Brown and Green
The Office of Sustainability and Resiliency Newsletter
AVP's Message
The spring semester has been one of exciting changes and new beginnings. For those in tune with the website, you may have noticed that the name of the office has changed to the Office of Sustainability and Resiliency (OSR). What does this mean for the future of sustainability at Brown? Sustainability will remain a key focus of the office and of the University, but the scope and immediacy of climate change necessitates additional strategies to mitigate, recover, and adapt to climate-based challenges as they arise. We need to be prepared to not only modify our approaches to benefit and protect future Brunonians, but we also need to be able to tackle whatever more imminent climate change effects impact our community in the near and far future. We need to be resilient.
The enhanced scope of the office is reflected in my new role here at the University. I am honored to accept the responsibilities of the Assistant Vice President, Office of Sustainability and Resiliency and I look forward to working with my colleagues to create a sustainable and resilient future for Brown.
- Jessica Berry, AVP, Office of Sustainability and Resiliency
EVENTS
Earth Week
Earth Week is rapidly approaching! This year’s events will take place the week of April 17 - 22. Events will include a Sustainability Fair in Sayles Hall on Tuesday April 18th for students interested in the field to learn about opportunities to get involved on and off campus and a keynote lecture by Kim Cobb, Director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society held in Salomon 203 on Thursday April 20th at 11am. There will also be daily “weigh the waste” events during lunch hours in dining halls, gardening cleanup sessions, bike workshops, movie screenings, and more! Keep an eye out for more updates from the Office of Sustainability and Resiliency, including a full schedule of events.
Climate and Health Seminar Series
The Brown School of Public Health is running a seminar series focused on climate and health. The series kicked off on February 6th with a seminar titled “Will Climate Change Cause the Next Pandemic?” where experts from various fields discussed how the impacts of climate change are impacting the ways disease can spread across the globe. The second installment was on March 13th, titled “How Extreme Weather Events Impact our Health and Wellbeing.” This seminar brought together experts from the School of Public Health and the Population Studies and Training Center to discuss how increasingly severe weather events are having an effect on our health.
The final installment of this series will be on April 19th, “Why Climate Change is the Next Public Health Emergency.” This discussion will explore how climate change will impact health/health systems as well as how those systems in turn exacerbate the effects of climate change. As with the other installments, interdisciplinary experts will discuss what needs to be done and what steps are currently being taken to mitigate these harms. Register for the final seminar at the link below.
NEWS@BROWN
Going Plant Forward
The Office of Sustainability and Resiliency is collaborating with Brown Dining Services on a messaging campaign to encourage ways to incorporate more plant-based meals. Next time you stop at the dining hall for a meal, take a look at the new posters and tent cards which illustrate the global greenhouse gas impacts of protein choices on emissions and offer small ways to consider going “Plant Forward.
Kim Cobb Appointed to Biden Intelligence Committee
In January, the Biden administration announced the appointment of Kim Cobb, the director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. Dr. Cobb is a long-time researcher whose focuses include increasing our capacity for climate solutions and advancing our understanding of climate change impacts that are on the horizon. As the board’s purpose is to provide the President with advice regarding the effectiveness of the intelligence community, Cobb’s appointment serves as a reminder that the effects of climate change are far-reaching in their implications. Read more about Dr. Cobb and her new position at the link below.
BEYOND BROWN
U.S. News:
The Aftermath of the Ohio Train Derailments
The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio in early February has garnered the attention of environmental activists across the country. The train, operated by Norfolk Southern, was carrying chemical cargo including five cars that held vinyl chloride. Vinyl chloride poses serious human health threats upon inhalation, with short term effects of dizziness and headaches as well as long term risks that include a rare form of liver cancer. After the derailment, authorities decided to implement a controlled burn of the chemicals rather than risk a more harmful, uncontrollable event.
In the days following the incident , the EPA monitored air quality in the region and announced that residents could return shortly thereafter. However, in the weeks since their return, residents have reported health concerns related to the chemicals based on their own symptoms as well as the very visible environmental impacts. Thousands of fish have died, and the EPA directed residents to use bottled water as they continue testing.
On March 4th, another Norfolk Southern train was derailed, once again in Ohio. The aftermath of these incidents has revealed gaps in regulations for rail companies and their compliance when carrying toxic chemicals. Alan Shaw, CEO of Norfolk Southern, testified in front of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on March 9th addressing the environmental and public health threats caused by the derailments. Read more at the link below.
World News:
IPCC Report
On Monday, March 20, 2023, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the Synthesis Report of their Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). The presentation of the report comes with a stark warning, “Pace and scale of climate action are insufficient to tackle climate change.” The IPCC acknowledges that the world faces a monumental challenge, but that there is still hope with commitment to targeted and intentional actions toward sustainability and resiliency. Find the full report from the IPCC and more at the link below.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
An article from The Washington Post explored an issue of rising concern for many Californians: how the rebuilding process after wildfires has exacerbated the already extreme income inequality in the state.
“The gentrification by fire — or other natural disaster — works like this.
A fire sweeps over a city. Those who can least afford to weather the catastrophe leave, many never to return. Next, home prices rise sharply because of the precipitous decline in supply. Finally, the new housing that emerges is invariably more expensive than the older stock it has replaced, along with higher fire insurance rates due to demonstrably higher risk.”
Homes destroyed in forest fires are being replaced by far more expensive modern architecture This begs the question, what happens to those who cannot afford the new housing? Current residents could be forced out due to something entirely out of their control. The unhoused population in California is already consistently very high, and this gentrification by fire will needlessly increase the size of that population further. Read the full article at the link below.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Founded in 2020 by a small group of Brown and Stanford students who had been sent home for COVID, The Farmlink Project has grown into something more impactful than its founders ever thought possible. In the early days of the project, these students were filling a need that they saw exacerbated by the increased rates of both food waste and food insecurity.
While their 2022 annual report has not been published to their site just yet, their 2021 annual report notes that “What started as students cold calling farmers and renting U-hauls has now saved 70 million pounds of fresh food from going to waste. Our unrelenting focus to work on behalf of American farmers and communities, provide a platform for the voiceless, and to invest in projects for long-lasting change has transformed Farmlink into one of the most efficient food rescue organizations in the United States.”
Not only did the food surplus they were able to divert increase drastically, but they also added more team members who are dedicated to policy initiatives and making infrastructural changes that will eventually render Farmlink obsolete. This may seem like a poor business decision, but Farmlink has a unique perspective towards their sustainability efforts—they are hoping for and actively working towards a day when they no longer have to fill the gaps left in food supply chains.
Learn more about Farmlink, how it started, and how you can get involved at the link below.
LOCAL VENDOR SPOTLIGHT
Kitchen Garden Farm
Kitchen Garden Farm in Western Massachusetts is committed to bringing fresh produce to New Englanders, including students at Brown through their partnership with Brown Dining Services. The farm is certified organic by the USDA and has made this a priority by converting some of the best agricultural land in the area into organic use. Caroline Pam and Tim Wilcox, who value the preservation of farmland and cultivate healthy soil by ensuring biodiversity among their crops, started the farm in 2006. Learn more about Kitchen Garden Farm at the link below.
RESEARCH@BROWN
Mindi Schneider, MS, PhD
Mindi Schneider is a Lecturer in Environment and Society at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society whose research takes an intersectional approach to agriculture and food studies. She ties in capitalist and industrial contexts to bring a holistic approach to the way we think about our relationships with food. Dr. Schneider is also one of the four leaders of the Commodity Frontiers Initiative, “a network of individual scholars, research teams and civil society organizations from all over the world. With more than 25 partner institutes, all participants have been working extensively on global commodity production, rural societies, labor history, the history of capitalism, and counternarratives and conflict, and have published some of the most important books, articles, and reports in the field.”
Dr. Schneider currently teaches Farm Planet: Hunger, Development, and the Future of Food and Agriculture and Worlds and Things: Life, Labor, Development, and the Earth-Shaking Power of Stuff. She also serves as Senior Editor for the journal Commodity Frontiers, which is housed in the Brown Digital Repository.
Read more about the Commodity Frontiers Initiative and their work.
SUSTAINABILITY TIPS
Spring Cleaning:
When clearing your closet, bookshelves, or drawers, swap the landfill for donations! Clothing and other household items can often find a new home. The Office of Sustainability and Resiliency runs the Clean Break program, a campus-wide donation program, during student move-out.
Recycle Electronics:
Electronics release toxic chemicals into the air, water, and soil as they degrade in landfills. Instead of throwing outdated electronics away, find appropriate recycling centers near you to donate or safely dispose of older technology. For more information on e-waste disposal at Brown, please visit our website.
Interested in biking?
Bikes@Brown is a great resource for getting started! This group offers bicycle repairs, week-long bicycle rentals, and hosts repair workshops, all for free to Brown and RISD affiliates. They accept bicycle donations from the community and restore them to working condition for others to rent. You can find the group and rent a bike, learn tips, and ask questions in the basement of the Urban Environmental Lab.
Swap your cleaning products:
Volatile organic compounds in cleaning products can deteriorate air quality, contribute to urban smog, worsen water pollution, and don’t easily biodegrade, threatening some aquatic life. Swapping to non-toxic, bio-friendly cleaning supplies can help keep you and the environment safe.
Shop Sustainably:
Bring reusable bags to carry purchases when grocery shopping; not only do they cut down on waste, but they also make it easier to carry heavier goods! If you forget your reusable bags on a shopping trip, consider asking for paper bags instead of non-biodegradable plastic ones.
Do you know where to compost on campus?
Currently, our only dining hall where students compost their own food at the end of a meal is the Ratty. However, you can compost on your own by contacting SCRAP, a student-run composting group. They will provide you with a bucket, and you can empty it as needed at the student garden run by SLUG (Students Learning Urban Gardening).
SUGGESTED READING
Tatiana Schlossberg takes a lighthearted approach to the often anxiety-inducing question of what we as individuals can or should do to help fight climate change. Schlossberg explores a few main areas of our lives that have an unseen impact on our environment—technology and the internet, food, fashion, and fuel. While the environmental impacts of these industries can appear somewhat obvious, Schlossberg dives deep into the industry practices and whether there is any reasonable action that can be taken at the individual level. If you’re hoping to learn more about climate change without feelings of guilt or anxiety, Inconspicuous Consumption is a great place to start.
