ECOfreak: More Green in the Green and Gold

By Desiree Parker Tuesday, August 17, 2010

William and Mary students will be moving back onto campus soon, and they’ll be heading to greener pastures, thanks to a few new eco-friendly initiatives. The first, and probably most-needed, green plan is a campus-wide recycling program.

Last year, various buildings had their own small-scale recycling programs, but this year, the college has invested $130,000 in a recycling program for everyone, everywhere.

There will be 1,000 small blue recycling containers all around campus (inside dorms and other buildings), and an extra 17 larger blue exterior containers which will be near outdoor trashcans. Best of all, the cans will be picked up twice a week using an electric truck purchased specifically to collect trash.

Dennis Taylor, co-chair of Committee on Sustainability (COS) and professor emeritus of marine science, said: "This is a major change for the College that represents a significant commitment by the Administration to ensure a comprehensive, year-round recycling system well into the future."

William & Mary launched a campus-wide initiative in 2008 to improve environmental sustainability at William & Mary. In spring 2008, students elected to charge themselves a Green Fee that would go toward facility improvements, student grants for research on environmental issues and a Green Endowment. The COS was created to administer the fee, which raises more than $200,000 each year.

The COS funding is also the seed money for another new feature students will see once they come back this year, namely a new garden behind the Commons Cafeteria. Rising sophomore Jane Gray Morris has been working hard this summer on a sustainable garden that she’s created with $1,000 and lots of help from other students. (Read a great feature on her on the William and Mary website).

Morris is a sustainable systems major and community studies minor, and is working on filling the garden with native plants (which are easier to maintain in this climate without chemicals) and veggies, which will be used for the Campus Kitchens dishes. Campus Kitchens serves meals to the needy in the area.

Also, she plans to create a small building in the garden with old parts of campus buildings removed during recent construction, as well as with other natural, renewable materials.

"Jane's project is a classic example of a successful internship - she's built on her previous experience and her sustainability coursework at William & Mary to dream up a beautiful, sustainable campus garden." said Rowan Lockwood, co-chair of COS's programs and education sub-committee and associate professor of geology.

Here are some other projects going on at the college with Green Fee grant money:

• Solar cells on the roof of Small Hall. Physics students are working to create a solar power facility on the roof of Small, and they’re currently testing various technologies to see what might work.

• Sustainable energy from exercise. The Kinesiology Department will buy an exercise bike that generates electricity when ridden. They’ll monitor the total electricity generalted, and see if the energy produced is large enough to expand the idea in the rec center.

• Public transportation awareness. Students are working on a campaign to get public transportation information in the hands of more students to cut down of greenhouse gas emissions.

Tip for the week, along with website for the week:
It’s not too late to get farm-fresh fruit and veggies from a local produce share program (called Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA). Over at Zina’s Produce http://www.localharvest.org/zinas-produce-a-country-affair-farm-M35002, on Route 5, you can sign up for the late summer/early fall CSA, which will feature Honey Crisp apples, tomatoes, peaches, pumpkins, apple cider and apple butter, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, kale and other fruits and veggies from 30 farms in the region. Zina is offering 13 week-shares for $325 per half share (feeds 2) or $425 for a full share (feeds about 4). That’s only $25 a week for a half share! Check out her website or email her at zinasproduce@aol.com. Or, give her a call at (757) 634-4284. You’ll need to fill out a form to get the CSA share.

They also have farm fresh eggs, and fresh grass-fed beef (we had their ground beef, which is absolutely fantastic and nothing like store-bought beef). You can sign up now and pay a $20 deposit for a Thanksgiving turkey, too! Talk about fresh, your little gobbler will be strutting around the day before he’s on your table.

Stop by, call or email this week to sign up for any of these programs.