check out a Kill-A-Watt to learn about energy use

Members of the Occidental community can now check out a Kill-A-Watt meter from the library to measure how much energy is being used by appliances and other electronic equipment.



Prof. Snowden-Ifft is leading the Kill-A-Watt program with funding from the ASOC Renewable Energy & Sustainability Fund. Thanks also to the library for hosting the meters.

Instructions for use are available: here

Use the comments to this post to keep track of measurements you take. It will be interesting to see what electronic devices we use on campus are the biggest energy hogs.

Parking Fee

I remember being really surprised when I learned that there was no fee to park on Oxy’s campus. I had talked to other friends and some of them had to pay up to 400 dollars to park on their campus. I thought I was lucky. But now that I have become more environmentally aware, I don’t think the lack of a parking fee is lucky at all. In fact I think it is a detriment to the college. The environmental impact of parking lots are at least twofold on our campus. First parking indicates the use of cars which contribute to green house gas emissions. Second parking lots reduce the amount of green space available and negatively impact the environment through runoff. Not having a parking fee encourages students to bring their cars to campus and deters the use of alternate transportation methods.

Claremont McKenna College recently reported the top ranking sustainable liberal arts colleges. The colleges selected to be analyzed in the report were the top 50 liberal arts colleges in the nation (based on U.S. News and World Report 2009 rankings). All of the top ten ranking colleges have parking fees and most do not allow freshman students to have a vehicle on campus. For instance Amherst, Williams, and Mount Holyoke have a parking permit fee from 60 to 150 dollars a year. I think Oxy should instate a similar parking fee and follow in the footsteps of Mildbury College,

“Beginning in the 2009-2010 academic year Middlebury College will charge students $50 per semester ($100/year, $25 summer) to park cars on campus. Previously, the college allowed students to register cars without a fee. Middlebury will use funds from this new fee to support its carbon neutrality initiative by distributing revenue between carbon reduction efforts and public transportation, in addition to paying for maintenance of parking lots.”

http://www.middlebury.edu/sustainability/news-events/news/2009/node/117802


A parking fee at Oxy could go to a number of environmental interests; the bike sharing program, zip cars, bus passes, free rides to the airport during breaks, even general parking lot maintenance. This could mean a lot of money towards sustainable projects at Oxy. For instance if 400 students park their car on campus and the fee is 50 dollars per year, that would mean 20,000 dollars. Even if oxy doesn’t institute a parking fee, our website ( like many other colleges) should stress that a car is not needed and that ride sharing or other forms of transportation are preferred.

The Copenhagen Wheel

I found this innovation during the beginning of last semester while browsing the internet. This is one of the coolest and smartest things I have come across in a while. Although it was thought up by the brilliant minds at MIT, it is still mind blowing even compared to the other stuff they have innovated.
With bike fever taking over Oxy's campus, I figured this was a cool way to think about the future biking in general. It brings science, utility and design all into the same conversation, while also staying green, healthy and keeping bikes relevant. I clearly am no MIT scholar so I think it is best if the video speaks for itself, but I will try to explain it briefly. Essentially the Copenhagen wheel allows you to store the dissipated energy one wastes while braking the bike, and when you need a boost up a hill or you are just feeling tired, the wheel will release the energy and rotate the wheel faster, thus you go faster with less of your energy being expended. The wheel also comes with a social aspect. You can keep track of your "green miles" (how many miles you have ridden with the copenhagen wheel on) with iphone apps and facebook groups.
Just something cool and relevant for our class and oxy's movement towards green living. Enjoy.

http://senseable.mit.edu/copenhagenwheel/

Streets-Return them to the People

On Thursday, I was one of the many people who attended alumni, Jeanette Sadik-Khan’s lecture in Keck Theatre. I was already very excited when I entered the theatre, but left quite inspired. She is an excellent speaker, and hearing the progress that is being made in New York is completely stunning. The last time I visited New York was five years ago, and remember being so appalled by all of the traffic and pedestrians shoved to the side. I don’t remember seeing any bicycles around either. But after that talk, I am planning on returning this summer, checking out a bike and riding it all around the city, hopefully I’ll also be able to be there for the summer street program.

I am surprised that what is happening in New York—returning the streets to the people – was not mentioned in our transportation or building section in UEP 101. These are true “complete streets” and it’s encouraging knowing that they have been implemented in a city in the US. This is also a great example of how great leadership can really turn the tides. This has always seemed like a questionable claim, because frequently, as great as a leadership team may be, change does not always occur. This example definitely restored—at least for now-- my confidence in local government.

To continue on with this inspiring week, I attended the Street Summit a couple of days later. My dad attended last year’s bike summit and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to see that it had expanded to be a street summit, something that absolutely all community members could directly relate to. The keynote speakers were very good, and I was happy to see that Long Beach was putting in the effort to return to its beach-town roots.

One of the workshops that I attended was on how to connect low-income Spanish speakers with biking. I had never really thought about the fact that there are to classes of bikers –ones that ride out of necessity, and those that do it as an alternative. The approaches that Ciudad de Luz was taking to connect the two, was quite interesting. I found their whole approach really brilliant, connecting the LA Bicycle Coalition with the Day Labor Center near MacArthur Park. The manual that they released also looked fascinating and I hope to get one of them.

All in all, I am truly looking forward to attending more lectures and events like these, and most of all, be an active supporter and creator of all the positive changes taking place.

CHICKENS!

The Feast garden received a new addition today--baby chickens for their newly built coop! Feast club president, Giovanni Saarman told me in an interview that the new addition of chickens is the first step in what he hopes will be a slow but steady progression in impact and scope of the garden. Saarman provided examples of Oxy's peer schools, like Pitzer College, at which student-run gardens play a more integral role in campus life. Saarman expressed his hopes that FEAST would, in future months and years, take on a similar level of importance in the Oxy community.

One of the needs that many student leaders running FEAST have mentioned in interviews is greater administration support of the garden. Leaders have made clear that administrators support the garden in theory but, for a variety of reasons, the club has been unable to work closely with different offices in order to foster more connectivity between the garden and student services.

While the chickens will be egg-laying in 6 months, club leaders have expressed an interest in working with administrators to bring greater integration of the garden in student life. As it currently stands, the food grown in the garden is consumed and utilized (in the case of compost) by the students who grow it, but the garden has much greater potential than this. If health regulations do not allow for the food grown at the garden to be sold by campus dining outlets then, as is done at Pitzer, the garden can and should be used as part of a larger overall demonstrated commitment to sustainability. Pitzer uses their garden, in conjunction with several other green initiatives, to brand itself as a leader in undergraduate institutional sustainability. Perhaps, in conjunction with the other projects that UEP 247 is currently working on (solar panels, bike sharing, re-usable water bottles, zipcars, etc.) Oxy can take a similar step as its peer institution, and lead the way toward a greener future.

Captain Compost

Whilst shoveling large mound of compost and inadvertently stinking up my shoes, I was surprised to learn that a substantial amount of heat is generated within these heaping piles of decayed matter. I was informed that the source of this heat is actually because of bacteria living in the soil.

This fascinated me, so I decided to research it on my own and present it for your edification.

The heat, true enough, is caused by microbial organisms called extremophiles, meaning they are capable of growth and reproduction in extreme areas.

There are 3 phases by which extremophiles live and function in a compost, and it is the temperature of the compost that determines the phase. As follows...

• At 32–59 °F - psychrophiles, which are predominant, beginning the heating process as they multiply
• At 59–104 °F - mesophiles take over. Psychrophiles then die off or relocate to the outer regions of the compost. As the compost heats up, the mesophiles share the same fate as the psychrophiles. Those that either die in or remain close to the hotter parts of the compost then become some of the sustenance for the next microbials that get to work, which are...
• At 104–158 °F - thermophiles get to work at their peak on the composting matter and even consumer many other bacteria in the process.

Whether or not this is interesting to you doesn't matter too much to me. I thought this was pretty neat.

Los Angeles Biking Plan

In attending the street summit event, I chose to attend a session related to biking in LA and the current updates that are being made to the biking map. This issue is important to consider because currently there are far to many gaps within the biking system in LA which make it difficult to effectively use biking as a safe means of transportation. In observing this session I was very surprised to see the anger that many individuals displayed toward the city. Riders in Los Angeles feel that most roads are not safe to ride and that there needs to be a complete overhaul of the current map system. The issue with creating this type of change in LA is that creating such a change is very difficult. It is not an easy task to change roads and buldings that have existed for a long period. Further, the system of tranportation in Los Angeles is very fragmented. There is not an organization that has complete oversight over transportation but rather there are multiple organizations that are responsible for overseeing different areas of transportation which makes it difficult to implement change. In learning this information at the street summit I feel that it is important for the community to take action and force change to take place because the current system in Los Angeles will not create such changes alone.

Solar or Bust

Occidental College has made many great strides to be attempt to be true to its commitment to sustainability. Many small projects have been done across the campus to reduce energy usage and make it more efficient. Motion sensor lighting has been installed in many rooms, reducing wasting unnecessary usage of electricity. Low-flow toilets and waterless urinals have been installed to reduce water usage. Many other small projects have taken place as well, and they have, and will continue to have, positive effects.

It is very important, however, that the college have a large project, which it can hang its hat on. Proposed is the implementation of a large 1 megawatt solar array on Mount Fiji. This solar array is estimated to supply approximately 12% of the college's electricity needs. There are many ways in which to use natural resources to provide renewable energy, and in sunny southern California, harnessing energy from the sun makes perfect sense. Other renewable energy ideas, however, would not fit so well at this location. Hydro power and geothermal power are out of the question. Although Occidental is in a hilly community, there is likely not strong enough, consistent wind to make a wind turbine efficient. A couple years ago there was a proposal to use waste from the dining facilities in the form of vegetable oils and related bi products to produce biodiesel, which could be used to fuel some of the campus owned vehicles. Unfortunately, that project did not take place. It would be interesting to see if this idea could be revisited.

Consequently, solar energy is the only remaining renewable energy option for Occidental. There is widespread campus support for the proposed solar array. The students, general assembly, senate, as well as members of the administration support the idea of the solar array. Much has been said about the positive impacts of the array. It is important to note, however, that there is not a next best option that is close to being comparable to the solar array. If the solar array is not approved, where would they go from there to make a substantial impact on energy?

The Harm of Free Parking

While the focus of the 2010 L.A. Street Summit was decreasing reliability on cars, Donald Shoup, Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA, spoke about the harmful effects of free parking. These harmful effects included the distortion of urban form, harmful environmental effects, increased housing costs, and unpleasant walking atmosphere resulting from free parking. He explained that on average, people spend the equivalent of two days per year looking for parking. During this time, drivers are distracted, often causing accidents, and waste a significant amount of gas. If instead, cities could reach the target occupancy of 1-2 open parking spaces per block, these wastes would be greatly reduced, if not eliminated completely.
Shoup suggested three reform methods to achieve a more sustainable parking situation. First, he argues that the city must charge the right price for curb parking. The right price would mean that 1-2 spaces are constantly vacant per block. This would reduce the waste associated with looking for a space. However, setting the price to achieve this is goal varies by location. Shoup said, “a city cannot determine the right price until it sees results from each location individually.” Therefore, trial and error is necessary to find the price that will incentivize street parking to the point that a couple of spaces are left vacant. This process may be costly and time-consuming but eventually can yield successful results.
His second method of reform involves returning meter revenue to the neighborhoods that generate the income. Shoup used Old Town Pasadena as an example of how such revenue redirection can shape the development of a community. During the 1970s and prior, Old Town was considered a slum of the area, known mainly for its pawnshops, porn theaters, and tattoo parlors. Attempts to revitalize the area were led by installing parking meters. In 1993, the first round of parking meters were installed and led to mid- to upper-scale shop and restaurant owners to inhibit the area because parking revenue was spent on cleaning up the area. Old Town Pasadena is now considered a prime area for residents and visits alike to enjoy the strip of shops and restaurants. Shoup argues that other areas could greatly benefit from the funds generated by parking meters.
Finally, Shoup said that reducing off-street parking is necessary to reduce parking waste. Off-street parking often distorts the market for city-generated revenue from curb parking.
Since the first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City in 1935, streets and urban form have significantly been altered. In an ever-increasing driving culture in L.A. it is necessary to find a more sufficient method to use meters and no longer offer an abundance of free parking.

Ride the City, Toronto Edition

Hearing Janette Sadik-Khan speak last week was very inspiring. The changes she has made in New York City are remarkable. Seeing the amazing bicycle lanes was inspirational, but also got me thinking about the current situation in my hometown, Toronto, Canada. Although more bike friendly than many cities, it is by no means ideal. Although the city promised 500km of bike lanes by the end of 2011, less than 50% of these lanes were completed by the end of 2009, and then deadline was pushed back. I find this extremely disappointing, especially considering the excellent public transportation that exists within the city. Others in the city also felt disappointment about this, and a group of cyclists went out in the city one night, and drew bike lane symbols on streets that were scheduled to eventually receive bike lanes. Much to the dismay of many people, myself included, the city instantly removed these lanes.

My disappointment has eased slightly, as I recently stumbled upon a website called "Ride the City, Toronto Edition" Similar to mapquest, this amazing site lets cyclists enter a start and an end destination, and the site tells you how to bike there, including which streets have bike lanes. You have 3 options when planning your route, "safer route" "safe route" and "direct route". Additionally, users have the ability to "rate the route" and give feedback on the route that they followed. It is currently in the Beta testing phase, and so feedback is encouraged. The site also shows you any bike service, or rental locations along the route.

I think that this site is a really useful tool, and will hopefully encourage cyclists to bike more within the city. As more and more bike lanes are added to the city, and then to the map, cyclists will be able to better plan their routes through the city as safely as possible. As Janette Sadik-Khan said, people who do not feel safe biking on the streets will not do it. This website will help cyclists feel safer on the streets of Toronto, as they will be able to find the safest route from point A to point B.

Oxy Solar Update

At the General Assembly on Thursday, March 18th Derek Singleton and myself introduced a solar initiative. We presented the current standing of our solar project on campus to an audience of approximately 25 students. There were a number of questions that students had including the costs and financing of the array. Derek and I attempted to answer all questions to the best of our knowledge.
At the end of the meeting we, the general assembly of Occidental College, formed a solar committee that is committed to establishing a solar array on our campus. The group of students to sign up for the committee amounted to almost 15 individuals.
This student initiative gives our student body a voice to advocate for solar on our campus. It also shows our administration and Board of Trustees that there is student led support for solar energy. This is a great step in the process towards solar energy at Oxy.
On another note Occidental College administers are in the process of drafting another solar array proposal to the Board of Trustees. This solar array proposal will include one of the first ever aesthetically friendly and artistic designs. The solar array will have the appearance that it blends in to the Fiji hillside landscape. Researchers are working to assure that the function and output of the solar array are not compromised.
The hope is that we can garner support for our fellow Oxy students to ensure that this solar array is approved by the Board of Trustees. And if it does not pass this time around we will need to build support for another array proposal and to continue to put pressure on those making decisions here at Oxy.
If anyone else would like to join the solar committee or has any questions regarding the solar array please contact Jason Lehman at lehmanj@oxy.edu

Last week, Janette Sadik-Khan gave an inspirational and informative speech about how she is changing New York into a more pedestrian-friendly city through ingenious techniques.  The president and two esteemed professors introduced the commissioner and then presented her with an honorary degree.  Then Khan gave her passionate talk about what she is doing in New York and what we could learn. After questions, an applause equal to her statements ended the night.

            Khan stressed the need for pilot programs to bring about changes in transportation.  She explained that because current transportation systems are already hated, there is little risk in trying new ideas.  While she applied this to transportation, I think Occidental could also take a page from her book.  For example, many students are aggravated by the lack of a social scene and parking.  Perhaps the administration could try new programs that could simultaneously promote student unity and campus greening.  For example, the school could convert parking spaces into more social areas with games or other resources.  People would still be mad about the parking, but  it would be hard to make either of these areas seem that much worse.

The most important piece of information I got from the talk applies to almost all policies.  When implementing drastic changes, such as massive new bike lanes and closing off streets, it is imperative to make the changes swiftly so that the public can see the benefits immediately.  One of my fears about healthcare is that people many voters may not see the benefits soon because it takes so long for all the stages to come into effect.  This may weaken the support for the bill and the party.  In order to galvanize support for progress, groups need to make changes where they can point and say “we are better off because of this” as soon as it happens.

Importance of Bicycle Friendly Cities

In the spirit of last weeks bicycle related events I wanted to address what I feel is often an overlooked component of urban sustainability. I recently read a Good Magazine article that ranked the best bike cities (omitting Portland, my hometown, because that would apparently be too obvious). I think that when we talk about sustainable communities often times alternative transportation, density, and other topics really drown out what I feel to be a vital aspect to healthy communities. When I was fifteen I got a job, worked full-time, and eventually bought a car when I turned sixteen. I was all about it, often times driving to accomplish the most trivial of errands. However, it took another year or so of working long hours on top of school for me to wake up and realize that driving SUCKS. This realization was made easy being that I live in Portland, which is probably the most "bikable" city in the country, and I live in a biking family. However, I have been able to experience a stark contrast coming to a city like LA where biking is not considered a common means for commuting, and an alternative accessible to all people. This presents a major problem considering that in this country access to a car is considered one of the primary goals for those trying to escape poverty, when in fact a car is a depreciating asset that sucks economic resources. This social justice element is less obvious than the avoidable environmental degradation caused by cars, and the health benefits that are associated with biking.

It is important also to acknowledge that a biking culture is imperative for policies that really acknowledge this form of transportation on the same importance as mass transit and the automobile. I really enjoyed reading the Good Magazine article because it was interesting to see how bike cultures have been stimulated, as bike friendly design is only one component to achieve a bikable city. The events we had at oxy last week as well the city events speak to this point however, I feel like so much more needs to be done to emphasize the role that biking plays in a comprehensive sustainable urban community. The reality is that biking in Los Angeles is not a preferable means of transportation. It’s a shame that when I’m in Portland where its 38 degrees and constantly raining I am able to live car free thanks to my bike, but here I am unable to enjoy the benefits of California thanks to a car-centric culture. However, I feel that the voices of bike riders in urban communities including Los Angeles will play an essential role in future sustainable urban development.

Good Magazine Article: http://www.good.is/post/sorry-portland/

Oxy Computers: An Easy, Painless Fix

According to a UEPI report, nearly 9000 metric tons of CO2 is created each year by Occidental's electrical use alone. This accounts for nearly 3/4ths of school's entire carbon footprint and drawfs the CO2 produced by staff and student commutes and natural gas usage. Though solar panels and carbon offsets are a necessary part of the solution, Oxy must take steps to reduce the amount of energy consumed on campus. Even if the school produced 100% of its own energy, it could still reduce it's environmental impact, perhaps even turning a profit should the day come in which production outpaced demand for electricity.

Of course, training the thousands of students, faculty, and staff of Oxy to reduce their energy consumption is not easy, and should treated as a long-term solution. However, there are simple, cost-effective, and relatively painless ways Oxy can immediately cut its energy consumption with almost no sacrifice made on the part of students.

Occidental currently has hundreds of desktop computers in dorms, the library, and other academic buildings. The vast majority of these computers run on Windows XP, an operating system whose default power settings are less than green. All XP computers are set to run on "Home/Office Desk" setting, which leaves monitors lit for 20 minutes, hard disks running for an hour, and never puts the system into a standby mode. These computers, especially the ones in dorms and libraries, run for most the day and rarely, if ever, shut down.

It is probably not reasonable to lead a campaign encouraging students to turn off a computer every time they are done using it. Students trickle in and out of the labs all day and few would be willing to wait the entire time to start up and shut down a computer. But Oxy could make significant energy savings by adjusting some of the power settings. Changing the setting to "Laptop" would darken monitors in 10 minutes and allow hard disks to shut down in just a half-hour. There are also various ways to manually adjust each power setting so the maximum amount of energy can be saved without sacrificing students' time.

These type of simple, painless, fixes are the type of changes Oxy needs to institute if it is serious about cutting back its contribution to global warming. If anyone is interested in taking this idea to ITS, or another department that might be helpful, please let me know.

Janette Sadik-Khan and LA biking/walking

Now, I am not a biker and I know very little about bike culture and what's been done to try to make LA a more bike-friendly landscape, but after listening to Janette Sadik-Khan last Thursday, I feel like there is a lot to be done. Going into the talk I knew nothing regarding transportation policies or what had been done in New York City, but I left feeling like I was there was so much work to be done here in LA. If she could transform New York City, the busiest place in the world, into a green-promoting safe haven for bikers and pedestrians, then there is no reason that LA cannot do the same. Again, I don't know much about biking conditions or how easy it is to get around Los Angeles via bike, but I'm assuming from the response of the crowd that they are not very good here. I believe that it is possible to make the necessary changes to the landscape, but it is important to go about it the right way. I think one of the most important lessons we can take from her talk is that we can't be hesitant or worried about failure, but rather we should take risks and experiment in order to see what will and won't work. Judging from the turnout for that talk and the apparent success of the LA Street Summit, I think it's obvious that there is demand for change, we just need to get the attention of the policy-makers. There have already been changes made to streets down in Long Beach, as 2nd Street now has colored bike lanes, but I think if we continue to show support for that type of thing, more changes will be made throughout the city. If New York can make such a dramatic change in its landscape, then there is no reason that our city can't do the same. We just need to take a page from Janette Sadik-Khan and continue to show activism, while experimenting with ideas and organizing in large numbers to show policymakers that there is support for more environmentally-friendly modes of transportation.

Recycling Oddities at Oxy

The official Oxy Ground’s recycling website (http://departments.oxy.edu/facilities/Recycle/) says that today at Oxy we can recycle aluminum, containers with CRV, cardboard (without wax coating), glass containers, ledger paper, mixed paper, glass bottles and non-CRV, and newspapers. This recycling program earned us a B in the Food and Recycling Category of the 2010 sustainability report card, and as my parents always told me, “a B is below par.”

Occidental’s mediocre program fails to allow for the occasional possibly-recyclable-oddity that a student may run across during their four years (i.e. used printer ink cartridges, old batteries, Styrofoam, light bulbs, corks, aluminum foil, aerosol cans, 6-pack beverage rings, CDs, DVDs, and drink pouches / Capri Suns). Though these oddities may be rare, it is important that students are taught what to do with them when it comes time to throw them out.

Below is a list of possibly-recyclable-oddities and what to do with the items the next time you are standing between a trash can and a recycle bin wondering what to do with the old batteries in your hand:

· Batteries – There are tons of companies that will recycle your batteries when they are mailed in.
· Light Bulbs – Even the energy efficient light bulbs emit mercury when thrown into normal landfills. These need to be thrown out in special light bulb recycling centers.
· Ink Cartridges – These can be recycled in the Bookstore on campus which has a bin near the registers to collect old ink cartridges.
· Corks – Real cork is biodegradable. Fake cork can be dropped off at ReCORK America stations, which use the cork in footwear and other creative fashions.
· Aluminum Foil – not all recycling centers accept aluminum foil because it may be dirty due to potential contact with food. However, foil is just as recyclable as aluminum cans and can be thrown in the normal recycle bin if our company allows it.
· Aerosol Cans – These need to be recycled properly and can be dangerous and bad for the environment if they are not. These should be empty when recycled and can be placed in normal aluminum recycle bins if the company is okay with that.
· Beverage Rings – Known to harm dolphins when trashed, these are actually recyclable and photodegradable. The Hi-Cone Ring Leader Recycling Program collects these in large quantities for recycling.
· CDs / DVDs – Can be recycled at Best Buy or mailed into GreenDisk.
· Drink Pouches – TerraCycle began to use these in bags and pencil boxes. This company will pay for the postage for you to send them in.

Oxy should facilitate more recycling on campus by looking into recycling some, if not all, of the above products which, though rare, students will run across during their four years at Oxy.

The above information was inspired by the Huffington Post article on how to properly dispose of waste, found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/10/proper-waste-disposal-pho_n_491672.html#s72999