Going Local Week

How is it that the summer is nearly past and that GOING LOCAL WEEK 2011 began on this coming Sunday? I hope you have a great week celebrating our local food shed.

 

Buying local food is not only important to our health, but it contributes greatly to the Indiana economy. Did you know that “If half the families in Indiana shifted $6.25 of their current weekly food budget to the purchase of Indiana grown or produced local food this effort would provide an annual contribution of $300 million into the local Indiana economy. Is this impressive? Yes, but that’s not the final number. Studies consistently show that a dollar spent locally will multiply itself by 3 to 5 times making the actual economic impact of that one dollar in the local community where it was spent far greater than a buck. Initially it may be impossible to believe but, with a subtle shift in our food spending habits, we can make a $900 million to $1.5 billion economic impact on Indiana in one year.”

Find out more about Indiana local food and our wonderful producers on www.goinglocal-info.com

Green TEaching Tips

Utilize Blackboard to facilitate classroom learning and instruction. Instead of printing, you can place all of these items in Blackboard:

o Your Syllabus (Save it as a pdf so it cannot be altered!)

o Quizzes (No scantrons needed!)

o Tests (once they are entered, you can use them semester, after semester!)

o Journals (Create a Journal Blog!)

o Review Sheets (Students won’t worry about misplacing the review sheet)

o Power points

o Course Handouts

o Supplement topics with Discussion Boards (Create a classroom café to discuss current events!)

§ Benefits for Instructors and students:

Increase their knowledge and usage of on-line instructional methods.

Automatic grading of quizzes and tests in Blackboard

Less printing, students can always refer to Blackboard for course information

Students are helping the environment

Can increase communication among students and faculty

You can learn how to enhance your knowledge of Blackboard and Distance Education resources by:

o Register for the On-line Faculty Certification Training [Training Portal]

o Sign up for WIMBA and Blackboard trainings [Training Portal]

o Go to Campus Connect – Help/How-to Tab—Faculty (or Student)—

Training materials

o Attend Adjunct Orientation

o Blackboard Student User Guide

o Teaching Tips Community in Blackboard

o Faculty can stop by the TLTC (Teaching Learning & Technology Center)

Always utilize the recycling bins.

$Green is the Color of Money$

If you’ve always thought that being environmentally conscious involved trips to expensive grocery stores and buying fancy equipment, think again. In fact, the opposite is true: most green-friendly activities will also save you money. Being green isn’t about buying more, it means doing more with less. Our grandparents who lived through the great depression had a mantra that still holds true today: “waste not, want not.” It may sound corny, but it’s just another generation’s way of saying “reduce and reuse.” These last two Rs of the green movement are far more important than the more popular R, recycling. Unlike recycling, they are the two behaviors that can save you money. By using less and reusing, you help save the environment and money at the same time.

Try any of these to make a difference in your wallet and the world:

Use cloth: buy cloth napkins & towels at garage sales to save money on paper toweling and napkins

Buy in bulk: food and spices are cheaper from bulk bins

Turn down your hot water heater: 120° will save you money

Wash clothes in cold water: the major cost of doing laundry at home is heating the water

Wash full loads of clothes: you’ll save money at home and the laundromat

Bike, walk, and use public transportation: gas is expensive

Cook at home: prepared food costs more than home-cooked because you’re paying for labor

Buy a nalgene or metal water bottle and drink from the tap: bottled water is expensive and no better

                than filtered tap water

Use cloth or plastic shopping bags: most stores give a five cent credit per bag

Turn the heat down by 5° in the winter or up by 5° in the summer: you’ll only notice the lower utility bill

                will go down

If you’re on a budget, going green can save you green.

Pushing Green

 Republished from Indy Green Piece

NCAA Final Four…check.

Super Bowl 2012…check.

Home of Super Bowl Champs…check.

Pretty easy to see that sports have put Indianapolis on the map.

Going green…Not yet. But we’re getting there.

A great new website that champions equal parts awareness and action, >Pushing Green, is an awesome way to get Indianapolis on the map as a city making strides to a healthier, more sustainable planet. Plus, win their contest, and they’ll pay your energy bills for a month!

There are two primary ways to win: complete challenges and earn street cred, or spread the word through your social media outlets and build your team. Two winners are chosen monthly from each region (Indiana is currently lumped in with 11 other Midwestern states) and the site promises to pay up to $200 of your monthly utilities.

Once on the site, find your home on the satellite Google map and you can easily see what your neighbors, city, state and even the world are doing to make a difference. Tabs across the top indicate green challenges, green products, even green forums that provide a place for questions and discussions. Within minutes, news of challenges completed and team members joining flashes across the screen, and the spark of competition begins to grow. If you’re anything like Christie, you’ll be into it in no time.

As an added challenge, join the competition between Indy Green Piece-ers by adding “GPI” to the end of your team name (ex. eastsidersGPI or christie.mcnabbGPI). Once on, go at it! Change your showerhead to a low-flow style; share your story with others. And earn points for each thing. Then challenge your friends and family to do it! Together, we can put Indianapolis on the map for saving trees, not just scoring touchdowns.

Piece out,
Renee & Christie

Want to meet Christie? Follow her on Twitter: @christiealison

Need to Recycle Something?

Need to recycle something?  Just go to www.indianarecycles.org.  Just type in the name of the item you want to recycle and your zip code and you’ll get a listing of nearby recycling locations.

Ivy Tech Green Festival

Celebrate spring by joining Ivy Tech Community College of Central Indiana at the Ivy Tech Green Festival.  Everyone is welcome.  Green vendors will be on campus to tell you about what they do and how you can make an impact on the world around you.  RecycleForce will also be here to collect all the stuff you have been waiting to get rid of; but, didn’t know what to do with.  They will be collecting the items on the list below, if you don’t see what you have on the list, feel free to contact them 317-532-1367. 

Bring any or all of these things to recycle:
Telephone systems
Cardboard
Cellular phones
Televisions
PC’s (personal computers)
Laptops/Notebooks
Integrated Circuits (IC)
Desktop Computers/CPU’s
Computer mice
CRT Monitor’s (no bare CRT tubes)
Microphones
Mainframe computers
Laserdisc Players
Scanners
Computer Keyboards
Printers
VCR/DVD/CD Players
Fax machines
Games Systems, Xbox, DS, Sony, Etc.
Back-up power supplies systems
Power Supplies
Photocopiers
Surge Protectors
Toner cartridges
Palm Pilots/PDA’s
Microwaves
Motors
CD’s/DVD’s/Blue Ray’s/Floppy disks/Thumb Drive’s
Computer boards
Electronic wiring
Copiers
Power cables
Cash Registers
Electronic motors
Satellite Components
Metals – Aluminum, Copper, Brass, Nickel.
Batteries
Cardboard
Phonebooks
Plastics 1-7
Copy paper, (No carbon paper)
Glass, (Amber, Green, Clear only)
Styrofoam, (No dirty containers)

What: Recycling Truck to bring in recyclables from home or work, Booths with green goodies and tools.

Who: Everyone.  Students, staff, faculty, friends in the community.

When: April 18, 2 PM – 6 PM at the North Meridian Campus

            April 19, 2 PM – 6PM at the Lawrence Campus

Ivy Tech Energy Conservation Measures

Trivia question below for an opportunity to win a green prize.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Brandon about Ivy Tech Community College, Central Indiana’s Energy Conservation Measures.  Brandon works in Central Office and has been appointed by President Snyder to spearhead some major initiatives.

Brandon, what changes have already been made?

• Single Stream Recycling has been implemented
• 1957 NMC building boilers have been replaced with high-efficiency boilers
• Tech Center boilers had “Control Links” installed on them.  Allows for savings based upon manufacturers’ experience.
• NMC and Tech buildings have been outfitted with Automation & Occupancy Sensors
• Retrofit Lighting in NMC and Tech buildings from T12 to T8 fluorescent bulbs
• Envelope sealing has been added to building exits
• Water conservation measures have been taken (i.e., low flush toilets & urinals, faucet aerators, etc.)
• Statewide PC power management system being installed (roughly 30% complete – early April is target for 100%)

What changes are still to come?

All complete, with the exception of the PC power management.     

What are the expected outcomes?

• Energy conservation measures (ECMs) will fund replacement of inefficient, high maintenance steam boilers at NMC with high-efficiency hot water condensing boilers.
• Measures including direct digital control (DDC) automation and occupancy sensors, lighting retrofit, and PC power management software deployment. 
• Honeywell guarantees that College energy savings will pay for the $3.2 million project cost. 
• Payback period for investment is less than 7 years and is cash flow positive in the first year  Through 10 year period, Ivy Tech will enjoy $2.5 million net savings after investment payoff. 
• Honeywell ECMs deployed by Ivy Tech will eliminate 10.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide, 249 pounds of methane and 139 pounds of nitrous oxide emissions each year. 
• Over 10% of expenses related to this initiative will go to Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 Minority & Woman-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs). 
• In an effort to create awareness about “Saving Ivy Green,” an interactive kiosk and dashboard will be installed in a high traffic area on campus by Honeywell.  The interactive kiosk will not only chart the energy reductions taking place on campus, but will also provide additional information related to energy consumption and conservation measures at the College.

Trivia Question:

The first person to answer the questions below correctly (within 1/2 ton) will win a reusable water bottle.  Winner will be contacted directly and their comment with the answers will be posted.

Brandon shared that Ivy Tech will save 10.5 million pounds of carbon emission with the ECM’s that were implemented.  What is the average Americans’ carbon footprint?  What is the average for the world?  What is your carbon footprint?

Recycling is Really Coming

As you may have noticed the recycling bins were late in being delivered to the classrooms, seems maintainance had to work on some snow/ice issues.  We appreciate the hard work they did in getting us back into the classroom safely.

In the near future recycling bins will be delivered to each office and other larger bins will be placed strategically around campus. Please look for these recycling bins and properly dispose of waste in the appropriate bin. Your support and participation is encouraged to help successfully start this recycling program on campus.

This video helps to explain what can be recycled.  In addition to what Chef Edwards explains here, while plastics 2 – 7 can be recycled; styrofoam still must be disposed of in the regular trash bins.

Please watch for future posts here with competitions to win great green prizes.

Green is more than just a school color . . .

Ivy Tech is Going Green & Needs Your Help!

In the near future a bin similar to the picture below will be delivered to each office and other larger bins will be placed strategically around campus. Please look for these recycling bins and properly dispose of waste in the appropriate bin. Your support and participation is encouraged to help successfully start this recycling program on campus.

WE ACCEPT ALL OF THESE MATERIALS IN THE COMMINGLED PROGRAM:

• Newspaper     
• Magazines       
• Catalogs           
• Junk Mail         
• Envelopes
• Folders             
• Fax and Copy Paper    
• Colored Paper               
• Phone Books
• Cardboard       
• Plastic Drinking bottles               
• Aluminum Beverage Cans   
• Steel Food Cans

Ivy Tech encourages an environmentally conscious campus and realizes how important it is to execute this recycling program effectively. Please stay tuned for more updates about Ivy Tech’s Green Initiatives.

 

Share your ideas on making Ivy Tech Community College Green

Mission Statement:  To establish general procedures to reduce waste, promote the reuse, reduction and recycling of materials and support an environmentally conscious campus.

We are made up of four sub-committees:

Single Stream- Oversee the institution of recycling on the NMC and Fairbanks campuses and some of the community campuses.

Honeywell Project-  Work in conjunction with the Honeywell to institute measures to reduce energy consumption on the NMC campus.  Initiatives include:  lighting, heat and water.  Once everything is finalized, there will be a kiosk for students to review the software/site that will measure energy used in the NMC and Tech buildings.

Reduce, reuse-  This committee will initiate educational pieces to encourage a reduction or reuse of waste on campus.

Events- This committee will plan and execute events for students and staff on campus to support the recycling, reuse and reducing efforts.