May_Newsletter

STUDENT OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY
Monthly Newsletter • May 2015
May 2015
What’s Your Water Footprint?
We have all heard the statistics a thousand times: 97% of the water on earth is saltwater, 2%
is stuck in ice caps and glaciers, and a mere 1% is useable freshwater. After hearing this we
say“wow”and continue going about our daily lives as usual. Especially here in the Midwest
where we have been blessed with an abundance of water, we don’t tend to treat it as a scarce
resource. It’s easy to forget that water scarcity is a serious health, political, and economic is-
sue around the world as well as in our own country (just look to California for proof).
As changing climate, socioeconomic, and sociopolitical conditions continue to exacerbate water scarcity
challenges, we need to start taking a serious look at how we value and consume this precious resource.
It’s time we do our part and start living more water-conscious lives, and what better way to begin than by
examining our personal water use?
At www.waterfootprint.org you can estimate how many cubic meters of water your lifestyle uses every year
with the extended personal water footprint calculator. This tool not only calculates your direct water usage
(e.g. taking a shower), but also the water you consume indirectly, like the amount of water it takes to grow
the grains in your morning bowl of cereal. It will ask for information like how many fruits and vegetables
you eat weekly, how often you wash your car, how many loads of laundry you do weekly, whether or not
you use a dishwasher, if you have a garden or a low-flow toilet, how much coffee you drink daily, what your
yearly income is, etc. There are an extensive number of variables to complete! But the great thing about
this particular calculator is that you can see how much water you use by category, so it is easy to see which
activities you do are the most water-intensive.
I learned that as a vegetarian, my estimated water consumption plummets…whoo! But, all the gas I use
driving home to the Twin Cities increases my water footprint considerably. Being conscious about how we
are actually using water is the gateway to making lifestyle changes that will help ease the pressure on this
scarce resource. I would encourage everyone to take a couple of minutes to complete this water footprint
exercise and start thinking about what we can do on an individual level to ensure that we are using water
sustainably.
Article by Carlie Simkunas

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Student Office of Sustainability • November 2013 • Monthly Newsletter
MARCH 2013
May 2015
Student Office of Sustainability l May 2015 l Monthly Newsletter
DID
YOU
Did You Know: Purchasing energy star electronics such as mini fridges or
televisions for your room helps save energy by up to 30-50%
Did You Know: Turning off your computer actually reduces heat stress and
wear on your system while saving energy. Turn off that screen saver. Be-
cause of new technology, screen savers don’t actually save energy. So turn
off your monitor to save the energy.KNOW?
Did You Know: From Blugold Dining: almost all wrappings, plates, and utensils provided are compostable.
Food trimmings also are collected for composting. Almost 1,500 lbs of compostable trash is collected weekly.
Did You Know: In regards to deforestation, seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests,
and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.
by Martin Weber
Rain Gardens
Here in the U.S., we’re accustomed to seeing a lot of pave-
ment in the form of roads, sidewalks, and other surfaces. Espe-
cially in dense urban areas, pavement dominates the landscape.
Rain gardens can be used to treat a number of problems caused
by this infrastructure. One of the biggest problems is the issue of
polluted surface runoff after a rainfall. Because many urban areas
are comprised primarily of pavement and rooftops, the rain col-
lects pollutants and funnels them into drainage pipes that often
flow directly into local streams and rivers. Rain gardens help
prevent many of these pollutants from entering local waterways
by filtering them through an area of soil and plants. Another
problem caused by this pavement-dominated infrastructure is
the lack of groundwater replenishment. When water is collected
Tyler Aken
and funneled through pipes into local waterways, very little water is allowed to seep into the ground. With
the growing clean water shortages worldwide, the last thing we want to do is deplete our groundwater
aquifers. Rain gardens also offer localized flood control. Rivers take longer and require more rainfall to
flood when some of the water is allowed to collect in rain garden areas. With all of these benefits and more,
it’s no wonder many cities around the country and the world are implementing rain garden systems. Cities
like Maplewood, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon, have rain garden incentive programs in place for home-
owners and developers. For more information, visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website
and search for rain gardens.

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MARCH 2013
Contests! Earth Week Appreciation
Winning Submissions!Photo Contest
Descisption: Nature is something my family
truly appreciates everyday, especially up north
at our cabin in Baxter, Minnesota. This picture
was taken on June 14th, 2014, which happens
to be my 19th birthday. People who know me
personally know that watching the sunset is one
of my favorite things to do and I felt extremely
blessed to have this astonishing view on my
special day. My cabin, also known as “Paradise
Point”is one of my favorite places to enjoy the
sun and relax on the river with my friends and
family.
Photo by: Natalie Donovan
There’s nothing quite like waking up
in a tent and exiting it to find this
beautiful view before you. When you
remove yourself from civilization
and wake up smelling the fresh
sage outside your tent, you learn to
appreciate the little things; maybe
it’s a dry tent after a stormy night or
sitting around the campfire watching
the sunset, everything’s better when
you’re surrounded by nature.
Photo by: Emily Moothart
Lake McDonald,
Glacier National Park, Montana
Photo by: Alyssa Kohls
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May 2015

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MARCH 2013
Contests! Earth Week Appreciation
Winning Submissions!Writing Contest
The World Will Know Me
by: Jon Pumper
“The world will know me,” I said, making footprints in the sand. Each step I took compressed the earth
into the uniqueness of my shape, leaving the impression of me scattered across the beach. But the tides
came in and washed my footprints away and the world did not know me.
“The world will know me,”I said, fashioning tools out of stone. I built houses out of trees, churches out of
clay, and castles out of rock. I planted corn and wheat; I tamed horses and oxen and dogs and sheep. The
impression of me had evolved, advanced, became civilized. But I was still too few, and the world did not
know me.
“The world will know me,” I believed, watching the sky through my telescope. I studied the world’s
movements, its patterns, its geography. I explored its oceans and its lands; I harnessed the power of its
lightning and the currents of its rivers. I left the impression of me in my maps, my charts, and my books;
in my art, my music, and my dances. But the world still did not know me.
“The world will know me!”I commanded, laying down highways and raising up skyscrapers. I built cars,
and ships, and planes; I built factories, and cities, and monuments. I built space stations and satellites;
I built cell phones and televisions and computers; heaters, and furnaces, and stoves; steel beams, and
concrete blocks, and metal frames; oil rigs, and slaughter houses, and power plants. And the impression
of me was everywhere: in the wells dug deep into the ground; in the clouds of burning coal; in the stillness
of ruined plantations; in the thunder of bulldozed forests.
And the world finally knew me.The world knew me in its tumultuous storms and its rising temperatures. It
knew me in its melting ice caps and its flooded coastlines. It knew me in its dying plants and endangered
animals; in its infectious diseases and evasive parasites; in its depleted resources, its polluted air, its acidic
oceans, its cracked soil. The world knew me. The world finally knew me. And the world was quiet.
______________________________________________________________________________________
I stood in the silence of the world, feeling its broken dirt beneath my feet and its somber wind against my
face. I looked to the sky at the thousands of stars and galaxies I would never know, galaxies that will never
be my home. My home will only ever be here. My home…is here.
“I will know the world,”I whispered into the silence. And in the quiet of the world, I began to know me.
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May 2015

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MARCH 2013
The Honey Bee
by: Seama Rezai
The honey bee is Wisconsin’s state insect. That was Brett’s vague explanation when asked about
his new tattoo. It wasn’t “masculine” or “appropriate” to say he wanted to honor his Aunt Beth who had
kept bees for years. As a child he would sit under the apple trees, splotches of sunlight on his face and
just blinking, breathing, being. The quiet roar of the bees like waves cresting, beckoning and warning as
Beth carefully, quietly, checked on her charges. When he was a bit older he would help her harvest the
honey. Golden, gooey honey.
He changed his major from pre-med to geography; quit the football team for the gardening and
conservation clubs. Brett bore the disappointment from his father, mild disinterest from his mother and
always-joyful pride from his aunt. By the time he got his tattoo his aunt was gone, with just the memory
of her love blanketing him.
Some people think it’s a hornet or a wasp, something powerful, angry and vengeful.These people
confuse Brett the most. He thinks their limited perspectives keep them from seeing that wasps and
hornets are not angry and vengeful—not without reason. The sting from a friend or family member is
more often fatal than that of a bald-faced hornet.To Brett, the most powerful and breathtaking creatures
are the ones building and rebuilding their communities. To him power did not mean power over
someone or something. It did not mean taking away or holding hostage. There was power in creation
and in destruction.To Brett, the real power was in knowing when each was necessary. Honey bees always
knew.
As an adult all that mattered to him was honey. Crystal-in-motion honey. Bees. Beautiful, busy
buzzing bees. Honey & bees. Bees & honey. Bees’ honey. Honey bees. Nowadays the apple trees don’t
grow. They are stuck in time, stunted, like Brett’s father was, like Brett himself was for a while. They
stay stubbornly stuck, with malformed prejudices twisting toxically and choking reason. Brett grows
strawberries instead. Bright-red-in-your-face berries with the understated elegance of their curves
dangling, waiting for small, chubby fingers to pick them and pop them into mouths where tongues
can’t decide if the warmth, sweetness, or tartness is the star of the show. He sells his strawberries and
honey on vanilla ice cream with wild mint. It’s what businesses with chemicals try to reproduce, but their
scientists just can’t find flavors for Summers in the Sun and First Harvest after a Hard Winter. They don’t
know how to artificially produce thunder so loud and mighty it shakes your bones. But that’s something
most people don’t know anymore.
Why did you get that tattoo? The honey bee is Wisconsin’s state insect.
Contests (cont.) Winning Submissions!
Writing Contest
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May 2015

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MARCH 2013
Ode to an Earthly Reality
by: Emily Moothart
Waking up in a tent probably isn’t considered the most luxurious accommodations. You might be stiff…
or hot…or cold. It may seem like a chore…maybe someone else convinced you to freeze in the 30 degree
weather‘just because’it seemed like fun to them. You might be thinking that there is no benefit at all to
enduring the seemingly unnecessary elements.
However, the difference between your bed and the tent floor is that you can literally feel the Earth
underneath you. If you forget a sleeping map your body heat is being directly transferred to the Earth
and vice versa. Sure, laying in a bed is mighty comfortable, but you have removed the very essence in
which our ancestors grew up relying on. We as a consuming society have decided that Swedish Tempur-
Pedic memory foam mattresses are a necessity. And that’s fine, but remember that in order to live you
still need the Earth and its life-bearing soil, water, and air.
Reconsider waking up in this tent: you get up, breathe the fresh crisp air, and unzip your tent to see the
beautiful landscape, far removed from the touch of concrete and asphalt. Take a second to appreciate
that you are waking up in one of the most wholesome and untouched areas of the world. Now you’ve
woken up enough to appreciate the birds singing around you and it’s time for a morning hike.
You begin looking at the Earth differently. There’s something about the unscathed floor of a rugged
forest that makes you think of where you’re stepping. The way the silence of the valley can be truly
deafening. While nature appears gentle, the roaring waters of the rapids prove otherwise.
Earth is a dynamic and ever changing sphere that gives us life. Consider Earth as a nurturing parent; we
would never intend to hurt a parent who gave us life, so why would we choose to harm the land that
gives us breath? Appreciating nature is a topic that all humans should have programed into their brains,
just like loving your parents is from a young age. Sure, you might not always want to, but you know deep
down that without its existence, you wouldn’t exist either.
So let’s take it back to our roots. Let’s party like our lives rely on the ground in which we plant our
livelihoods. This Earth Day, consider making it something worth celebrating.
Contests (cont.) Winning Submissions!
Writing Contest
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May 2015

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MARCH 2013
May 2015
Take what you need - - Give what you don’t
Tents will be put up between the residence halls May 14-24, but
the circus isn’t coming to town. The tents will be put up for the
annual Give and Take Event that provides housing students with
a chance to trade or donate unwanted items and to have broken
items recycled. Off campus students needing items are welcome
to TAKE any items they need, but because the recycling event is
paid for by Housing residents through their housing fees, off cam-
pus student may not LEAVE anything under the tents.
Housing students ONLY can bring the following to the tents:
• Computers, printers, microwaves, mini fridges and other
small appliances
• Futon frames/mattresses
• Furniture
• Cardboard
• Carpeting
• Clothing
Housing and Residence Life’s Office Of Sustainability Kate Hartsel
If an electronic item is broken, please put a sticker on it. The stickers help identify items that need to be
recycled. Working electronics will be brought in at the end of the day at Chancellor’s Hall and returned to
the tent near Chancellor’s Hall in the morning. Do not remove the electrical cords from the items.
Housing also will collect nonperishable food, toiletries and school supplies in boxes in the lobbies of each
residence hall. These items will be donated to Feed My People food pantry, Positive Avenues, a nonprofit
helping homeless people, and the Eau Claire School District backpack program for low income students.
The clothing collected under the tents will be donated to a nonprofit, King’s Closet, that runs a“free”store
for people in need.
Since 2009 when this program began, Housing has reduced the amount going into the landfill during this
week by 6 tons. Way to go BluGolds!
#SeeMoreDoMore
Get involved and take action! Use the hashtag #SeeMoreDoMore when you see
something and do something for sustainablility.
https://www.facebook.com/StudentOfficeofSustainability
Email sos@uwec.edu with any questions you might have.

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MARCH 2013
May 2015
MISSION
CONTACT
TheSOSprovidesfundingforprojectsthatreduceUW-EauClaire’snegative
impact on the environment and make UW-Eau Claire a more sustainable
campus. The SOS allocates funding to projects addressing the various
sustainability areas of transportation, energy, waste, climate change, food
systems, campus ecology, environmental ethics, and outreach.
STUDENT OFFICE OF
SUSTAINABILITY
MEETINGS:
Tuesdays, 5 PM
DIRECTOR:
Bailey Kramer
stusen65@uwec.edu
S
urplus
t r e Public Sales: every other Thursday, 3-6pm
May: 6th & 20th
Located right next to the Towers Parking lot in the Facilities Management,
Maintenance, and Central Stores building, 651 University Drive, is the home of
the Surplus Store.
Looking for bikes, desks, chairs, computers, file cabinets,
kayak, and much more for unbeatable prices!?
The Problem with Cap and Trade and
Hope of Carbon Fee & Dividend
Cap and Trade was used by some early signers of the Kyoto Protocol, the first international treaty
to address climate change. Though most early adopters tried hard to make it work, Cap and Trade was
not easy to understand, energy prices swung wildly, consumers paid the whole cost of the experiment,
and it was not very effective in reducing total CO2
emissions. Much of the reason for this was because of
offset credits. Power providers could buy offset credits that allowed them to burn more fossil fuels, but the
offset credits did not actually reduce total CO2
emissions. Carbon traders and offset investors made lots
of money. Utilities and manufacturers had increased costs that were passed on to the consumer. No real
reduction in CO2
was achieved and the consumer was stuck with the bill. Carbon Fee and Dividend, on the
other hand, is easy for everyone to understand, it gives the end consumer 100 percent of the proceeds of
the carbon fee to help pay for the transition to clean energy, there are no offset credits or carbon credits
to manipulate and no one technology is singled out to win or lose. Only with inaction over several years
do you become disadvantaged. With action you become more efficient and competitive. The free market
picks the winning and losing technologies. Low-emissions energy and efficiency measures become cost
competitive as prices rise for fossil fuels. As we transition to green technologies and green energies, CO2
emissions are reduced. Investments in green energy spur the development of innovative technologies
that we export to other countries. America regains leadership in the green revolution.
Ethan Fuhrman

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