Take advantage of the daylight – study near a window instead of under a lamp at night!
Not only are you getting in some vitamin D, but you are also reducing your energy use.
Use LED Bulbs
LED lights are up to 80% more efficient than traditional lighting – not only do they reduce the amount of energy lost as heat, but they also draw much less power than traditional lighting!
If compatible, change your bulbs to LEDs. By using less energy, you can help decrease greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the demand from the grid.
Layer Up
A Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) in 2011 revealed that heating and cooling accounts for about 50% of the energy use in a building.
Instead of turning on the heat in your house, try bundling up with a sweater, grabbing a blanket, drinking something hot, or taking small active breaks!
Unplug your electronics
The vampire effect refers not to spooky vampires with fangs but the even scarier reality of electricity consumption by electronics that aren’t in use but are plugged into outlets, consuming unnecessary energy, like the power that maintains your TV settings or the charger plugged into your wall but not your phone.
Try to unplug your appliances from the outlet when not in use!
Welcome to our first Good News Friday of December! As we head into reading period and finals, let’s take some time to appreciate all the positive environmental developments that have been happening recently. Here are three hopeful bits of good news to kick off the holiday (and exam) season:
Environmental Activists Recognized: The Goldman Environmental Prize (aka the “Green Nobel Prize”) honors six grassroots environmental activists, one from each (populated) continental region of the world. This year’s winners include: an Indigenous Karen activist from Myanmar who worked to establish the world’s first peace park in an active conflict zone, an Indigenous Mayan beekeeper who spearheaded a coalition to ban Monsanto soy beans in seven Mexican states, a French climate activist who pressured France’s three largest banks to stop supporting coal development, a youth activism leader who brought about a ban on single-use plastics in the Bahamas, an Indigenous Waorani woman who enacted legal action to stop oil extraction in a huge plot of the Amazon rainforest, and an activist who changed the trajectory of Ghana’s energy future. Read more about their inspiring stories here.
Unlimited Geothermal Energy Startup: Eavor, a promising geothermal energy startup, has developed an innovative yet simple system, dubbed the Eavor-Loop, which harvests heat from deep in the earth to be used for commercial heating applications or to generate electricity. While conventional geothermal plants drill straight down into the earth, the Eavor-Loop consists of a pressurised self-contained loop where cold water is constantly heated underground and the heat is extracted at the surface. The system is essentially self-powereddue to convection, and Eavor predicts it will be able to provide gigawatts of dispatchable energy anywhere in the world for less than $50/MWh by the end of the decade, making its technology cost-competitive with natural gas and coal.
Lab-Grown Chicken Nuggets for Sale: For the first time ever, cultured meat grown in a bioreactor has been approved for sale. The “chicken bites,” produced by the U.S. company Eat Just, recently passed the safety review of the Singapore Food Agency. As of now, the lab-grown alternative is much more expensive than conventional meat, but Eat Just predicts that it will eventually be cheaper when production is scaled up. According to some scientists, cutting meat and dairy consumption is the single biggest action a person can take to reduce their impact on the environment, so this new development is a huge win for sustainable food production.
That’s it for this week! Tune in next time for more encouraging environmental news. If you’d like to share some Good News with us, please feel free to get in touch!
This recipe is a quick and easy way to repurpose Thanksgiving leftovers and reduce food waste. Food waste can be a big problem, especially during the holiday season, with over 450 million pounds of Thanksgiving food being wasted each year.
For this homemade version of Wawa’s Gobbler hoagie, my leftovers happened to be plant-based, but since this recipe is super customizable, you can always experiment with whatever Thanksgiving dishes you have in the fridge!
Ingredients:
Bread (i.e. hoagie roll, sourdough, etc.)
Thanksgiving leftovers, such as:
½ cup of stuffing or mashed potatoes
3-4 slices of vegan turkey or chicken
¼ cup of roasted vegetables
Gravy or cranberry sauce
Instructions:
Step 1: Cut and toast the bread.
Step 2: Layer on the ingredients. I usually put stuffing or mashed potatoes on the bottom, then vegan turkey/chicken or roasted vegetables on top. If you don’t have your own leftovers or if you want to experiment with some plant-based foods, here are some ideas for sandwich fillings:
Stuffing: I replaced the butter with Earth Balance and the eggs with 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed mixed with 5 tbsp of water.
Image Credit: Annika Hsi ‘23
Roasted Vegetables: I coated Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Then I baked them at 415°F for 30-45 min.
Image Credit: Annika Hsi ‘23
Plant-Based Chicken: For meat, I used Lightlife Smart Tenders. Lightlife is a carbon-neutral company that produces a variety of different soy-based meat replacements.
Image Credit: Annika Hsi ‘23
Step 3: Enjoy!
Image Credit: Annika Hsi ‘23
Recipe inspired by Wawa
This series is brought to you by student group, Greening Dining
Stuck at home and tired of your garbage can getting stinky? A full 22% of your trash (or more) is likely food, and food waste doesn’t smell too great after a couple of days. There’s an easy and environmentally friendly solution to the odor – start composting!
By breaking down the food in combination with leaves and water, the process yields a rich, nutrient-filled soil additive called compost that can be used in your home garden beds or gifted to your neighbors (here is an article on the benefits of compost for your garden). Composting at home is really easy to start up and doesn’t require a ton of resources. My family has been composting since I was in middle school, and since then, we’ve learned a lot of helpful tips which I’ll share with you below.
During the day, we collect our food scraps indoors in an old yogurt container in the fridge to prevent it from smelling up our kitchen counter. We then empty the scraps into our outdoor composter whenever the indoor container is full. Our outdoor composter is a tumbling, elevated version which we keep in our backyard. It’s definitely worth the investment to buy a model like the one we have because it keeps food scraps contained and elevated (to prevent us from attracting unwanted pests like rats, as we live in a city) and also makes it easier to regularly turn the compost (moving the scraps around is important to promote breakdown and aeration). You don’t need a shiny new container to start composting, however. In a pinch, you can build your own out of anything from milk crates to recycled lumber.
Home compost collected in an old yogurt cup Photo Credits: Claire Wayner
Keep in mind that you can’t compost all of your food scraps at home – things like dairy, meat, prepared foods/dishes, and disposables marked as “compostable” should stay out of your home compost, as they won’t break down unless put in a more industrialized composting environment like Princeton’s S.C.R.A.P. Lab. Stick to things like fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds, or clippings from your yard (raked leaves in the fall are great!). Try to get your ratio of “greens” (e.g., grass clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps) to “browns” (e.g., leaves, eggshells) right.
There are plenty of tutorials online on how to get started (check out this one from NPR). If you live in a dense city and can’t easily set up a compost bin, there are always countertop composters for apartments, or you could check to see if your municipality offers curbside composting pickup (ShareWaste has a great directory of where to drop off your compost if you can’t use it in your home).
By starting to compost, you can make a big difference. Most greenhouse gas emissions from landfills come from the breakdown of food. Composting can reduce these greenhouse gas emissions and give us a usable product at the end of it.
Welcome again to our Good News Friday series! I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving (maybe even including some of our Sustainable Meals for Busy Students recipes!). In the same positive holiday spirit, here are our top three uplifting pieces of environmental news for this week:
Global growth in renewable energy: A recent report published by the International Energy Agency predicts a 4% increase in installed renewable energy capacity this year, with renewables accounting for approximately 90% of 2020’s total power capacity growth. This comes at the same time that many investors have started redirecting funds into sustainable energy and away from fossil fuels, which could spur further growth in the renewable energy sector.
2. Germany supports electric vehicles: Earlier this month, Germany’s Economy Ministry agreed to provide €2 billion ($2.33 billion) in aid funds to its auto industry to support “a switch to greener engines and automated driving.” This is especially important in light of the country’s hopes to cut emissions by approximately 50% compared to 1990 levels by 2030.
3. Legal win for the Alaskan tundra: The debate over a controversial, proposed copper and gold mine in Alaska, which would have been one of the world’s largest mines for such materials, appears to have finally been settled after the Army Corps of Engineers denied the project a critical permit. Declared “contrary to the public interest,” the Pebble Mine would have threatened salmon breeding grounds. It has long been opposed by Alaskan Native Americans, environmentalists, and the fishing industry. The NRDC, for example, praised the decision, with its senior attorney Joel Reynolds stating, “Amen to certainty for this cherished area, the tribes and community of Bristol Bay, and its wildlife and waters… this move recognizes there was never any way to mitigate the harm Pebble Mine would do.”
There’s always positive environmental news somewhere if you dig a little. Join us next week for another Good News Friday, and until then, check out our past editions and contact us if you have any good news you would like to share!
Sometimes we want to eat something warm, sweet, and comforting––something that feels close to home. At the same time, we want to indulge guilt-free, in terms of both our health and the carbon footprint of our food. To appease these cravings, look no further than this apple crisp recipe and look fast because most apples are almost out of season! This recipe is not only delicious, fairly easy to make, and highly nutritious but also a great way to practice sustainable dining.
A final note before the recipe: cooking apple crisp offers an excellent opportunity to test out new kinds of apples. While most apples are not as sweet as our beloved Honeycrisps, Fujis, and Galas, tarter apples shine when it comes to baking. I prepared this apple crisp using Stayman, Jonagold, Rome, Nittany, and Goldrush apples that I purchased at my local farmer’s market. If you are able to visit a farmer’s market, I would highly recommend asking vendors for their opinion on the best baking apples.
Ingredients:
Image Credit: Joe Himmelfarb ‘24
Apple Mixture:
5-6 apples, roughly chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp maple syrup
Salt (optional)
Crumble:
1 ½ cups of rolled oats
(Roughly) ½ cup walnuts
2-3 tsp cinnamon
2-3 tbsp maple syrup
Salt (optional)
Instructions:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F.
Step 2: Blend oats or mash manually until coarsely ground.
Step 3: Blend or mix in the remaining crumble ingredients, adding more or less cinnamon, maple syrup, and salt as desired.
Image Credit: Joe Himmelfarb ‘24
Step 4: Roughly chop apples. Optional Step: For softer apples, microwave chopped apples for 5 minutes.
Image Credit: Joe Himmelfarb ‘24
Step 5: Mix apples with the rest of the mixture ingredients in a baking dish.
Image Credit: Joe Himmelfarb ‘24
Step 6: Cover apple mixture with crumble.
Image Credit: Joe Himmelfarb ‘24
Step 7: Bake for 35-40 minutes.
Image Credit: Joe Himmelfarb ‘24
Step 8: Enjoy!
Optional Step: For a light, delicious plant-based pairing, try nice cream. To prepare: freeze a few ripe bananas, and then blend them while adding small amounts of water or plant-based milk until a creamy consistency is reached. You can also try blending in other flavors like vanilla, cocoa, or fruit like mango and strawberry.
Many of us are living in very different locations because of COVID, so it’s important to get familiar with your area’s recycling guidelines for curbside pickup. Each municipality has their own rules, which sounds frustrating at first, but trust me – it won’t take you very long to get used to them, and you’ll save a lot of carbon emissions and resources in the process (recycling aluminum cans, for instance, saves 95% of the energy originally used to manufacture them!). Recycling correctly is also key to reducing contamination, which can cause whole bags of recycling to get thrown out.
Start off by Googling recycling rules for your city or county. Many municipalities create “cheat sheets” for you to print out and stick on your fridge to remember which items are recyclable and which are not. For those items that aren’t accepted for curbside recycling, some might still be accepted at grocery stores or special recycling centers (a classic example is a plastic bag – most grocery stores have plastic bag collection bins by the entryway). I encourage you to go the extra mile and collect and drop off those items that your municipality doesn’t accept at the curb.
Recycling Center in Park City, Utah Photo Credits: Claire Wayner
This fall, I’m living off-campus with friends, and we discovered that our house doesn’t get any curbside recycling service. You might be in this boat, too! In these cases, there is usually a recycling center nearby where you can drive your materials on a weekly basis. I found a local recycling center in town, and every week, when we go grocery shopping, I bring our recycling with me and drop it off at the center, where I have to sort it by the material. I know this sounds tedious, but I actually really look forward to visiting the recycling center – the act of sorting teaches me where my recycled materials are going. It’s not a lot more work, as it’s right next to the grocery store, and in some states, you can even make money from dropping off your recyclables (like states with beverage container deposits).
Send us photos of you recycling, and know that it makes a difference. Only 9% of plastic, 25% of glass, and 50% of aluminum cans are recycled. You can help increase those numbers!
Claire Wayner ’22 at a Recycling Center in Park City, Utah. Photo Credits: Claire Wayner ’22
Welcome back to Good News Friday! I hope you’re ready to read some positive picks from recent environmental updates. This week, we’re happy to hear about Japan’s commitment to carbon-neutrality, rebounding bee populations, and an initiative to save coral reefs.
Japan joins carbon-neutrality: During his first major policy speech, Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, committed the country to carbon neutrality by 2050. Japan is currently the world’s fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and the announcement comes just weeks after China, Japan’s regional rival, said it would reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by 2060.
According to Mr. Suga, “There’s no question that having to make such a drastic change in the extremely short period of just 30 years is very difficult.” But, he adds, “I’m optimistic.”
2. Bring back the bees: The latest bee colony report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows a 14%growth in bee colony numbers across the nation. Some states report an even more substantial increase. For example, Maine recorded a surprising 73% growth in bee colonies in the past two years. However, some native bee populations are still in decline, so the next step is to figure out how we can protect both honeybees and native bees.
3. Scientists save coral reefs: Scientists with Raising Coral Costa Rica have been cultivating an underwater nursery for corals by snapping off coral pieces from existing reefs. This nursery helps the team test techniques to grow coral and restore ancient reefs in Golfo Dulce, southwestern Costa Rica. While the research helps revive local ecosystems, the group hopes to restore reefs in neighboring countries as well. According to scientist and diver Joanie Kleypas, “It’s exhausting but we’re rewarded with the fact that the corals want to grow … As long as they don’t give up, we won’t.”
I hope you enjoyed our selections this week! Please remember that there are always good things happening in the sustainability sphere if you know where to look. If you’d like to share some Good News with us, submit an article by contacting us.
Whenever people ask where I am from, I respond, “near Houston, Texas”. The responses that ensue generally mention something they’ve heard about the state or a stereotype related to cowboy hats, dry western range, or chili containing no beans. Only the last item on that list is true for my home city of Manvel: it’s wet and many people there (including myself) prefer ball caps.
Likewise, many people, even students at Princeton, often apply uninformed, stereotypes to Amerindian tribes and their histories. With the exception of the information provided by Natives at Princeton, our knowledge of the tribes that originally lived in our region is simplified and secularized. For example, a recent MOL 350 syllabus briefly noted that Lenni Lenape people once owned university land, but it did not provide the contact info for the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape communities still in New Jersey today! If you ask when the Lenni-Lenape ancestors arrived in New Jersey, most would guess 10,000 years ago. However, the Lenni-Lenape didn’t enter Princeton until around the High Middle Ages!1 Two years ago, I wouldn’t have known that there is a disputed yet fascinating literary record of Lenni-Lenape migration from Siberia (the Walam Olam). How many of us know that American football’s first professional team2 was named after 7-10 ft giants called the Allegewi (Allegheny) that were enemies of the Lenni-Lenape people?3
If you want to help mitigate the general ignorance on this subject, I invite you to join me in connecting with some of the oldest Americans (the Lenape say the giants were another). The Here and Then initiative focuses on connecting students with the past and present reality of Amerindians. In terms of involvement, students read oral histories, learn about places and people, uncover local-familial Amerindian ties, and seek out Amerindians with us today. My ultimate aim is for each student to incorporate Amerindian ideas and culture into their daily lives. For me, this has included familiarizing myself with Ojibwe uses for plants, interpreting Hopi rock art, or creating a Cherokee timeline involving my Cherokee ancestors’ migrations from Mayan Mexico (granted my distant grandfather Solomon Lynch is the only such relative).
Please contact me at cah11@princeton.edu or visit my website at www.restorationecoculture.com if you’d like to get involved or learn more. It is very free-style and readily adaptable to a Princeton schedule: it’s what I do instead of Netflix. I hope to continually provide posts on specific tribes or time periods here on the Tigers Go Green Blog as well. I’d be glad to welcome you into uncovering the hidden history of Amerindian America.
This 400-year-old maple tree in southwestern Wisconsin was a Kickapoo tribes council tree. PC: Christian Hernandez
Christian Hernandez ’22 is a member of the USG Sustainability Committee
Welcome to the third edition of our Good News Friday series! While it might be Friday the 13th, that’s no reason to focus on negative news. Here just a sample of some of the positive goings-on that have happened this week:
Welcome Back to Paris: While the United States officially left the Paris Agreement on November 4th, President-Elect Biden has pledged to return the nation to the accord on day one of his administration. World leaders in the UK, France, and elsewhere have happily accepted this planned change in policy, which, coupled with Mr. Biden’s $1.7 trillion clean energy plan, could put the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global warming to 1.5°C “within striking distance.”
Australian Solar Power: South Australia recently became “the first major jurisdiction in the world to be powered entirely by solar energy.” For approximately an hour on Sunday, October 11, the state was able to meet all of its energy needs with a mix of rooftop and commercial solar power. While one hour might not sound like a lot, this test of solar power capacity lays the foundation for using even more solar power in the future and helps ease concerns about solar power reliability.
Reusing Greenhouse Gases: Linggas, a Chinese industrial gas company, recently demonstrated its method for capturing and purifying the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (aka laughing gas) emitted by nylon manufacturing. Nitrous oxide’s global warming potential is approximately 300 times that of carbon dioxide and accounts for 7% of American annual total greenhouse gas emissions. This new mitigation method takes carbon (or, in this case, nitrogen) capture a step above what is normally expected, opening doors for the future of climate change mitigation.
Environmental news doesn’t always have to be doom and gloom. If you’d like to share some Good News with us, submit an article by contacting one of our Blog Editors.
