North Central College, Sustainably

Joe Tyna, Student Affairs Specialist, writes:

“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”: a popular phrase. And, as a soon-to-be homeowner, I’m learning the mantra is applicable to remodeling. Inspired by a North Central College Break Away trip to Lynchburg, Virginia, my wife and I are pursuing “green” home improvement.

If you’re remodeling, I recommend a trip to ReStore in Elgin. “But, it is so far away!”, you exclaim. “True”, I reply. “Yet, the drive is worth the distance”.

ReStore Elgin is a 20,000 sq. ft. building materials reuse center benefiting the northern Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity. ReStore accepts donated new and gently used goods from retailers, manufacturers, distributors, contractors and homeowners. Building supplies are then sold, at greatly reduced prices, to the general public. The store’s operation generates funds to support the local community while reducing the amount of material that would otherwise go to overflowing landfills.

Soon-to-be North Central College graduates may need furniture, tools, and other household items. For them, the ReStore is a perfect choice. In fact, Robyn Gautschy, a writer for The Chronicle volunteered at a ReStore in Washington and is already considering what Elgin has to offer post-graduation.

• 10am – 4pm
• Naper Settlement, 523 S Webster (Naperville)
• free (including all of Naper Settlement)

• North Central College Green Scene members will be volunteering

See a wide variety of hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles, learn about eco-friendly products and services available in Naperville, bid on a cordless, electric lawn mower or tickets to the Solheim Cup (and many other exciting items) in the silent auction, listen to experts on clean air and respiratory health, with fun activities for children, including a bounce house. Heartland Blood Bank will be on site from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To sign up to give blood or to volunteer the day of the event, visit Cool Ride-Clean Choice’s website.

Community Energy, our local provider of alternative energy through the Naperville Renewable Energy Program, will provide CO2 offsets for this event with clean renewable energy generated here in Illinois, and will be present to allow attendees to sign up for the Renewable Energy Program.

Expert speakers throughout the day will include John Walton, manager of the alternative vehicle fleet at Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, as well as Brian Urbazewski from Respiratory Health Alliance and Brooke Emmerich of Edward Hospital to address the health effects of vehicle emissions. Other eco-friendly speakers, businesses and organizations will provide information on conventional car care, building energy audits, natural landscaping, solar composting, and home cleaning and personal care products.

Green Scene member Kristen Nardozzi passes along her greetings to everyone for Earth Day:

Happy Earth Day Everyone!!!

Today is a great opportunity to show respect for our planet by going above and beyond in our efforts of green living. Here are some ideas of how you can have a happy and eco-friendly Earth Day:

• Bike or walk to school/work, if this is not possible look into public transportation or carpool with a friend or two
• Unplug your TV, computers, lights, etc. (energy is used even when items are not running if they are still plugged into an outlet!)
• Turn off your A/C and open your windows
• Take a shorter shower and reduce your hot water use
• Plant a tree
• Recycle!
• Use a reusable bag at the store
• Eat a meal of locally grown fruits and vegetables

There are so many simple ways that our actions today and everyday can begin making a difference. Use this holiday as a way to spread a message of sustainability and conservation to friends, family, and anyone you come in contact with today. And remember, even when today is over, you can continue to celebrate our Earth everyday!

For more information on what you can do to help the environment, check out these websites:

• “An Inconvenient Truth”: Take Action
• Environmental Defense Fund: What You Can Do About Global Warming
• Treehugger: How to Go Green

• On April 7, Indian Prairie Unit District 204’s environmental experts declared the future Eola Road site of Metea Valley High School, contaminated with diesel fuel and PCBs, to require remediation, but be safe (Daily Herald). Local attorney Shawn Collins expressed skepticism a few days before, though, about the site’s “overhead power lines and the high-pressure natural gas pipelines”.
• There was a public meeting on April 10 about the City of Naperville’s proposed aerial spraying of the Riverwoods Park area to control gypsy moths (Chicago Tribune).

Green Scene would like to collect your old sneakers so that they can recycle them to be used on sport surfaces in communities around the world! Simply drop off your used athletic shoes in White Activities Center from April 16th through 22nd (until Earth Day).

A few guidelines:

• Athletic shoes only (any brand)
• No shoes containing metal
• No cleats or dress shoes
• No wet or damp shows

Contact Joe Wilmarth Tyna (jptyna@noctrl.edu) or Matt Leonard (mrleonard@noctrl.edu) for more information.

• April 19, 9am-3pm: Wheaton Recycling Extravaganza (PDF, 44KB)
  • Parking Lot at Carlton Ave & Liberty Dr, Wheaton (Google Map)
  • North Central College Green Scene will be volunteering
• April 20, noon-4 pm, DuPage County Forest Preserve Earth Day Festival
  • Fullersburg Woods, Oak Brook (Google Map)
• April 22, 10:30am-1:30pm, Alternative Fuel Vehicle Expo
  • Wheaton College, Wheaton (Google Map)
• April 22, Nike ReUse-a-Shoe Collection begins
  • contact Glen Ellyn based organization, SCARCE, to drop shoes off, or
  • donate on campus with Green Scene
• April 26, 10am-4pm, @ Naper Settlement: Cool Ride – Clean Choice Car Show
  • sponsored by Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation and Partners for Clean Choice
  • North Central College Green Scene members will be volunteering
• April 26, 8am-noon, Glen Ellyn Recycling Extravaganza
  • Parking Lot at Duane St & Lorraine St, Glen Ellyn (Google Map)
• April 26, 9am-1pm, Annual Earth Day Trail Cleanup, Illinois Prairie Path

The College and SGA are relaunching the Cardinal Community Bike Program this week so that you can get around campus more greenly.

You’ll find Cardinal RED bikes with NCC stickers at bike racks around campus and at Naper Place. Students, faculty and staff will be able to pick up a bicycle in one location, ride to another destination on campus, and drop it off at a bike rack.

Help things go smoothly when you use a RED bike:

• Don’t use any personal locks on the bikes. RED bikes work on an honor system; Campus Safety will cut off any personal locks.
• Don’t ever park RED bikes off campus (other than directly outside of Naper Place). If a non-NCC community member is riding a bike, please call campus safety.
• Do leave your RED bike outside, accessible to everyone. A fine will be assessed if a bike is found in residence hall rooms.
• If a bike requires maintenance, call campus safety at x5911 or walk the bike to the Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium (Campus Safety office) and it will be repaired and put back into circulation as soon as possible.

Be safe, too:

• Follow all the Bicycle Rules of the Road (PDF, 208kB)
• Always maintain a safe speed and wear a bike helmet
• Don’t wear headphones while riding
• Never bike at night without a light
• Do not ride bicycles under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Wear proper apparel (shoes are a must and skirts/wide leg pants can get caught in bike parts).

So, grab a Cardinal RED bike the next time you need to go from one end of campus to the other, and help North Central go green!

The new Environmental Studies program is excited to be offering two new courses during the next academic year. Keep them in mind when you are signing up for 2008-2009 classes.

Modern Environmental Issues (ENV 300) will be taught by Professor Will Barnett in Spring 2009. It is the only required course for the Environmental Studies minor – the other 6 courses in the minor can be chosen from a variety of courses in the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. ENV 300 is an interdisciplinary course that examines local, national, and international environmental problems, and evaluates potential solutions. Field trips and group projects will be important components of the course. ENV 300 fulfills the Leadership, Ethics, and Values (LEV) requirement.

American Environmental History (either ENV 248 or HST 248) will be taught by Professor Barnett in Fall 2008. It can be used to fulfill the core requirement for an environmental course from the humanities, and there is no prerequisite. ENV 248 examines U.S. history from an environmental perspective. Students will study events from initial contacts between European colonists and Native Americans all the way up to the atomic bomb and suburban sprawl. We will look at how different groups of Americans have adapted to and changed the landscape, and we will read authors like Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and Aldo Leopold to examine changing American ideas about nature.

A variety of other classes being offered next year can also be counted toward this new minor. Contact Professor Martha Bohrer (mlbohrer@noctrl.edu) coordinator of Environmental Studies, or Professor Will Barnett (wcbarnett@noctrl.edu) with any questions.

The College’s Environmental Studies program invites faculty and staff and students to its green Faculty Forum on April 15 from 12-2pm in Goldspohn 20. Topics, panelists, and disciplines include:

• “Writing a Green History of Modern America” (Will Barnett, History)
• “Literature and Science: Shaping the Green Commons” (Martha Bohrer, English)
• “Green Chemistry Is Not Your Father’s Environmental Chemistry” (Paul Brandt, Chemistry)
• “Maya Green/Environmental Green: Shared Symbol, Varied Meanings” (Matt Krystal, Anthropology)
• “Environmental Enterprise: Working with Green Business” (Gerald Thalmann, Accounting)

Need to get rid of used batteries, old paint, or other hazardous wastes? Naperville Fire Station #4, just off of Route 59 between Diehl and N. Aurora Roads (Google Map), will accept many toxic materials.