Spring 2012

Sustainability Newsletter

In this Issue

OoS is Moving/Council Re-format

2

Sustainability Snapshot

3

Leyendecker Hoop Houses

4

RecycleMania Competition, Feb 5-Mar 31 Yep, it’s that time of year again. RecycleMania has begun! NMSU has been partici-

pating in the RecycleMania competition since 2009. RecycleMania is a friendly competition

and benchmarking tool for university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activi-

ties to their campus communities.

Our commitment to recycling is demonstrated

in our yearly ranking. Last year in 2011, we placed 5th

out of 288 schools in the Grand Champion competition

with an overall diversion rate of 67%. In 2010 we placed

2nd. NMSU diverts more than twice of its waste through

recycling as compared to the national average, which is

only 34%.

So how can we win the competition this year?

Art Lucero, the Manager of Solid Waste and Recycling

at NMSU, says, “From our perspective we already have

won by participating in the event.”

One of the main goals of RecycleMania is to

motivate students and staff to increase recycling efforts

and reduce waste generation. Many people forget

about waste reduction, which is even more important

than recycling. A few simple ways that you can reduce

waste include bringing your own reusable coffee mug,

purchasing a reusable to-go clamshell ($5 in Taos Din-

ing), printing double-sided, and reusing file folders.

Last year, NMSU placed 42nd in the Waste

Minimization category. If all of us work to reduce our

waste, then we will truly make a positive impact on our

planet for future generations.

The Office of Sustainability is holding tabling

and chalking events to promote RecycleMania. Stu-

dents are encouraged to come join us between now

and March 31st to help educate the campus community about Recycling. We will put the

events on our website and on Hotline, so make sure to check them out.

If you have any questions about Aggie Recycling, contact Art Lucero at 646-8159

or check out the Aggie Recycling website here.

Go Aggies! Go Green!

“See a bin, drop it in”

2

Sustainability Council Meeting Format to Change

The Office of Sustainability is Moving to Regents Row Have you ever been to the Office of Sustainability

(OoS)? Currently, the OoS is located in the Central Utility

Plant (the building with the giant exhaust stacks) in a

small space that is extremely hard to find.

The OoS will be moving to Mitchell Hall at Re-

gents Row, Rm. 101/103, just south of Frenger Food

Court on the courtyard side. The move should take place

before the end of the spring semester.

The new location will be the home of the Environ-

mental Education Center (EEC). The EEC will be a

meeting and resource center for sustainability. Everyone

is welcome to come in and look at ideas to green their

office, home, and beyond.

The EEC will provide a resource library, a confer-

ence table for green-related meetings, interpretive signs

used to educate people about the sustainability compo-

nents of the center, an educational wall, and a new low

energy-use LED monitor for sustainability webinars.

The EEC will be designed with green interior finishes,

including low VOC paint, Environmental Product Declaration

(EPD) carpet, and MechoShades. The Center will have

many other green features for everyone to check out.

The EEC will provide a meeting place where stu-

dents, faculty, and staff

can come together to

discuss environmental

sustainability issues.

The new central location

will also help integrate

the OoS into the rest of

the campus community.

If you have any

questions about the new

office or the EEC, con-

tact joni newcomer,

Manager of Sustainability at NMSU.

The NMSU Sustainability Council is an all-volunteer council made up of students, faculty, staff, and community

members. In the past, the Council meetings consisted of updates and educational speakers, with very little discussion.

This format will change, beginning with the next meeting on March 14 at 8:30 AM in Milton Hall Room 85. Dean

Lowell Catlett will be the guest speaker talking about “The Green Revolution”

The new format will be more of a roundtable discussion

with encouraged participation by the group. Guest speakers will

still be invited to talk, but will also be asked to provoke group dia-

logue

This change in format is based off a survey conducted by

the OoS, which found that a majority of people want to “plan ac-

tivities that promote sustainability” as well as “discuss sustainabil-

ity topics relevant to NMSU”.

After the Council meeting, members stay to chat about envi-ronmental topics.

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Science Alliance ESSO OASIS Earth Day: April 22nd at

Young Park. Join a planning committee today!

Arbor Day: April 27th. OASIS is looking for someone to spearhead this event.

If you are interested in volunteering contact Kelsey Souza

Sustainability Snapshot

Volunteering for Recy-cleMania tabling

Composting program

Bike Ride event to pro-mote alternative trans-portation

Tie-dye T-shirt making event and fundraiser

Great American Clean-up: April 14th

If you are interested in volunteering contact Steve Perez

2012 Silver City Ex-panding Your Horizons

Science Film Club: 1st and 3rd Fri of every month

River Cleanup with SWEC: Mar 10

If you are interested in volunteering contact Julie Patterson

ASNMSU Housing

Hort Forum Organic vs. non-organic

growing experiment

Seeding vegetables, flowers, and herbs at the Horticulture Green-house

Plant sale: April 26-27

If you are interested in volunteering contact Josh Sherman

Lighting upgrade to more efficient bulbs garnered rebate check from El Paso Electric

Completed contract for Phase II for curbside recycling (Cervantes Village, Chamisa Vil-lage, and Vista Del Monte)

Chamisa II, a soon-to-be LEED certified build-ing has a 90% con-struction waste diver-sion rate!! Impressive.

In celebration of Earth Day: ASNMSU hosting “Earth Week” Apr 23-27

Energy Awareness Reducing waste Trees, Plants, Flowers Help Check out The FEED

“Green Tip of the Week” slides

If you are interested in volunteering contact Kristen Fowlkes

OoS Energy Reduction Cam-

paign continues

2012 RecycleMania happening now through March 31st. First week results have us in 6th place!

The Office of Sustaina-bility needs help doing a video for new faculty and staff orientation; contact joni newcomer if you’re interested

The City has a Sustain-ability Officer again. Merideth Hildreth start-ed her new job early February.

Look for the City’s sus-tainability newsletter

Sustainability Office plans on having a daily celebration of different events during Earth Day week—look for that info soon

CLC

Hoop House Study at Leyendecker Did you know that you can plant crops during the cold of

winter? New Mexico State University researchers at the Leyen-

decker Plant Science Research Center have been testing various

hoop house designs to grow crops during the winter season.

Mark Uchanski, Assistant Professor in the Department of

Plant and Environmental Sciences, along with two graduate stu-

dents doing their master’s theses, Juliette Enfield and Emmanuel

Hecher, have been engaged in a three-year study to determine

the most effective and economically feasible hoop house design.

Hoop houses provide an extended growing season, which has

important economic implications for small farmers who rely on

crops for their yearly income.

Hoop houses are also very environmentally sustainable

because they rely on the sun (a renewable resource) to maintain

adequate temperatures within the unit, rather than relying on non-

renewable sources of heat such as propane or natural gas. The

plastic sheeting that makes up the outside barrier of the unit also

works to insulate the hoop house so that the plants do not get too

cold during the winter months. Hoop houses also “save a tre-

mendous amount of energy over a traditional greenhouse” and

are therefore much more cost effective.

The researchers at Leyendecker have also “followed all

of the national organic standards” for the crops. By using organic

fertilizers and innovative pest management strategies, such as

the use of lady bugs to ward off aphids, the researchers have

been able to avoid the use of chemicals in their study, providing

additional environment benefits.

For more information about Leyendecker, contact the

center at 575-646-2281. For additional information about hoop

houses, contact Mark Uchanski.

There are six hoop houses at the Leyendecker

Plant Science Research Center near La Mesa

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The efficacy of hoop house design and economic

feasibility are the primary focus of the study

Researches growing Trout’s Back lettuce in the

middle of winter in one of the hoop houses (Bottom

photo courtesy of Stephanie Sweet)

Go Aggies! Go Green!

Feb. 5th-Mar. 31st

For further information, call the Aggie Recycling Center at (575) 646-8159

NMSU placed 5th in 2011, 2nd in 2010 in this nationwide competition. Let’s go for 1st PLACE this year!

Cardboard

Paper

Aluminum Cans

Items collected for the competition include:

Plastic water/soda

bottles

Please separate your recyclables

http://recyclemaniacs.org