Mar 30

If you weren't in the meeting this week, you missed out on an awesome presentation on air quality and social justice.  Dr. Tim Moore (Air Resources Engineering professor at Virginia Tech) gave a presentation based around his PhD project that he completed at Virginia Tech.  Dr. Moore built a mobile Air quality testing station based out of a small white news van, and did comparative tests against the EPA's air quality tests.  Dr. Moore went to several low income neighborhoods in cities where EPA testing sites are located to compare local  neighborhood pollution levels to declared city-wide levels.  The presentation was very interesting, and the results were discomforting.  For more information on the project, check out: http://www.airqual.cee.vt.edu/flame/

Still haven't been to a meeting yet this semester?  Drop by Smyth 146 on Tuesday nights from 7-8pm if you are interested.  No commitment is required, and membership does not require you to come to every meeting.

Announcements:

Come out to see Dubnium at Cabo Fish Taco on April 2nd @11pm for $5!  All proceeds go to Oxfam at Virginia Tech's Haitian Well Project!

If you need a date, Oxfam at VT and the American Medical Association are putting on an April Fool's Date Auction at 7pm in the Hillcrest Dining Room! Come out, get a date, and take him/her to Cabo!

The Environmental Coalition will be coordinating a three bin waste, recycling, and composting system for Relay for Life.  This is the first year that Relay for Life will be composting!  If you can spare an hour of your time the night of Friday, April 9th, we need lots of volunteers to help run recycling stations, train volunteers on composting, and help transport the recycling.  To sign up to help please fill out this survey:

https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1269533332699.
Email Jarrad Farris at farris@vt.edu or Alex Funk at funka@vt.edu if you have any questions about volunteering!

Mar 23

Spring Break is long gone and we are starting to get things into shape for Earth Week. During this weeks meeting, Kyle talked about finalizing our constitution, and showed us everything we need to know as an organization about the constitution before we vote on it. After that Austin gave us a very informative presentation about Geothermal energy.

Announcements:

Anyone still interested in helping to organize Earth Week, contact Erica Putman at Ericafp8@gmail.com

No Impact Hokie kick off event in Brush Mountain A in Squires at 8pm. Be there! Join the movement, or just see what everyone is doing by checking out the blog:

http://noimpacthokie.blogspot.com/


Updates from Residence Hall Federation forum:

• All of AJ will be a LEED silver certified residential college by Fall 2012, mix of faculty, and students of all levels
• The new $28 million dollar parking garage being built will have all Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and have solar panels on top of the garage. These are four times more expensive, but safer and use much less energy
• Grant for $700,000 from Fed government to improve bike trails
• Grant from Federal Transit Administration for 2 hybrid articulating buses (2 connected, bend in the middle), and 7 more hybrid buses. Normal buses cost $285,000, hybrids cost $450,000. It will look somewhat like this, but with the Blacksburg Transit color scheme:

Think Green. Think Blue: Israel and Sustainability Event (March 31 at 7:00 in Brush Mountain):

This event will consist of a free sustainable meal and some arts and crafts. I need some help planning this event from the Environmental Coalition side, so if you are interested in helping out (only minimal help and planning needed, nothing too intense) please let me know ASAP! Thanks! ~Lauren Fialkow, lfialkow@vt.edu

"Coal: The Question of Energy Debat" will be taking place this Friday, March 26 at 7pm in Squires Colonial.  Students and experts will debate many issues surround coal.

Energy in the Commonwealth Panel Discussion will take place this Saturday, March 27 at 3pm in the GLC Auditorium.  Representatives from Dominion Power and the Sierra Club will be answering student questions about current policy, as well as the future surrounding Virginia's energy.

Earth Hour 2010!!  will take place this Saturday, March 27 at 8pm on Henderson Lawn.  This is a world-wide event, where for one hour everyone is encouraged to turn off all electrical sources in their house, most specifically lighting.  Virginia Tech Electric will monitor our electricity usage during this hour to see the impact our community can have.  For more information visit:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=367522156708&ref=ts

http://www.EarthHour.com

Finally... EARTH WEEK IS ALMOST UPON US!  Here is a preliminary schedule, a full website outlining all of the events will be put up as soon as possible.

Earth Week 2010
April 17^th-23^rd at Virginia Tech
Our mission: “Uniting the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg community with the purpose of promoting environmental awareness and celebrating our planet”

Saturday,     4/17:    Big Event and Town Events: Working with Virginia Tech's day of service with an eco friendly flair! There will also be several events taking place in the town of Blacksburg.

Sunday,       4/18:    Sunday Funday with the Environmental Coalition: Afternoon outdoor activities, then reconvening at Top of the Stairs with live music

Monday,       4/19:   Conservation and Sustainable Living: Day long events on the Drillfield and in Commonwealth Ballroom with workshops, displays, and a speaker.

Tuesday,      4/20:   Political Action and Community Involvement: Evening workshops and a Climate Action Planning Roundtable with town and Virginia Tech faculty members

Wednesday, 4/21:   Sustainable Food Awareness: Encouraging local and organic dining options, including events at the Blacksburg Farmer's Market, workshops, and displays on the Drillfield

Thursday,     4/22:   Earth Day: A fair on the Drillfield with several sustainability related organizations, a rally for the anniversary of signing the Climate Action Plan, and a march around campus.  President Steger will be officially recognizing new LEED certified buildings.

Friday,         4/23:    Dump the Pump with Alternative Transportation:  Encouraging alternative transportation choices through a transportation showcase, workshops, and free bike tune ups!

For more information (WWW.THEECVT.ORG or EC@vt.edu) or contact the Earth Week coordinator at ericafp8@vt.edu

-Cameron

Mar 2 - Dessert Night!

With spring break right around the corner, and Kyle unable to give his presentation we decided to have an "exam break" meeting. Everyone brought organic/sustainable desserts including organic brownies, lemon cookies, and Homestead Creamery chocolate milk and ice cream.

If you haven't heard about Homestead Creamery yet you should definitely look into it. It is available all over Virginia, and can be purchased at Kroger in Blacksburg. All of the milk at Homestead Creamery is purchased from two local farms (in Wirtz, VA - 34 miles away) both of which have been in family ownership for three or more generations. The milk is free of hormones and antibiotics, and because it is sold in returnable glass bottles it tastes fresher longer and is much more environmentally friendly. For more information on eating sustainably and locally, try to get involved with The Sustainable Food Corps.

http://vtsustainablefoodcorps.wordpress.com/

This Friday is the beginning of spring break so there will be no meeting next week. To stay updated on what everyone in EC is talking about over break check out the google group!

http://groups.google.com/group/vt-environmental-coalition?hl=en

~Cameron