Discover(ing) Sustainability

Can be it back to school already?

The fall semester is upon us, and with it comes our latest newsletter! You can read our September/October newsletter HERE.

Check it out now to learn about our name change and our latest “Profile in Sustainability”: Dr. Stacy VanDeveer of the UNH Department of Political Science.

Read and enjoy…

Celebrate NH Eat Local Month at Passport to Local Farms Weekend, August 28-29.

Passport to Local Farms is a statewide open house on almost 60 participating NH farms, featuring tours, tastings, workshops, pick-your-own, wagon rides, and children’s activities. Download your official “passport” and collect stamps at each farm you visit during that weekend.  If you get stamps from four or more farms, you can enter a prize drawing!

Visit www.nheatlocal.org to download your passport, and plan your itinerary!

Peaches are in season!

Have you been to a farmers’ market in the past couple of weeks?  The summer harvest is really coming in now! Market booths are literally overflowing with cucumbers, squash, corn, tomatoes, basil, potatoes, beans, greens, peaches, blueberries, raspberries . . . and while you’re at the market you can pick up some bread, eggs, milk, cheese, meat, and even seafood!

Check out the Seacoast Growers’ Association’s brand new website where you’ll find lots of up-to-date information, photos, and profiles of the market vendors. You can keep in touch with your favorite market on twitter and facebook too.

To find a farmers’ market near you, go to www.seacoastharvest.org. Thanks to Seacoast Eat Local for the photo of beautiful peaches from White Gate Farm.

This past semester I had class on campus every Tuesday and Thursday, and I worked on campus on Friday — so I pretty much came to campus three days a week. I was curious about the mathematical advantages of taking the bus. So, as one who finds some weird enjoyment in playing with numbers, this past semester (January 26 – May 7) I recorded how I got to campus each day (just a tick on the calendar: bus/carpool, or drive alone).  Now that I have that data, let’s take a look…

Wildcat Transit or carpool (to & from campus): 31 times

Driving alone: 25 times

Round trip: 12 miles

True cost per mile (gas, wear and tear, etc.): $0.50*

Emissions per personal vehicle mile traveled: 1.14 lbs*

EPA-determined avg. fuel economy: 22.1 mpg

So, this means that for the semester I kept $186 in my pocket by taking the bus! At the same time, I spent $150 by driving to campus.  Furthermore, by avoiding driving to campus 31 times I reduced my carbon footprint by 424.08 lbs! (Given that the bus is running with or without me.) By driving to campus, however, I contributed 342 lbs of CO2 toward climate change. Hmm… so what if just half of student commuters (let’s say 6,000, so 1/2 is 3,000) lived the same distance off-campus and took the bus just as frequently? That would equate to a semesterly reduction of 1.272 million lbs of CO2, or 577 metric tons! Again, that does not take into account bus emissions, but the truth is that the more students on the bus the more efficient it becomes in terms of CO2/passenger/mile (good article here FMI).

Oh, and one more reason to take the bus: it gives you an extra 15 minutes to do some last-minute reading before class… haha!

Check it out in the UNH Today blog and go visit yourself Wednesdays, 11 AM – 2 PM, in Murkland Courtyard!

http://unhtoday.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/organice-garden-club-market/

Today the NH Energy & Climate Collaborative released its very first annual progress report on how the state – including UNH, an active partner in the Collaborative – is doing to meet its stated climate goals. Take a look for yourself HERE and HERE.

While we have a lot more work to do, progress today is impressive:

Auctions of allowances for emissions of carbon dioxide from electric power plants conducted under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative raised $24 million for energy efficiency projects in New Hampshire and resulted in:

• More than 30 energy efficiency training opportunities;
• More than 709 people trained in energy efficiency;
• 500 efficiency projects complete or underway; and
• More than 185 buildings received energy audits or benchmarking information.

$1.34 million was dispersed to 237 homeowners for distributed electric generation facilities such as solar photovoltaics and wind turbines.

The Green Launching Pad, administered by the University of New Hampshire, was established to provide a mechanism for start-up green companies to obtain some funding through a competitive technology program.
Through the Municipal Energy Assistance Program, 47 New Hampshire towns are measuring and beginning to manage energy use and become project-ready.

Retail Merchants Association of NH, through its Energy Efficiency Program, met its year one goal of enrolling 25 businesses into its energy retrofit demonstration project within nine months.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was created to stimulate the economy and these grants will inject a total of more than $70 million dollars into New Hampshire’s economy for energy related projects.

To learn more about the Annual Progress Review and how to Get Involved in implementation efforts, visit the Collaborative’s website at nhcollaborative.org/APR.shtml.

Farmers’ markets and Pick-Your-Own farms are open! Right now at your local farmers’ market, you’ll find strawberries, peas, garlic scapes, lettuce, lots of greens, herbs, radishes, scallions . . . along with cut flowers, plants for your garden, farm-fresh eggs, milk, cheeses, and locally raised meats. Get yourself to a farmers’ market this week!

• Opening Day at the Newmarket Farmers’ Market is Saturday June 19th, 9:00am – 1:00pm.
• Check out the Durham Farmers’ Market at its new location at the Mill Road Plaza (Durham Marketplace parking lot)! The market is open every Monday 2:15 – 5:30pm, rain or shine. Show your support for the farmers’ market, and come to the grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday June 21st at 2:15pm. Read more about the farmers in this recent article in The New Hampshire, and follow the market on twitter!
• The Exeter Farmers’ Market has more than 40 vendors lining Swasey Parkway every Thursday afternoon, 2:15 – 6:00pm in downtown Exeter. Bring your shopping bags!
• Pick your own strawberries and make some jam. To find farms and farmers’ markets located near you, visit www.seacoastharvest.org, or pick up a print copy of the hot-off-the-press 2010 edition of Seacoast Harvest local food guide at your local farmers’ market.
• Visit local farms on Barrington Farm Tour Day, Sunday June 27th. Farms will be open from 10am-4pm and there are 8 farms to visit this year, including Warren Farm where you can pick your own berries. For more information, click here.

Early summer here in New England today and coincidentally we released our summer newsletter. You can read it online HERE.

Coincidence? Sustainability is a hot topic, after all.

Check out our latest newsletter to learn more about Food Solutions New England and local food superstar, our very own Kate Donald!

Are you tuning – and eating – in this week?

NHPR is focusing all week on food in New Hampshire in its series “Eating In – New Hampshire’s Food Supply.” As they explain,”concerns about the quality, quantity and environmental impact of our food supply has caused people to rethink their daily dietary choices. This weeklong series of shows, reports and features looks at the food supply here in New Hampshire.”

A number of UNH experts have participated to share what they know, including:

• Dr. Ross Gittell and graduate student Matt Magnusson discussing Food Solutions New England’s first report “Home Grown: The Economic Impact of Local Food Systems in New Hampshire Food Solutions New England” (PDF). Both are from the UNH Whittemore School of Business & Economics.
• Dr. Joanne Burke of Food Solutions New England and the UNH College of Life Sciences & Agriculture (COLSA)‘s Dietetic Internship Program.
• Dr. Cameron Wake of Carbon Solutions New England and the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans & Space.
• Kate and Jeff Donald of Stout Oak Farm (and the UNH University Office of Sustainability… And Seacoast Eat Local…) Kate’s name may sound familiar too as she’s one of our blog authors!
• Dr. John Carroll of COLSA’s Department of Environmental Conservation Studies.
• Becky Sideman of COLSA and UNH Cooperative Extension.

Listen up at www.nhpr.org/special/eatingin!

The title of this entry is that of an outstanding book written by Jeff Rubin, chief economist for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Suffice to say the guy is pretty credible. The book is a brilliant, objective, theoretical application of economics to how our global systems are dependent upon [the rapidly depleting supply of] oil. It’s no fiction novel, so I’ll spare the spoiler alert. Rubin provides brutally honest insights to how our world will change (within our lifetime) as cheap and abundant oil/energy becomes increasingly scarce. Consider a few key points he writes in his book:

• The inevitable reverse of globalization is relocalization (rebuilding local and regional economies, local people providing local services)
• Fact: all recessions have been directly correlated with shocks in oil supply. Economic growth is dependent upon energy consumption (echoed by Matthew Simmons). Peak oil, then, means peak GDP, peak food, maybe even peak population (consider oil inputs into industrial agriculture).
• Distance costs money. As shipping costs increase, more goods will be manufactured domestically (rather than 12,000 miles around the world).
• We will soon be traveling much less. There will be fewer and fewer cars on the road (imagine $7/gallon).
• From an economic standpoint, Rubin provides a compelling case for how carbon tariffs could truly work both economically and environmentally, how they would encourage industry to be located in the most carbon-efficient countries (i.e., it takes twice as much carbon to make one unit of GDP in China than in the US). He also explains the concept of comparative advantage (without it, carbon tariffs will not work, which is why the Kyoto Protocol failed).
• The book offers a clear picture of the global demand for oil, of who wants how much and from where it is coming. Rubin also discusses the inherent geopolitical circumstances (insecurities) surrounding supply and demand.

These are just a few points Rubin makes in his book. I found it to be a great read, very accessible given that it’s written by an economist. It is rife with truths that many aren’t yet ready or willing to accept, but its sure to make you question assumptions about the future.