Happy Campus Sustainability Month!
October is Campus Sustainability Month, a global initiative that highlights the importance of sustainability and environmental responsibility across all college campuses. Throughout the month, colleges work to promote and engage students in sustainable events and activities. Get excited about what the Office of Sustainability has in store for celebrating Campus Sustainability Month! Continue reading for more details below and refer to our calendar for all our events this month!
Ecolympics Fall 2024
Ecolympics is back for another round of competition between on-campus residence halls. Your team is your residence hall – Glass, Henley, Pralle, Sandhu, The K, Davis, and Harris/Morlan (one team). Residents of each team will compete in a race to reduce electricity usage. The competition will take place from October through November, and the residence hall that reduces their electricity usage the most will win. Each resident on the winning team will receive $50 in Panther Bucks, which will be awarded directly to your Chapman account. The stakes are high, so do your part Panthers! Check out some of the posters outside the residence halls to learn about what you can do to reduce electricity usage in your apartment.
Community Garden Party
Thank you to Orange Home Grown and everyone who came out to our garden party!
The Office of Sustainability recently held its first ever Garden Party on September 16th to celebrate the start of the semester at Davis Community Gardens! Students planted seeds and enjoyed a free cup of Contra. Orange Home Grown also came to the event to share their expertise and help get a few garden beds started.
Join Orange Home Grown at their Education Farm, open every Friday from 9 AM to 11 AM, rain or shine! Their Education Farm offers hands-on education about growing and harvesting sustainable food. With raised beds, composting corners, and outdoor classes, it's a space for learning and connecting with the earth!
Campus Sustainability Month Events
Get excited for a month-long celebration of Campus Sustainability! We have exciting opportunities to get involved on our calendar below!
Sustainable Recipe Swap
Got a favorite plant-based recipe? Share it with us! Submit your best plant-based recipe for a chance to be featured in a @sustainchapman Instagram post. It's a great way to show your fellow Panthers how you eat sustainably while also enjoying a delicious meal. Whether it’s a hearty veggie stir-fry or a refreshing smoothie bowl, we want to see what you’re cooking up! Send us an Instagram DM or email at sustainability@chapman.edu with a link to your favorite plant-based recipe or instructions on a recipe you've made yourself!
Wellness Fair
Come visit the Office of Sustainability at the Wellness Fair on October 16th from 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM in the Piazza for an exciting interactive activity that highlights the connection between personal well-being and sustainability. The Wellness Fair is an opportunity for departments across Chapman to come together and highlight the vast array of resources available to students to support their holistic well-being. Stop by and get inspired to make choices that benefit both you and the planet!
Weigh the Waste
Join us on Wednesday, October 30, from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM for our Weigh the Waste educational program, geared towards promoting food waste reduction. The Office of Sustainability and a team of volunteers collect the uneaten food off students' plates before they leave the dining hall. After arranging the food onto trays, the weight of the food waste is calculated and put on display for the remainder of the day so that students can have a visual representation of the amount of food wasted in a single meal period!
Interested in volunteering with us to help collect, weigh, and display food waste? Volunteers can sign up to help on Wednesday, October 30, between 11:30 AM to 2 :00 PM – come and go as your schedule allows. Sign up at the link to the left!
2024 Sustainability Survey
As part of the Office of Sustainability’s goals and commitments, we have created a sustainability survey to gather data regarding the current sustainability initiatives on our campus and within the Chapman community. With this data, we hope to provide more resources and sustainable practices to our campus. Specifically, the survey includes information about the following: transportation, food resources and insecurity, energy and water conservation, and sustainable resources around campus. The 2024 Sustainability Survey will be released on October 14, so keep an eye on your email and our Instagram channels for updates!
Article Picks
Marine biologist Christine Figgener has called for new strategies to protect endangered sea turtles, which face threats like pollution, climate change, and habitat destruction. Gaining fame for a viral video of a turtle with a plastic straw in its nostril, Figgener emphasizes that single-issue solutions won't suffice. In her upcoming book, My Life With Sea Turtles, she advocates for science-based conservation efforts and community involvement. Despite the challenges, she highlights successful recovery initiatives, such as Kemp's ridley sea turtle, as a hopeful example. Figgener’s work aims to empower local scientists and drive effective conservation strategies for sea turtles.
The U.S. faces a critical shortage of electricians, hindering efforts to electrify homes and reduce fossil fuel reliance. As homeowners seek solar panels and electric appliances, demand for skilled electricians surges, leading to long wait times and high costs for upgrades. Many homes require electrical modifications to accommodate increased loads. The construction industry struggles with an aging workforce and competition from tech jobs, while community colleges face funding issues in training electricians. Addressing this shortage is vital for achieving climate goals, emphasizing the need for improved training, recruitment, and contractor education to support the transition to electrification.
In Nova Scotia, CarbonRun is developing a machine to combat global warming by transforming rivers and oceans into carbon dioxide absorbers. This innovative technology will grind limestone and release it into a nearby river, where it converts carbon dioxide into stable molecules, keeping it trapped underwater for thousands of years. The initiative highlights the urgent need for carbon removal strategies alongside reducing fossil fuel emissions. Despite potential risks and challenges in scaling these techniques, the project aims to demonstrate how simple interventions can benefit both ecosystems and climate goals, marking a significant step toward sustainable solutions.
