Sustainable Living

Project Description

We live on a planet that is positively and negatively impacted by the daily decisions we make regarding the environment. It has become more apparent that our carelessness with those decisions has negatively impacted the earth. It is the goal of the Sustainable Living team to relieve that negative impact by educating others on ways in which they can reduce their ecological footprint. This year we are driven to continue making a difference in the world. It is by the small steps and habit changes that we can create a more eco-friendly campus. By simply changing the way Graceland and the surrounding community look at being more sustainable we can impact others into joining the effort.

Successful Past Projects

• Edison Project – Between 2006 and 2008 we educated home and business owners on the benefits of CFLs. Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs, opposed to the incandescent bulb which produces 90% heat and 10% light, use a chemical reaction to make light and only light, and can last eight to ten times longer. Criteria: 3, 4, 5, 6

• Sustainable Living Week – this continued project uses “in your face” techniques to bring people out of their comfort zone in order to make the biggest positive change on campus. In past years, we have generally had themed days that assessed the problems that GU has with being sustainable. Previous themes during the week have been: alternative transportation, paperless for a day, recycling day, and reusable cup day. Criteria: 4, 5, 6

• Arbor Day – Last spring during SLW, in partnership with the Student Senate group, we planted over 100 trees around campus and the community on Arbor Day to help offset the 800,000 sheets of paper, which equals 96 trees, we use as a campus per year. Criteria: 4, 5, 6

Working Projects

• Sustainable Living Week 2010 – in years past we have mostly focused on Graceland’s campus to make an impact. This year we plan to reach out to the community by educating students in classrooms, people from Lamoni and surrounding towns, and then bringing them together for one large event on the last day with key note speakers. Dates for SL Week: March 19-22

Projects to look forward to this year:

• Edison Project – this project was created in 2006 with the goal of changing out the incandescent bulbs of homes and businesses in Lamoni with CFL bulbs or compact fluorescent light bulb. We had great success three years ago and we want to pick back up were we left off.

• Lamoni Landfill Reduction – It has currently come to the team’s attention that Lamoni’s landfill will be overrun with was within the next 10 years. We are currently brainstorming options to relieve this situation.

Jon Schrale -- Ethan Pitt -- Daniel Harmon -- Matt Graybill -- Danica McLain