Below are excerpts from Sustainable Hampshire’s September newsletter. View the full newsletter on the Sustainable Hampshire website.
Spotlight on: Forrest Fleur
Forrest Fleur (any pronouns) is a Div III student and drag artist who works with themes of environmental justice and queer ecology. Sustainable Hampshire Intern Ash Richardson-White chatted with Forrest about their Div, and how they got started in drag.
2024 Climate Action Plan Adopted!
At their May 2024 meeting, the Hampshire Board of Trustees voted to endorse the updated climate action plan created by students in Climate Action Unbound. So what’s next?
- Divisional/departmental Planning Sessions: Sustainability staff will meet with staff in other departments to go over how they can support and incorporate climate action in their work. This is a first step in empowering staff, faculty, & students to take ownership of the CAP and their role in helping Hampshire achieve our goals. Each group will be supported in making their own climate action goals, based on this Climate Action Plan and the specifics of their own work.
- Launch the Environmental Committee: The Environmental Committee oversees the implementation of the Climate Action Plan. Committee members will be Hampshire staff, faculty, and students, who will use their personal experience and knowledge to organize and prioritize the CAP’s goals in a way that addresses injustices and fulfills our climate commitments. In addition, they will provide strategic planning and advising to Sustainable Hampshire. This semester, the Committee will focus on how to better integrate climate literacy and effective climate action into Hampshire’s academic program.
- Reignite the Sustainability Revolving Fund (SURF): SURF helps fund projects that help improve energy efficiency and reduce campus emissions. Revolving funds use the savings from previous projects to help fund future projects. In addition, the new SURF will fund innovative proposals that directly address CAP priorities regardless of cost savings or payback time.
Waste Management Updates
Have you ever been confused about what goes in the trash, recycling, or compost bins on campus? Us too! Sustainable Hampshire and other dedicated community members have been working since last semester to help make it easier to dispose of waste responsibly:
- Student Lousig Morris designed new signage for all waste bins, based on extensive research and conversations with Hampshire’s trash, recycling, and compost contractors. Check out Lousig’s work on our website!
- Sustainable Hampshire interns completed a waste bin audit of several different locations around campus. Interns logged the location of every recycling, trash, and compost bin, and talked to building users to determine any changes that might help make recycling easier.
- Over the summer, Sara (Sustainability Manager) worked with Steve Duffy and Audra Schwalm in Facilities to map out a Waste Management Improvement Plan, including purchasing new bins and expanding support for composting at select events. This plan is under review by Senior Leadership, and we hope to be able to buy some additional bins soon!
- During Orientation week, the Sustainable Hampshire team spent time “trash talking” at the Dining Commons and outdoor events, to help community members learn what to compost, recycle, and throw away on campus. Thanks to everyone for working with us to divert waste from the landfill!
- The new signage is going up over the month of September. If you would like a new sign for your area, please email Sara at [email protected].
Let’s Connect!
This past spring, Sustainable Hampshire launched our official website and Instagram page! These are places that people can go to to learn more about what we do and provide consistent and accurate information about sustainability on campus. This also includes updates on projects, initiatives, sustainability related events, and more, including a monthly newsletter from Sustainable Hampshire starting this September 2024!
Have thoughts or ideas on what you would like to see or learn about from us? Working on an environmentally-related project that you’d like to share with people? Tell us about it by emailing Sara Draper at [email protected].
