Lobby, a national, grassroots at 12:20PM Mondays in the deWitt Lecture Room, 106 organization whose citizens have been working Zabriskie Hall. with their members of Congress to embrace a national, bipartisan bill to reduce future climate Sept. 11—Can Psychology Help Promote change. Homeowner Energy Conservation? Results from a town-gown collaborative Sustainable Business series showcases leaders who experiment have integrated sustainability into their businesses.

Kathryn Caldwell, asst. professor of Psychology at Tuesday, September 19, 7:00PM Ithaca College, and Elisabeth Harrod, general manag- Extended Producer Responsibility: The Next Fron- Sierra Club has again named er for Snug Planet, are collaborators on a study of tier in Solid Waste Management Wells to its annual list of social marketing techniques to promote homeown- Learn how this concept can increase recy- Cool Schools, citing institu- er energy conservation efforts. cling, create jobs in NY State, and result in more tions with strong commit- Sept. 18– Revitalizing the Environment in environmentally sound products and packaging. ment to sustainability. Sierra Andrew Radin, chair, NY Product Stewardship Council pulled data for its analysis Afghanistan Mariam Raqib ‘97, founder and director of deWitt Lecture Room, 106 Zabriskie Hall from our 2016 AASHE STARS sustainability assess- Afghanistan Samsortya, explains how her organi- Monday, October 23, 7:00PM ment. We scored highly in zation has addressed environmental devastation in her The Great Pivot: Freeing Up Humans to Do academics (#17 overall) and warn-torn homeland, helping communities re-establish Meaningful Work food sovereignty and economic independence. This recruiter, serial entrepreneur, environmental in planning (#16), ranking 150 out of 239 “Cool Sept. 25—Gardening in a Changing Climate policy activist, and author brings a unique perspec- Schools” this year. We ex- Donna Levy, env. ed., tive to career development and supporting hiring pect to do even better next This talk emphasizes how gardening can be managers in the New Green Economy. year, when Sierra uses our used as an educational tool to respond to Dan Smolen, managing director, The Green Suits LLC climate change in our everyday lives. deWitt Lecture Room, 106 Zabriskie Hall 2017 AASHE STARS data. Oct. 2—Sustainability in Practice: The DEC’s Sat. October 14, 2:00—5:00PM In this issue: Approach to Managing NY State’s Waters Sommer Center Anthony Prestigiacomo, research scientist The ultimate DIY experience. We pro- Out and About…. 2 for the Finger Lakes Water Hub, will explain vide all the supplies and equipment—you

Inside this issue: his agency’s priorities, plans and efforts to protect provide the creativity. What Wells students did 2 or rehabilitate impaired Finger Lakes water bodies. instead of summer vacation Campus Crunch Oct. 16—A Virginia Master Gardener’s Perspec- Wednesday, October 24 to ??? Summer Swallowwort 2 tive: A Model for Public Education on Environ- The GRIND Café Research mentally Sound Horticulture Practices Starting at Wells TeaTime, Nancy Tillinghast ‘69 will discuss her Virginia We’re cleaning up! 3 pledge to eat locally grown produce and receive a community’s Master Gardener educational program. free, local apple to “crunch” into. Part of a statewide

Planting Beauty 3 Oct. 23—Conserving the Lands and Waters of the observance, our Crunch lasts until the apples run out. Composting Picks Up 3 Finger Lakes Andrew Zepp, executive director of the Finger IT goes for the Gold! 3 Lakes Land Trust, will explain how his organiza- Offering More Sustainable 3 tion works cooperatively with landowners ad local Responding to the Trump administration’s decision to Products communities to protect undeveloped land. withdraw from the Paris climate accords, President Gibralter was one of hundreds of signatories to an Emissions are waaaaay down 3 Oct. 30—A Living Experiment: What We Can Learn from EcoVillage Ithaca open letter to the international community and par- Print Releaf Program 3 Liz Walker, co-founder of this internationally ties to the Paris Agreement from U.S. state, local, and Moving Closer to the Sun 3 known co-housing community, will explain more about business leaders. The first paragraph reads:

Learning About Invasive living in the world’s largest ecovillage. We, the undersigned mayors, governors, tribal leaders, 4 Species Nov. 6—Building Foundations of Sustainability in college and university leaders, businesses, and investors Kindergarten are joining forces for the first time to declare that Different ways to teach 4 Heather Frost ‘09, outdoor educator for Ithaca we will continue to support climate action Hittin’ one out of the park to meet the Paris Agreement. 4 Montessori School, will explain how teachers can

integrate sustainability learning into everyday practice. Learn more about Wells’ climate action; see page 3.

Page 2 Academics Wellspring Out and About ... Kent Klitgaard, professor of What Wells students did instead of summer vacation… Economics and Sustainability, A significant number of Wells students conduct internships or do applied research during the summer presented two talks at the months. During the Fall internship fair, we spoke to many who had worked on sustainability-related sum- Eighth Meeting of the Interna- mer projects, including several working with state parks. Shania Dauphinais tional Society for Biophysical ’18 did her internship at Hills Creek State Park in Pennsylvania, where she Economics in Montana: mapped invasive species present in the park, created outreach materials and “Integrating Social Science led two public educational programs about invasive species. Cameron Davis with Biophysical Economics” ‘19 served as a summer Park Maintenance Worker for , and “Towards a Methodology where he assisted in various park projects and learned how much work goes for Biophysical Economics.” into keeping our parks clean and safe for visitors. Zack Simone ‘18 served as Kent and his co-author fin- a Park Ranger at Northhampton Beach State Park, educating the public on park ished the 2nd edition of Ener- rules and enforcing safety practices. Curtis Davis ‘19 served as a Conserva- gy and the Wealth of Nations— tion Steward for , doing various Understanding the Biophysical tasks, like supporting ongoing research, public edu- Economy. First published in cation and outreach, and identified invasive species 2011, Kent added chapters on and natural pollinators in the park. David Balcer ‘20 hydraulic fracturing and fossil worked with the Finger Lakes Partnership on Regional fuels and planetary boundaries Invasive Species Management (PRISM) on various re- for this updated edition. gional invasive species monitoring projects. Connor Dunham ‘18 worked with the Cayuga Lake Water-

Milene Morfei, professor of shed Network on several outreach and education programs. Connor worked on local outreach related to Psychology and Sustainability, the recent discovery and planned herbicide treatment of a significant infestation of the highly invasive attended the 3-day Sustainabil- aquatic species Hydrilla found just south of the Wells dock. Ashley Lopez ‘19 served as a natural special- ity Professionals Retreat in June, ist for The Fresh Air Fund, where she developed lesson plans for fun, interactive, biology-based outdoor sponsored by the Association activities for campers age 9-15 attending the ABC Camp. Bradlee Sherman ’19 worked as a land stew- for the Advancement of Sustain- ard and educator for the Lime Hollow Nature Center, working to maintain the ability in Higher Education. Center’s 12 miles of and supporting on-site educational programming. Milene reported that she of- Shannon Simmons ‘20 worked as a Discovery fered her peers several exam- Guide for the Bronx Zoo, assisting with summer zoo ples about Wells’ successes. day camp animal education programs. Kaitlyn Wells ‘18 participated in research work with an organic chemistry team at the University of New Hampshire, studying antibiotic resistance. Yequarah Conner ‘18 completed two summer internships. She worked with the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project, which supports the Farm Fresh Box program to provide low-income households with access to fresh pro- duce grown through a Community-Supported Agriculture model. Yequarah, a business major with minors in Sustainability and Sustainable Food Systems, Jackie Schnurr, professor of also worked at the Green in BKLYN store, which specializes in more sustaina- Biology, presented her re- ble consumer products. She learned about the at- search on “Impacts of pale tributes of “green’ products and how to effectively swallowwort on biotic and market them. Melinda Pitman ’19 abiotic aspects of invaded has been working as the student communities”, for the Ecologi- market manager for this year’s Auro- cal Society of America confer- ra Farmers Market since late May and ence in Portland OR. Jackie has been conducting a related internship to grow the market. also presented a session titled “Learning by doing: project- Summer Swallowwort Research based teaching of Advanced Four students worked on campus conducting summer research with Biology professor Jaclyn Schnurr. Ecology”, about modifying her Jackie studies the invasive species pale swallowwort which is epidemic on the course to make it project- Wells campus. The team studied different methods of treating swallowwort, based. Her students observe from pulling it out by the roots, or cutting it back, to working with Grounds an aspect of a system (in to apply systemic herbicides on certain plots. Tessa Hopt ‘18 studied the Wells’ case, the temperate effects of altering soil pH on swallowwort, which usually prefers growing in deciduous forests of CNY), neutral to alkaline soils. Caitlyn Smith ‘18 worked on the impact of pale pose a question, form an hy- swallowwort on macroinvertebrates in the surrounding soils. Jiali Liu ‘19 pothesis, conduct field work, studied the activity of natural pollinators in and around stands of pale swal- analyze the data, write up lowwort; she didn’t find any notable changes in pollinator activity. Mike their study in manuscript Szarowski ’18 studied swallowwort’s impact on soil bacterial diversity. His form, and publicly present a hypothesis was that swallowwort would inhibit diversity – he found signifi- poster of their work. cantly more bacterial colonies and more diversity around the plants. This newsletter is printed on 30% post-consumer-recycled-content paper; please be sure to recycle when you finish reading it. Operations Page 3 W e l l s p r i n g

We’re Cleaning Up! Planting Beauty Composting Picks Up

We are busily collecting data to We spotted Jim Button, Grounds crew We worked with Wells Dining staff to complete our AASHE STARS foreman, along with student Eamonn improve the waste separation station in comprehensive assessment of Moneypenny-Hall, who spent his summer the campus pub, the Well, to include com- campus sustainability. We will working on campus grounds maintenance, post collection. Unlike the dining hall, report our final results in the Fall 2017 planting a lovely tri-color beech tree on the where nearly everything is either com- newsletter issue, but we thought we would east side of Zabriskie hall. Jim is never happi- postable (food waste, napkins) or reusable, share one significant improvement over er than when he gets the chance to increase the Well‘s food service uses a mix of com- 2016. Of all the cleaning products and bath- the diversity of landscape materials on cam- postables, recyclables, and reusables. We room papers we purchased, 88% of them pus, and he has an unfailing eye for what will wanted the separation scheme there to were third party certified for environmental look just right and closely track with other campus waste and human health safety. 62% of the clean- what will thrive in a separation areas (landfill trash left, recy- ers used were GreenSeal certified or certified given spot. Jim says cling right) but add in compost collection. by another reputable programs; 100% of the new tree’s varie- We worked up these info boards showing our bathroom paper products were EcoLogo gated foliage in spring examples of what items are compostable certified. We continue to look for alterna- and summer months and what things tive certified cleaners that work as effective- will turn coppery in are recyclable. ly as those we buy now. In 2016, the fall—that should Hope this helps only 66% of cleaning products and look lovely against our campus papers were third party certified. Zabriskie Hall’s brick community get This is a huge win for Facilities! walls. it right!

IT goes for the Gold! Offering More Sustainable Products

Similar to the analysis we did with Facilities Bookstore Manager Rich Kloster made us aware of some sustainable school for cleaners and papers (see above), we supplies he added to the store shelves. The House of Doolittle weekly academic worked with our Information Technology planner has 100% post-consumer recycled paper pages, 50% recycled cover group to assess how much of the eligible materials, 90% recycled wire binding, is printed with soy computer equipment (PCs, laptops, moni- ink and is U.S. made. Rich dropped the option to have tors) they purchased in fiscal year 2016-17 these planners imprinted with the Wells logo, which was certified by EPEAT. Last year, IT devel- would have raised the price by $3. The Academic Doodle Color Desk oped a purchasing policy, stating Wells Pads are made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper printed would at minimum purchase EPEAT Bronze with soy inks. As part of our AASHE STARS sustainability assess- level items. We were delighted to learn ment, we reviewed all the Wells-logoed “soft goods” (clothing) in the bookstore, to learn that 100% of the HP and Apple equipment by what companies they were manufactured and to see whether those companies partici- IT bought last year was certified EPEAT pate in programs that certify their products as being made “sweat-shop free”. We were Gold. The EPEAT system addresses the delighted to learn that 100% of the manufacturers of products we sell - including brands environmental impact of the full product like Russell, Columbia, Gear, and Under-Armour - are members of the Fair Labor lifecycle, from design and Association and adhere to that organizations’ Code of Conduct prohibiting production to energy use forced or child labor, or labor practices that do not conform to the require- and recycling at end-of-life. ments set forth by the country of manufacture. Emissions are waaaaay down Print Releaf Program Moving closer to the sun

Wells continues to reduce our greenhouse In our spring newsletter, we reported that Wells has taken another important step gas emissions through a combination of our Information Technology group worked closer to taking advantage of on-site solar energy efficiency and conservation. We with Toshiba Print Management, the company energy generation. Our leadership team inventoried our emissions for FY 2016-17 with whom they contract to provide our signed a letter of intent with the solar devel- and noted another substantial decline. To network printers, to implement the Print oper selected through a months-long RFP keep our Climate Action Plan on track, we Releaf program. Based on the number of process to proceed to the next step: to have an interim emissions target of 10% pages Wells prints each month, for every work with our local utility to determine reduction over our 2008 baseline by 2020. tree’s worth of paper used, the Print Releaf what additional costs might be entailed to Our emissions are currently down by over reforestation partner we selected, U.S.- interconnect the proposed solar photovolta- 50% —this year’s big tumble is due to Facil- based Trees Water & People, will plant a cer- ic systems to the grid. If all continues to go ities’ purchase, since January 1, of 100% tain number of trees. We received our first well with this solar project, we expect to wind-generated electricity (red bar). Print Releaf certificate indicating that, in July, move into final contract negotiations later we printed 158,233 pages. That equates to this fall. There is a very real possibility that 5842 mtCO e 2 19 trees that our Print ReLeaf partner will by next spring, Wells will be using renewa- add to their reforestation project on the ble electricity 2767 mtCO e 2 Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. produced right here on our cam- pus, further

slashing our CO2 emissions. Page 4 Outreach Sustainability is a decision-making framework for continuous improvement that mindfully takes into account the social, environmental, and economic impacts of our choices.

Learning about invasive species We were approached by staffers from the Finger Lakes Institute and the State Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM) to host their 2-day teacher training workshop on invasive species here on our campus. This was one of two workshops the FLI educational team offered in the Finger Lakes area this sum- Center for Sustainability mer; the one here at Wells was intended to and the Environment support educators from the easternmost coun- ties in the large 17-county FL PRISM region. This Marian Brown, Director workshop attracted educators from the Warner Wells College School of Education at the University of Roches- Standing left to right in the front of the room: Jiali Liu ‘19, 170 Main Street ter, Keuka College, Skaneateles High School, Mike Szarowski ‘18, and Dr. Jaclyn Schnurr explain Office: 213 Zabriskie Hall Corning-Painted Post High School, NYS Parks, their research of highly invasive pale swallowwort Aurora NY 13026 Cornell Cooperative Extension, and even an interested Schuyler County legislator. due to a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB). So work- Phone: 315-364-3304 E-mail: [email protected] or The first day of this Invasive Species training shop participants got first-hand experience wit- [email protected] workshop focused on aquatic invasive species nessing a large HAB infestation; they could look and started out with a morning presentation in at the tiny blue-green algae comprising these the Center for Sustainability classroom about larger, potentially toxic “blooms” under the mi- We’re on the Web: the human, environmental and social impact of croscope on board the Floating Classroom. www.wells.edu/sustainability some aquatic invasive species currently affecting Cruise participants also got the opportunity to the Finger Lakes. Participants also learned how pull up samples of our local Hydrilla infestation Wells Center for to use the iMap Invasives online mapping tool to prior to herbicide treatment by the U.S. Army Sustainability and report sightings and exact GPS locations of inva- Corps of Engineers, which started shortly there- the Environment sive species discov- after and will be on-going into the fall months.

@Wells Sust Center ered. The second day of the Invasive Species workshop

The afternoon of the focused on Terrestrial Invasives. The group Different ways to teach first day moved to Jackie Schnurr’s Ecology lab in featured a Stratton Hall where Jackie and her summer The Sustainability Center provid- cruise research students explained about their on- ed an open house, educational aboard the going projects studying pale swallowwort, a demonstrations, as well as a Cayuga Lake particularly prevalent terrestrial invasive presentation on Wells College’s Floating plant found in and around the campus (see current sustainability activities for Classroom, more page 2). Workshop participants were Reunion College, which kicked off which em- led through an in-lab identification of sam- the weekend of activities for Re- barked ples of common invasive plants found in the union 2017. Among the interac- from the Finger Lakes region. This indoor activity tive activities we offered were Wells dock. In an odd confluence of was followed by Jackie and her team lead- our popular, blind drinking water events, the dock’s swimming area was ing the group on a campus hike to find test-taste challenge, pitting Wells’ in the process of being closed by the Wells HAB significant infestations of far too many of drinking water against two types “bloom” sample Cayuga County Health Department these common invasive species “in the wild”. of bottled water products.

The Sustainability Center provid- Hittin’ one out of the park

ed compostable serviceware Earlier this summer, we were reached out to by Wells alum- (plates, cups, napkins, bowls and nus Shane Truman ‘14, assistant general manager of commu- eating utensils) for the annual staff nity relations for the Auburn Doubledays baseball team. Shane, picnic, held at the AA Field House a Psychology graduate (at right), remembered the strong sus- in June. For the accompanying tainability focus in his Psychology of Environmental Sustainability staff golf tournament, the Center class and was aware of the college’s more recent strong em- offered a special prize for the brace of sustainable thinking and practice. He invited Profes- winners of the Skin Award, a sor Milene Morfei and Center director Marian Brown to “Green Golfin’ Goodie Basket” filled visit the park and consult on ways to make Falcon Park, the with recycled Earth golf balls and team’s home field, more sustainable this season. As a first biodegradable golf tees. step, we suggested that park staff relocate their existing The core of Dixon waste collection containers and, with new instructional sign- Earth golf balls are age, create waste separation stations to capture more recy- made from 100% re- clables. The Center designed new waste station signage fea- newable polymers, and the entire turing the team’s mascot, Abner Doubleday, showing park ball is manufactured with materi- patrons how to properly separate redeemable containers als that can be recycled. Fore! from landfill trash.