Brown and Green
A Quarterly Newsletter from
the Office of Sustainability
Welcome to Summer
As we reflect on how the pandemic affected the University over the past year, we want to share our gratitude to the Brown community for its continued focus on sustainability. Among many accomplishments, work moved forward on implementation of the Sustainability Strategic Plan, the Office of Sustainability completed work on its greenhouse gas inventory, and the Brown Community participated in several sustainability-related virtual events. We look forward to seeing you on campus this fall.
- Jess Berry, Director of Sustainability
Compost Volunteering
The Office of Sustainability is excited for composting to resume in the front-of-house at dining halls this fall! Volunteers will teach diners how to compost properly and help reduce excess waste going into Rhode Island’s landfill. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome to volunteer in exchange for dining hall vouchers.
Orientation Program
Throughout Orientation weekend, the Office of Sustainability leads a team of volunteers to educate new students and parents on Brown's sustainability goals and initiatives. Specific attention is given to how and where to sort their waste. The team walks through residence halls with families to ensure they have the information they need to sort and properly dispose of waste during move-in. Volunteers also staff tables at key check-in and resource fairs.
Sustainability Updates From Campus
Brown's New Wellness Center and Residence Hall
The new Wellness Center and Residence hall at 450 Brook Street is a warm and inviting space that connects students to services and programs that promote mental wellbeing and healthy practices. Not only does it encourage wellness of the mind and body, but it also exemplifies sustainable building standards.
Street view of the Wellness Center and Residence Hall
The building includes natural ventilation for improved air quality, ample natural lighting, energy recovery on air systems, and is all-electric with no fossil-fuel-burning equipment. These features meet Brown's commitment to reduce on-campus greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2040.
Furthermore, the building's structure contains a hybrid of steel framing and cross-laminated timber (CLT). The production of CLT emits less CO2 than the production of steel or concrete, and its process includes growing trees that sequester CO2 and use timber as a long-term carbon store. Inside the building, the CLT is exposed which further emphasizes the sustainably sensitive architecture and the mentally healing aspects of nature.
Brown's Greenhouse Gas Dashboard
Following the announcement of Brown's new greenhouse gas goals (GHG), the Office of Sustainability data scientist led a third party verifier and data interns to updated the University’s GHG inventory. Brown has been tracking its GHG emissions since 2007, however, the new GHG dashboard modernizes this process and complies with the Climate Registry protocol ensuring accurate and verified reporting. Unlike before, there is enhanced reporting on greenhouse gases to include not only carbon but methane, and nitrous oxide. Additionally, the University's GHG boundary was expanded to include Brown leased spaces, lab gases, fleet vehicle fuel, etc.
This graph shows fiscal year emission totals for 2018, 2019, and 2020. This new dashboard has modernized the way the university measures its GHG footprint.
Climate News You Might Have Missed!
2021 Carbon Dioxide Levels Reach All Time High
In May 2021, the level of carbon dioxide in the air reached 419 parts per million, which is about half a percent higher than the previous record of 417 parts per million set in May 2020.
While the pandemic and ensuing stay-at-home orders resulted in a temporary reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted — there was a 5.8 percent decrease from 2019 to 2020 — it had little effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide. This is due to the greenhouse effect; while the amount of carbon emitted may have decreased, there are still billions of tons of carbon remaining in the atmosphere from previous years’ emissions. Scientists have estimated that in order to see a slower rate of increase, worldwide emissions would have to decrease by 20 to 30 percent for at least six months.
Turtle Conservation Efforts at Zoo New England
A headstart conservation program at Zoo New England, which includes Franklin Zoo and Stone Zoo in Massachusetts, is looking to help rebuild the Blanding Turtle’s population in New England. These turtles, which can live up to 80 years, have seen their population drastically decline in the past few decades. This is due to loss of habitat, deaths from roadside collisions on busy roads, and an increase in predators.
The headstart program will raise 100 hatchlings each year indoors from early fall to May or June, when they are released into the wild. This gives the turtles a “headstart” as they will reach the size of an average 3-4 year old by the time they are 9 months old. This will allow them to be better protected against predators. In fact, the head start program gives the turtles a 30 times better chance of reaching adulthood. As of Spring 2021, over 888 hatchlings have been released into the wild through Zoo New England’s headstart program.
As we shift away from using disposable products in response to the pandemic and as more of us return to campus, it is important to keep sustainable practices in mind that we can incorporate into our lives to support the environment and the diversity of life on our planet.
When traveling by plane, try your best to pack light. Although planes inevitably emit emissions, the less weight it carries, the less fuel it will use overall. Also, if you need a suitcase, consider buying one second-hand.
Remember this plastic rule when recycling at Brown. Plastic HARD CONTAINERS are the only plastic that can be recycled in Rhode Island. This means that soft plastic such as grocery bags and flat plastic including utensils and straws belong in the trash.
Invest in reusable water bottles and utensils to reduce the amount of waste that will end up in our landfill.
Look for eco-friendly cleaning products that use recyclable packaging. Avoid products with synthetic ingredients and chemicals. Despite passing through water treatment plants, they can still make their way into aquatic environments and cause harm. The US EPA has an official list of green cleaning products that can be found here.
Remember, if you are not using electronics or appliances at the moment, make sure to unplug them or turn them off. If you own a surge protector or extension cord, flip off the switch when you are done. The less energy you use, the better!
The Compost Plant
The Compost Plant, founded by Leo Pollock and Nat Harris, is an organics collection service that strives to close the loop in the food system and divert waste from landfills. As of March 2021, Brown and The Compost Plant celebrated their sixth year of partnership. Places like university dining halls generate copious amounts of food scraps, many of which still have nutrients and value. If these organic materials get buried in a landfill, they produce methane gas which harms the environment. The Compost Plant helps solve this problem with a specialized collection process that they've worked to refine over the years.
Photo of Nat Harris and Leo Pollock, the original founders of The Compost Plant.
Food waste from our dining halls goes straight into their custom anti-leak bins, and by cleaning these bins with every pickup, they avoid wasting trash liners. The Compost Plant then takes these materials to farms for soil production or to an anaerobic digester that uses the scraps to create renewable energy. Since Brown's partnership with The Compost Plant began in 2016, the University has diverted over 2,459 tons from Rhode Island's landfill. By turning organic waste into clean energy and compost, The Compost Plant is helping Brown and the state of Rhode Island to be greener and healthier.
Leo Pollock discusses his motivations and the journey that lead to
the creation of The Compost Plant.
Papier - Sustainably Made Sketchbooks
Dedicated students, Glory Lee, Mehek Vorah, Katerina Tchilinguirov, and Enya Pan, from the RISD/Brown Chapter of Design for America sought to educate their community and create a sustainable solution in response to the increase of disposable dining materials used this year. Together, they researched and interviewed experts in recycling and composting and designed informative posters to put around campus. Additionally, they designed a product to reuse the brown paper bags from the dining halls and turned them into carefully crafted sketchbooks. Papier, the name of their brand, includes their signature eco-friendly sketchbooks in three different eye-catching designs. Everything from collecting paper bags, cutting them into panels, bookbinding, stamping, and packaging was all done by hand and the funds received from purchases went to Palestinian emergency funds. With their inventive and sustainable brand, this group is giving new life to plain old paper bags.
Papier sketchbooks, made from repurposed paper bags.
Higher Carbon Dioxide Levels Lead to Increased Rainfall in Monsoons
A team of researchers led by Steven Clemens, a Brown University professor of geological sciences, has discovered that increased monsoon rainfall is linked to increased carbon dioxide in the geological past. In order to assess rainfall and river runoff into the Bay Bengal, researchers looked at fossils of planktonic foraminifera, a microorganism that lives in the surface ocean. By analyzing the oxygen isotopes in their shells, researchers were able to derive a proxy for the salinity in which these microorganisms lived, which reflects ocean water dilution by rainfall and river runoff.
This discovery that rising carbon dioxide levels will result in higher levels of rainfall in monsoons holds implications for the 1.4 billion people in the world affected by South Asian monsoons. When monsoons are especially heavy they can lead to disaster, namely in crop disruption and flooding.
New Findings on Glacier Sliding Speeds
One of the biggest contributors to rising sea levels are glaciers sliding into the ocean. To better understand this process, a study conducted by scientists from both Brown University and NASA has discovered that change in water pressure is the biggest factor in increased sliding speeds.
Moulins, which are sinkholes in ice sheets, collect meltwater and as the meltwater reaches the base of the glacier, it can cause the ice to detach and its sliding speed to increase. The study found that the most important factor is the change in water pressure at the base of the glacier where the meltwater and bedrock meet. Essentially, if the pressure increases quickly, no matter the size of the moulin, the ice will slide off faster. This is a novel finding to the field, as it was previously believed that the sliding rate of a glacier was due to the amount of water under the ice.
The Racial and Environmental Justice Committee, also known as REJC, is a team of Black, Indigenous and people of color who aim to bring racial equity and environmental justice through new systems that benefit all in Providence. The committee was created from a partnership between the Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island, Groundwork Rhode Island, and the City of Providence’s Office of Sustainability, and is composed of communities who are most affected by environmental racism. Their purpose is to bring an equity lens to the city’s Office of Sustainability to make sure that no one gets left behind in the fight for climate change.
Have you ever thought about the intersection of sustainability and business? In The Impact Report, a podcast from Bard College, each episode delves into different “sustainability leaders from around the world.”
Whether your favorite food is buffalo wings, Mac and cheese, pasta, pad Thai… Lauren Toyota from Youtube channel Hot For Food will definitely find a way to make it better, and make it vegan! Check out Hot for Food for easy ways to veganize your favorite foods, while discovering new healthy vegan recipes.
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