green

The college selection process is a rigorous one. As a rising senior, I know how difficult it is to search for a school that meets all your needs, be they class size, student teacher ratio, best dorms, or even best parties. Every little thing counts in order to make sure your four years go smoothly. But when cruising college campuses and digging through acceptance stats, how many of us stop to think about how a school best our meets ecological needs? I doubt most even have a clue how to tell just how green their dream college or university really is.

It might not be a top priority for some, but for those young men and women who are becoming increasingly environmentally aware, it is important for them to have this information at hand.

In fact, according to a Princeton review survey, “six out of 10 college applicants and parents say the environmental factor would affect their decision to apply to or attend a school.”

Groups such the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) have started to release rating systems which students and parents can use to narrow down or even expand their college choices. The SEI in Cambridge Massachusetts gives letter grades to at least 200 public and private schools with the largest endowments. It grades how well a school uses its funds to advocate for the environment, as well as green campus factors.

Among those colleges listed as “Climate Change and Energy Leaders” are: Amherst College, Arizona State, Cornell University, Duke University, Harvard, MIT, New York University, Northeastern University, Tufts University, University of Washington, Wesleyan, and Yale. To find out more about various other colleges and to see who else made the list, check out theSEI’s 2008 Report Card. And while you’re at it, read more about others’ takes on the sustainability reports.

Personally, I love the idea of the reports, and will definitely be factoring them into my ongoing search for the perfect college.

(Shame on you, Northwestern! Go Cornell!)

Congratulations to Adi Segal, the Green Camp Initiative Coordinator, for all of his successes with Camp Ramah in the Berkshires!

Adi Segal has united with the staff at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires to form a commendable community-benefiting venture, which emphasizes the deeply-rooted Jewish value of environmentalism. The Initiative works to make the Berkshires Camp, and other sleep away camps, more environmentally sustainable through educating and leading by example. It raises awareness about environmental issues; increases conscious activism among staff and campers; and decreases the amount of waste (i.e. solids, water, energy, etc.) produced in the camp, thereby reducing its Eco-Footprint. It strives to reach all 600 campers and 200 staff members so that they will leave camp with a new eco-friendly mindset, bringing the message of environmentalism home to their communities.

Already, the Initiative has instituted a recycling program, introduced green cleaning products, replaced all light bulbs with CFLs, switched to post-consumer recycled paper, and reduced the plastic drinking cup usage by over 25,000. In addition, each age group will have programming dedicated to environmentalism; these eco-friendly courses will include Torah study, trash audits, and sustainable farming.

Camp Ramah in the Berkshires is the first camp to be inducted into the Green Flag Schools program and the Rutgers Environmental Cooperative Purchasing Agreement, which will allow Camp Ramah to buy green products at a discounted price. With the Camp Ramah's and Adi's combined dedication to sustainability, the environment is sure to continue to benefit!

Found through Youth Venture, AASHE and its newsletter, Conference Alerts, and Americans for Informed Democracy

HMF International Film/Media Festival and Conference
HMF seeks to tap into the power of the media—film, both documentary and narrative; art and music; print, web, television, and photojournalism—and extend their influence more broadly, so that humanitarian issues are not just covered in brief articles, commercials, profiles, or soundbytes, but can be explored and given context, so that their importance is more widely known. With greater knowledge, more people in positions of authority and influence can then also be drawn in as part of the dialogue, so that such issues are not just lamented, but perhaps some constructive and creative answers can be illuminated among those with the greatest capacity to make a difference. The Conference will cover the media’s role in humanitarian histories, events, issues and crises; the role that the media has played and perhaps should play in the work of the UN, NGO’s and other agencies who help to support populations in need and are affected by certain issues or crises; the future role of the media with the advent of new technologies, the possibilities inherent in the web, and how these new possibilities can be utilized by those seeking to bring further attention to the public sphere regarding issues of humanitarian importance; the role of the artistic media in revealing the nuances of issues of humanitarian importance and the significance of “celebrity” involvement; the role of print, television, web, and photojournalism and its importance in the humanitarian sphere.
Dates: December 10th-14th
Deadline: August 1 for presenters; December 1 for attendees

AASHE 2008: Working Together for Sustainability--On Campus and Beyond
AASHE will host its second biannual conference, AASHE 2008: Working Together for Sustainability – On Campus and Beyond. AASHE 2008 will offer an opportunity for every sector of higher education in the United States & Canada to come together to demonstrate how colleges and universities can lead the way to a sustainable future. Goals of the conference include advancing sustainability on campus and beyond through partnerships and collaborations, increasing the integration of social responsibility and social justice into mainstream campus sustainability, promoting new pathways for elevating sustainability education and student leadership development, magnifying the role of campuses as responsible members of communities, both local and global, and to involve a wider range of participants in advancing sustainability in higher education. Students, administrators, faculty, staff, community members, and business are encouraged to attend. During the conference, AASHE will also host a two-day tradeshow, Sustainable Solutions Expo: Green Solutions for Campuses, Businesses and Institutions. Admission is included with conference registration. Discounts are available for students and AASHE members.
Dates: November 9th-11th
Deadline: August 29

Global Youth Enterprise
Making Cents International will convene practitioners, donors, educators, youth, members of the private sector, representatives of governments, and other partners in youth enterprise, entrepreneurship, and livelihood development for the Global Youth Enterprise Conference. These conference participants are part of a growing community committed to investing in young people, and the innovations necessary to ensure programs and policies achieve greater impact, sustainability, and scale. Making Cents supports this community regularly meeting to share lessons learned, promising practices, and new ideas that create economic opportunities for young people. This year's conference themes are Market-Driven Approaches and Effective Methodologies and Practices for Monitoring, Evaluating, and Conducting Impact Assessments.
Dates: September 15th and 16th
Deadline for late registration: September 1

2008 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo - Revolutionary Green: Innovations for Global Sustainability
The U.S. Green Building Council will host its Greenbuild 2008. USGBC’s Greenbuild conference and expo is an opportunity to connect with other green building peers, industry experts, and influential leaders as they share insights on the green building movement and its diverse specialties. Speakers include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, E.O. Wilson, and Janine Benyus. The conference will feature over 100 educational sessions, LEED workshops, off-site educational sessions. Students, universities, and professionals are invited to attend.
Dates: November 19th-21st
Deadline: September 8

CFP - Fifth World Environmental Education Congress
The Organizing Committee of the Congress invites submissions for abstract proposals. The presentations may be in the form of a poster, oral, or round table presentation, or a workshop or NGO forum. Themes include relationships between ecology and economy; the issue of sustainability; questions of fairness in socio-ecological issues; environmental health; urban challenges; greening colleges and universities; and school and community. Each participant is limited to a maximum of two proposals.
Dates: May 10th-14th
Deadline for presentation submission: September 30
Deadline for presenter registration: February 1

Good and Green
This conference gives you the opportunity to catch up on the very latest green marketing info and know how. It is the only event focused on green marketing solutions and insights for Fortune 100-1,000 companies and their agencies! Attendees will receive invaluable research, case studies, strategies and techniques. They can also expect some new marketing ideas and insights, as well as surprise entertainment value from Planet Green. Presenters include The Daily Green.com, The Natural Marketing Institute, Ketchum Public Relations, Denise Waggoner from Getty Images, and Earthsense. There will also be a Partnership Panel, from which attendees will learn to correctly identify and develop great partnerships successfully. Good And Green is the place for senior brand marketers to touch base, connect, learn and share insights from their green marketing journey.
Dates: December 3rd and 4th
Deadline: register online now

Green Community College Conference
The National Council for Workforce Education Board of Directors will host the Green Community Colleges Conference: Sustainable Campuses and Programs. Presentations will be given on sustainability initiatives, energy programs and opportunities, and workforce curriculum and faculty development.
Dates: October 18th-21st
Deadline: register online now

Pop!Tech 2008: Scarcity and Abundance
For the twelfth year, the Pop!Tech Conference will again convene a network of 600 remarkable thinkers, doers, leaders and global change agents in science, technology, social innovation, business, environmentalism, globalization, media, education, and many other fields for a four-day exploration of ideas shaping the future. This year, we will pay particular attention to the 21st century dynamics between systems based on scarcity and those based on abundance, in areas ranging from digital social networks to environmentalism, from biology to business, from peacemaking to politics. We’ll chart the core scarcities that humanity will face in this century, and how a wealth of new innovations, new bottom-up approaches to collaboration, and new insights into collective wisdom might hold the key to addressing them. As always, there will be incredible performances, jaw-dropping technology demonstrations, spirited discussions, formal debates and surprises throughout. We will leave each other with an inspired sense of our challenges, our potential, and the dynamics of positive change.
Dates: October 23rd-25th
Deadline: register online now

Slow Food Nation 2008 This event is the first-ever American collaborative gathering to unite the growing sustainable food movement and introduce thousands of people to food that is good, clean and fair. The first annual event of Slow Food Nation takes place on Labor Day 2008 in San Francisco with enjoyable, accessible and educational activities for all Americans. Slow Food Nation is dedicated to creating a framework for deeper environmental connection to our food and aims to inspire and empower Americans to build a food system that is sustainable, healthy and delicious.
Dates: August 29th-September 1st
Deadline: register online now

UCB, U Washington Summer Institute in Sustainability
The University of British Columbia and the University of Washington Extension are pleased to invite participants to the Summer Institute in Sustainability, a 5-day intensive program that will provide intellectual perspectives and practical skills to integrate sustainability as a core value within an organization, and develop programs that represent best practices in sustainability planning. The program provides participants with a combination of lectures by sustainability experts and practitioners, on-site excursions to UBC’s sustainability initiatives, case studies featuring five of UBC’s signature sustainability programs, and applied work sessions focusing on sustainability planning.
Dates: July 20th-25th
Deadline: register online now

United Students Against Sweatshops Summer Conference
This summer, hundreds of students from throughout the US and Canada will be gathering in Boulder, Colorado for this conference. Attendees will be participating in skill building workshops, strategizing around winning our campaigns, hearing from workers, participating in anti-oppression trainings, and meeting up with students from hundreds of other schools.
Dates: August 8th-10th
Deadline: register online now

State of the World Forum
The Forum, in partnership with Wisdom University and Olmstead Productions, is convening a new State of the World Forum in 2009 designed to draw attention to the emerging power of the cultural creatives and the enabling technologies required to shape constructive change in the face of the growing crisis of global warming. The application will be posted soon.
Dates: November 9th-15th
Deadline: registration materials will be available online soon

“Creating Global Change: How Youth are answering the question, 'What can I do?'”
Interested to know how you can make a career out of social change? How you can continue to work for poverty reduction and social justice after your time at college? This summer, AID and the Student Movement for Real Change will be hosting a conference to address these questions. Attendees will get an opportunity to speak with young social entrepreneurs, national organizers, and new media activists—learning from them about how to create global change as youth. For details, contact kristen@aidemocracy.org.

Global Health Conference in DC: "Mobilizing and Engaging Communities in Global Health"
This conference promises to be informative and filled with take-home actions you can do. For more details, contact christine.g@aidemocracy.org.

Are you an avid bottled water drinker? Do your H2O drinking habits have you go to the grocery store or put change into a vending machine? If so, you should stop and rethink the way you are getting your source of water. Bottled water takes a tremendous toll on the environment – the manufacturing and transporting of plastic bottles burn up oil, create pollution, and emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Not to mention, all the plastic waste they will end up becoming!

Many people may feel the need to choose bottled water over regular tap water because they think it is tastier and healthier. However, it is the bottled water corporations that have made you believe in this false notion. In fact, 40% of bottled water in the U.S. and Canada comes straight from the faucet! Bottled water is essentially the same as tap water! That’s right, the math is clear: municipal tap water + hefty price + environmental damage = bottled water.

So, save yourself some money and do the planet a favor. Take the Think Outside the Bottle Pledge: “[I opt] for public tap water over bottled water; and [support] the efforts of local officials who prioritize strong public water systems over bottled water profits.”

• As an activist, direct your local officials to cut city spending on bottled water and invest in strong public water systems.
• As a restaurant owner, serve tap instead of bottled water to encourage more sustainable eating habits.
• As a student, raise public awareness by organizing events, such as the Tap Water Challenge and the World Water Challenge. You can get support from Conscious Lifestyle for it.

Do your part to challenge the corporate control of water, for the environment, for your health.

Photo courtesy of Corporate Accountability International.