the green list (VIP)

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) :