University of New Mexico Named Green School

For the third year in a row, UNM has been named to “The Prince­ton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Col­leges.” The guide is col­lab­o­ra­tion between the Prince­ton Review and the U.S. Green Build­ing Coun­cil, the guide focuses on col­leges that have demon­strated a strong com­mit­ment to the envi­ron­ment and sus­tain­abil­ity. UNM is the only higher edu­ca­tion insti­tu­tion from New Mex­ico listed in the guide.

More than 800 schools were eval­u­ated by the Prince­ton Review and only those with a score of 83 or above were listed in the guide.

“UNM is a leader in energy con­ser­va­tion and recy­cling,” said Mary Clark, man­ager, UNM Sus­tain­abil­ity. “Our fac­ulty research in renew­able energy tech­nol­ogy and Sus­tain­abil­ity Stud­ies Pro­gram ranks us with the other lead­ing green schools in the nation.” The Prince­ton Review cre­ated the green col­lege guide in response to a sur­vey of high school stu­dents who over­whelm­ing indi­cated that a university’s com­mit­ment to the envi­ron­ment would influ­ence their deci­sion to attend that university. Read more...

The Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico (UNM) will cel­e­brate National Arbor Day with a week’s worth of tree plant­i­ngs and events. UNM is a nation­ally rec­og­nized cam­pus arbore­tum and pro­vides oppor­tu­ni­ties for the pub­lic and edu­ca­tors to see a diverse selec­tion of openly grown trees. Sev­eral stu­dent groups includ­ing Biol­ogy Under­grad­u­ate Soci­ety (BUGS), Lobo SEEDS, and Asso­ci­a­tion of Stu­dent Land­scape Archi­tects worked with arborists in the Phys­i­cal Plant Depart­ment to choose the trees and loca­tions for planting.

Below is a list of the daily events, host of each tree plant­ing and the type of tree to be planted in parentheses.

Mon­day, April 22 — hosted by BUGS
10 a.m. — Wood­ward Hall (Chinkapin Oak)
1 p.m. — Santa Clara Hall (Eng­lish Oak)

Read more...

Cel­e­brate Earth Day at the Uni­ver­sity of New Mex­ico Sus­tain­abil­ity Expo & Lobo Grow­ers’ Mar­ket on Tues­day, April 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Cor­nell Mall, located just east of the Stu­dent Union Building.

Now in its fifth year, the Expo & Grow­ers’ Mar­ket offers an oppor­tu­nity to inter­act with sustainability-minded folks at a vari­ety of engag­ing dis­plays and activ­i­ties, includ­ing an alter­na­tive trans­porta­tion exhi­bi­tion, a grow­ers’ mar­ket and a bicy­cle auc­tion. Learn about sus­tain­able ini­tia­tives on cam­pus and in the sur­round­ing com­mu­nity, meet local farm­ers and enjoy the ener­getic atmosphere.

The Lobo Grow­ers’ Mar­ket por­tion of the Expo is orga­nized by Sus­tain­abil­ity Stud­ies stu­dents who are pas­sion­ate about pro­mot­ing local farm­ing and small busi­ness, and edu­cat­ing cam­pus and com­mu­nity mem­bers about sus­tain­able agri­cul­ture and healthy food choices. The Lobo Grow­ers’ Mar­ket kicks off the upcom­ing Albu­querque area grow­ers’ mar­ket sea­son, and fea­tures numer­ous local grow­ers, value-added pro­duc­ers and pre­pared foods vendors. Read more...

Money would pay for student-led sustainability projects on campus

ASUNM wants more funding for sustainability initiatives on campus.

In a meeting Wednesday, the senate unanimously passed Resolution 11S, which requests that UNM President Robert Frank form a committee of various UNM representatives to develop a proposal to create a student-governed “green” fund.

The proposal was created by Sens. Brandon Meyers, Isaac Romero, Rachel Williams; ASUNM Chief of Staff Gregory Montoya-Mora; Office of Sustainability coordinator and former Student Regent Jacob Wellman; and Residence Life eco rep Allix Stewart.

The green fund would support the efforts of the Climate Action Plan, which former UNM President David Schmidly signed in 2009 as part of an effort to reduce waste, energy usage and emissions on campus. Wellman said the University aims to decrease 80 percent of its carbon emissions by 2030 and to be 100 percent climate neutral by 2050. Read more...

Students in the UNM Sustainability Studies Program host film series on food

Begin­ning Wednes­day, March 27, the Uni­ver­sity of New Mexico’s Sustainability-364 Grow­ers’ Mar­ket Practicum stu­dents host a series of films on food, agri­cul­ture, health and sus­tain­abil­ity. A film will be shown at Mitchell Hall every Wednes­day through April 17.

The aim of the film series is to build a com­mu­nity of sus­tain­able agri­cul­ture advo­cates and to gen­er­ate buzz about the Sus­tain­abil­ity Expo on Tues­day, April 23. The films are free and open to the pub­lic. Bring a snack and kick back, bev­er­ages will be provided. Read more...

Among Downtown’s concrete sidewalks and stucco buildings, Alvarado Urban Farm sticks out like a sore, green thumb.

The farm, located a block away from The Box Performance Space and Lotus Nightclub, is a hub for homegrown produce. The farm opened for business in September 2011 after farm asset manager Rick Rennie and the City of Albuquerque struck a deal with the Historic District Improvement Company (HDIC). The half-acre strip of land was to remain a patch of dirt before Rennie stepped forward with a solution.

“I did not want to see it be dirt, so I made a proposal: ‘Let’s make it a farm,’” Rennie said.

The urban farm has 82 beds for gardening where volunteers can plant, raise and harvest plants. Anyone interested can also play pétanque, a game that combines marbles with bowling, at one of the five courts. Rennie said the farm attracts volunteers of all ages and backgrounds, including students at ACE (Architecture, Construction & Engineering) Leadership High School to Albuquerque veterans. Read more...

Whether it’s sliced fruit mixed with Greek yogurt, or your mother’s homemade green-chile cheese enchiladas, recipes for great dishes are meant to be shared.

UNM’s Lobo Growers Market held a recipe swap Wednesday, encouraging students and vendors to share their favorite recipes. The recipe swap was part of the six-week market series featuring fresh food and produce. Student market manager Kimberly Barnett said the event tries to help students eat healthier.

“I think that people see here that they have food that they have access to now, and they don’t quite know what to do with it,” Barnett said. “You might walk past an eggplant and ask ‘What am I going to do with an eggplant?’”

Barnett shared a recipe for apple crisp, a dish her mother used to make for her when she was younger. Read more.

A sustainability course at UNM inspired a student to start her own farm and sell her produce at an on-campus growers market.

The Lobo Growers Market began in 2007 as an annual on-campus growers market in an effort to help students eat healthy, but it has become a six-week, student-run event. UNM students who enrolled last spring in Growers Market Practicum (SUST 364), a course that focuses on the economic and social benefits of growers markets, manage the growers market this fall. Vendors at the market sell locally grown produce such as green apples, garlic, eggplant, broccoli and squash.

UNM student and market manager Kimberly Barnett said she not only coordinates the vendors, but also sells her own produce at the Lobo Growers Market and other markets in New Mexico. She said the course inspired her to start farming and made her want to offer the community a better and more sustainable food source.

“It’s awesome to be able to bring food to students who don’t really have time to search out healthy foods,” she said. “They need brain food.” Read more.

“Love Red, Live Green.” Sustainability is a core value at the university of New Mexico. The Sustainability Council consists of students, staff, and faculty working with the Office of Sustainability to oversee the Sustainability Policy adopted in 2008. UNM celebrates Earth Day each year with a Sustainability Expo. The Sustainability Studies Program (SSP) was one of the first of its kind in the country and SSP students were instrumental in writing UNM’s Climate Action Plan (with a goal to reduce carbon usage 80 percent by 2030) and developing community gardens on campus. In December 2010, SSP students launched the “Knowledge is Power” campaign, designed to reduce the electrical usage on campus by 10 percent. The Research Service Learning Program (RSLP) offers UNM students courses related to sustainability, food security, and social development. RSLP students wrote a “Guide to Green Living at UNM” and developed an Eco-Rep program for the residence halls to provide peer-to-peer guidance in recycling, energy conservation, alternative transportation, and purchasing locally grown organic foods. In an effort to conserve energy, the administration has moved swiftly, retrofitting 90 percent of the campus’ existing buildings over the past three years. UNM is an institution that prides itself on innovative research, and the National Science Foundation established a new Engineering Research Center whose goal is to replace the common light bulb with next-generation lighting devices that are smarter, greener, and technologically advanced. Electrical and computer engineering students have designed a solar powered car in a photovoltaics course. Classes with topics related to sustainability are also offered in diverse disciplines ranging from American studies to journalism.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation today announced a $3 million commitment to provide capital for financing retail, production, processing and distribution of fresh food to reach lower-income communities in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans. The capital will be made available through the foundation’s mission-driven investment work in partnership with NCB Capital Impact (Capital Impact) of Arlington, Va., a Community Development Financial Institution.

“We’re pleased to announce this commitment that will expand ‘fresh food financing’ from its strong start in the retail sector into the value chain,” said Sterling Speirn, president and CEO of the Kellogg Foundation. Speaking at the Partnership for a Healthier America’s (PHA) “Building a Healthier Future Summit” in Washington, he said, “Increasing access to good food that is locally sourced wherever possible is important to the health and well-being of all children, especially vulnerable children and families where access to such foods is more difficult. This financing arrangement increases the opportunity to achieve that goal by connecting local food producers to consumers more easily.”

Loans will be made to retailers and food enterprises that provide small and mid-sized producers with infrastructure – including processing, manufacturing and distribution operations – that help bring their products to local markets. Loans will be made available for a period of two years beginning in 2011.

“This investment will help us reach thousands of low and moderate income families by improving access to healthy foods, which is critical to reducing chronic diseases and building healthier communities,” said Scott Sporte, chief lending officer of Capital Impact.

The “Building a Healthier Future Summit,” taking place Nov. 29 to 30, 2011, is PHA’s inaugural conference focused on childhood obesity. PHA works with its honorary chair First Lady Michelle Obama and the private sector to end the childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 23.5 million Americans live in low-income areas that lack access to fresh, healthy foods within a mile of their home. “Fresh food financing” commitments have been part of the Partnership’s efforts to build and expand retail food stores in areas with less access to healthy food (food deserts).

Students eating at La Posada dining hall or in the Mercado in the SUB this semester may have eaten food made with ingredients grown right here on campus, in the Lobo Gardens.

Items with an “Extreme Local” label feature ingredients from Lobo Gardens, garden coordinator Mona Angel said.

“Everything with the sticker sold like hotcakes, and we were able to supplement Chartwells (The food provider for La Posada) for several months with our harvest,” she said. “They made sandwiches with our vegetables, fruit cups with our melons, and pumpkin bread and soup with pumpkins grown at Lobo Gardens.”

Extreme Local items are limited right now because the growing season is over, but Angel said she expects to supply more food on campus in the spring.

There are three garden sites on UNM’s main campus. Angel said she hopes to increase its presence even more in the new year with a new garden site outside Mesa Vista Hall. Read more...

This holiday season, as you sit down to share a meal, please give thanks to the farmers and ranchers that spent hours planting, irrigating, tending and harvesting the bounty on your table.

There is one week left to take advantage of our "Early Bird Special" for our CSA (community supported agriculture) project. Send in this application with $100 to reserve your spot for the 2012 season and you will receive a season of All Local, Biodynamic, sustainably grown fruits and veggies. We are working right now to ensure members also have access to farm fresh eggs, milk, cheese, honey and grass-fed beef!

Applications must be received by December 1st for the discount!   All the information and our PO Box are on the application.

In other news, November has been a busy month on the farm! We have been putting the garden to rest for the winter, cleaning up our Blake location with the help of Transition UNM - thanks folks for coming out! We also hauled a truckload of trash and recycling from the farm and started to inventory seeds to make an order for next season. Thanks to member feedback we have a good idea of what folks want to eat, and after all, we farm for you!

We also had a wonderful FARM CAMP day on 11-11-11 with 18 kids coming out to the farm for a day harvesting, nature walk, playing outside and making a fire in the horno at the Barcelona orchard. We asked the kids for their opinion on their favorite veggies! We have also been meeting with local partners like the PB&J to find out how we can bring gardens to where kids learn and play everyday.

Want to get more involved with Erda Gardens and Learning Center? Our Annual General Meeting, which includes election of Board Officers will be held at 11am on Sunday, December 4th. We will be planning for next season, setting our priorities and visioning for the future. Please RSVP (505-610-1538) for location and more details.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us this past year, we are so grateful to have the opportunity to serve this diverse and dynamic community,

Amanda Rich                                            April Parker
Education Coordinator                           Farm Manager

(505) 610-1538
www.erdagardens.org

Local growers plan to expand gardens’ growth in urban Burque

Broccoli, brussels sprouts and beans flourish in what was an empty lot filled with broken bottles and used syringes.

“It used to be drug dealing spot, real sketchy,” Travis McKenzie, organizer of Project Feed the Hood’s International District garden said.

The International District garden, located on Wellesley Drive near Kirtland Air Force Base, is one of Project Feed the Hood’s many community gardens statewide.

Community gardens are a growing nationwide trend, and they abound in the university area, making them the perfect place for students to volunteer, local garden organizers said.

Organizers of UNM-area community gardens such as the Action Buzz Garden, the Rio Grande Community Farm’s garden and the Growing Awareness Urban Farm all emphasized the sense of social connection and personal empowerment that develops through participating in a community garden.

“There is a lot of learning, sharing and character building that goes on in conversations in the gardens and greenhouses, and it is a very good thing,” said Morgan Attema, volunteer organizer of the Growing Awareness Urban Farm. “Get back out into the dirt — it’s educational, healthy and just plain fun.”  Read more...

Transition initiative aims to prepare community for the post-fossil fuel world

An international initiative to prepare communities for life after the world’s fossil fuel supply runs out has presence at UNM.

Transition UNM is one of more than 800 groups in 34 countries that operates within the “transition initiative,” which is focused on encouraging people to prepare for and move toward a post-oil future, UNM alumnus Jeness May said.

“A transition initiative is when a community or a town comes together and pools their resources, their skills, their talents, their inspiration; it’s like networking,” she said. “What they do is come together as a community and find out ways to reduce their carbon footprint by asking not only ‘what can individuals do?’ but, more importantly, ‘what can a community do to reduce (its) oil and coal consumption?’”

Rob Hopkins, founder of the transition initiative, called the movement “the great transition of our time away from fossil fuels.”

May said Transition UNM is still gaining momentum and is working with students in the Sustainability Studies Program.

Read more...

By Karen Wentworth  | UNM Today

UNM is join­ing more than 70 cam­puses around the coun­try hold­ing teach-ins as a way of build­ing aware­ness with the Occupy Wall Street move­ment. UNM’s teach-in is Wednes­day and Thurs­day, Nov. 9–10, 11:30 a.m. — 2 p.m. each day on the south side of the Stu­dent Union Build­ing (inside loca­tion will be the Stu­dent Union Building).

This is the sec­ond time UNM has hosted a teach-in on the issues under­ly­ing the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Speak­ers include New Mex­ico Sen­a­tor Tim Keller; fac­ulty from the law, busi­ness, and med­ical school, the dean of Arts & Sci­ences and fac­ulty from anthro­pol­ogy, peace stud­ies, and soci­ol­ogy; stu­dents and Camp Coy­ote mem­bers; as well as com­mu­nity activists.

The focus of the Teach-In is on issues related to the movement. Read more...

RECYCLE

Reduce your impact, fatten your wallet

The desolate sand lot is empty except for a vehicle in the corner and a couple green dumpsters lining the chain link fence. Closer to the loading dock hundreds of bags of glistening soda cans sit in the sun next to a pile of junk – old cassettes, metal hangers, an upside-down sign for the UNM Safety, Health and Environmental Affairs Department. Surrounded by other physical plant departments on all sides along Avenida de Servicio on north campus, one would never guess that the UNM Recycling Department was unique.

The UNM Recycling Department has a 35 percent diversion rate, which means the University recycles 35 percent of its recyclable waste, said Linda McCormick, resource conservation manager of recycling at UNM. Read more...

The Smart Home Project

The big news is the new project we launched in January of this year, a New Mexico first; The Smart Home Project, a residential building energy retrofit pilot. In the January newsletter, we discussed the why of this project. We have progressed in our plans. Here's and update. The pilot is now an established entity. Our 501C3 status is in process, and our objectives established.

Our pilot objectives are to:

• Make upfront costs 0 to a qualified homeowner at all income levels
• Coordinate all of the energy upgrades and financing
• Utility savings resulting from the retrofits will equal the fixed loan payments initially. As utility costs increase over time the homeowner's savings will increase as well
• Provide a One-Stop-Shop model so the homeowner can receive guidance and support during their project
  
• Ensure a qualitative 'test-in/test-out' process to ensure that the energy savings goals are met

In order to establish the eventual state-wide program, the pilot is designed to demonstrate its value and appeal to create a viable market, as well as encourage job development in this important sector of the construction industry in New Mexico. Homeowners will have the means to buy HVAC systems, new appliances, lighting systems, additional insulation, energy efficient windows and solar water heaters, as deemed appropriate through the energy audits. In exchange our  NM CO2 levels will decrease, along with demand for coal and gas powered energy, and local economies will benefit through added jobs.

The Smart Home Project will be supported with grants from foundations and New Mexico building industry businesses.
This will finance the administration, research and marketing costs to the pilot.  Due to the non-profit nature of this project, all contributions are tax-deductible. Our objective is to provide substantial exposure to all businesses involved in the project's development with a website that reports the progress and expansion of The Smart Home Project.

The Permaculture  Credit Union of Santa Fe has committed $500,000 in low interest loans to fund the homeloans for the  project. They are committed to supporting the projects that are environmentally focused. Bill Sommers, their President is very excited about this project.

In connection  with The Smart Home Project, we are planning a conference in the fall of 2012. Our theme is Building Retrofits and Energy Efficiency, The Future of a New Mexico Industry. We are talking to the Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) about becoming their Governor's Housing Conference. We will keep you posted about the program and exact dates. We have just begun the planning process and would like some help. The upcoming meeting is on October 27- in Albuquerque at Wilson & Company. If you are interested, please email us.


New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce 

CASA's  interest in the growth of the Sustainable building community is a given. We have been working on this for several years as an advocacy organization. In 2010, a new group came to town, The New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce. With 4-5 statewide divisions, their objective is to increase the awareness of opportunities to grow an environmentally conscious businesses community in the state as well as advocating the public policies that will inform their social and civic focus.  CASA has become a member of the Albuquerque division and is active on the  steering committee. 

We will continue to grow and change as an organization. Our future is based on the continued education and elevation of the New Mexico sustainable building industry. There will be some important changes in or direction in the next year. Stay tuned.