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Sustainability at Luther College
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Welcome back Luther students, faculty, and staff, to another semester at Luther College! Here at the Center for Sustainable Communities we look forward to a great year of collaboration and conversation. The mission of the Center is to promote sustainability and be a catalyst for change on campus and in the region. At Luther, we hold ourselves to a high standard when it comes to sustainability. Part of our college's mission statement is to: "practice joyful stewardship of the resources that surround us." We recognize that sustainability goes hand in hand with a just, equitable, and prosperous society. We work hard not only to green our campus practices but also to teach students through academic courses and campus life that creating a sustainable society is a responsibility that falls to each of us. We invite you to join the conversation and change making. Visit us online to learn more about how you can get involved in sustainability on campus and in the community.
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Want a Klean Kanteen water bottle? Go on the Sustainability Scavenger Hunt!
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All Luther students are invited to participate in the Sustainability Scavenger Hunt to get acquainted with the sustainable features of campus. The hunt can be completed alone or with a small group. Simply figure out the clues and take photos to document your answers in order to claim a Klean Kanteen water bottle from the Sustainability office! Have some fun, learn about Luther Sustainability, and win a free water bottle! Stop by Valders 372C today or go to Sustainability's website to get your copy!
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We've always known it, but Luther is officially a Cool School!
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Luther College has been nationally recognized on the
Sierra Club's Cool Schools list for 2017. Luther
holds the highest ranking for Iowa Private Colleges and is one of only a few ELCA schools recognized on the list. The Sierra Club is the nation's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental group. It was funded in 1892 and currently has three million members and supporters.
This national assessment pulls data from STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System), a program run by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Information submitted to AASHE was used and scored across 61 questions from the STARS assessment, in addition to a supplemental question about fossil fuel investments. Earlier this summer, Luther earned a STARS silver rating of 62.47, showing improvement from the 47.51 rating the college garnered in 2014. Luther ranked 116th on the Cool Schools list with 536.4 points out of a possible 1,000. More than 200 colleges and universities participated in the 2017 survey, an increase over the past several years. Visit the Sierra Club's website to see the full list of schools. Luther received a perfect score of 92 in the co-curricular category and scored a 44.98 out of 50 in the planning category. The co-curricular category includes the work of Luther's sustainability student educators, outreach campaigns and initiatives, student orientation and marketing/communication efforts. Luther also scored well in academics, with a high percentage of faculty conducting research that relates to sustainability and with classes that correlate to sustainability in a variety of disciplines.
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Move out waste reduced 40 percent over past five years.
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 Move out week at Luther College is historically the week in which Luther sends the most waste to the landfill of any week throughout the year. Luther students make up about 12% of Winneshiek County's population, putting a lot of stress on the local county landfill. Thanks to a great team of student coordinators and helpers, thrift store partners, the Winneshiek County Recycling Center and Facilities, we sent 40 percent fewer pounds of solid waste to the landfill in 2017 than we did five years ago. Student workers and volunteers logged more than 400 hours over the course of nine days to assist with move out waste diversion. This year we filled eleven trucks with donations for the Depot Outlet and Spectrum Network, two community-based thrift stores. Donations included furniture, books, school supplies, household wares, clothing, rugs, decorations and more. Over 1500 pounds of food was also collected for the food pantry. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to these waste reduction efforts! More Info.
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 Ar
e yo
u a faculty
or staff member interested in saving money and resources a
nd getting to know your
colleagues better? Join us for the Luther College edition of Transition Streets
, a curriculum designed to build community and encourage actions to conserve energy and water, reduce waste, and save money. Eight sessions every
other
Tuesday
at
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
starting
September 12
. The meetings will be held in Nansen and the course handbook will be provided. Participants are encouraged to bring their lunch.
Sign up today
!
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 Eat local! Eating fresh, locally harvested produce is not only good for your taste buds, but also for the environment! Eating locally ensures that you will be provided with nutrients from produce picked at its peak ripeness and less time spent being transported thousands of miles to supermarket shelves. Check out the Winneshiek County Farmer's Market behind the Co-op Saturday mornings and Wednesday afternoons, where all items sold at the market are either grown or made by the vendors present. Products range from fresh vegetables, baked goods, eggs, handmade jewelry, woodcrafts, pottery, flowers, fruit, plants, and much more. All vendors are local, within 60 miles of the Decorah area! Hope to see you there!
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| The Center for Sustainable Communities is always looking for ways to improve our publications. If you have any questions, concerns, general comments, or story ideas for future newsletters, please email [email protected] at any time. Thank you! |
This newsletter is provided by the Center for Sustainable Communities, which coordinates all sustainability initiatives at Luther College. The mission of the Center is to promote sustainability and be a catalyst for change on campus and in the region. For more information on sustainability initiatives at Luther and the outreach work of the Center for Sustainable Communities, please visit:
www.luther.edu/sustainability.
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Wednesday, September 13th
Winneshiek County Farmers Market
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Thursday, September 21st
CSA Series: Humble Hands Harvest
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Saturday and Sunday, September 23-24th
Kayaking/Canoeing on the Upper Iowa River
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Maren Beard
Assistant Director Center for Sustainable Communities
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As the Assistant Director for Campus Sustainability, Maren coordinates initiatives related to sustainability on the Luther College campus. She is entering her ninth year of facilitating sustainable change at Luther. Her favorite part about her job is working with students and seeing the great ideas, desire for change, and development of leadership capacity within them. The most gratifying part of her work is seeing Luther students go out into the world as engaged members of their communities and the world around them. This semester Maren is looking forward to continuing to learn more about equity, inclusion and diversity and exploring with others how we can foster a more welcoming campus. She is also stoked (pun intended) to be growing wood fired pizza and community at Luna Valley Farm this Fall.
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Seasonal Forestry Worker - West Des Moines
The city of West Des Moines is seeking seasonal forestry workers to perform forestry-related services for public trees and assist with snow removal and other tasks as needed.
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Toast Ale USA CEO- Toast Ale USA
Toast Ale, a brewing company creating craft beer
with surplus bread and giving 100% of profits to charity, is seeking a CEO for their New York office.
Read more
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Youth Nutrition and Engagement Associate Educator- ISU Extension and Outreach
ISU Extension and Outreach is looking for an educator interested in engaging elementary-age children in high-energy, hands-on nutrition, physical activity and cooking education to low resource families.
Read more
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