Food
- What “bioregional assets” does UNE have? – Much of the UNE community supports the university’s desire to “go green” and be more environmentally friendly. The environmental department, in particular, has done much to support and come up with sustainable alternatives on campus. Getting the students involved and in support of sustainability creates a strong bioregional asset to UNE.
- Reflect on your meals for the past 24 hours and evaluate how many “whole” foods you have consumed? Share your reflection.– I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, as well as eggs, beans, fish, and chicken. Assuming the food at the dining hall is not tampered with or chemically produced, I have consumed mostly whole foods. I think both myself and others would eat more whole foods if it was offered.
- What UNE initiatives are you aware of that pertain to food? Ask your peers and professors. How could these initiatives be expanded?– I know this school is committed to becoming more sustainable. One of the measures that have been taken to do so was switching from Sodexo to Parkhurst for our dining hall food. Parkhurst makes more attempts to use locally and naturally grown food and provide more healthy whole foods. Our dining hall also composts. Though this does not reduce the amount of food that goes to waste, it isn’t just being thrown out and put in a landfill. UNE also has a green wall with several different species of plants growing on it that are supposedly harvested and served at the dining hall. UNE could have more gardens and produce their own food in addition to the green wall.
- Consider the questions at the bottom of page 56 and try to answer these for yourself. – I think the campus provides suitable whole food options but could definitely do better. I don’t really know where all the food comes from. They give nutritional values to some of the food. The campus builds sustainability initiatives not so much into its curriculum but it is apparent around campus with all the options to compost and recycle. Again, it could still be done better with more reusable food containers at the eateries around campus. Sometimes the cafeteria provides an interesting learning experience, like when they cooked multicultural dishes to teach us about other cultures.
- What has this chapter left you wondering?– Why do more people not have more “sustainability common sense?” I feel like it is fairly easy to change your actions and eat more sustainably by cutting down on meats and buying locally and only buying and eating what you need. Not being wasteful is a huge thing that many people do NOT excel at and I wonder if there is anything that can change that attitude.
Investment
- What INTERNAL STRENGTHS does the university possess in each form of capital to assist with its sustainability and carbon neutrality goals?- UNE has several organizations on campus that are funded to help the campus become more sustainable and carbon neutral. One thing the campus has is the ability to hire a sustainability coordinator. Not every campus has this. UNE is pretty committed to reducing our impact on the environment. Social capital- “The sustainability movement promotes social capital by emphasizing community partnerships. All the sustainability initiatives on a campus, including food growing [UNE’s green wall and gardens and honey bee club], recycling, energy efficiency, collaborative research efforts and service projects all involve people working together to improve campus life.” (pg 106). Natural capital- “Natural capital is typically interpreted as the visual appeal of a campus’s landscape” (pg 106). UNE is a waterfront university and has a ton of natural capital due to the stunning views on campus.
- What INTERNAL WEAKNESSES must the university overcome in each form of capital to achieve its sustainability and carbon neutrality goals?– Financial capital is “the standard measure of a campus’s financial health.” (pg 105) Though the university gets probably over millions of dollars in tuition money from students and even more from alumni, it is still not carbon neutral. That is going to take a lot of work and convincing to achieve and the university is not quite at that level yet.
Curriculum
- In thinking about the co-curricular sustainability opportunities that the author describes as they are here at UNE, in what opportunities have you participated and how have they compared to the sustainability concepts integrated into the curriculum?- They are opportunities at school to join clubs and work jobs that promote sustainability. For example, you could become an eco rep or work for recycling or join the beekeeping club, or just take an active role in your own life trying to recycle and use reuasble products instead of disposable ones. The concepts integrated into the curriculum promote getting involved in sustainability initiatives in some way, however I feel that learning about sustainability is only half the battle. It’s learning through daily interactions how to live a more sustainable life that is the most important.
- On page 160, that author identifies a concern among sustainability teams at colleges he’s visited. He says that they may be proud of their efforts, but feel that they are “preaching to the choir”. Do you feel that’s true at UNE? How might we bridge the gap in sustainability experiences to reach those people in our community that do not share the sustainability ethos?– UNE definitely takes pride in building a green community on campus full of students faculty and staff that support sustainability and want to help the planet. At other colleges, some people are “skeptical that their efforts are sufficiently comprehensive” (160) There are definitely people like that at UNE who feel like we should still be doing more. I feel like this is still a helpful mindset to have because we should never think our job in protecting the environment is done. Advertising, classes and informational sessions might help people be more confident in their ability to be sustainable.
- Mitchell Thomashow identifies four categories of curricular foundation in the sustainability field: biosphere studies, social networking and organizational change, creative imagination and sustainability life skills. Think about the courses you have taken and plan to take to finish your degree and identify into which category they fit. What co-curricular experiences round out your environmental science/studies education?– The hands-on experiences I’ve had from doing a lot of fieldwork have been the biggest building blocks for my environmental studies education because I am a hands-on learner. That definitely fits into the biosphere studies category as I am learning how to protect and be an advocate for the safety and cleanliness of the biosphere. I have learned many sustainability life skills by hanging out with other environmental majors as well as by attending a sustainability lab this semester. My environmental policy class and environmental social global perspective class helped teach social networking and organizational change skills. All the art classes that I have taken and plan on taking will help broaden my creative imagination.
