What is your favorite EcoRep project that you’ve done?
I really loved collaborating with PSCI to develop a carbon emissions calculator! It was such a great experience working with another sustainability group on campus, and the final product was very worthwhile!
How do you engage with sustainability?
I try to be really conscious of my consumer habits and work to make my own lifestyle as sustainable as possible, such as by using reusables and being conscious of the waste I produce. I also try to advocate for larger-scale action whenever possible.
What do you study and why?
Currently, I’m in the chemical and biological engineering department. I really love how it allows me to pursue my interests in materials science and sustainable energy, and gives me the flexibility to go into research or many other exciting fields! I also really love chemistry and am fascinated by understanding how things work when scaled up, and I hope to play a role in reducing emissions from chemical processes.
What other campus groups are you involved with?
I’m on the Kenya team in Engineers Without Borders, I tutor for McGraw, and I’m the events coordinator for the Princeton Chemical Society.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love ice skating, going on adventures (especially outdoors!), and watching too much Netflix for my own good.
I’m most passionate about the idea of sustainability as a means of reflection and community building. For context, I came into environmental work as a poet. I learned the world through poetry. Although poetry is first and foremost regarded as a creative process, I also believe it’s a way of thinking. To identify and explore through poetry is to learn and yearn for stories. There are so many people I think of as poets, regardless of if they write poetry, because of how carefully they consider the world around them and the people in it. In the environmental movement, I think the consideration poetry demands is important. Although other writing styles involve reflection, poetry requires it. Without internal reflection of why we continue to fight for a crisis that a lot of the time feels incredibly overwhelming, we cannot sustain both ourselves and each other..
What do you study and why?
Right now, I’m considering Ecology, Anthropology, or Religion, but I’m still pretty undecided!
What other campus groups are you involved with?
I’m involved with Songline Slam, PUMP, and the Figure Skating Club! This semester, I’m excited to join the Princeton Gardening Club.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love journaling, walking, reading, writing poetry, and gardening.
Today we’re wrapping up another week of positive environmental news. As you get adjusted to your new semester schedules, we hope that you can take a moment to appreciate all the good things happening in the sustainability sphere.
Biden’s Oil-lease moratorium helps create jobs: On January 27th, President Biden issued an executive order prohibiting new oil or gas leases on public lands. Despite conservative concern that Biden’s energy policies will hurt the economy, the President claims the clean energy sector could provide ten million new jobs—the same as the number of employees in the oil and gas industry. This development may also be a win for environmental justice. While most of the profits of the fossil fuel industry go to executives, Biden plans to distribute 40% of the government’s investment in clean energy to disadvantaged communities.
Indian farmers overcome water scarcity: In India, the water-climate crisis threatens economic development, agricultural production, and the livelihoods of citizens, with numerous cities facing the devastating possibility of “Day Zero.” The water shortage has been especially devastating to Indian farmers, as 90% of the country’s freshwater is used for agriculture. As with most environmental disasters, low-income populations are disproportionately affected. However, in Latur, one of the larger districts in the Marathawada, farmers have been able to recover from the water crisis using an innovative strategy. A group of villagers removed over 900,000 cubic meters of silt from the river, helping increase the rate of groundwater recharge. The silt was then used in the fields in combination with sharecropping to increase yields.
Scientists discover new population of blue whales: Blue whales are the largest mammal on Earth, but also in danger of extinction. Scientists were therefore surprised and excited to discover a new population of whales by overhearing a unique mating song. The song is one of only a dozen or so other blue whale songs ever recorded and brings hope for the continued recovery of the species.
Thank you for reading! We hope that these updates made your day a little better and that you have a wonderful start to the semester. Please feel free to get in touch if you want to share some Good News with us!
I enjoy educating myself more about environmental justice issues and finding ways to reduce waste on campus such as litter cleanups.
What do you study and why?
I study Civil and Environmental Engineering on campus because I love combining math and science with how we can better take care of our environment. A lot of construction projects intersect with environmental issues which is why I want the focus of my career to be helping mitigate the displacement of people in urban spaces.
What other campus groups are you involved with?
I study Civil and Environmental Engineering on campus because I love combining math and science with how we can better take care of our environment. A lot of construction projects intersect with environmental issues which is why I want the focus of my career to be helping mitigate the displacement of people in urban spaces.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love to read James Baldwin and go on nature walks!
For everyone on campus, we’re all so excited that the dining halls have opened back up, allowing us to eat hot food and spend time together with friends. Of course, they don’t look the same as they did last year. We’re still living during a pandemic, and as a result, we’re not able to implement many of our former sustainable dining practices. Nevertheless, there are still so many small ways you can practice sustainability while eating. I hope this post gives you some practical and simple ideas for protecting the environment–while you protect yourself!
Choose to Reuse
Bring reusable utensils and say no to plastic silverware. Plastic silverware isn’t recyclable, is deadly to sea creatures, and takes centuries to decompose1. While the dining halls can’t offer everyone reusable silverware, bringing your own utensils is perfectly safe, better for the environment, and easy to clean: simply wash in hot water with soap! It’s also cheap; the U-store sells metal cutlery for just a few dollars.
Along this vein, try drinking from a reusable water bottle. Just remember to fill it up at your closest filtered water station beforehand, because they can’t be filled in the dining hall. In addition, make sure to avoid other unnecessary single-use plastics, such as packaged foods and drink lids, and since student composting isn’t active, prevent food waste by only taking what you can eat.
Drink Local
While drinking water from a recyclable can is better than using plastic, it’s still not as sustainable as a reusable bottle. The water in these cans is often shipped across the country consuming fossil fuels, and there’s no guarantee that the cans end up recycled anyway. Instead, try one of the hundreds of filtered bottle-filling stations across campus, which supply water from the local watershed2. If you don’t have a filling station in your dorm, do not fear! You can request one to be installed here; however, tap water from the sinks on campus is perfectly safe and comes from the same place as the filling stations. I drink it every day myself!
Recycling
Recycle! …just be smart about it. Recycling guidelines are different everywhere, and just because you could recycle something in your hometown doesn’t mean it can be recycled on campus. On the flip side, you might be able to recycle materials that went to the landfill at home! Download the Recycling on Campus app for more information on what can and can’t be recycled. If too many non-recyclable materials, like the dining hall meal cartons, are put in the recycling, they can contaminate the whole batch. In that case, materials that would have been recycled are instead sent to the landfill. So remember: When in doubt, throw it out! Also, there aren’t recycling bins in the dining halls yet, but there are typically some just outside. We’re working with dining staff to change this, so for now, just make sure to hold onto your cans until you see a bin.
So there you have it! Just remember that the changes in our dining halls are happening for an important reason. While it’s a shame to have to pause some of Princeton’s most sustainable practices, there are still valuable steps that you can take to make a very real difference. Feel free to share with us how you practice sustainability in the dining halls!
Hello, and welcome to another edition of Good News Friday! This week’s post is a little longer than usual to cover some of the environmental headlines coming out of the Biden administration that you might not have heard about yet.
Increasing Fuel Efficiency Standards: One of President Biden’s first executive orders last week includes a clause directing U.S. agencies to review Trump-era fuel efficiency standards. The order comes as Mr. Biden has also pledged to replace the federal government’s entire fleet of vehicles (some 650,000 machines) with fully electric models. This pledge also supports the President’s proposal to add 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations around the nation.
Changing Regulatory Review: The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a relatively unknown agency under the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has a reputation for being a last resort for conservatives to shoot down progressive bills. This is because it is charged with reviewing draft regulations and has historically nixed or weakened any that do not pass its cost-benefit analysis—usually bills more related to social benefit than economic growth. This frequently includes environmental proposals. However, a memo from President Biden on January 20 could change this pattern by directing the OMB Director to modernize regulatory review. The goal is to provide suggestions on how “the regulatory review process can promote public health and safety, economic growth, social welfare, racial justice, environmental stewardship, human dignity, equity, and the interests of future generations.” This could change the bills the OIRA approves for years to come.
Connecting Climate Change and National Security: Mr. Biden is widely expected to bring back and strengthen former President Obama’s 2016 memorandum on climate change and national security. The directive makes climate change a matter of national security and instructs “Federal departments and agencies to perform certain functions to ensure that climate change-related impacts are fully considered in the development of national security doctrine, policies, and plans.”
2. Investors Acknowledge Climate Change: Laurence Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, Inc.—the largest asset manager in the world—is calling on companies and business leaders around the world to disclose their plans for a net-zero carbon economy. As a figurehead in an industry known for supporting fossil fuels, Mr. Fink’s message breaks from investment precedent. However, his status also gives him enormous power to block investment in companies that contradict his priorities. Only BlackRock’s investment decisions going forward will tell how deep Mr. Fink’s commitment to carbon neutrality goes.
3. Advances in Battery Storage: Australian energy company Lavo recently announced its Green Energy Storage System, the world’s first residential hydrogen battery backup system intended to store excess energy generated from residential solar panels. With nearly three times the capacity of Tesla’s Powerwall 2—but admittedly a much larger price tag—Lavo’s product represents a breakthrough in battery storage, which some see as a key technology in climate change mitigation.
That’s everything for this week! Come back next time for more good news. Until then, look at our previous Good News Friday editions and contact us if you have any good news you would like to share!
We’re here again with some more good news this week! As we head back to campus or gear up for the new semester at home, we can all use a bit of environmental positivity. I hope that the following tidbits can provide some hopeful insights and inspiration to be mindful of our relationship with the planet this coming year.
Climate campaign helps people cut carbon in 2021: Around this time of the year, many people are struggling to keep their new year’s resolutions. While most resolutions are focused on personal goals such as productivity or weight loss, the campaign “Cut a Tonne in ’21” encourages people to decrease their carbon footprint rather than (or in addition to) their waistline. The project is endorsed by the United Nations, and the web tool Giki Zero helps participants estimate their carbon footprint as well as gives actionable steps to reduce emissions over the course of the year.
Climate efforts keep children healthy: According to a new study, a climate initiative in the Northeastern U.S. has been shown to have a positive impact on childrens’ health: the reduction in air pollutants has likely reduced rates of childhood asthma, autism cases, preterm births, and low birth weights. As a result, the researchers estimate that this reduction in health issues has saved between $191 million to $350 million. The benefits mostly come from reduced nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions, which react in the air to form harmful PM2.5 particles.
Bowhead whales make a comeback: According to a recent NOAA report, bowhead whale populations are rebounding to pre-commercial whaling numbers. These Arctic baleen whales were nearly hunted to extinction starting in the 1700s for their blubber, oil, and whalebone. However, the ban on whaling—in combination with habitat management—has allowed some populations to recover, making them one of the only successful conservation stories in the warming Arctic.
Thank you for reading this week’s summary of positive environmental updates. We wish everyone a relaxing break and we’ll see you next week for some more good news! Until then, feel free to get in touch if you want to share some Good News with us!
If you’re planning to return to campus this spring, here’s a great resource for you! EcoRep Marissa Mejia ’23 created this Move-In Guide video on how to pack sustainably. Remember to bring only what you need!
One of the most exciting and stressful days of college is quickly approaching— Move-In. After being off-campus for 1.5 semesters, many of us are looking forward to moving in and reviving our Princeton experience. Even though campus life will not be the same, I know we are looking forward to seeing new faces and taking random walks throughout campus once again. Going into Move-In day with the right mindset could help you start the semester off with the right foot. This is our first opportunity of the semester to help Princeton achieve its zero-waste goal.
The emergency Move-Out in March 2020 exposed how wasteful dorm life can be. While the Office of Sustainability and Building Services staff tried to collect and organize as much of the leftover furniture and materials as possible, due to the rush of Move-Out, much of it was thrown away. To put this into perspective, during the 2019 Move-Out, over 50 tons (equivalent to the weight of about 7.5 elephants1) of dorm materials were left behind on campus by students.
Move-Out 2018
The Office of Sustainability’s Greening Move-Out program collected, sorted and cleaned about 13.10 tons of items for reuse through the Move-In Resale (pictured below) and donation to local organizations. The rest (about 70%) was sent to landfill due to the poor condition of the item or damage that could have been caused from any stage between drop-off to when it was picked up for donation as well as lack of storage space. Many items are also not able to be donated or recycled such as pillows and comforters. Therefore, without the organization and Greening Move-Out effort, you can imagine the amount of waste that was produced from the emergency Move-Out and the need to reduce the amount of items brought to campus in the first place.
Images from 2019 Move-In Resale
We can do better by making sure to keep sustainability in mind during Move-In. Here are some tips when preparing for Spring 2021 Move-In:
Remember to only bring items that you will need. Be deliberate about whether or not you need the same number of items as you did last year when you expected to be on campus for a full year.
Pack reusable items such as reusable mugs, water bottles, silverware, or food storage containers as well as supplies to clean them such as reusable cloths and dish soap. This will help reduce your reliance on single-use disposable items especially during quarantine.
Think ahead about storage. If you don’t think you will be able to store the item for reuse or donation at the end of the semester, reconsider the purchase or just don’t bring that item to campus. Remember, you’re only packing for ONE semester!
Make sure to coordinate with your roommates to prevent duplicates of an item. Coordinating who brings what will also lessen the storage burdens on any one roommate at the end of the semester, making it easier to reuse the item.
Sustainability is all about building small and manageable habits that you can incorporate into your lifestyle. Treat Move-In as an opportunity to build some new habits into your life and to explore minimalist living and secondhand shopping.
Welcome to our first Good News Friday post of the new year! In the spirit of new beginnings, this issue focuses on legal and legislative issues that may have big implications for climate change mitigation efforts around the world this coming year.
Shell faces emissions lawsuit: Shell, a multinational oil company that provides 3% of the world’s energy, is facing a lawsuit from several Dutch environmental groups (Shell is headquartered in the Netherlands). The plaintiffs allege that the company, despite its pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, is failing to reach more ambitious climate goals set by the Paris Agreement, which the Netherlands is a signatory to. They argue that because of the location of the company’s headquarters, the oil giant is subject to Dutch emissions laws. The outcome of the lawsuit has significant implications for oil companies around the world: “If the judges rule against Shell in the new year… it will set a precedent that could leave oil and gas producers vulnerable to further lawsuits for their emissions abroad… [A] verdict against Shell could boost climate lawsuits against polluters across the world.”
2. The Fed joins climate-minded international bank network: The U.S. Federal Reserve Board recently announced that it is becoming a member of the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). The NGFS, established in 2017, aims to “[strengthen] the global response required to meet the goals of the Paris agreement and to enhance the role of the financial system to manage risks and to mobilize capital for green and low-carbon investments.” The Fed’s involvement in the group is largely seen as a shift in mentality by the “steward of the world’s largest economy,” acknowledging that the U.S. is ready to have a greater role in the global fight against climate change.
3. A cap-and-trade program for Eastern states: 11 Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states, along with the District of Columbia, signaled their support last year to draft an “ambitious cap-and-trade program to curb tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks and other forms of transportation.” (To learn more about how cap-and-trade programs work, take a look at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions’ explanation). Last month, three states and Washington, D.C. formally agreed to adopt the finalized plan, while eight other states are considering joining at a future date. The plan is estimated to affect approximately one-fifth of the U.S. population if all 11 states sign on and is expected to begin in 2023. If successful, the plan has the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector (currently the largest national emissions contributor).
That’s all for this week! Keep an eye out for more more news next Friday, and, until then, feel free to get in touch if you want to share some Good News with us!
