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UST Recycling & Environmental News

 
 

November 25, 2006:

Celebrate Buy Nothing Day!:

Overconsumption is the mother of all environmental problems. For the first time in the history of capitalism, consumption itself has become controversial.
-Kalle Lasn, founder of the Media Foundation quoted in Time, April 14, 1997


OUR CONSUMER CULTURE IS OUT OF CONTROL.
Once, we shopped to buy what we needed, period. Now that we don't need much, we shop for other reasons: to impress each other, to fill a void, to kill time. A mere 20% of the earth's population uses 80% of its natural resources. Our overconsumption is killing the planet.

BUY NOTHING DAY is a simple idea with deep implications.
It forces us to think about the "shop-till-you-drop" imperative and its effects on the rest of the world. When you buy nothing on November 25th, enjoy a break from the shopping frenzy. Relish your power as a consumer to change the economic environment.

Since it was launched in the Pacific Northwest thirteen years ago, Buy Nothing Day has grown into a worldwide celebration of consumer awareness and simple living. The campaign has triggered debate, radio talk shows, TV news items and newspaper headlines in 15 countries.

For more information about Buy Nothing Day, check out the site at Adbusters  
 

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April 19, 2007:

St. Thomas Green Team presents
An Inconvenient Truth

As part of the 2007 Earth Week activities, the Academy Award winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 19, in the JRC auditorium, Rm 126.  

The film won the 2007 Academy Award for Documentary Feature and Best Original Song for Melissa Etheridge’s “I Need to Wake Up.”    

An Inconvenient Truth explores data and predictions regarding climate change, interspersed with personal events from the life of Al Gore. Through a presentation that Gore has presented worldwide, he reviews the scientific evidence for global warming,  discusses the politics and economics involved, and describes the consequences he believes global climate change will produce if the amount of human-generated greenhouse gases is not significantly reduced in the very near future.  Gore is donating all of his proceeds from the film to The Alliance for Climate Protection.

After the showing of the documentary, there will be a panel discussion by four UST professors: Elise Amel (Psychology), Brian Davis (Business Law), Simon Emms (Biology), and Steven Hoffman (Political Science).  The showing is free and open to the entire UST community.  

For more information about the event, please contact either of the UST Green Team presidents, Bernadette Seefeld bmseefeld@stthomas.edu or Abigail Gaul asgaul@stthomas.edu

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members of the Green Team from fall' 06 river clean-up

Saturday, October 17, 2009:

UST Fall Mississippi River Clean-up!

Celebrate Fall Colors on the Mississippi River with us by helping clean her up!!!  

Come join the University of St. Thomas Green Team at the annual fall clean up of the banks of the Mississippi River. It takes place on Saturday, October 17, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.. The University of St. Thomas Green Team in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources takes responsibility for twice-a-year cleaning of the east river bank in St. Paul from the Marshall/Lake Street bridge down to the Ford Parkway bridge.

A great way to celebrate community, the environment, and the Mississippi River.  Turn the day into a family outing, a random or intentional act of kindness, a community service project, or for just enjoy the beauty of being alive and outdoors.  All ages are invited to join us by meeting at the World War I monument at the intersection of Summit Ave and Mississippi River Blvd, rain or shine. Look for the tent and banners.  Bring gloves, rakes, good shoes, and enthusiasm. Bags and gloves will be provided for all participants who need them.  There will also be refreshments provided for workers.

For more information about the event contact:
Green Team leaders, Megan Sheridan msheridan@stthomas.edu or Abi Yeomans yeom1374@stthomas.edu

Sponsored by the UST Green Team, Physical Plant, Recycling Team, and the Minnesota DNR Adopt-a-River Program.

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        April 20, 2007: Sustainability & Stewardship Symposium

The UST Green Team is proud to present this year's Earth Week symposium at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 20 in Room 100 of McNeely Hall on the University of St. Thomas campus. 

The theme for this year's symposium is Sustainability & Stewardship and features three speakers from different academic disciplines and two from a sustainable farm in Wisconsin:

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, UST professor of Justice and Peace Studies, will speak on "Climate Issues and How to Make a Change."

Barb Kass & Mike Miles, members of the Anathoth Community Farm in Luck, Wisconsin, will speak on "Benefits of Complete Sustainable Living."

Brian Davis, UST professor of Environmental Law, will speak on "The Business Aspect of Sustainable Living."

Steve Sandstrom, Northland College professor and Environmental Education Coordinator for the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, will speak on "Campus and Communnity Development and Sustainability."

Tabling from local environmental groups and live music begin at 6:30 p.m.
The symposium begins at 7 p.m.
There will be one intermission with more live music, fair trade coffee and organic treats.

For more information, please contact either of the Green team chairs: Abby Gaul  asgaul@stthomas.edu or Bernadette Seefeld bmseefeld@stthomas.edu

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June 30, 2007:

Report on the 2007 UST Clothes Drive for local charities:

3300 lbs or over a ton and a half of clothing and household items were collected during the 2007 annual move-out from the Residence Halls.  Eighteen specially marked containers were placed in UST residence halls near entrances.  Students made the choice to put their unwanted clothing in the containers instead of dumping them in the trash or dumpsters. The donated clothing was taken to Goodwill, Savers, and other area charities. Such donations provided affordable clothing as well as jobs for our neighborhood and neighboring communities.

Working together on this reallocation of resources, we helped the environment, reduced landfill use, conserved University resources, and benefited others who couldn't afford purchasing new items or who choose to re-use used items rather than consume new products.  This recycling effort was sponsored by the UST Recycling Team, Residence Life, and the Physical Plant.

Any questions about the drive may be addressed to Bob Douglas, UST Recycling Coordinator at 962-6388.

 

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Sunday, September 9, 2007:

St. Paul Classic Bike Tour:

Join more than 5,000 bicyclists in enjoying miles of traffic-free bicycling along the Mississippi River and the St. Paul Grand Round. Choose between a 15-mile tour or a 31-mile ride around St. Paul's Grand Round. It's a once-a-year opportunity to bike without traffic along Shepard Road, Warner Road, Mississippi River Boulevard and a short stretch of Highway 61. Course Map. Hundreds of volunteers provide ride support and Saint Paul Police are stationed at major intersections. The 31-mile route follows the historic Saint Paul Grand Round - an emerald necklace of parkways and trails that circles the city and links Como, Phalen and Indian Mounds parks with 13 miles of great riding along the Mississippi River.

Current registration fees are $25.00 (adult) before July 31st, $35 before August 31; $10.00 for ages 5-16 before July 31st, $12 before August 31; children under age 5 are free

The Classic Hotline is 952-882-3180 or check out the web site St. Paul Classic Bike Tour.

Organizers and sponsors of the St. Paul Classic Bike Tour are committed to promoting alternative transportation - biking, walking, transit and telecommuting - as a healthy means of fostering sustainable communities.

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April 23-29, 2008:

Turn Off Your TV Week:

The following is from the Canadian website, Adbusters who helps sponsor this annual event:

Night after night, we sit for long hours in dark rooms. Identical images flow into our brains, homogenizing our perspectives, knowledge, tastes, desires. We spend more hours watching nature shows than experiencing the real thing; more time laughing at TV jokes than making jokes ourselves; more time experiencing TV sex than actually touching another human body. If we forego the role of participant in the real world, we become spectators in the flickering world of make-believe.

Twenty years ago the environmental movement shocked the world into realizing that our natural environment was dying. Now, our mental environment is similarly endangered: Micro-jolts of mind pollution flood into our brains at the rate of 3,000 marketing messages per day -- twelve billion display ads, three million radio ads and over 300,000 TV commercials are dumped into our collective unconscious like toxic sludge. Our attention spans are diminishing, our imaginations giving out, we are unable to remember the past.

TV Turnoff Week is April 23-29. It is a collective attempt to save our most precious resource: the clarity of our own minds. Why not rebel against the brain-drain? Why not unplug the box for a week?

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Physical Plant - Recycling
University of St. Thomas
2115 Summit Avenue St. Paul, MN  55105
Phone: (651) 962-6388  
Comments, questions, or feedback can be directed to Bob Douglas rjdouglas@stthomas.edu

Last Updated: November 2009

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