Nurturing our elm for years to come | |
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This Month's Highlights
- Community Compost Pilot Update
- Sustainability Impact Report
- Veganuary
- Weather Station
- NexTrex Update
- Sustainability Fellowship Recap
- This Month's Creative Prompts
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Community Compost Pilot Update
Starting in 2024, we’re switching to a new compost dropoff system to allow for more flexibility.
How will it work?
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Participants can now drop off their food scraps and plant material to our two dropoff locations (Community Engagement Center and Campus Center) at any time
- Scan the QR code on the bin and submit demographic data to get access to the bin’s code
Stay in the know by checking the Community Composting Dropoff page for the latest updates.
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2023 Sustainability Impact Report
The Office of Sustainability has released its Fiscal Year 2023 Impact Report, summarizing its accomplishments from July 2022 through June 2023. The report details strategic plan progress, working group updates, various resources created by the Office of Sustainability, partnerships formed, and more.
You can find the full report on the Strategic Plan Reports page or view the FY23 Sustainability Impact Report (PDF) here.
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Veganuary
This month is Veganuary, which is an opportunity to try vegan meals for the month of January. Keep an eye out on our social media for different vegan recipes and videos of vegan meals we are making to celebrate! If you have any vegan recipes that you love making, send them our way, either through social media or email. If you are newer to trying vegan food or want new recipes, visit the Veganuary website and sign up for emails to receive meal plans, an online cookbook, and nutritional advice.
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Weather Station Installed at HSF3
UMB has recently installed a small weather station on the sixth-floor green roof of Health Sciences Research Facility III (HSRF III). This weather station, which is not yet operational, will take measurements including temperature, humidity, solar radiation, UV, wind direction, and wind speed, among other data points.
Be on the lookout for information about how to access the live weather data soon!
Learn more in UMB's CATALYST magazine.
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NexTrex Goal Met!
Since July 1, 2023, the Office of Sustainability has been collecting plastic film and bags for a challenge by Trex. The goal was to reach 500 pounds of materials by Jan. 1, 2024 to be eligible to receive a plastic composite bench.
To date, UMB has exceeded its goal of 500 pounds! Thank you to all who participated over the last 6 months.
Stay tuned for more information about installation of the bench on our campus coming soon.
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Facilities and Operations’ First-Ever Fellowship Focused on Sustainability
Alex Skowron served as a data fellow in the Office of Sustainability for 10 months through the Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI) Climate Corps program.
Alex's work included an inventory of the University's trees, a sustainability data dashboard, and other projects related to data collection, analysis, and visualization.
Read more about the fellowship here.
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New Creative Opportunity!
The Sustainability Newsletter is now accepting responses to creative writing prompts that are centered around sustainability. This could take the form of art, poems, writing, story-telling, and more. Written responses should be 400-1000 words, while visual responses should be a maximum of 11x17" in size.
The submission deadline for the February 2024 Newsletter is January 25th, 2024.
Email your submissions to sustainability@umaryland.edu with subject line, "Creative Writing Prompt".
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January Creative Submission
Check out this great haiku from Jill Sullivan at the School of Pharmacy!
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Our January Green Tip is about sustainable well-being. We know that in January, "new year, new me" can be overwhelming for some with the large lists of lifestyle changes that people share. It's important to take care of your mental health, and well-being during this time. Check out these Life Kits from NPR too.
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Get Involved in Baltimore | | |
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MLK Day Clean Up and Tree Care by Friends of Herring Run Parks
Monday, January 15, 2024, from 9:00am-12:00pm
Shannon Drive & Lyndale Avenue
3867 Lyndale Ave Baltimore, MD 21213
Join Friends of Herring Run Parks and help clean up post-flood debris, along the park and stream side. Participate in Tree Care with Baltimore TreeKeepers. They will provide all the tools and equipment, including gloves. Dress for the weather! Register here.
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Sustainability Term of the Month
Greenwashing: misleading or deceptive claims that activities, products, and services are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than they actually are.
Here are two sites you can use to check how sustainable the brands you use are, and also find new sustainable brands! Project CECE is mostly for fashion brands, while Ethical Made Easy includes homewares too. Do you have any tips to avoid greenwashing? Email us at sustainability@umaryland.edu and let us know!
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Join a Sustainability Working Group
Looking for a way to get more involved with sustainability at UMB? Join one of our four sustainability working groups! Working groups are open to students, staff, and faculty. Working group meetings are held once every two months for a total of six meetings each year. Meetings last one hour, and some work outside of bimonthly meetings will be required.
If you are interested in joining any of the four working groups (Reduction, Resiliency, Engagement & Education, and Green Labs), please fill out this form. For a brief summary of each working group, visit this page.
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January Environmental Dates
Find a cause in January to support!
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Month of January
1/5
1/31
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Veganuary
National Bird Day
International Zebra Day
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Received this newsletter from a friend? Get the latest information on events and volunteer opportunities directly. | | |
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