[Newleaf] moving ahead with the sustainability pledge

[Andrew James Mangold]

Hey New Leaf,

I am definitely in favor of heeding Roger's advice, but to the checklist I add:

shop at mixed nuts

get involved with a committee (or club) on campus that [you] feel strongly about

get to know the recycling sheds.

Also, if something like this develops over the years, then we can include info
on the group that is intercepting old furniture for Fall sale once it is
active.

-Andrew


Quoting Rebecca Thomas <rlt07 at hampshire.edu>:

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>     Hi, all.  I think Roger Guzowski raises some good points.  Maybe we
>     should make this a checklist rather than a pledge? 
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>     Also, along with not bringing a mini fridge, we might want to add
>     not bringing a microwave to the list.  (Or maybe encourage people to
>     collaborate with their hallmates to put just one microwave in the
>     lounge?  I don't know if they have a way to contact all the people
>     on their hall, though...)
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>
>
>     -Rebecca T.
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>     P.S.  Are new students going to get waterbottles from Hampshire this
>     year?  If so, we could probably say something about that rather than
>     telling people to bring their own.
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>     On 7/5/11 10:10 AM, Roger Guzowski wrote:
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>       [Newleaf] moving ahead with the sustainability pledge
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>         Hi everyone.  Great
>             to see so much New Leaf activity over the summer.
>          
>         Just one quick word
>             of caution on the sustainability pledge.
>          
>         If you are doing the
>             pledge as an education tool to make people aware of ways to
>             be more sustainable at Hampshire, I would say to go forward
>             with it.  Though I would suggest it take the form of a
>             checklist or display table rather than a pledge.  In
>             whatever form it takes, I think it's a great idea at
>             orientation to make new (and returning) students aware about
>             all of the opportunities to live more sustainably at and
>             around Hampshire.
>          
>         However, if you are
>             envisioning the pledge to drive behavior change, I would
>             suggest doing something else.  We have done a number of
>             pledges at the other schools over the years (around Focus
>             the Nation, Earth Day, etc.) and I would suggest that the
>             results from a behavior change standpoint have been
>             underwhelming at best.
>          
>         There are often
>             barriers (perceived or legitimate) that prevent certain
>             people from adopting sustainable behaviors.  My experience
>             has been that to get sustainable behavior change, we need to
>             identify and work on strategically removing those barriers
>             (i.e. systematically overcoming the excuses).  A pledge can
>             be a part of that, but my experience is that a pledge alone
>             will not overcome those barriers, at least not for long.
>          
>         Here's my concern. 
>             This is going to be one of your first activities of the
>             year.  As such, it is not just a stand alone activity, but
>             also something that is going to help you attract and retain
>             new members.  As such, I think you want your early
>             activities to be positive momentum builders.  My experience
>             with pledges (if you are expecting them to drive behavior
>             change - which I think is implied by the very term pledge)
>             is that folks end up disappointed in the results.  I don't
>             think you want your lead-off activity to be something that
>             someone might perceive as disappointing.  I think there are
>             other opportunities or ways to proceed with this that might
>             help both from a results standpoint and from a membership
>             standpoint.
>          
>         If you're still
>             meeting over the summer, I would love to meet with you and
>             share some ideas for orientation and the fall semester.  
>
>
>          
>         Roger Guzowski
>         Five College Recycling Manager
>         cell:  413-658-5558
>         rguzowski at fivecolleges.edu
>
>
>
>
>         From:
>           newleaf-bounces at lists.hampshire.edu on behalf of Rebecca
>           Simone Siegel
>
>           Sent: Tue 7/5/2011 7:34 AM
>
>           To: newleaf at lists.hampshire.edu
>
>           Subject: [Newleaf] moving ahead with the sustainability
>           pledge
>
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>         Hi Folks,
>
>             I think that the first step with the sustainability pledge
>             is to figure out
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>             content.  I thought we could make a list of all the things
>             it could include.
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>             So, what do YOU think should be on it?
>
>
>
>             Here are the suggestions that we have so far:
>
>             - leave your car home and only use the zipcars and buses
>
>             -reusable mugs for coffee/tea (which also gets you a
>             discount)
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>             - not bringing a mini fridge
>
>             - bringing your own water bottle instead of buying bottled
>             water
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>             - buying used things
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>             - turning off lights and power strips,
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>             -biking a lot at hampshire
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>             - using reusable bags
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>             -keeping the heat at a reasonable level
>
>             - using cold water for laundry
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>
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>
>
>             -Rebecca
>
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