Thursday, August 2, 2012

OU - Student Organic Farmers

Organic Farmers at Oakland University
"Organic Farming at Oakland University is a service oriented organization that has its focus on the impact of food production in the surrounding community. In addition, the group will explore social/economic and environmental factors involved. We are a community of students, faculty and staff committed to nourishing the local community through exceptional education and service-learning programs, fresh healthy food, and plenty of fun!"

Every Thursday from 10am to 1pm Organic Farmers will be selling their product at the main commuter entrance to the Oakland Center on Oakland University's Campus! (Between North Foundation Hall and South Foundation Hall) This will last until October 4th, 2012.


Check out their facebook!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

SOPE - Green Resources

Still have questions? Have a product you'd like to recycle but aren't sure it's acceptable? Any questions about sustainability you've always wanted to ask but never had the chance or opportunity?

Green Resources



TreeHugger strives to be a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information.


Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) is an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future.


The OurEarth.org website began as a simple idea to make it easier for the public to find environmental information.


To see if you appliances are energy efficient, or to look for energy-saving products, visit the Department of Energy's ENERGY STAR website.


Want to learn even more about sustainability? Visit People and Planet for an in-depth guide at how to live sustainably and the Green Encyclopedia for an explanation of basic "green" terms.


Calculate your personal ecological footprint.


Want to measure how much gas money you'd save by riding a bike?


Is what or how you eat encouraging the degradation of our natural resources? Try the Low-Carbon Diet Calculator to find out.


Track your electrical usage and see how to reduce it.


15 Mind-Boggling Eco-Facts.


Try some Organic Recipes for healthy eating.
Check out the environment section on NPR



E-mail
OU.SOPES@gmail.com with any environmental inquiries, tips, involvement interests, or concerns!

SOPE - OU Bike Share

 

Oakland University’s new bike share program is a new effort to encourage members of the campus community to use alternative forms of transportation by providing them with a convenient way to get around campus. The program serves to promote physical fitness and eco-friendliness.

The Oakland University Bike Share program is sponsored by Student Congress, the Division of Student Affairs, University Housing and Campus Recreation. It is based on an honor system of sharing designated bicycles, providing an alternative method of transportation for students, faculty and staff to easily and quickly move from building to building. Participants will contribute to the reduction of vehicle use on campus, while obtaining many benefits associated with physical activity. While the availability of equipment will vary depending on the flow of traffic everyone should allow enough time in their schedule to walk in the event that there are no bicycles for immediate use. The OU Bike Share program is managed by Campus Recreation and supervised by student employees. Everyone is advised to ride with caution to maintain a safe cycling environment.

How does it work? Oakland University will provide this campus service at no cost to users. Using an honor system, the program offers the campus community 200 bikes as well as designated bike rack stations. Students, faculty and staff will have access to the bikes from bike rack stations located throughout campus, and may ride and return the bikes to another bike rack. The bikes will be restricted to on-campus use.

Bikes will be provided from March to late October. Based on winter weather conditions the program may end sooner.

Report a Broken Bike If you notice a broken bike on campus, or find a bike at an off campus location, please TEXT the bike’s location to Bike@oakland.edu. Include the bike# (located on handlebar) and rack location (closest building).

Respect the Ride
Please take a moment to review the rules of the Bike Share Program

 
Copyright All rights reserved by Oakland University


Follow Bike Share on Facebook 

Original Link

SOPE - Practical On-Campus Tips

Want to take action while on campus? Try these simple steps:
 

Thinking about driving from Vandenberg Hall to Pawley? Think again - The majority of harmful vehicle carbon emissions are produced within the first mile of driving. Instead, grab one of the OU Bike Share's neon orange or green bikes! (Don't forget to leave it parked for someone else to use once you've reached your destination.)

Look for and use the many blue recycling containers across campus. Many of them are conveniently placed near trash cans, but remember - trash cans, they are not. Make sure your bottles are completely empty before you throw them inside, and that any paper products you recycle don't contain any remnants of food.

Do EVERYTHING you can to avoid using styrofoam take-out containers, glasses, and plates. These can't be recycled and when left unaided in landfills, will not break down for thousands of years. Bring your own reusable container, if you can.
Save water. Less than 1% of the water on earth is drinkable, and within fifty years the entire plant is expected to face serious water shortages. Two easy but POWERFUL ways to do this: turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth and take shorter showers.

Many people probably think recycling is the PARAMOUNT thing you can do to help save the earth. THEY'RE WRONG. Remember this essential process: First, reduce the amount of stuff you use and buy, reuse second, and then, when all else fails, recycle.

Even better, brown bag your lunch from home and use reusable silverware and containers instead of plastic silverware and zip-lock bags.

Stick any purchases from the OU Bookstore or O.C. cafeteria take outs in your own book bag rather than using a plastic one you might be offered. The U.S. uses 100 billion plastic shopping bags per year. That's about 333 bags per year per person - almost a bag per day.
Some campus locations offer free printing. As tempting as these locations may be to print out all 50 pages of your professor's latest power point presentation on Moodle, print only if necessary. Recycling paper eventually degrades it to a point that it is no longer recyclable.

Campus residents...turn off lights when you're out of the room and unplug unused appliances. In the average home, 25% of the electricity used to power electronics is consumed while those products are turned off. You might not be seeing the electric bill now, but start preparing for the day you enter the real world. Flat-screen TVS and video game consuls are particularly bad energy vampires.

Shop for food at local organic and eco-friendly stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market (both located at the corner of Walton and Adams), and check out the Rochester Farmer's Market when it's in season.

Once they're empty, throw any take-out coffee cups you use from Vandenberg Dining Center's coffee and hot chocolate machine area into a paper recycling bin (they are recycable), or use your own.
Original Link

SOPE - Tips for Commuters

With an enrollment of over 19,300 students, Golden Grizzlies are everywhere! Find some that live near your neighborhood and carpool to school. Your wallet and your planet will thank you.

Drive the speed limit. Most vehicles get the best gas mileage around 55 mph. Every mile per hour above 55 requires increasingly more fuel (and more money, on your end).
Remember the less-than-a-mile no-driving principle mentioned in the first tip...if Oakland University is close, ride a bike or take a bus, if you can.

Inflate your tires, and keep your vehicle maintained for more efficiency, longer life, and less harmful emissions.

Original Link

DTE

Hey, sorry it's been awhile. Got caught up in life stuff.
One of those things involved signing for mine and Kevin's apartment. Yay! That included having to set up out DTE account for the first time. While I was on DTE's site doing this, I took a look around.

One cool thing that I found is BioGreenGas. They are making clean energy from garbage! How neat!

"Introducing BioGreenGas, a new, voluntary residential program which supports the local development of renewable natural gas by using the methane that arises naturally from landfills. As organic matter decays, methane escapes into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. Capturing methane and removing the impurities creates a renewable source of pipeline quality natural gas. We’re leading the US with this program."

DTE customers can help by paying $2.50 a month toward this program. A small fee for a big job.

Here is a video:

Find out more here.


Also I came across DTE's Blog. It's got some neat stuff to check out. I'm gonna add it to the eco links at the bottom as well as right here.