Housing Sustainability Initiatives at The Evergreen State College

1. PICTURE HERE Housing Sustainability Initiatives at The Evergreen State College presented by M’Liss DeWald, Resident Director of First-Year Housing Britt Q. Hoover, Resident Director of Apartment Housing

2. Agenda • Introduction to Residential & Dining Services • Our Sustainable Check-In • The Greener Living Program • The Free Store • The Sustainability House • Check-Out Processes • Questions & Comments

3. Question #1: Evergreen’s official mascot is … A. The Douglas Fir B. The Geoduck C. Jerry Garcia

4. Question #2: Evergreen’s motto Omni Extares translates into English as … A. “We, The Stewards of the Earth” B. “To preserve and to surpass” C. “Let It All Hang Out”

5. Question #3: By 2020, Evergreen plans to be … A. Completely carbon-neutral B. Renamed The Jerry Garcia Institute of Higher Learning C. On the moon!

6. “ • Sustainability isn't just a bandwagon we're hopping onto. It's woven into the very fabric of our identity, and history, as an institution. • President Les Purce, The Evergreen State College ”

7. Introduction to Residential & Dining Services • Working together to be a... • Purposeful community where students, staff, and faculty share a passion for learning and collaborate to enhance student growth. • Just community where the individual is honored, our interdependence is acknowledged, diversity is pursued, freedom of expression is protected and civility is affirmed. • Sustainable community that values, cultivates and maintains its human, natural and physical resources.

8. Our Sustainable Move-in Process • Purpose and Rationale: • Methods: • Pre-arrival e-mail to residents • Arrival to campus • Tutorials • Sustainability welcome kits • RA Training and expectations

10. The Greener Living Program • “The vision of the Greener Living Program is to instill an ethic of sustainability throughout the Evergreen State College campus community” • Training and support for students through workshops, outreach and materials • Staff: RAD Sustainability Intern (.30 FTE) with support from Facilities and Residence Life staff

11. Ban The Bottle • Landfill waste reduction and recycling education campaign • Raise awareness about negative impacts of plastic bottles on social, environmental and economical health • Work towards eliminating and/or reducing the purchasing of plastic bottled water on campus • Other initiatives: Water testing, educational resources, water taste tests, waste audits

12. The Edible Forest Gardens are perennial polycultures of useful plants, cultivated in a multi-layered, forest-type environment modeled after natural ecosystems. These gardens require little maintenance and are high-yielding with a variety of products, such as food plants, medicinals, fertilizer, and more.

13. Other Greener Living Educational Campaigns • Waste audits • Recyclemania • Signage on every dumpster and recycling area • Compost and Recycling Education (Trash Talkers) • Knock & Talks • Future projects: Building metering and bike loan • program

14. 20% Compost 28% Compost 27% Trash 44% Trash 53% Recycling 28% Recycling Apartment Housing Dumpsters First Year Housing Dumpsters • Housing Waste Audits revealed… • First-year housing students need more education and support in recycling • Dumpsters placed next to recycling dumpsters had significantly less non-trash items

15. The Free Store Students donate what they no longer want and other students find new treasures • Institutional support • Space • Set regulations • Coordinators

16. The Free Store • Find volunteers and set hours • Laundry • Organize store • Budget • Benefits

17. The Sustainability House • Living-Learning community of 30 - 60 residents • Residents “committed to living an environmentally conscious, socially just, and sustainable lifestyle” • Raised bed gardens, educational events and workshops, collaborate with other campus resources, potlucks, community action events

18. Administrative Information • Residents must write essay when they apply for housing and commit to 5 hours of service to the community each month • Service includes maintaining raised beds, volunteering at Free Store, planning and attending workshops, etc. • Staff: • Resident Director of Apartment Housing • Resident Assistant • Sustainability Community Educator (volunteer, 2-3 hrs/wk) • RAD Sustainability Intern

19. Sustainability House Learning Curriculum • ACPA Sustainability Learning Outcomes • Each month has a learning theme, such as Food Justice, Waste Reduction, Public Transportation • Bulletin boards, programming, website materials, workshops and/or lectures • Examples: Weekly potluck, canning workshop, making green cleaning products, CCBLA Community Action Day, collective carbon footprint, Farmers Market • Future goals: Career exploration with green businesses, careers in sustainability, etc

20. Necessary Materials & Resources • Departmental support • A flexible curriculum • Funding – RA budget, RHA, hall governments • Facilities support and expertise • Partnerships – Organic Farm, CCBLA

21. Sustainability Planning with Resident Assistants • E-mail information sent Week 3 of Spring Term • Every room/suite meets with RA during Week 5 – 7 • Following is discussed: • Who is taking what? • What are we donating? • Where are we donating to? • Who is responsible for what items? • When are individuals moving out? • Any items need to be recycled a specific way (e.g. batteries)?

22. PODS Consume Collect No waste! Donate Distribute

23. Logistics • Budget break down • Benefits of doing the PODS • Alternates to sustainable move-outs

24. POD Budget 2009

25. Questions & Comments? E-mail us at hooverb@evergreen.edu and dewaldm@evergreen.edu Thank you for attending!