Proposal Updates

By: Kyle Wilson

This year brings to the Missouri State University two new initiatives that were just

proposals last year. The first, proposed by Rebecca Rice, is the new bike

maintenance stations. One is placed just outside Garst Dining Center. If you

have any issues with your bike you can put it on this maintenance station and it

will allow you to fix it. If you have not seen it yet, you should go check it out.

Secondly, if you are living in the residence halls, you may have seen glass recycling

containers in the residence halls. Colton Strother, proposed this last year, and it

has now been implemented in the residence halls. Please look out for the new

Glass recycling containers and use them for all of your glass recycling needs!

The GREEN Team! Our committee has had a great kickoff to the semester. The Live.Life.Green Committee has been promoting activities in the month of September that focus on saving water. We have a tour planned to visit the Jordan Creek Tunnels on October 31. This tour will be an up close look at our Springfield watershed and the impact of our water run-off. Our committee will also roll out tips on how to save water in our buildings with community bathrooms. Don’t forget to like our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MSULive.Life.Green We post helpful tips on how you can conserve water. Our committee heard some staggering statistics about how much paper we used in our residence halls the first week of classes and want to promote the conservation of our resources. You will now see reminders in our computer labs about printing double sided and using fonts such as Garamond which use less toner. This effort will not only save money but will save our rainforests. Our committee is already looking ahead to Energy Conservation October. Look for Dining in the Dark in each of our dining centers, in which we will use less lights during lunch. This conservation effort saves energy and reduces our carbon footprint. We will be hosting our annual Green Room Certification. It takes five minutes for us to certify that you live green and we’re giving away CFL bulbs for participating. If your floor has more than 50% of the rooms certified, your floor might win free floor T-shirts! We will also be certifying offices and front desks, so if you would like to participate, just let us know. Each Friday from 5-6 pm, we are promoting an Hour With Out Power. We encourage you to unplug and go outside, or attend a program sponsored by your Hall Council or RHA. During this month you can participate in the campus-wide program #MSUEnergyMonster Instagram contest. Show us how you conserve energy! There are easy ways we can individually reduce our carbon footprint, what will you do?

Live.Life.Green Committee E-Newsletter

The Springfield GREEN-Leader

By: Angie Strider

Volume 3, Issue 1

Live Life Green

Missouri State’s Energy Dashboard can be found here: http://bedashboard.com/Kiosk/Home/Index/86/2004/rollover

ENERGY DASHBOARD CHECK IT OUT:

Facebook Search:

MO State Live Life Green

Buying locally has morphed from just a trend into a way of life for many. Farmers markets are popping up everywhere you look and even big chain grocery stores are getting in on the action by purchasing from local growers and producers when available. Springfield Missouri has a unique and exciting corner on this market as not only do we have upwards of three fully functional produce farms inside the city limits several of which are within a five minute drive of campus but there are also dozens of orchards in our neighboring cities. Fastnight creek farm is located on Fort between Sunshine and Grand. Farmer Dan Bigby and his family grow and produce on a multi acre farm right in the middle of a residential neighborhood and whatever Farmer Dan can’t grow he purchases from other local farmers in the southern part of Missouri and some parts of northern

Arkansas. His variety and knowledge is astounding and a trip to his farm is like stepping through a portal that takes you hours into the countryside. Apple harvesting season is at it’s peak right now and about twenty minutes outside of Springfield is Sunshine Valley farms. They have several weekends per season when you can go out and pick your own apples or you can have the family that runs the orchard pick you a variety basket that will give you a whole new outlook and just how good an apple can be. They also have a small restaurant with a beautiful view of the orchard and a season specific menu utilizing the best of what the season has to offer. No matter what local farm you visit be sure to enjoy the enhanced flavor of in season produce grown as nature intended and support one of our hard working neighbors.

Buying from the source, supporting our neighbors By: Nicole Young

Living Life Green

Did you know that you can recycle the following in Missouri State University Residence Halls: Glass, Paper, Plastic Bags, Comingled Recycling,

Batteries, and Ink Cartridges! Most Ink cartridges can be recycled at the front desk or somewhere close to the desk in the lobby. Batteries can

always be recycled at the residence hall front desks. All of the other items can be recycled in lobby’s, on floors in

there recycling closets, and in most common areas. Keep a look out for all of the recycling bins so you know

where you can recycle items. Each room in our residence halls also has a green recycling bin, so you can collect

items to recycle. This makes it easy for residents to collect all of their

recyclable items and then place them in the proper bins later in the

week.

At the end of the semester each residence hall will receive a donation

station box. If you have any items that you are not using, including

books, chairs, furniture, food, you can place them in these bins. All of

these items will go to The Kitchen in Springfield, MO for someone else to

use. If you have any large items, they can be placed outside of Blair-

Shannon residence hall.

If you ever have any questions about recycling, do not be afraid to ask your resident assistant, front desk

workers, or any of the custodial staff. Happy Recycling!

Recycling in the Residence Halls By: Kyle Wilson

Jordan Schanda joined the Missouri State University

community 2 shorts months ago as the university’s

Sustainability Coordinator. Jordan comes to us with

great experience in the private sector

and at the University of Arkansas. At

the University of Arkansas, Jordan was

the first intern for their Office of

Campus Sustainability, which

experienced substantial growth during

her time on the team Jordan’s interest

in sustainability began when she was a

sophomore in high school. An

Inconvenient Truth was shown in one

of Jordan’s classes and it resonated

with her. It made her feel like she

needed to do something and had a

responsibility to do something. That

same feeling is still with Jordan today

as she continues her journey as our Sustainability

Coordinator. While Jordan’s job is sustainability it is

woven into her choices here and at home. In her

office Jordan only turns on half of her lights, only turns

her printer on when it is in use, and shuts her computer

down every night. Beyond that she uses reusable

containers when purchasing groceries, purchases in

bulk, utilizes a reusable water bottle, and drives a hybrid

vehicle. There are many exciting things on the horizon for

Jordan and Missouri State in the area of

sustainability. In addition to working our AASHE STARS

submission, Jordan is assisting Dr. Alexander Wait on

establishing a sustainability minor. This minor will

hopefully be available within the next year. Jordan is

also looking to complete a

greenhouse gas emission survey and a campus waste

audit. Both of these items would allow us to see where

we are and set goals for the future. Welcome,

Jordan! We are so glad you have joined the Missouri

State University team.

If you would like to nominate someone for Community

Member Green, Light, contact us

at Live.Life.Green.Team@gmail.com orhttps://

www.facebook.com/MSULive.Life.Green

Jordan Schanda

Community Member GREEN Light! By: Teresa Frederick

PUMA’s InCycle Clothing Line By: Abby Brown

Many times when people think about sustainability and recycling, they think about saving cans, composting, and turning off water and electricity; but the clothing we wear can also play a significant role. According to an article by Marlene Ringel and Baljinder Miles, “31 waste-disposal trucks are needed to clear the waste that 100,000 pairs of conventional sneakers create during the production process and consumer life.” That’s a lot of waste! Not to mention the fact that much of it ends up in landfills after owners no longer want or need the sneakers.

Athletic Wear Company PUMA took notice of these staggering statistics and has since developed a new collection of recyclable and biodegradable products. Dubbed the “PUMA InCycle collection”, these products are produced from only select raw materials such as biodegradable polymers, recycled polyester, and organic cotton. Among these products are a recyclable track jacket made of 98% recycled polyester, a backpack made of polypropylene which is recycled and turned into NEW backpacks, and footwear designed to stay out of landfills. As part of this campaign, PUMA also launched the “Bring me Back” program where customers can return used clothing or shoes of any brand to aid in recycling to lessen environmental impact.

So next time you’re shopping for some new duds, look for the PUMA InCyle label and do you part to create a sustainable future while looking fabulous in the process! Look for the Stomp Out Hunger Bins in your Residence Hall Lobby to donate your shoes (PUMA or not) to keep more shoes out of the landfill.