NAEP Sustainability Blog

Welcome to NAEP Sustainability Blog. Please share your messages with NAEP fellow members here!

72 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the NAEP Sustainability Blog page. Let's hear what is on your mind or what is going on at your institution or questions you may have for the group. This is hear for your sustainability benefit! So, Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

I don't think that anyone in the Purchasing profession has awakened to just how big this thing is and how fast it is coming at them.

Anonymous said...

Totally Unprepared

For most of the American public buying a home will be the largest single purchase they will ever make. For most they are totally unprepared. They like millions before them have done will not so simply stumble through to so end and be dissatisfied. There are very few important acts in life for which society, the schools, the colleges and universities, the marketplace, the parents and your friends could begin to fail you like the failure to know how to buy a house. Funny is it not how we worry about how to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic? I cite the no child left behind act and the state level educational competency tests, how to drive an automobile and I cite the insurance companies rewards for a drivers education course and penalty for none, How to cook a meal, we need to say thank you to the many home economics teachers working in the fast food industry. Yet when it comes to the biggest purchase we are left entirely to our own devices without any attempt transfer knowledge so that we might have a win-win situation. Why is it that so very little effort is expended teaching us the vox populis how to get into that home? We are more interested in determining the typing speed of an applicant or the mastery level of another worker on how to execute a software program for use in word processing or spreadsheet analysis than we are in buying a house correctly.

You can buy self help books on how to do virtually anything you can think of but I won’t typically be easy to find a selection on how to purchase a new home. Amazing is this fact to me that the domicile that is clearly most responsible for you and your families health and well being is so devoid of education. Why is this the case? Is it because we do not want an educated homebuyer? Is it because the homebuilding industry and the mortgage bankers could not make the large profits they do if we sic the public knew what we were doing? Is it because the real estate industry really is totally incapable of accepting any responsibility or liability for 6 to 10% of the action? Is it because there is too little knowledge about just what is a good healthy home to share with the public. Is it because there is to little real data about role a house plays in the value of the concept of quality of life?

I have not the answer just some thoughts and an opinion. Historically when we think about this process we must begin at a beginning. We can ask the questions; what are the essentials of life. We likely will get an answer something like, food, water and shelter. Ok I am sure that we would get a fair amount of argument for love, health, companionship, spiritual enlightenment, children, and chocolate. The fact is that we as a species need only water, air, soil, food, and shelter. Why do I feel this way? Just take a look at the homeless in your town and try and find more than the essentials. This can not be to far off the mark from whence we came maybe 5 million years ago. Humankind could not leave Africa to end up in much colder climates until the mastery of shelter building was created and conquered. And it was worked at for a very long time. So those early couple of hundred thousand years were catch as catch can and cave and grotto limited.

As the genetic pool spread and shelter building grew not every human came along on the ride specialization happens men and women were evolving and many men and women did not know or care to know how to build quality shelter. This is not a story about the style and craftsmanship exhibited by the three little pigs this is a story about the evolution and the great losing of knowledge about survival and thus how to buy a home through the loss of knowledge about how to build shelter.

A barter economy became emergent as a result of the specialization humans presented. This emergent specialization and barter system speeded up the loss of the knowledge of shelter building. Humans skilled at fishing traded fish for shelter built by others because they were good at fishing and not good at shelter building, and as long as it worked they had no reason to know anything about what a shelter was or should be. No one ever looked back. Progress marched on. Over the millennia this process (shelter building became increasingly more complex. Leading us to this space in time. Faced with our single largest expenditure, we do not know what or how to buy a quality home.

We have arrived in the middle of the world’s most incestuous relationship mortgage banking and homebuilding. The dominant paradigm of the relationship is the house you by is defined by the cost per square foot to will pay. We accept this paradigm from every quarter of the cartel that is the home building/finance industry. The primary player are well known they are; the developer, builder, real estate agent, lending institution, tax assessor, property appraiser and mortgage services industries. This paradigm rules because we simply do not know what to value. The prime actors named above in this tragic comedy all profit handsomely. This centuries old dumbing down of the buyers beaten about the head with the constant mantra of cost per square foot have created an economic juggernaught in the housing industries. Note how Wall Street responds to housing starts, new home sales, used home sales. And it is all a farce, because the value of your home can not possibly be found in the cost per square foot you pay but in the value the home provides to you beginning with the health implications of the occupants, followed by the economic requirements to operate the house upon the financial viability of the occupants.

Shame on us for allowing this to happen to us. Shame on us for not accepting more personal accountability and responsibility. Shame on us for not demanding that our educational systems actually teach us how to thrive in the world at large. We worry sometimes about high school graduates not being able to balance a check book meanwhile the elephant marches down the middle of main street. We do not know how to properly make the single largest spending decision of our lives. We need to change this paradigm now and we need to do it for all future generations.

If you are interested in commenting on this please drop me a line and lets have some dialogue. Remember that you too can do great things, and this could be the most important thing you do for yourself and those you love.

Anonymous said...

Sustainability is part of the higher ed agenda. It is evident in the news media, evident in the business world, and evident on most campuses thru the students. Why would Procurement not think this is huge? This is an opportunity for Procurement to get out in front and lead.

Anonymous said...

I'm in Washington DC today to attend the HEASC meeting. HEASC is short for Higher Education Associations Sustainability Collaboration. This is thirty something he associations who have made a formal committment to advance the cause of sustainability on campus. HEASC will be training the staff personnel of the 30 something organizations in the sustainaiblity concepts, applications, tactics, and techniques. I will be one of the trainers. Pretty cool notion that the professional organizations located in and around Washington are stepping up to the plate to tackle this issue. By the way the NAEP Sustainability Institute scheduled for April 29 through May 2 in Phoenix or should I say Tempe AZ at the beautiful Mission Palms Hotel and the Arizona State University Campus. You need to come to this Institute. If you are thinking strategically you know that one of the hottest issues on campus is sustainability, climate change and carbon neutrality. What do you know? What can you learn? What can you teach others? How you you contribute?

Anonymous said...

Carbon Neutral

In the most simplistic sense it is the state of zero net carbon atoms being added to the inventory of gaseous non sequestered molecules that are being released into the biosphere. This happens when we “burn” fossil fuels such as gasoline. The problem is that we don’t “burn” or consume anything, we simply are changing or converting the form of the molecular structure (in this case gasoline) from a liquid which we can see and feel, to a gas which we can’t see and we can’t feel.
Being or becoming carbon neutral involves calculating the total climate-damaging carbon emissions that an individual, an organization, a process or a political subdivision is accountable for having caused to be generated (your "carbon footprint"), and reducing them to a net zero gain in the amount of carbon emissions the biosphere must handle. Carbon neutrality can be achieved in a myriad of ways most often by purchasing a carbon offset: paying to plant new trees or investing in "green" technologies such as solar and wind power through the purchase of registered certificates offered by an independent third party.
Carbon in and of itself is not a dangerous element. And when sequestered is quite helpful. A tree sequesters carbon as it grows and performs the wonder of photosynthesis. But if we cut the tree down we create two situations. First, the tree stops doing the work of photosynthesis making oxygen for us and sequestering carbon and feeding itself. Thus the capacity to handle free carbon molecules is decrease. The second situation occurs when we decide that we are going to burn that tree in our fireplace. You see the ashes that are left are not the only molecules that are left after the combustion and the release of heat and light. There is the incomplete chemical reaction which is the gaseous form of the combination of the carbon with the oxygen in the form of carbon dioxide which now is released and looking for a place to either settle out and be re-sequestered or to escape only to be captured by the Earth’s atmosphere and to join the gadzillion other carbon molecules in the greenhouse. The more carbon molecules there are, the thicker the haze that is clouding up the greenhouse and not letting the sun’s energy in the form of heat out of the green house and into space. That is how we are changing or climate.

Anonymous said...

Great job done, keep it up!with the best regards!

Anonymous said...

why does this not surprise us? We graduate millions of kids each year that are functionaly illiterate and can not explain where milk comes from other than the store.

Anonymous said...

If you know teachers or studenst that are interested in using project based learning to engage in sustainability projects in their school or community, suggest they visit the ESD wiki at esd.wikispaces.com. There is lots of info about sustainability and project based learning. There are plenty of opportunities for additions to the wiki, and they are particularly looking for descriptions of projects.

Brian Yeoman said...

House Buying Primer or On becoming prepared!!

Recently I worked with some of our members trying to help address some of the issues a person should consider before they jump into that purchase of a lifetime, a residence. This exchange took place after the members read the article entitled “Totally unprepared.” The members understood and commented on the following from the article, “The biggest hint I can share with you is, when you begin to think about the structure/house look for value, not the cost of a square foot. The home building /real estate industry is going to be pushing you very hard once you enter the marketplace. They only know how to market based upon cost per square foot and location.” The question was, ”OK what should I know and where do I go to get that information so that I can become a more informed buyer?”

The exchange began with the following points; We are not going to talk about the concept of location within the context of a state, city, county, township, exurb, suburb or downtown flat. You can get more of that than you probably can tolerate from the internet. We are going to begin at a different place.

First time buyers have to examine the broader issues of climate, and site as the first steps. Climate sets in place a series of actions that are either doable or they are not. What works well in the West Coast climate for housing does not work well in the hot and humid South and what works in the hot and humid South does not work in the wide open spaces of the upper Midwest. And thus, it is the case that the East Coast cold dictates another set of responses so climate is the big number one thing to really understand.

The second most critical issue is location but location from the prospective of orientation on a buildable site. Buyers need to ask themselves this question,” Is the building properly sited?”

The correct orientation for the structure is, the long axis sitting east and west. If it is not sited east and west you will have a problem. This happens because if the structure is sited poorly it will absorb too much solar radiation or too little. If you are living in the South too much solar radiation is a huge problem and you get very hot and you have high air conditioning bills and greater maintenance costs. If you are living in the North you will get too little solar radiation and that is a huge problem. It just happens that the problem shows up at different times of the year. So how do you know what to do? Begin with finding out where true south is? And don’t buy it if it not sited correctly no matter how much you love the house.

The third most critical issue to be dealt with by buyers is the need to provide quality shade to windows. Windows on the south and west side of a structure must be shaded. If you are not going to do this, you are going to pay dearly for it in higher utility costs, regardless where you live.

You can get great shading from nature–preferably with deciduous trees or overhangs. The trees have got to be mature not small caliper trees. And the overhangs have got to have at least one inch of length beyond the structure for each degree of latitude you are north of the equator. Awnings will suffice in a pinch if they are done well and the buyer understands and accepts the maintenance responsibility. The awnings can be made of recycled aluminum or organic cotton but you have to have shade.

The fourth issue buyer’s face is the amount and quality of the glazing. We are talking about windows now and specifically the ratio of the area of glass in the windows expressed as a percentage of the total area of the house’s envelope. It is the case that if the relationship is too great (the percentage is high), you are going to be living in a glasshouse that will be very difficult to control from a thermal comfort standpoint.

If the relationship of glass area to house skin is too small, you will feel that you are living in a cave. Devoid of daylight with the lights on more of the time than not your energy bills will be high and you will become a candidate for cabin fever. So we are looking for balance.

Linked to the ratio of glass in windows to area of the envelope, is the quality of the windows. You want only double pane windows; you want them to be very energy efficient, and EnergyStar labeled. You also want to be able to see out of them.

So the three values you have to consider in the specifications are U value, shading coefficient and visible light transmittance. In the instance of visible light transmittance the higher the number the more light is let in. In the case of U value and shading coefficient values, the lower the number the better the performance. You can look on the EPA-EnergyStar or Department of Energy’s website and get what ranges are high quality numbers. U-Factor
The U-factor (U-value) measures the rate of heat loss or how well a product prevents heat from escaping. It includes the thermal properties of the frame as well as the glazing. The insulating value is indicated by the R-value, which is the inverse of the U-factor. U-factor ratings generally fall between 0.20 and 1.20. The lower the U-factor, the greater a product's resistance to heat flow and the better its insulating value.
To reduce U-factors, some manufacturers apply a low-E (low-emittance) coating to glazing surfaces. These low-E coatings reduce heat loss, improving both heating and cooling performance. Windows can also be assembled to improve thermal performance. Some assembly strategies include using two or more layers of panes or films, low-conductance gas fills between the layers, and thermally improved edge spacers, which are placed between the panes.
The sash and frame of a window represent 10% to 30% of a window's total area, depending on the window size and design. The material used to manufacture the frame can thus impact heat loss and related condensation resistance. In colder climates, in non-residential buildings, where aluminum frames are used, thermal breaks should be specified in order to minimize heat transfer and condensation on the frames. In colder climates, with residential buildings, most products use wood, vinyl, or other non-metallic frames.
Some door frames will also conduct heat. Solid doors, insulated metal or fiberglass doors are usually the best choice. Window coverings—such as shades, shutters, and insulating or storm panels—can help reduce heat loss too. The NFRC doesn't rate window coverings. But some manufacturers provide R-values for their products.
The solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) is the next factor to consider. SHGC measures how well a product blocks heat caused by sunlight. The SHGC is expressed as a number between 0 and 1. The lower the SHGC, the less solar heat is being transmitted.
To reduce the SHGC, manufacturers can apply a selective Low-E coating to glazing. This type of Low-E coating can reduce heat loss in the winter as well as solar gain in the summer.
In passive solar design, south-facing windows with high SHGC ratings might be needed to provide a building with heat in the winter. But a properly designed roof overhang is typically used to reduce the solar heat gain from these windows in the summer. Some window coverings—shades, blinds, mesh screens, and awnings—can also be used to reduce solar heat gain in the summer or as needed.
Visible transmittance (VT) is the final glazing consideration. It measures how much light comes through the glass. It's an optical property that indicates the amount of visible light transmitted. The National Fenestration Ratings Council (NFRC) VT rating even includes the impact of the frame
Another related issue is, what is the material in the frame that houses the glass? If it is a metal frame (typically aluminum) the aluminum is going to compromise the performance of the window. If the window frame is exposed to the sun see issue three above for the cycle. If it is vinyl it will perform better than the metal frame but you get a pretty nasty ecological footprint with vinyl, which leaves wood. Wood performs excellently but it comes with a price. That price is maintenance and most Americans don’t like it. Therefore, most of the windows you see in the residential housing marketplace today are vinyl
You may also see an air leakage (AL) rating. The rating is expressed as the equivalent cubic feet of air passing through a square foot of the product's area (cfm/sq ft). The lower the AL number, the less air infiltration will be encountered. Window coverings are not effective at reducing air infiltration. Traditionally, the best way to eliminate drafts caused by infiltration is to caulk and weather strip windows, and doors as well.
The fifth major issue to consider in helping you to get focused on value is the quality of the roof construction and the quality and quantity of the attic insulation.
Roofs play a key role in protecting building occupants and interiors from outside weather conditions, primarily moisture. The roof, insulation, and ventilation have to work together to keep the building free of moisture.
Wildly different roof designs and materials are used for residential roofs. The concerns regarding moisture, standing water, durability and appearance are genuine. Roof design can impact the building's thermal performance. A number of roofing choices are available. New roof shingles on the market today can even produce electricity using solar technology. Reflective roofing materials or coatings help send the heat back into the sky rather than into the building. And recycled content shingles are available that look like slate or wood
The sun's energy inevitably finds its way into the buildings on which it falls. In the summertime, this unwanted heat energy makes buildings hot and requires more air conditioning. Since the summertime sun rises high in the sky, the sun's radiant energy falls mainly on the roof, with east and west walls of buildings also receiving a significant share.
One of the simplest ways to keep solar heat out of buildings is to use reflective roofing materials. Then, the sun's radiant energy is simply reflected back toward the sky from which it came. In fact, reflective materials also help keep the building's environment (i.e., the city) cool, by reflecting solar energy back out into space, thereby reducing the heat island effect. You know you have value if the builder has used EnergyStar labeled products. These products typically reflect heat and can reduce peak cooling demand by 10% to 15%.
Asphalt shingles are typically the most common and economical choice for residential roofing. They come in a variety of colors, shapes, and textures. There are four different types: strip, laminated, interlocking, and large individual shingles. Laminated shingles consist of more than one layer of tabs to provide extra thickness. Interlocking shingles are used to provide greater wind resistance. And large individual shingles generally come in rectangular and hexagonal shapes.
The sixth major issue for homebuyers is the SEER (Seasonal Efficiency Rating) of the cooling system and the AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) rating of the heating system. In a typical U.S. home, heating and air conditioning account for about 56% of the energy you will use. Heating is the largest energy expense in most homes, accounting for almost two-thirds of annual energy bills in colder areas of the country. Of course in the south the inverse is true. The higher the number value earned by the unit’s manufacturer, the better for both the cooling (SEER) and heating system (AFUE) e.g. 14 SEER and 83% AFUE the current EnergyStar minimums.

The related issue to HVAC efficiency is the quality of the ductwork used to deliver the treated air and the quality of the seals at the joints in the crablike system of supply in your attic or basement. This issue is exceedingly important. It will make little difference if the AC and the furnace are high quality if the duct and the seals are low quality. To ensure that the seals are high quality, ask the builder for the results of the leak test done for the EnergyStar rating. Insist upon inspecting one or more joints and see for yourself the quality of the mastic application. If there is no mastic and only duct tape you have a low quality installation and if they will not change it don’t buy the house.
Seventh issue to consider is the R value of the insulation in the walls. Insulation works by slowing down heat as it travels through walls, ceilings, and floors. The amount of insulation you need depends on the building design and location.
Insulation is rated in terms of its resistance to heat flow, called R-value. The higher the R-value, the greater the thermal resistance. The R-value of thermal insulation depends on the type of material, its thickness, and density. There are many insulation choices. Some of them are rolls, batts, foam, foam boards, loose fill, recycled cotton blue jeans, radiant barriers, reflective insulation, structurally insulated panels sometimes called SIPS, and insulated concrete forms or ICF;s.
Comprehensive, unbiased facts and handbooks comparing all types of insulation in detail are available from the Department of Energy (DOE). A related and very important issue is the quality of the installation of the insulation. Insulation is the one thing that if installed improperly can dramticalaly affect the not only the performance of your home but it can also create health problems for you and your family.

The eighth issue buyers should be concerned with is the appliances. Appliances are a very significant contributor to your overall energy utilization. One way to ensure that you will have lower energy bills is to insist that all appliances be EnergyStar certified. This means the refrigerator, the freezer, the stove, the oven, the microwave, the dishwasher, the water heater and the trash compactor. If the appliances are not EnergyStar beware.

The ninth issue to inquire about is the water heating. Water heating is a huge contributor to your energy bills and to your overall energy utilization. Water can be heated a lot of different ways. The predominant method is with natural gas or electricity. The typical water heater is 40 gallons. The technology is very old, has some danger associated with it and the units are cheap. Don’t buy a house with a conventional water heater insist upon a tankless water heater even if you live in an area where you can not get natural gas.

The tenth issue to look for is the controllability of the heating and ventilating and air conditioning system specifically through the use of programmable thermostat(s). Efficient control of your home's heating and cooling systems can save energy and money. Programmable thermostats save energy by turning down the heat at night or when your house is usually not occupied. For houses with central air conditioning, programmable thermostats can also allow the house to heat up when it is unoccupied. This can be particularly effective if your home is unoccupied for large periods of the day. You can save energy without any loss of comfort, because the thermostat can be programmed to return to temperatures that are in your comfort zone during hours when you're home and awake in the morning and evening.

So it is entirely possible that you might want a simplified list of question to begin the process so here goes:

Is the house an EnergyStar certified house?
Is the house certified by any green building program such as LEED for Homes or GBI(The Green Building Initiative NAHB)?
Are the materials used throughout the house safe e.g. non off-gassing and contain no formaldehyde or phenol?
Do the paints, varnishes and stains contain low or no volatile organic compounds (VOC’s)?
Are the water fixtures low flow?
Are native plantings evident which require less watering?
What are the floor coverings? Avoid carpet at all cost.
If you can avoid the use of PVC in its entirety do it.
What is the AFUE rating of the furnace?
What is the SEER rating of the air conditioner?
Is every light fixture a fluorescent? either a CFL or T-5?
Is the roofing membrane one that has high emissivity and high reflectance?
What is the recycled content of any steel or aluminum used in the structure?
Is the wood (Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified?
What is the lightening protection?
Are the window low e double paned and possessed with a shading coefficient of .27 or lower?

These are the kind of questions that can start to get the dialog going with the sales folks or a realtor. If the sales personnel or the realtor can not answer the questions or does not understand the questions, return to the beginning and start all over again. You can obtain lots of information with these questions posed in an inquiring manner. Remember that you too can do great things and that you do not have to be “Totally Unprepared.”

Brian Yeoman said...

Climate Change Numbers

1st Rank of 2006 as hottest year on record in the continental United States.

1st Rank of America as top global warming polluter in the world.

20% Increase of America's carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels since 1990.

15% Increase of America's carbon dioxide emissions forecasted by 2020 if we do not cap pollution.

80% Decrease in US global warming pollution required by 2050 to prevent the worst consequences of climate change.

78 Number of days by which the US fire season has increased over the past 20 years - tied closely to increased temperatures and earlier snowmelt.

200 million Number of people around the world who could be displaced by more intense droughts, sea level rise and flooding by 2080.

358 Number of US mayors (representing 55 million citizens) who have signed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement pledging to meet or beat Kyoto goals in their communities.

0 Number of federal bills passed to cap America's global warming pollution.

Brian Yeoman said...

Factoids to consider

In 2005 nearly 8 billion tons of carbon were pumped into the atmosphere, compared to 6.4 billion tons in 1995.

CO2 emissions from automobiles, power plants, and factories grew an annual rate of 1.1% during the 1990’s.

From 2000 to 2004, the annual growth rate for CO2 emissions was 3%, nearly triple the rate from 1990 to 1999.

The study found no region had reduced the percentage of its energy supply coming from fossil fuel carbon.

More than half of the US population (153 million) live within 50 miles of the U.S. coastline.

The average number of hurricanes in an average season is six. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast seven to 10 hurricanes for 2007.

From proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences

kassy said...

Um, it appears that the actual posts are being put into the comments section of this blog instead of being posted correctly. Could someone fix that?

Anonymous said...

T2VpFe Your blog is great. Articles is interesting!

Anonymous said...

YLRDVE Wonderful blog.

Anonymous said...

Good job!

Anonymous said...

actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to author.

Anonymous said...

Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

Magnific!

Anonymous said...

Magnific!

Anonymous said...

Magnific!

Anonymous said...

Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

fdzIaW Thanks to author.

Anonymous said...

Nice Article.

Brian Yeoman said...

Ever wonder how to establish a successful recycling program for Construction and Demolition Waste?
Brian Yeoman
NAEP's Director of Education and Development offers the following:

How Can You Ensure that Your C &D Recycling Program Will Be Successful?

Diverting waste from the landfill and practicing recycling pays off by lowering energy, material and disposal costs. This has been proven every time the political will to do the right thing is exercised. Here are some suggestions to some common challenges that even the best programs will face as they implement a program.
Find Adequate and Appropriate Space
Recycling and reuse efforts require space. Get enough space the first time you set up. Set aside an area of the jobsite to store salvaged building materials and house recycling bins for either commingled or source-separated loads. If you can not get enough space do not be afraid to set up on a remote site. The critical need is for adequate space not the closeness to the jobsite.
Educate and Communicate
Communicate your plan to the general contractor and subcontractors on site. They will need to know: who is going to receive the materials, how materials should be separated, where materials should be shipped, and when the materials will be collected and delivered to the appropriate facilities. You can not communicate to often or too loudly. You are creating a culture change.
Lead Your Program
Designate and delegate an on-site leader with appropriate authority and responsibility who will be accountable for educating the general contractor’s crew and subcontractors, setting up the site, coordinating, reporting and supervising all recycling efforts to prevent the contamination of recycling loads. Include all waste-handling requirements and expectations in all project documents and job interviews. Where appropriate do this in at least one other language to insure your goals and expectations are understood by all involved in the project.

Involve all of your Subcontractors
Require all of your subcontractors to use the on-site recycling capabilities and disposal bins and/or require them to recycle their own waste off site and provide you with appropriate documentation. Ask each subcontractor to conduct a review of the project goals and objectives each time they are speaking of safety issues. This is an easy way to link the two important topics and to minimize administrative cost.

Prevent Contamination
Adopt strategies to prevent contamination by clearly labeling the recycling bins and waste containers on site. Post lists of recyclable and non-recyclable materials. Use a tally board to track volume. Conduct regular site visits to verify that bins are not contaminated. Provide feedback to the general contractor’s crew and subcontractors on the results of their efforts.
Reward the Behavior
Celebrate the success of efforts on the project in a public manner to reinforce the behavior you want on the next jobsite. Throw a party and use compostibles and make the event a recycling showplace for all to experience and witness.

Anonymous said...

sustainjobs.com is the leading global site for jobseekers and advertisers in the sustainability, climate change and renewable energy fields.

We believe our database to be the most comprehensive and focussed in the industry. Our objective is to provide an exceptional service for the professional end of the spectrum – typical user profiles are as follows:

• Academics and Students at leading research institutions
• Experts in government, NGO's, consulting and legal firms,
• Highly skilled engineers and technical experts.
• MBA, MSc and PhD graduates.

www.sustainjobs.com

Anonymous said...

I was distrubed today and so I thought I would reflect on why this state of mind existed and I was remind how little we have learned from the people who we robbed of America. I found this very old quotation that appeared in the magazine Mother Jones which was a reprint of July 1980 speech at the Black Hills International Survival Gathering given by Russell Means one of the most contoversial Native Americans alive today.

"I do not really believe that capitalism is really responsible for the situation in which American Indians have been declared a national sacrifice. No, it is the European tradition: European culture itself is responsible. Marxism is just the latest continuation of this tradition, not a solution to it… There is another way. There is the traditional Lakota way and the ways of the other American Indian peoples. It is the way that knows that humans do not have the right to degrade Mother Earth, that there are forces beyond anything the European mind has conceived, that humans must be n harmony with all relations or the relations will eventually eliminate the disharmony. A lopsided emphasis on humans by humans-the Europeans’ arrogance of acting as though they were beyond the nature of all related things-can only result in a total disharmony and a readjustment which cuts arrogant humans down to size, gives them a taste of that reality beyond their grasp or control and restores harmony…..Distilled to its basic terms, European faith-including the new faith in science-equals a belief that man is God. Europe has always sought a Messiah, whether that be the man Jesus Christ or the man Karl Marx or the man Albert Einstein. American Indians know this to be totally absurd. Humans are the weakest of creatures. ….Humans are able to survive only through the exercise of rationality since the lack the abilities of other creatures to gain food through the use of fang and claw. But rationality is a curse since it can cause humans to forget the natural order of things in ways other creatures do not. A wolf never forgets his of her place in the natural order. American Indians can. Europeans almost always do. We pray out thanks to the deer, our relations, for allowing us their flesh to eat; Europeans simply take the flesh for granted and consider the deer inferior…It’s only a matter of time until what Europeans call “a major catastrophe of global proportions” will occur. It is the role of the American Indian peoples, the role of all natural beings, to survive. A part of our survival is to resist. We resist not to overthrow a government or to take political power, but because it is natural to resist extermination, to survive. We don’t want power over white institutions; we want white institutions to disappear. That’s revolution.

American Indians are still in touch with these realities-the prophecies, the traditions of our ancestors. We learn from the elders, from nature, from the powers. And when the catastrophe is over, we American Indian peoples will still be here to inhabit the hemisphere. I don’t care if it’s only a handful living high in the Andes. American Indian people will survive; harmony will be reestablished>" What set me off? Secretary of State C. Rice's comments to schoolgirls in Australia that what she looked to most upon leaving office in January of 2009 is the opportunity to SHOP in those wonderful Northern California shops. Now if that does not depress you then I do not know what would. It clearly demonstrates that at the highest level of government the notion of Climate Change is simply to complex, too heavy and that shopping is the issue of the day.

Brian Yeoman said...

I was disturbed today and so I thought I would reflect on why this state of mind existed. I was reminded of how little we have learned from the people who we robbed America from. It is often the case that in great times of solace we find Native American wisdom and we actually try to understand what we have done. So today I looked for and I found this very old quotation that appeared in the magazine Mother Jones. The article was a reprint of a July 1980 speech at the Black Hills International Survival Gathering given by Russell Means one of the most controversial Native Americans still alive today. His insight into what we are facing some 28 years later is amazing.

"I do not really believe that capitalism is really responsible for the situation in which American Indians have been declared a national sacrifice. No, it is the European tradition: European culture itself is responsible. Marxism is just the latest continuation of this tradition, not a solution to it… There is another way. There is the traditional Lakota way and the ways of the other American Indian peoples. It is the way that knows that humans do not have the right to degrade Mother Earth, that there are forces beyond anything the European mind has conceived, that humans must be n harmony with all relations or the relations will eventually eliminate the disharmony. A lopsided emphasis on humans by humans-the Europeans’ arrogance of acting as though they were beyond the nature of all related things-can only result in a total disharmony and a readjustment which cuts arrogant humans down to size, gives them a taste of that reality beyond their grasp or control and restores harmony…..Distilled to its basic terms, European faith-including the new faith in science-equals a belief that man is God. Europe has always sought a Messiah, whether that be the man Jesus Christ or the man Karl Marx or the man Albert Einstein. American Indians know this to be totally absurd. Humans are the weakest of creatures. ….Humans are able to survive only through the exercise of rationality since the lack the abilities of other creatures to gain food through the use of fang and claw. But rationality is a curse since it can cause humans to forget the natural order of things in ways other creatures do not. A wolf never forgets his of her place in the natural order. American Indians can. Europeans almost always do. We pray our thanks to the deer, our relations, for allowing us their flesh to eat; Europeans simply take the flesh for granted and consider the deer inferior…It’s only a matter of time until what Europeans call “a major catastrophe of global proportions” will occur. It is the role of the American Indian peoples, the role of all natural beings, to survive. A part of our survival is to resist. We resist not to overthrow a government or to take political power, but because it is natural to resist extermination, to survive. We don’t want power over white institutions; we want white institutions to disappear. That’s revolution.

American Indians are still in touch with these realities-the prophecies, the traditions of our ancestors. We learn from the elders, from nature, from the powers. And when the catastrophe is over, we American Indian peoples will still be here to inhabit the hemisphere. I don’t care if it’s only a handful living high in the Andes. American Indian people will survive; harmony will be reestablished."

Now how is it that this radical Native American who so obviously has seen the damage wrecked upon his culture, his people and his land can so confidently challenge the status quo? How is it that he can see us so clearly and we can’t begin to see ourselves?
What set me off? It began with the gutless G8 leaders saying oh we are concerned with climate change. We are so concerned that we will make a commitment to reduce greenhouse gases by 50% but not on my watch or my children’s watch but on my grandchildren’s watch 42 years from now. How undistinguished and disingenuous can one be?
Not to be outdone a lesser string of events culminating in Secretary of State C. Rice's comments to schoolgirls in Australia that what she looked to most upon leaving office in January of 2009 is the opportunity to SHOP in those wonderful Northern California shops. Now if that does not depress you then I do not know what would? It clearly demonstrates that at the highest level of our government the notion of Climate Change and the impending crises is simply too complex, too heavy and that shopping is the issue of the day. The loss of biodiversity runs headlong each and every day stripping the web of life on the planet and what are we concerned with SHOPPING.

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