Discover(ing) Sustainability

Is it possible, even after getting one graduate degree and nearly finishing a second, to do your undergraduate experience all over again?  Because UNH has a new dual major in EcoGastronomy — the first of its kind anywhere in higher education in the U.S. — and I want in!

I know what you’re saying.  ”Sara, you’re too old to…”  Oh, wait, you were actually saying, “What in the world is EcoGastronomy?”  I knew that.

Actually, that’s probably the first question we get asked about the new dual major, which launches this fall. ”Gastronomy” is defined as “the art and appreciation of preparing and eating good food,” and adding the prefix “eco” before it indicates that the “art and appreciation” of food cannot be separated from our agriculture, our environment, and the myraid social, economic, political, and ethical issues associated with food production and eating.

 From farm to fork to nutrition and health . . . it all connects.

Students who dual major in EcoGastronomy will get to learn first hand about these connections.  Their primary major can be in any other discipline; they just add the dual major in EcoGastronomy to their studies.  Imagine how much more you’d learn and experience if you added the dual major in EcoGastronomy to your studies in nutrition, agriculture, political science, sociology, education, Italian and other languages, business, hospitality management, journalism and creative writing — you name it and it’s connected to food!

And hello resume builder! How many other people are going to have such experiential, interdisciplinary, and unique experience on their resume?

I do have to warn you, though, that you’ll have to make one major sacrifice to complete the dual major:  you’ll have to spend a semester abroad in Italy studying at the University of Gastronomic Sciences established by Carlo Petrini, the founder in the international Slow Food movement.

Tough, I know.

So if you are a UNH undergrad, teach or work with undergrads, or are thinking of becoming a student at UNH, check out the new dual major in EcoGastronomy! And spread the word about the program:

 ”Are you interested in growing food, cooking food, and eating heathfully? Do you want to learn about the complex and holistic nature of our food community? If you answered yes, then get ready to enhance your primary major and expand your professional opportunities with a Dual Major in EcoGastronomy. Integrating UNH strengths in sustainable agriculture, hospitality management, and nutrition, EcoGastronomy offers a unique academic program emphasizing the interdisciplinary, international, and experiential knowledge that connects all three fields. And as a dual major, the program provides a complement to any primary major.”

See you in Italy!

The new journal Sustainability: The Journal of Record profiled UNH’s leadership in sustainability in its latest issue.  The writer, Kevin D. Blanchet, did a wonderfully engaging job of capturing sustainability at UNH — not an easy thing to do in 4 short pages!

 You can read the entire profile here. And here’s a sneak peak:

“Home to the oldest endowed sustainability program in higher education in North America and soon to be the first university in the nation to receive a majority of power from renewable landfill gas, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Durham campus sets a good example of what colleges and universities — even those with small endowments and non-ivy covered walls — can do to advance sustainability.” 

Read and enjoy!

As we enter the second week of our car-free pledge, my family and I find ourselves profoundly … unchanged. Sure, there were a few soggy trips last weekend, and there have been one or two moments when we’ve reached for the keys before remembering that driving was not an option. But, with the exception of a surprising amount of media attention, life has borne a remarkable similarity to the Good Old Days of April, before the station wagon began its month-long time-out.

This coming weekend, I anticipate that will change. While the oh-so-convenient Durham Marketplace has kept up our nutritional fortitude, we can no longer put off a trip to a major supermarket. Tomorrow, I will hook the trailer intended to carry our son to my bike, pedal four miles to Dover, and fill said trailer with groceries. Weight limit on the trailer is 100 pounds, which I’m afraid might be 25 pounds less than the weight of the food I need to buy but about 50 pounds more than my legs can carry.

Meanwhile, my husband might blow out the Internet in his search to find public transportation to his hometown of Lebanon, N.H., where his dad would love a visit. He’s discovering the power of that northern New England truism, “You can’t get theah from heah.”

We’re all gearing up for Bike/Walk to Work Day, which is next Friday, and for the Corporate Commuter Challenge all next week. Here on the Seacoast, Timberland won in the large company division. UNH commuters, let’s kick some Timberland butt!

I’ve been crowing about Wildcat Transit in my job in media relations for a few years now. The inter-city bus service is the state’s largest public transit system, it’s all run on biodiesel, it’s an integral component of UNH’s “walking campus” vision, blah blah blah.

But it wasn’t until I gave up my car that I actually RODE a Wildcat Transit bus. And it’s every bit as great as I’ve been saying it is!

As I wrote earlier, my family has pledged to go car-free for the month of May. I anticipated that Wildcat Transit would be integral to our success, and I chose May in part because the buses are still running on a full schedule (they scale back in the summer).

On Sunday, I took advantage of a brief break in the downpour to bike into Portsmouth (not as hard as it sounds: it’s 13 miles from Durham, and much of the route is un-trafficked). There, I bought a new pair of sneakers, had a cup of coffee, then hopped on the bus for my package-laden return trip. The driver willingly helped me figure out how to put my bike on the rack and did not snicker at my mechanical ineptitude. Half an hour later, the bus dropped me half a mile from my home.

A colleague who takes the bus regularly from Portsmouth tells me it’s becoming more popular, and with gas costing what it does, it’s no wonder. Buses run roughly hourly to Dover, Portsmouth and Newmarket and are free with a UNH ID.

In other car-free news, our adventure has inspired others, thanks to stories in Campus Journal and on the UNH home page. My husband and I are both hearing from folks all over the university who have dusted off their bikes, laced up their sneakers, or boarded the bus. Which is exactly what we hoped would happen!

Today begins National Bike Month, which has been celebrated in May for more than 50 years. What better time to check out Cat Cycles, free loaner bikes available at A Lot from University Transportation Services? These single-speed cruisers come with a lock and a cargo basket, making them a retro-hip way to get around town or campus. They’re available to faculty, staff and students and about as easy to use as checking out a library book.

While you’re cruising on your Cat, you might notice some of the bike-friendly touches that have been built into the campus lately, like the bike lanes on Main St.

In honor of Bike Month, my family has pledged not to drive our car for the entire month of May. Today’s Portsmouth Herald and yesterday’s UNH Campus Journal reported on this act of sacrifice/fitness/insanity. We’ll do lots of biking, for sure, but we’ll also take advantage of Wildcat Transit and perhaps the Downeaster. I’ll post occasional updates on this adventure here.

What kind of a challenge could you take this month? I know of one blogger who’s challenged her readers to replace one car trip a week with a bike ride. Bike/Walk to Work Day is May 16, an excellent way to try out an alternative commute, and some folks are signing on to the Corporate Commuter Challenge the week of May 12 - 16. Let us know in the comments what you might do!

It’s not often that “parking lot” and “sustainable” bump into each other in the same sentence. But UNH’s E Lot, by first-year residence Williamson Hall, is becoming one of the university’s most recognizable sustainable research projects.

That’s where the UNH Stormwater Center, dedicated to protecting water resources through stormwater management, has installed a pervious concrete parking lot. Installed last August to replace an aging asphalt lot, this is the first major pervious concrete parking facility in New England — but not the last, says Stormwater Center director Robert Roseen.

Pervious concrete lets stormwater drain through the surface of the lot, rather than puddling or running of. The lot’s subsurface scrubs the stormwater of pollutants and recharges groundwater. But there’s always been lingering skepticism about how this technology — elegant in its simplicity — would stand up to the freeze-thaw cycle of New England winters.

This past winter put the lot through its paces, but Roseen told WBZ-TV reporter Peg Rusconi that the lot performed beautifully. The Stormwater Center fields calls about this parking lot almost daily, and in the fall they’ll help install a similar lot at a major new shopping plaza in Greenland.

One of the claims for eating locally has been that it helps reduce climate impacts caused by the transportation of food over long distances. A recent study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers has called into question this claim, however, showing that transportation of food is a minor contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (11%) as compared to actual food production (83%). What’s more, the researchers found that the production of some food contributes more to GHG emissions than other types of food.

So what are the largest contributors? You guessed it – red meat and dairy products. In fact, according to the researchers, “Shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food.”

But while buying locally might not have as great an impact as previously thought on reducing GHG emissions, there are still many other important reasons to choose local foods. For example, buying local supports community economic development, helping communities sustain their livelihood and character. It provides access to the freshest food available, enhancing taste and reducing food waste. And it strengthens our food community, encouraging social networks and food security in our communities and regions. Not only that, but knowing where your food comes from can help you advocate for lower-carbon production methods in your community, such as reducing fertilizer usage, no-till agriculture methods, and pasture-based livestock systems.

Now that spring has finally sprung here in Durham, I’m making regular visits to some of the university’s most valuable (in my opinon) assets — the 500-plus acres of woodlands that are College Woods and East and West Foss Farms. Offering miles of trails and a rich diversity of woodlands and wildlife, these areas serve as labs and outdoor classrooms for classes in natural resources and the Thompson School. And they represent a major carbon sink, storing carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

These three areas — some of UNH’s many woodland properties — are contiguous to each other and easily accessible from campus. UNH’s Office of Woodlands & Natural Areas has recently updated its Web site with great maps to all three areas. The most popular access point to College Woods is off Colovos Road, behind the Field House. From there, you can even roll a wheelchair or push a stroller to a scenic spot overlooking the Oyster River Reservoir on the Equal Access Trail. Many local residents enter College Woods from Mill Road, where the entrance lies just west of the railroad bridge.

The entrance to West Foss Farm is just across Mill Road to the College Woods entrance. An easy mile on a dirt road takes you past research efforts to restore the New England cottontail and into a field dotted with abandoned scientific equipment (if anyone knows what that stuff is, answer in the comments!). A loop at the end of that trail goes past a lean-to shelter.

To get into East Foss Farm, follow Mill Road back toward campus, turn onto Foss Farm Drive, and look for the entrance road about half a mile up. It’s a short walk to an old cemetery, or slightly longer loops go past vernal ponds and another shelter.

When you return from your walk, check out walkscore.com, a Web site that lets you enter your address to calculate the walkability of your neighborhood based on how many services are within walking distance. “If your neighborhood scores 90 or above, you can easily live there without a car; if it scores under 25, you’ll be driving to the backyard,” wrote the New York Times in its excellent green-focused Sunday Magazine.

Impressed — that’s how I feel today after seeing two groups of UNH students in action.



First, I went to the Reuse! clothing swap held by the UNH student group the Ecological Advocates. What a deal: not only could swap clothes you no longer wanted for ones others had dropped off, but you could even donate shoes that would be sent to those in need in Africa.



And this is just one of week-long series of events the Ecological Advocates are hosting in recognition of Earth Day. You can also join them to rethink, reduce, recycle, renew, respect, and rejoice!



Then I went to the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Symposium (ICE), part of UNH’s Undergraduate Research Conference. The ISE symposium features undergraduate research that contributes to or benefits from an interdisciplinary science and engineering perspective.



I thoroughly enjoyed hearing students talk about their research on everything from energy inputs and outputs of UNH’s organic dairy research farm to what UNH undergraduate Rebecca Lehr is showing in this photo — her research under the guidance of Dr. Cameron Wake and in partnership with Brett Pasinella in my office on possible emission reduction “wedges” — their potential carbon reductions, costs, and cost savings — that could be part of UNH’s climate action plan, or what we call “WildCAP” (as in put a “cap” on emissions.)



UNH students really put what they learn in the classroom, in their research, and in their co-curricular activities to active use.  Whether they are educating their fellow students about how to lighten their footprint on the Earth or educating the New Hampshire Governor’s Climate Change Task Force on the energy and emissions savings from CAFE standards and hybrid cars, UNH students are model engaged scholars.

I spent part of this glorious Earth Day with some horticulture technology students at UNH’s Thompson School for Applied Science. For the final project of their grounds management course, they designed and today are installing a sustainable landscape in front of Putnam Hall.

The students are putting into practice what they’ve been learning for the past year about plant selection, location, and care. They removed some of the neglected existing vegetation, tested and prepared the soil, and solicited donations of plants from New Hampshire nurseries. They selected a range of groundcover, flowering perennials, shrubs, grasses and trees that will provide visual interest, wildlife habitat and need limited ongoing maintenance like pruning and watering.

In sustainable landscaping, said TSAS student Henry Hess, “You’re working with the plant, not trying to make it into something it doesn’t want to be.”

While it will take a few years before the students’ work comes to maturity, it’s well worth a visit. And check out sustainable landscaping around campus on the new sustainability map.