Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy Update

Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy Update

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!

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

 

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.

Soap

So I was just sitting around wondering what I wanted to do. I was in a bit of a craft mood and thought why don't I make something, perhaps something that I can use around the apartment.

Soap. Right? My cousin once made me soap as a gift and I thought it was the coolest thing. So I Googled how to make soap and I came across this awesome YouTube video on how to make organic soap! I for sure want to try it, I just have to get the ingredients when I have some time.

Here's the video:

 

Make it Green

Couldn't say it better myself! Kevin and I are trying all of these options, except buying a high-efficiency car due to the lack of cash for one. This list incorporates most of the things that you can do to make living an Eco friendly experience. The only things off hand I can think of to add is changing your appliances to Energystar and to change shower heads, faucets, and toilets to low flow. Also to switch to a digital thermostat.

http://www.greenlivingapartments.com/

"Energy

Unplug the "secret energy addicts" in your home: TVs, VCRs, DVD players, cable TV boxes, computers and printers, video game consoles, microwave ovens and AC adapters for cell phones, digital cameras and other electronics. Most electronic equipment, including anything that uses a remote control, is designed to consume energy when it is turned off. That "off" setting is actually a "standby" or "idling" mode. Standby power in the average household consumes 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. That's enough energy to power an entire home for two months, or more. The solution? Unplug anything that isn't being used.

Swap out incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. CFs use about 66% less energy and last up to 10 times longer.

Turn down your thermostat by two degrees in the winter (and up two degrees in the summer). You'll save 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide this year!

Switch to cold-water washing and save 80% on laundry energy.

Reducing, Reusing and Recycling

Recycling is important, but first and foremost: Use less whenever possible. And don't think you can't make a difference by recycling... recycling just one aluminum can saves the amount of energy required to run a TV for three hours! Here are a few suggests that will help reduce our use of precious natural resources.

Many computers, monitors, cell phones and other electronics include toxic materials that should not sit in landfills, and you'd be surprised how many retailers and other companies will take your old gadgets for recycling. The Environmental Protection Agency (link: http://www.epa.gov/) an help you find local electronics recyclers.

Say no to junk mail - 100 million trees' worth are sent out each year. Visit www.dmachoice.org/MPS/ to opt out of the Direct Marketing Association's member mailings.

Packing peanuts and other loose fill will sit in a landfill for centuries, but there are lots of places you can bring them for recycling. Call the Peanut Hotline at 1-800-828-2214.

If every household in the US replaced 1 roll of 1000 sheet bathroom tissues with 100% recyclable rolls, we could save 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 155 million gallons of water.

Cleaning

Use non-toxic, environmentally safe, biodegradable cleaning products, including laundry products, which you can find at any natural grocery and even many mainstream stores. Just read the labels carefully.

Don't pollute your indoor air or mask odors that could alert you to a problem. Choose fragrance-free products.

Transportation

Buy a high-efficiency car if you can afford one. Check the U.S. Department of Energy's list of most fuel-efficient cars to find the one that's right for you.

Rather than driving your car to work every day, try other ways, even if only one or two days a week. You can walk, ride your bike, take the bus or the train or join a car. You'll be cutting down on air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, oil consumption and your the costs of fueling and maintaining your vehicle. And mixing up your commuting routine helps you avoid falling into the workday rut.

Urge your workplace to have a van-pool, environmentally responsible purchasing policies and an improved indoor environment. Rid your workplace of secret energy addicts. They are everywhere.

Personal Practices

Buy locally produced items, including produce and other goods. It reduces the amount of fossil fuels required to transport the things you buy from other parts of the country or the world. It also reduces the amount of plastic and paper products consumed in the packaging of such far-traveling products.

Instead of using grocery stores' disposable plastic or paper bags, bring your own reusable tote bags, which are available for sale at many grocers and other retailers. The bags are sturdier than disposable bags, making the trip home easier, and they don't waste resources or end up in landfills. You alone could keep up to 1,500 bags per year out of landfills! If you must use disposable bags, ask your bagger to avoid double-bagging whenever possible.

Only run full loads in the dishwasher and the laundry machine. You use the same amount of energy to power these machines if you have a 1/2 load or a full one- so wait a couple of days to make sure you have a full load.

Be careful not to leave the water running when you brush your teeth or wash the dishes.

Scrape - don't rinse! When using a dishwasher, pre-rinsing is no longer necessary with today's technology and detergents. You may be using more water to pre-rinse than the dishwasher uses for a full wash cycle.

When you go out for coffee, bring a reusable insulated mug."

Eco Safe Candles

One thing I've always loved and can't get enough of are candles. For the new apartment I would love to have a variety of colors and scents for our home. I feel that these additions create a comfortable and inviting atmosphere. One catch, candles can be unhealthy.

"Candle soot can cause indoor air pollution. Make sure you don’t burn candles with metal wicks and be aware that aromatherapy candles can cause serious soot problems but for health and for objects such as computers. Some mistakenly think that the soot they are getting from their candls is coming from their furnace."
-A Guide to Eco Friendly Candles

Some ways from Annie B. Bond and her daughter to make your candles safer:

1. One of the highest goals of making your own less-toxic candles is to make them free of petroleum products, such as paraffin and synthetic fragrance.

2. You can now buy vegetable wax (usually soy) in craft stores such as Michaels. One brand offers microwaveable soy wax and the process was very, very easy. No fuss, no mess.

3. Beeswax is another pure wax choice, although expensive. I personally just love the smell of pure beeswax candles, and we make candles with 100 percent of this wax for very special occasions. Beeswax needs to be melted in a double boiler.

4. For myself, I prefer unscented candles, but my daughter is looking to add scent to her candles, and many of you might like aromatherapy.

We used only perfectly pure essential oils bought at natural food stores, and only about 5 drops for 2 cups of dried wax flakes. Add the essential oils after the wax has melted and has been removed from the heat source. Stir thoroughly.

Many so-called aromatherapy candles are very soft due to overuse of fragrance, and often these candles cause serious problems with candle soot. Making your own helps you control how much fragrance/essential oil you include.

5. Use wicks without lead. We chose wicks without any metal inside, but there are now lead-free wicks available in craft stores. Wanting to be safe not sorry, we bought metal-free wicks. They have been fine.

Read more


Also

Pure beeswax and vegetable-oil-based candles are the healthiest
choices for us and for the environment. We have a range of helpful
information about candles on Care2, from how to make beeswax
candles yourself, to the dangers of candle soot, to how to safely
remove dripped candle wax, and resources. Here is an index page for
it all:

Tips for Making Safe Candles Yourself: How-to Guide.

Paraffin is a petroleum product, which is not a renewable resource and causes pollution in its production.

Pure beeswax and vegetable oil candles are readily available. Some brands include Beeswax Candles; Pure Light Candles; and Aromatherapy Candles 100% Essential Oil Candles.

-How to make safe candles

For Kevin and I, in the apartment we chose to go with WoodWick Candles. They are a bit on the expensive side, but compared with making an Eco friendly candle or buying a beeswax candle, the price is greatly lower. They have a wooden wick and are made from a soy wax blend. They can be purchased at JcPenney, for a 4x6.87"H. 22-oz. candle, the price is $25; and for a 3¾x4¾". 10-oz. candle, the price is $19. They can be found a few dollars cheaper elsewhere too.

The scents we chose are Lavender and Apple Festival Trilogy, both Large.

Be Lint Smart

I was doing laundry today, a seemingly never ending cycle; about 10 loads today. Being green minded, I emptied the lint trap after every drying session. The lint started to pile up in the trash can and I thought: "wow, that's a lot of lint, I wonder if I could do anything useful with it". So I Googled it and this great article came up!

While our family usually line dries clothes, during the cold winter months we use the clothes dryer rather than waiting four days for a pair of jeans to dry. The one thing that always amazes me about using a clothes dryer is the incredible pile of fluff that these clothes seem to generate. Is all that lint even reusable? The answer may surprise you!
Compost it or toss it in the yard

If the lint came from clothes that are made of cotton, wool, or linen, they can be safely disposed of in your compost bin or sprinkled in the garden. If you have birds or squirrels, set the lint in the branches of the trees so it can be used as nesting material.

Make a fire starter

For building campfires, a fire starter made of lint and candle wax is a practical way to get rid of old dryer lint. You can read the complete instructions here to learn how to make a fire starter from lint, a toilet paper tube, and old candle wax. Don't need a full size fire starter? Instead of a toilet paper tube, make a fire "egg" from a clean paper egg carton instead. Pack the lint into the individual egg "cups" and cover each cup with a thin layer of melted candle wax. Cut the cups apart, and use one or two to get that campfire going.

Don't make your campfire starters from lint containing polyester, rayon, nylon, or poly/cotton blends. These man-made blends smoke & stink when ignited.

For crafting

Dryer lint can also be used for a wide range of art projects. If you enjoy making handmade papers, add a handful of dryer lint to the pulp. Dryer lint of all types can add texture, colors, and fibers to those handmade paper projects. We also add dryer lint to our paper mache and plaster of paris sculptures.

As insulation

My drafty old gardening shed has lots of gaps between the windows and lap board siding. To cut down on the draftiness and keep out the winter cold, I plug the gaps with wads of dryer lint.

What dryer lint should NOT be used for

Someone once mentioned to me that they used dryer lint to stuff plush animals & cloth dolls. While this is a nice solution for display dolls and collectible teddy bears, I sure wouldn't recommend this practice for children's toys since lint is highly flammable.

-C. Jeanne Heida,

Be smart with your lint!

Subway - Way Recyclable

Subway wrappers, subway bags and Subway fountain cups are recyclable! Remember to check all of your everyday items to see if they have the recycle symbol! You might be surprised! Some companies are also creating products that are biodegradable or even compostable, it will say on the item just as an item would have a recycle symbol. And if you arn't sure on a product, Google it!

Biodegradation is the process by which organic substances are broken down by other living organisms. The term is often used in relation to ecology, waste management, environmental remediation (bioremediation) and to plastic materials, due to their long life span.
Compostable items are made from plant materials such as corn, potato, cellulose, soy and sugar.
-Cathy

Compostable means that you can take the product and put it in your home compost or garden and expect that it will break down in a reasonable time frame. For instance, Innovia's NatureFlex compostable film should breakdown in your garden in less than 3 weeks.
-Kate Putnam
President, Package Machinery Company Inc.

Dirty Microwave?

Is your microwave dirty?
Put in a glass microwavable container, combine 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of vinegar and heat for five minutes. When it is done you can wipe down the inside of your microwave with a wet washcloth, no scrubbing required. The steam makes everything easy to wipe down.

Future Friendly

A great website with tons of helpful hint!

Future Friendly

"Welcome to the Future Friendly house. Room by room, you’ll find the little things you can do that add up to a meaningful impact."

Kelloggs

I just ran accross this and thought it was worth sharing. I really like Kelloggs' products and I'm happy to anoucne that they are a nice shade of green. For earth day, Kelloggs has some fun offers.

Get a Kellogg reusable shopping bag
with purchase of any TWO Kellogg’s® Cereals or Kellogg’s® Pop-Tarts® (10 oz. or larger). While supplies last.

There are four bags that you can collect!

And

Enter now for the chance to win a
2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco that can achieve an EPA-estimated 42 MPG/HWY

A Fuel efficient
vehicle will not only
help you save money at the pump, it can also significantly reduce the amount of CO2 emissions released into
the environment.

The Scissors

I'm fed up with a pair of Kevin's scissors! They have been around for a long time and been through many uses. The scissors are supper dull and nasty sticky. Time to go. Well I went to Kevin and told him that I'm getting rid of them and he said "Okay, wait, how do you get rid of scissors?" I paused because I hadn't thought about this. Well I couldn't very well throw them out, they are made of plastic and metal. So off to google I went and I found this article:


How to Recycle Scissors
By Marina Hanes
October 3, 2011

Even the most trusty pair has to go sometime. Find a recycling location near you.

Are your scissors beyond sharpening and reconditioning? If you can’t bring your scissors back to life or think of a creative way to reuse them in your home, recycling is an option that you might even get paid to do.

Every year, schools, churches and organizations host scrap metal drives, and these are the places where you can lay those old, rusty scissors to rest. For example, the Perkasie Fire Company just outside of Philadelphia holds several free scrap metal drives throughout the year, enabling locals to go green while supporting their firehouse. By doing a quick search online, you can see what scrap metal drives are going on in your area.

For even easier recycling that has paying potential, Recycle Zone has a drive-through and drop-off metal recycling center in North Olmsted, OH. Depending on what type of metal your scissors are made from and how many scissors you’re planning on recycling, you can get a pretty penny for the pound — well, at least enough to reward you for recycling.

But these are just two local examples. Allow those scissors to be made into something new, and head over to our recycling location finder for local scrap metal collectors in your area.

Well that's a great idea. However, there arn't many opportunities for scrap metal drives. So I looked for the closest scrap metal facility. Ours is United Milwaukee Scrap on 618 Lafferty Ct, Rochester Hills, MI 48307 - (248) 651-4095. We plan on taking the scissors there as soon as we can get a ride over there. I will let you know how the trip went!


On another note.

If you are looking to buy scissors, you might want to consider buying recycled scissors at and various websites like fiskars.com or looking for specific brands of recycled scissors like "Westcott Kleenearth" at Staples, Amazon, Sears, and other places. Though, recycled scissors run a bit higher in price, between $7 to $11. So if that is a bit high, and you do decide to buy cheaper, then just remember to recycle them!

Also another option for scissors that you already own. Are they dull and practically useless? Well you can try buying a scissors sharpener for around $4 to $50 that will help to keep them around longer. Another option is to send them out and have them reconditioned. Websites like Arius Eickert Shear Repair will do this.

Good luck with the scissors!

The First Footprint

I've been on a eco crazy this past few weeks. It happens often; something will remind me of the state the earth is in and continuing to head toward, and I will plunge full force into green living. Then the crazy wears off and I begin to do little things again that arn't so eco friendly like forgetting to recycle that newspaper and throwing it out. What a waste. So on this day I have decided to create a blog to keep myself in check.

Let's just put this out there now, both Kevin, my fiance, and I are college students about to begin living together without help from our loving parents. Money is tight! Eco is pricey! We are on an adventure to be green and save some green at the same time.

Yesterday at Oakland University, it was eco day. A nice size tent was set up in the main area of campus to celebrate this day and bring awareness to the students. There were many things to do and knowledge to be gained. For example, I dyed my first shirt today! And the best part was that the shirt is 100% organic cotton and the dye was eco friendly! There was also potting of plants available in 100% recycled material pots. I planted beautiful Marigolds! Henna tattoos, free organic cotton t-shirts with recycle logos, free facials with organic products from Origins, and fliers for free fabric tote bags from Trader Joe's lined the tent. Options such as canoeing with the Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy and areas around the University to buy reasonably priced eco products were available. What a wonderful setup!


Kevin and I are looking for an apartment to move into in September after our wedding. We have both been doing massive amounts of research on where we would like to live. I feel that being green in a very important factor in our process. The apartment that we currently are hoping to get into suites the bill overall. Sure we won't be able to get everything we are looking for but there is great promise and we are willing to do our part as much as possible.


Appliances are big energy hogs. The appliances in the apartment aren't the newest gems, however, the management are replacing them as they break with new and better efficient brands.

Also Kevin, my fiance, and I are planning on buying two Belkin Conserve Smart AV Power Cords, one for the TV and one for the Computer; and we will be replacing all of the light bulbs with CFL bulbs.

DTE has a wonderful package; "Complete a free online home energy audit and receive a FREE Energy Efficiency Kit by mail, a $25 value!" (One kit per household). This will be a for sure!
How to get your kit

These will just be a few of the changes we will be making in out quest for green energy.

I love to paint! I'm an artist to begin with, so give me paint and I will go to work! I love color and I think that all homes need a bit of color to add to the mode of the rooms. So paint is a big deal. Paint can be a hazardous chemical supplier though. Of course I did some research.

What we want in paint is: VOC Free, glycol Free, solvent Free, odor Free, no dubious chemicals, entirely non-toxic, and of course we want to minimize our Carbon Footprint. Now on a low budget this is a lot to ask for.

There are a few really nice paints out there that will fit this, like YOLO Colorhouse, Ecos Organic Paint, and valspar Plus. These however were a tad bit to expensive for our budget so I looked a little harder and found Dutchboy Refresh Paint. It can be purchased at True Value, Aco Hardware (Michigan) and Sears at around $23 per gallon.


For more options, check out: Eco-Friendly Paint, The Complete Guide


That's all for now. Let's go paint the world green!