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Holiday Savings
If each member of the our campus community has things plugged in that draw even as low as a total of 10 watts combined when off, we consume the following: Think about 10 watts. Then think about how many hours a day (15) they may be on in not in use. That equals 150 watts/day. Multiply that by 7 and we have 950 a week (more if we use the stuff less than 8 hours a day on weekends. Now multiply that by 52 weeks, roughly 52,000 watts. Now multiply that times the size of our community (students, faculty, staff -we’ll round that off to 50,000). That equals 2.6 billion watts/year or 2.6 million kwh. This is WASTED energy. That would power 317 homes in Michigan for one year!
Coffee Drinkers Use More Water Than Tea Drinkers Yep, according to researchers in the Netherlands, coffee consumers’ water footprint is more than three times that of tea drinkers. This and other factoids about our water footprints tied to consumption are explorable at www.waterfootprint.org . The site offers a water footprint calculator for nations and individuals, case studies, research data, and more. This website is maintained by the University of Twente in collaboration with the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, the Netherlands.
Sustainability Positions Keep Growing Hardly a day goes by here without a phone call or an email of some institution in the US looking to start up a “sustainability” program. While I’m more familiar with higher education industry, this is apparently moving just as quickly in the private sector. Who knows what kind of jobs might be available in 10 years that don’t exist as I write this newsletter? What is the training necessary for this rapidly changing landscape? Here are two recent announcements to give you a taste of the opportunities in sustainability careers - Iowa State and University of Chicago.
Computing and Electronics The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) uses 51 criteria to rate computing and other electronic equipment. While designed mostly for institutional purchasers, it does provide a searching tool for finding the highest rated equipment for the 51 criteria. This is Energy Star on steroids, as Energy Star certification is only one of the 51 criteria that cover eight categories – reduction/elimination of environmentally sensitive materials, materials selection, design for end of life, product longevity/ extension of life, energy conservation, end of life management, packaging, and corporate performance. Items then receive a score which translates into Olympic scoring - bronze, silver, or gold. Check this out here.
MSU Is Up to the Challenge Solar Car Challenge, that is. The American Solar Challenge begins in Dallas in a couple of weeks, and MSU has fielded a team to design, construct, and drive a solar car from Dallas, Texas to Calgary, Alberta. The challenge begins July 13 and ends 2,400 gas-free miles later. The cars will follow all rules of the road. Brasidius, MSU's car, will be competing with 23 other schools including rivals from UM, WMU, OSU, and Northwestern. Brasidius is named after a famous Spartan general. Team president Arthur Matteson and a team of 15 have been involved from design through the coming drive. More on the Brasidius team at www.egr.msu.edu/solar or catch the news at American Solar Challenge.
Nobel Prize shines on MSU Faculty MSU faculty contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, which recently won the Nobel Prize for Peace. David Campbell (Geography), Kim Hall (Fisheries and Wildlife and Forestry), and Julie Winkler (Geography) were reviewers for the 2007 report's Working Group II, on "Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability." Campbell and Hall were reviewers for the 2001 report's Working Group II, also, and David Skole (Forestry) reviewed for the 2001 report's Working Group I, on "The Scientific Basis." Catch more news on faculty involvement with environmental issues at the Environmental Science and Policy Program.
Ecosystem Sensors Speaking of MSU faculty, a new collaboration between the Biogeochemistry Environmental Research Initiative (BERI) and the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering have issued a Request for Proposals to develop Ecosystem Sensors. Up to $10,000 in research support is available. Contact Dr. David Rothstein or Dr. Nathaniel Ostrom for details. For more information and resources check out the MSU Office of Campus Sustainability EcoFoot website. |
Rothbury Music Festival! |
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EcoFoot Footprints Newsletter |
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The Holiday weekend will mean lots of traveling and fewer people working on college and university campuses over a three day weekend. This is a perfect time to send reminders to all staff to remind them to turn things off and unplug any unnecessary equipment. I did a back of the envelope calculation for some folks on campus yesterday regarding the impact of “phantom loads” or “ghost energy”, that power that is drawn from equipment that is plugged in but turned off.
I just read a National Geographic report that indicated that the two wealthiest individuals have more wealth than the GDP of 45 countries. Is that enough? The average home in the US is now about 2,400 square feet up from 1,100 in 1970, the year of the first Earth Day. During that same period US population grew by 50% and global population almost doubled. Thus we have more homes. The homes are also bigger, and yet there are fewer people living in them. Clearly our footprint is increasing and there are more of them than a finite planet can indulge. How much is enough?
