the green list (VIP)

Monday, November 21, 2011

BuyGoodStuff

HSUGreen is officially kickin' off the 2011 Buy Good Stuff Event tomorrow! Find us at the Cowboy Christmas party tomorrow starting at 6:30 PM on Anderson lawn for the campus lighting! The Greenteam will be handing out fliers that have a Buy Good Stuff Guide that will help you in your holiday shopping.

Remember the lady who came to talk at chapel during Global Awareness Week? She talked about "fair trade" and "Good News Goods" (check them out at http://goodnewsgoods.com/). HSUGreen decided to create a shopping guide to encourage you to buy goods that promote sustainability and that work toward the creation of better trading conditions. Here is the 2011 Buy Good Stuff Guide:

Here are some short descriptions of the items in the guide and where you can get them:

1. Baggu Bags - The Classic Baggu is $8. Check it out at www.baggubag.com. Give that someone special the coolest reusable bag on the block. Made of 100% rip-stop material and can hold 50lbs. This bag is rad.

2. Mighty Wallet - The Lumberjack Mighty Wallet is $15. Check it out at www.mightywallets.com. If your grandma asks you what you want for Christmas, you need to tell her, "The 100% recyclable wallet that is virtually indestructible please!" Plus that flannel brings out your eyes.

3. Patagonia - The Patagonia Freebox Jacket sells for $129. Check it out at www.patagonia.com. Yeah, it might be a bit pricey, but you totally get more than what you pay for. DWR coating = water resistant. 90% recycled polyester insulation = sweating in the snow. Patagonia = super high quality and guarantees you will look like a model.

4. Wool and the Gang - The Trophy Head Band Knit Kit is $59. Find it at www.woolandthegang.comWe all agree around here that handmade gifts are the best things ever. The awesome folks at Wool and the Gang hook you up with this knit kit that has everything you need to make not just one, but TWO wool headbands. The kit includes: 2 balls of wool yarn that are made in Peru just for WATG, 10MM Wooden Needles, easy-to-follow patterns, a knitter's sewing needle, and WATG patches.

5. TOMS - The Women's Classic Red Houndstooth sells for $54 at www.tomsshoes.comYou know the drill people and the drill is a great one. TOMS are the ultimate two-for-one present because you're giving two pairs of shoes for the price one. We love this new design of an old classic and it's just in time for those chilly days that you'll need to keep the toes warm. You'll look super fly.

6. HipCycle - Get a Bike Chain Frame for $32 at www.hipcycle.comPictures are worth 1000 words, unless they're in a ugly frame, then they're worth a lot less. This is where HipCycle's bike chain frame shows up to save the day. Made of 100% old used bicycle chains, these frames will make any picture look like your favorite. Simple and awesome. Get one. 

7. WeWood Time Pieces - The WeWood DATE (beige/brown) sells for $119. Find it at www.we-wood.usWe know what you're thinking, "a wooden watch?!" But trust us, here's when we say, "Yeah, a wooden watch!" WeWood took the classic idea of a watch and brought new life into it, kind of like Pinocchio in reverse. Plus they not only plant a new tree for every watch sold, but they also only use wood that was being scrapped by big companies or that was grown in certified sustainable forests. 

8. Trade As One - The Knitted Elephant sells for $16 at www.tradeasone.comFads of all kinds will come and go, but people will always love things that are cute and cuddly. This fair trade hand-kitted elephant is made with tons love by the women at Casa de la Mujer Artesana in rural Peru. It would be the perfect gift for anyone who doesn't hate really wonderful things.

9. OliveBarn - The Organic Herb Garden Trio sells for $29.99. Check it out at http://www.olivebarn.com/Everyone knows someone with a green thumb and after you ask them to get that checked out by a doctor, you should give them the Organic Herb Garden Trio. OliveBarn allows you to pick 3 herbs from their list and they'll send you everything you need to start growing. 

10. Alex Bottle - The Alex 32oz (black/fresh) is $29.95 on www.alexbottle.comThis is like no other bottle on the market right now. You can take the Alex apart in the middle so you can turn your 32oz in to a 26oz and you can swap color combinations. The Alex is made of 50% recycled material, is 100% recyclable, and will hopefully be in all of your stockings this year.

Shop green during this Christmas season and spread love and happiness and Christmas cheer to all your friends and family! Don't forget to catch the Greenteam at the Cowboy Christmas party tomorrow at 6:30 PM on Anderson Lawn. We'll give you a shopping guide and enjoy watching the campus get lit up!

Monday, October 3, 2011

URGENT NEWS!!

So I hope everyone knows that soon the HSUGreen will have it's very first event of the year!


Can you guess what it is?
 
We are watching a movie on Anderson Lawn on October 10th at 8pm.  Put it in your calendars.
        
I mean it.  Right now.


There will be FREE ice-cream, and an opportunity to win some freaking cool prizes!  All you have to do to be eligible (and to get ice-cream.. so I guess it's not completely free), is bring a reusable bowl, cup, pot, mug, you get the trend here. Bring something, that you wont be throwing away when your done using it, to eat your ice cream out of! So do that and we'll give you a number or something. And then we'll draw and you'll win. Its easy peasy. ps- you totally might not win, but its worth a shot right?




So now for the biggest bestest part.


 You're going to love this. 




I just know it.


The movie we are watching is...






.............(drum-roll)




The Lorax!


I knowww right!?
Okay don't lie to me.  I know that you loved Dr. Seuss when you were little too. Its ok to still like the Doc as a more mature college student too, I mean we like him so much we're showing his movie... but we're not like obsessed or anything... we're totally cool...I promise.


So you should totally come and chill in the lovely weather, eat some fattening ice-cream, and try your best shot at winning a copy of the movie that we will be watching and the book its based on!


Everyone is going to be there.  Be there or be a Once-ler!(only true D-Seuss fans will get that reference, and we tip out hats to you)  But don't forget your reusable container, because that would be sad for you.
Real sad. Like, you would be the mayor of bummer town.


Also, you are probably going to want to watch this.  Cause its neat.


Love the earth-

theGreenteam



Monday, September 26, 2011

Redemption Biz


I read recently that God is in the business of redeeming and if redemption is God’s business, I want in.

But that leaves us with this HUGE question to deal with: "what does redemption mean?" I love this definition: “the act of saving something or somebody from a declined, dilapidated, or corrupted state and restoring it, him, or her to a better condition.” Everything on the earth is in a state of decline; everything, including humans. I mean think about it, as soon as we are born we begin to die. Life leads all of us to one point: death. I know it sounds morbid, but it is the truth. And yet, God seems to put value on that life; regardless of our ever declining nature, our lives seem to be worth redeeming. Which I feel like is pretty great news. With that said, we as part of that declining creation worth redeeming also need to be about this business of saving that which is in decline and nurturing it into restoration. We need to see the value in the life around us just like God seems to do every day.

I want to take this moment to clarify what I mean when I say, "the life around us" or "all of creation." I specifically made "life" INclusive not EXclusive, because it is not just human life we need to see value in and more importantly, it is not only humanity that is in need of redemption. I think that we too often forget that "creation" runs far deeper than just humanity. Yes, the biblical texts state that we are made in God’s image and set apart but there are 5 other days worth of creation in that narrative that we tend to discard. The trees, the water, the animals, the sky, etc are just as much a part of that narrative as humans are. Thus "creation" is inclusive to all and God’s redemption must involve all of creation.

It all goes back to this idea of redemption. All people of the modern world are trained to be consumers. We want what we want now and if we don’t get it, we will throw a fit. On the contrary and in classic God style, God seems to demonstrate something far different: redemption. Redemption of the world and not consuming everything in it. Shouldn’t we follow that example? Careless consumption is the opposite of redeeming, so I think we might have a little "restructuring" to do...

Someone once said, "Convenience equals apathy. And this apathy has become a major contributor of what is killing our desires to redeem." So, today WE have a choice. I have a choice. A) Allow all of my conveniences to render me apathetic to redemption or B) Disregard convenience, forgo apathy, and participate in redemption.


Today, I am going with option B. 

What about you?


Love the earth- theGreenteam

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Welcome back! Love the earth!

Welcome back to HSU all you earth lovers! And if you're new to HSU, the Greenteam would like to give you a HUGE welcome! I hope all of you had an AWESOME summer! Back in college...ready for fun...maybe not so excited about classes...but college is cool though right...?

I hope we made our mark during NSOlodeon! The Greenteam put out water stations near the dorms during move-in day JUST FOR YOU. So you should feel special. Consider it as an early birthday present for you freshmen and transfers (and everyone else) who grabbed a cup of water from our stations. PLUS we partnered with The Arborday Foundation and donated 450 trees to be planted over the course of the next year! So, you're welcome for that. Oh and we gave away these awesome whinsheild shade things you put in your car to keep the sun out. If you'd like one (for FREE) just send us an email of you begging for one and we'll hook you up big time.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!! There's a free HSU Camelback/Nalgene competition still going
 on! Email a picture of the Earth being loved to hsugreen@gmail.com by 2pm on Friday9/9/11 and we'll pick a winner!!! It could possibly be YOU! 


Check us out on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/hsugreen


I was picking up my mail from the post office, and as usual, all I had were some advertisements for events around school. So I decided to recycle them in a not-so-far-away paper recycling bin placed strategically near the post office. And still, I saw people throwing away their paper mail in the trash. Friendly reminder, PLEASE RECYCLE! It's honestly not that hard to do. The earth will love you for it.

I did a recent search in "green" news and found an article about a city not too far from here: DALLAS (shoutout!). Here's the article: CLICK HERE. Basically, the article was talking about how Dallas just became the first major city in Texas to launch carton recycling! How cool is that?! So go back to the days of elementary school and remember lunch time and how you had that small carton of milk. And just think, NOW YOU CAN RECYCLE IT!!! Here's a statistic from the article: "In 2008, only 18 percent of U.S. households had access to carton recycling programs. Today, this number has nearly doubled to almost 36%, with cities in over 40 states representing approximately 40 million households now accepting cartons in their curbside collection programs. Dallas increases these numbers by an additional 235,000 households, and is setting the bar for other cities in the state of Texas to follow suit.
Here's another statistic: "Last year, the City of Dallas recycled more than 50,000 tons of materials and is on track to recycle nearly 65,000 tons this year. Carton recycling will help the city toward their 31% diversion goal for the year. By increasing their recycling rate and coming up with innovative ways to increase waste diversion, the city saved $1,185,260.21 of landfill space.


So if you thought recycling and being green was a joke, IT'S NOT. It's actually super practical and super economical!


Keep on being green. Keep on loving the earth. Stay cool, my friends. Peace out.

Enjoy this earth-friendly video by The Fun Theory:

Monday, May 9, 2011

wanna SAVE MONEY in college???

the following was written by theGreenteams one and only Michael Cruz. He is what we like to call "a baller" or "neat-o burrito". Speaking of which, Michaels blogging is best enjoyed with some type of southwestern inspired type dish, you know like: creme brulee or sushi. with out further adieu:

So...I was surfing the web for ways to save money in college (and btdubs, I'm always looking for ways to save money since I'm a typical "poor" colllege kid), and I came across THIS. I found an interesting way to save some Benjamin bucks (or Washington bucks in my case): GROW YOUR OWN FOOD!

I'm currently on a project to grow basil and tomato plants in my dorm (kinda similar to what that dude in the link does except that I don't really know what hydroponics actually is...cool word though). Anyways, I was inspired to grow my own fruits and vegetables thanks to a fellow theGreenteam member Tay, who grows okra in her bathroom (weird, I know...)!!!

Last weekend, I bought two of these nifty thrifty mini-plant kits from Target in the dolla' section, and currently, my basil plants are doing pretty great! Here's a pic of them awesome shoots:

I'm pretty proud of my basil! I can't wait until the plants are big enough for me to pick of a leaf of basil and chew it for a good five seconds before going out with some friends (for fresh breath right?! or did I mix basil up with mint?)

For all you HSU peeps, DumpDay is on Thursday, May 12, 2011! Basically it will take place on the lawn in front of your dorm, and all you have to do is dump the stuff you don't want to take to your casa at designated DumpZones & theGreenteam will take care of the rest! We will take your paper, plastic, aluminum, furniture, old electronics, and clothes so that they won't end up in some nasty landfill! Por favor/please rinse your containers before recycling them! Let's keep this pale blue dot (aka the earth) as clean as a whistle! Check out the vid:



And if you like that vid, you'll love this one even more:


And since I love music way too much (like, it's not even funny), here is earth-lover Jack Johnson, making his fourth apperance here on the blog, singing an awesome earth-lovin' song:


Anyways, I hope you all have a great day, love the earth- theGreenteam (but mostly Michael)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Who’s Inconveniencing Whom?

(the blog was written by HSUGreens very own Katie Whitmore. enjoy. and then bug her for her autograph...a lot)
but before you get out your reading glasses, here's a shout out to everyone who came to New Earth Day and got a plant! and dont forget it's always better to be the cool parent, so give them a little extra water and let them stay a little later so they like you more. just sayn.

Soo this table was full...

Alrighty kiddos, gather round – it’s story time!

Once upon a Sunday, I went out to eat with friends after church. I decided to take advantage of the shade so kindly given by a tree and parked under it. After enjoying a delicious meal, I drowsily headed to the car, already daydreaming of that Sunday afternoon nap. And then I saw it (pause for dramatic effect), right on the windshield – four lumpy white splotches of bird poop. Gross. Poopie. Dirtiness. Why did those danged birds have to poop on my car? How annoying; now I was gonna have to clean my windshield at the gas station. What a total inconvenience…

Man, that was a totes awesome story. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The drama! But seriously folks, birds pooping on our cars? It’s just wrong. What did we ever do to them?!

Except, wait – was it the bird’s fault it had to let loose? Birds gotta do what birds gotta do, right? I’ve got this crazy idea that if the car wasn’t there, it wouldn’t have been a problem at all. The ground doesn’t care about a little poop. In fact, it woulda gobbled it up like it was some magic, life-giving fertilizer of the gods. YUM POOP!

All humor aside, nature can be cruel at times. A very recent and tragic example of nature’s harshness was the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan. Over 18,000 people lost their lives and many are still missing. It’s mind-boggling. I can’t even imagine the magnitude of the destruction and grief. One natural disaster caused all this. Why did it happen? Why does nature have to be this way? As humans we have no control; all we can do is pray for the affected families and for restoration.

Even though the situation in Japan seems so unfair, the scenario is a little like the bird story. Nature’s gonna do what nature’s gonna do. Nature is...natural. It is the raw, untamed energy of creation. It is a part of life. It is a part of Earth. But here’s the really cool thing – in the midst of all this, there is still hope! Even if we can’t control nature, we can control how we take care of creation (and by creation, I mean the environment, animals, people – everything). We can do our part to make sure that we don’t create new kinds of damaging environmental crises that negatively affect creation.

Courtesy of our friends in the Clean Air Council in Philadelphia (high five to those guys!), here are a few facts that motivate us at HSUGreen to take care of the earth:
1.      Every year, Americans throw away enough paper and plastic cups, forks, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times. – WHOA! That’s a lot of trash!! If you agree, join the GreenTeam in our efforts to recycle at HSU. Toss your paper and plastic in one of our neat-o recycling bins next time you think of throwing something away.
2.      Plastic bags do not biodegrade. Light breaks them down into smaller and smaller particles that contaminate the soil and water and are expensive and difficult to remove. – EWW, gross! In our water?? That’s just wrong. Help HSUGreen save America money and keep our water clean by recycling those plastic bags. Or better yet, forget plastic bags and use grocery totes to shop!
3.      Because plastic water bottles are shielded from sunlight in landfills, they will not decompose for thousands of years. – WHAAAA? FOR REAL?? That’s a really long time!! Support HSUGreen in our efforts to keep America’s soil clean for our great-great-great-great-great-great-……..…...great-great-grandchildren! Trade in your plastic bottles for a reusable water bottle (like a Nalgene).

Don’t be sad though. Remember I said there is hope? Those cool guys in the Clean Air Council also told us this:
1.      Doubling the national recycling rate could create over 1 million new green jobs. – DANG…HSUGreen just found the solution to America’s financial crisis!
2.      Aluminum can be recycled forever with no loss of quality. – WOW. It could be recycling over and over and over and over again and still be like new!
3.      If we recycled all of our aluminum cans for one year, we could save enough energy to light Washington, D.C. for 3.7 years. – That’s AMAZING! Serious savings right there!


Well, I just gotta say, the earth is pretty stinkin’ awesome. Speaking of which, any space nerds out there? Yeah, I don’t know anything about space either… But I did find this really awesome quote about the first time Americans saw a picture of Earth taken from space. Imagine this moment: Apollo 8, Christmas Eve 1968. A crew member took a picture of the earth rising over the moon and it became an instant global sensation. A really cool dude who we wish we knew, Archibald MacLeish, was so moved by the photo that he said, “To see the Earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that ethereal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves riders on the Earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold—brothers who know now that they are truly brothers.”



Wow, that dude is a poet. Inspiring! It really makes me want to appreciate the beautiful creation we’ve been given. HSUGreen is picking up the banner to care for earth. We’ve decided not to inconvenience the world. Instead, we’re doing our best to be a convenience. Are you with us?

slap hands.

love the earth- theGreenteam

P.S. Y’all, We had a GREAT time yesterday celebrating the “New Earth Day Cup Plant Give Away.” You guys must really love the earth or something because those plants were gone within 30 minutes! Don’t forget that the real Earth Day is this Friday, the 22nd! Love coffee? Head over to Starbucks with your travel mug for a free cup of Joe on Earth Day.




pss- he's a cool link that we'll highlight some other time when we're not so busy building a time machine.
http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2011/04/gretchen-bleilers-top-10-eco-tips.html

Monday, April 18, 2011

We changed EARTH DAY from friday to wednesday the 20th and we're giving away tons of stuff!

oooooook. Here's the deal. We love the earth. and pretty much celebrate that everyday, BUT some wise guy a few years ago asked, "why dont we have one day a year where we throw the earth a huge party?" and then his friend said, "sounds cool." Long story short, "Earth Day" was born. Thanks guys. This year official "EARTH DAY" is on April 22 aka Good Friday (its the one day a year when friday is on decent behavior) and because its so good they close down school. THUS, we almost had to let EARTH DAY go down in a blaze of uncelebrated-ness-ness. So, we made zero phone calls and did pretty much no work other than deciding to move it to Wednesday the 20th.  And now you're like, "why did I just read all of that?" And that is a really good question. Bottom line, if you havent read the above for some reason or have and feel like you've wasted your time, just skip ahead to where it says "the good stuff"...



THE GOOD STUFF:


Where: THE SUB
When: on NEW Earth Day Wednesday April 20th @ 11:30-1pm
What: What?! You walk up to our table and we will hand you a free plant in a cup.
P.s.: if your cup plant has a special sticker on the bottom, you will win more free stuff. but we cant tell you exactly what it is yet, but it's free and totes awesome.




The skinny: You + April 20th in the SUB = free plant/earth loving time.

see you wednesday. well, if you show up...either way my smoothie was good this morning.

love the earth- theGreenteam

ps- Jack Johnson will not be there, but if you want to start a rumor that he will, we will totally support that. Also we did book this guy. He'll be dj-ing all day, cause he is awesome... and in our budget...

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The 3 R's

Hello friends! Alright, so if you haven't noticed by now, theGreenteam has many recycling bins around campus. We love to recycle, and we hope you do too! We even try our best to recycle stuff that isn't ours! At times, it can be quite gross, picking up stuff from the ground and what not. But worry, it's all good in the hood though (and by hood, we mean that we enjoy the back breaking work we do so you dont have to)! Cause at the end of the day we are making the earth more beautiful one piece of trash at a time! If you are not feeling inspired yet, perhaps you should take a gander at this:

Despite the text being in a different language, you get the point. So don't be shy, recycle your stuff, recycle your neighbors stuff! There will be a huge flashmob to congratulate you! WEll, maybe not, but you will be over come with joy when you know that you made the earth more beautiful!

But being sustainable or sustain-a-awesome (as we like to say) doesn't stop with JUST recycling crazy pants! You can do wayyy more. Check it out: Reusing materials goes hand and hand with recycling. Clothes, cars, buildings, plus much more can be reused. The saying does hold true, "One man's trash is another man's treasure". This next part slash question isnt always the case so dont take this one to the bank or anything, I mean it they only deal with money anyway, so they would be no help... Anyways, here are a few a good question from our friend Kay in Ohio, "what happens when reusing becomes more harmful than helpful to the environment? Does tearing down an old building that is composed of harmful materials cause more issues than building a new structure that would use more resources to build make a difference? What is the right answer?" These are tricky questions to answer and we are developing our answers in a lab with smart people as we speak. Until we unveil them here's some more thoughts for you to ponder upon, especially if you're a vintage buying hipster: thoughts, thought, thoughts.



She should have clicked the link...I guess shes from Montana.




Not only dose reusing and recycling go great together, but throw in reducing and you've hit the trifecta! Google has come up with a brilliant solar power plant that displays a great effort to reduce. This plant reduces the cost of future projects and saves energy. Score! High Fave GOOG! (thats our nick name gor google, we hope they like almost as much as we do) The GOOG link.


To wrap things up, we'll let our ole' pal Jack Johnson serenade us out.

love the earth- theGreenteam

ps- Kay from earlier is not actually from Ohio, but she IS on HSUGreen staff and did write this blog. Give her a high five and a pop sickle when you see her, cause you WILL see her.

here's Jack:

Monday, April 11, 2011

Go For or Forego Orgo?

All right, peoples. It's time to get to some nitty gritty. ps- this one is long, so get comfy with your snuggy and chi latte.

So the other day our boss sent us to the grocery store. And we found $5. Not really. Buuut, when we made it out of the candy aisle (which is where we spent most of our time) and to the produce section we suddenly panicked, "What on earth?! Why are these apples so expensive?!" I looked up and saw the sign. Oh, we're in the "organic" section. Have you ever noticed that when you go to the store, the organic and regular produce look the same? Do you ever wonder where your food comes from and how it even got to the store in the first place? Think about it, if a strawberry gets picked in Canada (or where ever they come from) to your local grocery store, in one piece, and all the while exuding a beautiful shade of red, how do they do that?!

With allergies and cardiovascular diseases on the rise, many people buy organic under the notion that it is pesticide-hormone-antibiotic-preservative free. But is it? IS IT?!?! Well, yes and no. It depends on what you buy.

What does organic even mean? Isn't it pure, pristine, free of badness?! No, sorry to burst your bubble; it gets a little more technical than that. Which is why this next part was written entirely by our in-house Environmentalologist, Allison Robertson. "In the strictest sense, organic means that a chemical is composed of carbon and hydrogen. For instance, you are organic. Gasoline, poison ivy, paper, snake venom, sugar. Organic. The famous mosquito-eliminating-human-life-saving-bird-murdering DDT that was banned in 1973. Also organic.Organic is defined by law 'a labeling term that refers to an agricultural product produced in accordance with the [National Organic Program] Act and the regulations in this part.'" Oh, that really helps an earth lover out. It pretty much just means that "organic" cannot be simply defined. It's an entire practice of growing crops and raising livestock. It's a way of life man. It's called LTD. Look it up. Check it out for yourself here.

If you don't normally like to read the law (I mean who doesn't?) know that the law is amended to allow exceptions to the rule. (if you dont know what most of these big words mean dont feel dumb, you're just average. click the link) Check this link out. Also, when you read statistics, ponder: “Hmm, I wonder who is paying this statistician big bucks or dollars…” Just sayin. Watch yourself.

Like any other law as well as fashion, the organic program has come a long way from 1990, through mistakes, revelations, and even overalls. At first, people just thought because a chemical was deemed "organic" by anyone, even RUN DMC himself, it was safe. Whoops! They can be just as toxic as any other chemical! Now, organic farmers are required to control pests by much stricter and much more "organic" regulations , however they are still allowed to use several pesticides.

Here's the low-down on pesticides. Pesticides prevent disease causing insects, animals, and microorganisms from infesting our produce. Pesticides allow farmers to grow lots of big crops without using so much land and water. Pesticides are almost always understood as BAD SCARY TOXIC things that make babies cry and clowns smile. But, pesticides can be organic or inorganic, synthetic or natural, and any type of these chemicals can be harmful or totally not. Dont you love how vague we are today? After all it is monday.


So what should we do about our produce?????

Wash it. Organic or not, keep yourself and the kiddos in the clear by washing all of your produce.

And here's a brand new idea we spent 3 days locked in out idea room developing: grow your own! And be popular! It's a proven fact by literally zero scientist that if you grow your own food you will become 7 times more popular than before; hipsters do it for some reason right?


Addressing livestock and poultry. Think on this, when many people take antibiotics to treat an infection, receive a vaccine, or take vitamin supplements, they are ultimately taking chemicals to treat illness or promote certain health factors they aren't able to naturally obtain. Countless people need hormone therapies and many other medication to stay alive, such as diabetes or hypothyroidism. This is ultimately another issue all together, because we will have to begin to critique societies perpetual false reliance on mass chemical medication, mass premature development, mass devastation to immunities, the major economic bubble pharmaceuticals have created, and so much more. Another factor in this debate is the ethical side of it all. It is impossible to say that modern medicines work and practices of chemical medications are 100% bad, after all they save lives, but we must ask, "at what cost?" A classic question in this debate is proposed as follows, " If a doctor refused to provide you chemicals that could heal you, wouldn't that be cruel?" Of course this question cannot be easily answered with a yes or no, because there are so many other factors that contribute. Regardless of your stance on the issue it is easy to see how far we have become disconnected from what we eat, especially in the meat world. Which is why mass strict regulation of what chemicals are going into what livestock and when. In the case of organically raised livestock are not, by law, routinely treated with growth promoting hormones and antibiotics, but vets still prescribe treatments to keep them healthy. Here's a solid quote for you: A producer must not “withhold medical treatment from a sick animal in an effort to preserve its organic status.” Check out this fact sheet. So, hopefully by now you are super confused about all of this. But dont give up, it will be ok, just read a bunch of stuff and become opinionated, oh and dont forget
:

 

Think of finding a good doctor. You don't just walk up to anyone with a medical degree and pay him to diagnose your illness (well...actually if youre not on medicare you probs do)...But you SHOULD do research. You might oughtta ask other people, look at the doctor's resume, and meet the doctor before scheduling a checkup. So if you care about the food that fuels your body, wouldn't you do more of a background check than just looking at a food label and ASSUME it's absolutely perfect? Just because organic farmers must have accreditation to sell organic, not everyone follows the law in the same way. Some pride themselves with going above and beyond. Some just get by.

And another thing! The National Organic Program was preceded by other laws that regulate animal welfare and toxic substances. Look into FDA, FIFRA, and APHIS to get started. Point being, just because a farmer does not pay the price to be certified organic does not mean he is an evil pesticide and hormone user.

Any system can be played. Any loophole can be found.




All right earth lovers! Go out and empower yourselves! Cause youre cool like that...and by cool we mean kinda nerdy, but totes lovable by the opposite sex.

And as you do,live by this one rule: if you can easily recognize or pronounce the ingredients in a food item, it probably has less preservatives! ie- less is more people, less is MORE!




Oh yeah, click here for a funky thing about bees!



love the earth- theGreenteam



we're suckers for a good sale-a-bration:

Friday, April 1, 2011

Sidewalks: Pro or Con?

The HSUGreenTeam (aka theGreenteam) lives.  We have been meeting both night and day.  Allotting only a small amount of time to blog and then we will get back to saving the Earth.  Read the link to understand a growing problem we didnt discover, but will take credit for:  http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/04/the-battle-of-the-sidewalks.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Sure all the publicity goes to the growing danger of walking on sidewalks. But everyone here wants to know, where are the safety precautions?  We all know that this is a growing problem.  The question we bring up is: Why aren't we talking about the sidewalks themselves?  Everybody freaks out if we pour a little oil in the Ocean, but we're okay with pouring cement all over the Earth!?  For our own selfish gain!  Join us, HSUGreen, in our fight against sidewalks.  No Mas Aceras!  They're dangerous and 100% ground pollution.


Ps-Want a free water bottle?  Take a picture of yourself enjoying the nice weather, upload it to our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/hsugreen and you could win a brand new Hardin-Simmons Nalgene or Camelbak (yes, with the straw) water bottle. The picture will be judged on coolness and creativity.

Win a free bottle! Everybody's doing it...Even Ben.
Its one of these totes cool ones Chalk Ben is holding.



http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/04/bats-worth-up-to-53-billion-for-us-economy-batman.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Bats; the rats with wings of the animal kingdom.  Bottom line; bats are cool.  They eat bugs, have a superhero named after them, and they use sonar. So whats the catch?  Bat homicide.  "Scientists estimate by 2020, wind turbines will have killed 33,000 to 111,000 annually in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands alone."  Wind turbines use the wind to create energy.  Does this harm to bats negate the positive effects caused by the wind turbines?  Yes.  Join HSUGreen in our fight against these bat-killers.  Or at least we could make them safe for the bats or something. Probs the bat safer thing, but who even knows any more? Stay tuned for the next HSUGreen blog update, but please stop pestering us all the time for more!  We can't handle this popularity.


Seriously we cant.

love the earth- theGreenteam

sweet upcoming documentary you need to watch of the day aka (sudyntwotd) :

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

why is it like seattle outside?

We dont know about you, but all this weather makes us want to do here is take a nap...but the boss man says "No". So instead we took out the recycling, read a bunch of sweet blogs, and found out a bunch of things that we are going to share with you cause we love you...but we just want to be friends...

Like I said we took out the recycling today and then we plugged all the new amounts in to this super computer we bought off e-bay and it told us that since Nov. 1st (our official launch date) through today we have sent 25.01 cy (cubic yards) or 675.4 cf (cubic feet) to recycling. Whaaaa?! Thats enough to fill up a sweet above ground pool with 5,082.706 gallons of Amy's Ice Cream (which is being given away for free today in Austin, Tx via Google and we were so close to a road trip, but then we realized it would be Thursday before we could get there on our bikes...)

SUUUUUPER COMPUTER!!

Moving on.

READ THIS:

Video TIME!

What do you say we wrap this up with a couple of sweet vids? Also we just want to say we have had a wonderful time and would like to see you again... just as friends...

Here is one from our Treehugger friends spit'n the truth about Plastic Marine Pollution. Seriously, stop drinking bottled water kids.


aaaaand here's something a little less educational and a little more dance related:

Raw Energy: Sustainable Dancefloor Weekend from Temple Nightclub on Vimeo.
Count on seeing these at our next block party.

have a good sunfree day.

love the earth- theGreenteam

S.o.t.D.- our hipster pals drop the beat hard.

Friday, March 25, 2011

This post if full of a few cool things...

Its friday friday friday, so we'll make this quick.

Key points:

  • theGreenteam = cool
  • We will be giving something away soon...like maybe tuesday....
  • Tomorrow is EarthHour (click the link to go to their site) Turn off your lights at 8:30pm and help make the world more UNdumb. Oh and dont be like these guys...or Montana:

Just flip the switch; you're not too cool.


  • Lastly, we have switched our our number five spot on our "Top Five Dream Sponsors for HSUGreen" to NIKE. What a bunch of bad-butts (for the un-edited version think of the same biblical animal I am...) Check it out...and maybe buy some NIKE stuff too.


See wasn't that quick?!

Now, go get a snow cone or something.

Deuces.

love the earth- theGreenteam

video/song of the day:


fist pump.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

You will NOT even believe how UNdumb the world is about to get

There used to be this old lady who worked at a fruit stand by my house that would always yell," DON'T START A LETTER WITH AN APOLOGY!" I have no idea why she felt like that was good advice, but it's time that advice was ignored, so, On behalf of everyone here at HSUGreen, we are SORRY for not posting these past few days, but we had this little thing called "Spring Break" to take care of. And if you're wondering "Why didn't you just post on Monday or even Tuesday?" Well, that is a good question. All in all, you should watch this mildly entertaining video:

Blödes Orchester from white tube on Vimeo.


Here is a little fyi we're tossing your way: the official "theGreenteam" for 2011-2012 has been chosen. The office has been running on very limited staff since November and we've been needing to expand so, we started doing these super intense interviews and ended up with 7 totes rad theGreenteamers. Give it up for:
Kay Shannon, Taylor Horn, Bailey Jarvis, Blake Fox, Katie Whitmore, Michael Cruz, and Allison Robertson! Give them 2 high fives if you see them around. And if you are one of the few people in the entire city that dosent know who they are yet dont worry we'll post sups embarrassing pics next post. All this to say, HSUGreen just got way neater and we are pumped about the next year. You should be too, cause its gonna be a supa fresh time.


Aaaaaand heres some green news:


This little post comes to us from a sweet blog called thekitchn. We mostly have been following them for their foody stuff, but when they started posting botteled water stats like this, "Did you know that 40% of all bottled water is taken from municipal water sources (aka tap water) and it takes three times the amount of water to produce the bottle as it does to fill it?" Our ears perked up like a mouse who smelled some cheese...wait...just read it/do the survey (and dont be one of those people thats all like "im too good to make an account to take this survey, blah blah blah I love montana): http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/survey-do-you-still-buy-bottled-water-142158


As you may know we here at HSUGreen loooove alternative forms of transportation (that was a lot of big words together) and we super love anything that makes getting around alternatively more cool and more easy. So thanks to our buddies (and by buddies we mean people we would love to know, but we're not cool enough yet) over at Patagonia came up with this sweet little piece, clicky:  

We already told our moms to put these in our stockings this easter.


dats it fo turday!
love the earth- theGreenteam


ps- here is some inspiration in video form. Plus Charlie Chapplin is a total hottie:


Thursday, March 10, 2011

Jane Goodall and New Jersey

If those two things met at a trade show they would probs say, "Hi, we have nothing to do with each other." (unless Jane has been there, either way just go with it.) But see here's the thing, both of these two have achieved "totes rad" status here in the HSUGreen office, so we must blog about them...duh.

1. Dr. Jane, I will go ahead and post the link to her bio so you can know why you should think she is awesome: http://www.biography.com/articles/Jane-Goodall-9542363 Also she just came to Abilene Texas...? Wait, what? Yeah, no joke. She tours 300 days out of the year and some smart person said, "Hey, come here" to which she replied, "Ok." The rest is history. She started "The Jane Goodall Institute" many years ago and as an extension of the a program called "Roots and Shoots" evolved. It is a youth education and activism group that empowers children and adults alike to change the world for good. All that to say, HSUGreen is a R&S advocate. And now you're like, "Wow, that is cool" and we're all like, "Yeah no big deal, but we totally went to workshops, presentations, told her all about HSUGreen, and gave her a hug." theGreenteam's newest member, Jane Goodall...

2. New Jersey. Just wanted to hook them up with some love. According to the latest stats they are 2nd in the US for solar power production and usage, next to California (go figure). So high five NJ, we're real pumped you're not being a Montana. Thanks.

BONUS FEATURE:

You can replace light bulbs with water bottles....(but you have to cut a hole in your roof...) Either way, this is worth a mention and a watch, as in the video; WATCH THE VIDEO. (plus its in Spanish, which we love. remember, it's not illegal to be bilingual )


Ok, thats enough, especially for the 4th day of the modern week.

love the earth- theGreenteam

Song of the day:

Monday, March 7, 2011

Recyclstyling

Up until this point we have taken quite a light hearted stance on this blog, but that all stops...NOW. There is a major issue going on in society and we here at HSUGreen will not stand for it. I kid you not ladies and gentlemen, there is legit "Recyclstealing" going on all around us. Here is a breakdown of what happens:

  • Kind wonderful citizen donates a recyclable material to the appropriate bin 
  • That recycling is then collected and taken to the appropriate drop off site
  • Then a horrible vandal approaches the site and steals these recyclable materials before they have the chance to even be recycled!!
We know exactly what you are thinking right now, "How can anything be recycled ever again if it is always being stolen?!" 

This is our point precisely. Which is why we must band together and stop people from this horrifying act! 

Some of you maybe throwing around the silly idea that this "stealing" is only "reusing", but you are wrong.  Allow us to use an example to explain better, "You put your recycling in your bin at home and then once a week someone comes to your house and takes it!" or how about this, "You are about to throw a bunch of paper into the recycling where it belongs and your nosey neighbor asks if he can have it to 'use for something else'"?!?! I bet it seems a bit more realistic and terrifying hitting a little closer to home, huh? 

Here is the bottom line, people: this is all fake. In all reality, please steal from recycle bins. We need to be doing that far more than putting our mass waste into a different container. Oh, and as far as that whole "stopping the light hearted-ness" stuff I wouldn't worry 'bout that too much. I mean, odds are if you have read this much of today's post, you're one of the smartest people ever and saw that pun coming the whole time. 

I dont know if you know, but we totes have a new background. Thanks to the neat person, Bailey Jarvis. She got a free Camelbak. Also Blake Fox (of the fox society) won a free Nalgene for our new facebook profile pic. You can see them both on this page if you just look at it.

You, and this is no joke, YOU can be on theGreenteam and help UNdumb the world. Your school needs you, plus you'll get free stuff later. 
Just Click this: WWW.bit.ly/GREENTEAM Fill it out. Rinse. and Repeat. (except dont really repeat cause it wastes water) 

Green news highlight for today: "Farming is the new hipster occupation." For all you hipster haters out there, it's time to put down the anti-fixie signs and hug a pair of super low cut V necks. Hipsters might be doing things that "aren't cool" to be cool, but they sure are doing things, which is the point right? Riding bikes, recycling, making their own clothes, and now Farming. So here at HSUGreen we have come together and decided we totally have a crush on hipster activists. Keep up the uncool kids. Here's a Grist article on the very topic: http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-07-farming-is-the-new-hipster-occupation-of-choice/  Any thoughts? 

You're neat.

love the earth- theGreenteam

funny rad vid of the day- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm3JodBR-vs&feature=player_embedded


Thursday, March 3, 2011

The other 1/2...

Ok ok so such super success at Thirsty Thursday, but I cant talk about it cause of FERPA.... ha, gotch ya punk (sorry for calling you a punk). It was a rad time down there in the base-hizzy. We just hung and made some new friends....if thats you heres a shout out: SHOUT OUT TO NEW FRIENDS! (if feel like that went well)

Now, on to big fish- The Pick your Pic and you Pick a Bottle (it has never been officially named) Contest is over TOMORROW AT 5PM!! So, send your pictures to us at hsugreen@gmail.com of what you think the back ground of the blog should be (yes this blog) and if we pick your pic you get a FREE Camelbak or Nalgene! booooooom.
Last chance to win
ps- the GCW (Giant Chalkboard Wall) is open for biz, i.e. come write on  it, you'll never look back.

Next up, SUPER AWESOME EXCITING news:

All HSU Dorms use ECOLogo certified TP!
Bet your butt didnt know this...

What is ECOLogo? Wait, are you serious? Ok fine, I copied from their web site: EcoLogoTM is North America’s largest, most respected environmental standard and certification mark. EcoLogo provides customers – public, corporate and consumer – with assurance that the products and services bearing the logo meet stringent standards of environmental leadership.
Its pretty cool huh? So cool in fact, we are deeming today, "Give your butt a high five day! and your roommate too, if they're cool with it" Also we are all calling our mom's and telling them the news, so feel free to do the same.

Is there anything else? Duh. Apply for theGreenteam here: WWW.bit.ly/GREENTEAM

Knucks.

love the earth- theGreenteam