I keep hearing rumors about a garden at 乐播传媒; what鈥檚 the deal with that?聽Do we have one now? Are we going to have one in the future? 聽Help! I am a huge gardener myself, and if there is an opportunity to get into that here I want to as soon as possible!

-Got a Green thumb and Gotta Garden

Dear Got a Green Thumb and Gotta Garden,

You have brought up this question at just the right time: we are starting a community garden right now! I repeat: BATES IS GOING TO HAVE A COMMUNITY GARDEN! This garden is particularly exciting because it will not only be a space in which community sharing, gathering, and learning can occur, but also because some of the food grown will go directly to commons. So, what鈥檚 the plan, process, and status right now you ask? Well, first, the Garden project needed to be funded, and with the help of a Green Grant, the 乐播传媒 Office of Sustainability, and 乐播传媒 Dining, the EcoRep Garden Coordinators were able to get the ball rolling. Next, the Ecoreps needed to find a space that would work land-wise, space-wise, etc. After surveying a couple different options, it was settled that the best spot for this garden would be behind Multi-Faith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf鈥檚 House. Finally, there needed to be a plan to care for the space and make sure that it could really be successful. This plan transformed into the new Garden Club, which will collaborate with the Ecoreps to care for and cultivate the space. Additionally, there are going to be two interns hired every summer to care for the garden. As you mentioned you have a green thumb, you might really enjoy joining in the garden fun through either the garden club or as an intern, or both! But, for those of you who aren鈥檛 sure about gardening, but want to give it a shot there will also be plenty of opportunities throughout the year to work in the garden, including events (like EcoService Day), classes, and planting/weeding/harvesting sessions (garlic/pumpkins in the fall!). I am getting a little ahead of myself though; the plan for the rest of this (school) year is to begin planting, clearing the land, and preparing beds during short term, then growing for the first season this summer! Then, as a new Fall rolls around, the garden will be ready for harvesting and cultivating! Nonetheless, as this is a community garden, the community work starts now, (even before the land is ready), so if you are interested and have time this week, there is going to be a planting session in the greenhouse! To hear more about that or ask any questions, as well as to get on the Garden Club Listserv, you can email the Ecorep Garden coordinators: nhoude@bates.edu and kgaillar@bates.edu. Last, but not least, I wanted to share a poem that the EcoRep Garden Coordinators shared with me in response to your question, I think it is quite nice and says a lot of the info I鈥檝e offered here but in a way more fun way! Enjoy!

“The new 乐播传媒 Garden is a place for all

Students, faculty; the boundaries fall.

We hope this will act as a learning space

As well as a productive place!

Without Tom and Dining, this project would be a mess

They鈥檝e provided support, time, and resources, in excess.

We need to extend our thanks to the student body too:

It is their support and excitement that has really pulled us through!

It will truly be a struggle to clear our plot of land

But the new Garden Club will be able to lend a hand.

As the snow fell, we dreamed of green and seeds

Thanks to our educational lecture series, we won鈥檛 just grow weeds!

Looking ahead; 2 summer interns will be helping our first plants grow

So that next year more students can be in the garden before the snow;

And 鈥済arden-engaged鈥� courses will never again be rare!

Most importantly, though, we鈥檙e getting a pergola for Tom, and bees for Adair.”

Thanks for writing!

-Sustainable Abigail

One thing that I鈥檝e been thinking about recently (especially with the recent change in daylight) is the way we use lighting on campus. Can we adjust the lights across campus to be more efficient? (i.e. do we really need ALL the lights on in Commons or the library or in academic buildings during sunny days?) I can鈥檛 wait to hear back, thanks!

-Looking to Limit Lighting

Dear Looking to Limit Lighting,

Thanks for writing! You bring up a really good point, and one that is important to think about. After reading your question, I reached out to John Rasmussen, 乐播传媒鈥� Facility Services Energy Manager, who shared with me a lot of great info about what鈥檚 going on in that aspect of 乐播传媒 sustainability. One thing that came up, which I also mentioned in last week鈥檚 article, was the conversion of campus lighting to LED technology. According to John, this is a three phase project, during which the metal halide and high pressure sodium technology lighting will be converted and will ultimately reduce power requirements for lights by 50-60%. Another element of these new technologies is a 鈥渟ense occupancy鈥� function installed with every fixture, which is similar to the the function installed on various iphones and computers that dims or brightens based on the light conditions where the fixture is installed, as well as turns on or off based on the sensory input. Utilizing the process of 鈥渄aylight harvesting,鈥� or adjusting lighting based on the amount of sunlight in a space, as well as installing occupancy sensors, which turn the light on or off based on movement, are both exciting and inherently logical ways to save energy. So, to your concern about lighting during sunny days, don鈥檛 fret, 乐播传媒 is on it! John has started making these changes in places that have long hours of operation, giving the example of Carnegie hallways as a first stop. Of course, this is a long process, and with a finite budget, it is slowed even further. Also, even though we鈥檝e done a lot and are continuing to do more, there is always even more that can be done. Students making little behavioral changes, like turning off lights or utilizing 鈥渢ask lighting鈥� (concentrating the light you are using to the task at hand), can also have an impact on using lighting efficiently on campus. All in all, we can all be held accountable in different ways when it comes to being efficient with lighting, energy usage in general, and of course the larger sustainability initiative. As always, thanks for writing!

-Sustainable Abigail

One refrain that has persisted from my very first introduction to living a more sustainable life to now is to always, always turn off lights whenever leaving a room. Of course this makes sense, wasting energy is bad and this is a quick simple way to avoid doing so, but my question is whether this refrain is as universally applicable to all situations as it seems? That is, should I ALWAYS turn off lights, even if I鈥檓 only going to be gone for 30 secs? No? At what point is it saving electricity? Thanks!

-On Again Off Again

Dear On Again Off Again,

This is a great question, and something I鈥檝e often wondered about myself. After I started to do a little digging, I found out that the answer is pretty dependent upon the type of light bulb. So, let me break it down for you, beginning first with the most common (and unfortunately least energy efficient) residential lighting: Incandescent Lights. Incandescent lights are those that one might think of as 鈥渢ypical鈥� light bulbs, or recognize from an early 2000鈥檚 鈥淭he Fray鈥� album cover. These lights are quite inefficient due to only about 10% of the energy that they use producing light, with the rest actually going to giving off heat. What all of this means is that if the lighting in a room uses incandescent bulbs, you should flip the off switch really whenever you can. The same actually goes for another type of lighting, 鈥淗alogen lighting,鈥� which are also relatively inefficient (though more efficient than Incandescent lights), so worth turning off whenever possible. Now, it gets a little trickier when it comes to other types of lighting, like Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). While there are a variety of types of CFLs, one type that you might recognize is the 鈥渟piral鈥� CFL bulb, the type that has multiple strands making up the bulb shape. CFLs use about 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs, and because turning them off and on shortens their life span, there is a different standard for what to do with these lights. Here鈥檚 what I鈥檝e found for situations where a CFL bulb is used: 鈥渋f you will be out of a room for 15 minutes or less, leave it on. If you will be out of a room for more than 15 minutes, turn it off.鈥� Last but not least are LED lights, which are great because not only are they more energy efficient, but also their lifespan is unaffected by turning them on and off! These bulbs are particularly relevant to us here at 乐播传媒, because 乐播传媒 is in the process of converting to LED bulbs campus-wide! Hooray! I hope that this was helpful to you, and if you want to learn more about this topic in general here is the great source that I used for my own research: . As you can see, there are a couple factors that play into this question of when to turn off lights, but overall, as long as the bulb is not a CFL, it is safe to say you should always try to turn off the light! Thanks for writing!

-Sustainable Abigail

*Content originally published in The 乐播传媒 Student Newspaper*

We Ecoreps have been hearing a lot of talk about some confusing sustainability terms that are often thrown around 乐播传媒 and can be quite frankly isolating to those who aren鈥檛 as familiar with sustainable practices and processes. For that reason, I wanted to take this opportunity to explore one term that is particularly relevant to the 乐播传媒 campus: 鈥淩FO,鈥� or 鈥淩enewable Fuel Oil.鈥� Renewable Fuel Oil is relatively new energy source derived from burning wood or wood-based feedstock. It is a term that is particularly relevant to 乐播传媒 because it is source of energy that our Campus has relatively recently begun to utilize, and plays a large role in keeping all of us warm during these winter days! This oil, also referred to as 鈥渂iocrude,鈥� actually has had past lives in a variety of products such as the food seasoning liquid smoke. So, if you spend any time near Merrill and the Maintenance building, don鈥檛 be surprised if you catch a whiff of barbeque, it鈥檚 from the RFO boiler!

The coolest part about RFO is that it is 100% renewable and has much lower carbon emissions than other energy sources. On January 10, 2017, 乐播传媒 became part of the renewable energy movement by switching from natural gas to RFO for our primary heating, and has since cut down our campuses emissions by around 83%! This is an incredible number, and is made even more exciting when put into the context of 乐播传媒 actually being at the forefront of this new energy wave as the first educational institution and only college utilizing RFO! So, how are we able to do this? Well, 乐播传媒 works with the only commercial producer of this oil, a Canadian-based company called 鈥淓nsyn.鈥� Ensyn was established in 1984, with hopes to explore the field of carbon-based feedstocks. Through the years, the company established a series of relationships that eventually led to a successful entry into the renewable fuels business, and today they produce 10 million gallons of Biocrude per year at a facility in Port Cartier, Quebec. While right now Ensyn is focusing on the U.S. Northeast as their primary consumers, hopefully their reach will continue to expand and contribute to a widespread transition to cleaner energy.

I had the chance to talk to the 乐播传媒 energy manager John Rasmussen, a key player in 乐播传媒鈥� conversion to RFO, and he shared with me some of his excitement about this project: 鈥渢he most exciting thing about [our campus conversion to RFO] is it鈥檚 impact on sustainability. This plant was the major source of emissions for the campus, and so that鈥檚 the major reason why we did this: it reduced the emissions by 80%!鈥� Rasmussen鈥檚 enthusiasm is shared by all of the Ecoreps, and is hopefully also shared by the entirety of the 乐播传媒 community! If you鈥檙e interested in learning even more about the 乐播传媒 conversion process, or even just the company Ensyn, here are two helpful links to explore: /news/2017/01/26/campus-construction-update-jan-27-2017/ and . Also, be sure to check out the EcoReps latest newsletter for even more data on the impact of RFO on the 乐播传媒 Campus. I encourage you to look more into Renewable Fuel Oil, and other alternative energy sources as well, as it is important to stay connected with and reflect on where our energy that we often take for granted it coming from!

-Sustainable Abigail

*Content originally published in The 乐播传媒 Student Newspaper*

I live in Cheney house, and I notice that the recycling is being filled with trash and the trash is often filled with recyclable materials. Do 乐播传媒 students just not care about proper waste disposal and recycling? And if this happens, does the entire recycling bin have to become a trash or is there someone that sorts out the trash from the recyclable materials?

-Revolted by Refuse (Improperly Recycled)

Dear Revolted by Refuse,

Yikes, I鈥檓 afraid you have hit a raw nerve for me Revolted by Refuse. I worry constantly about what 乐播传媒 students are thinking about when they improperly dispose of waste, because we 乐播传媒ies are in a unique position on this campus to have some pretty intricate and helpful waste receptacles. Nonetheless, it is an important point to address: sometimes waste gets lost in the hands of those who may not know what to do with it, or in the hands of those who may be too lazy or unconcerned to make the effort. As much as it grinds my gears that there are still instances where trash ends up in recycling and vice versa, it also is an important thing to note because it brings up a sad but realistic part of working in sustainability: half the job is making sustainability the easier option in any given situation. Now, I realize that this is a hard thing to swallow, and I make no claims that this is always the case nor that it should it be. As a founding figure in Environmental Ethics Aldo Leopold once warned, we must be wary of the mistake of attempting to make conservation easy to the point where it becomes trivial (246 A Sand County Almanac). Nonetheless, where we are at this point in time does involve the work of making sustainability easy. The Ecoreps spend a lot of time trying to make sustainability accessible and preferred, because in the fast paced world that 乐播传媒 students and beyond live, the largest and most basic strides towards a more sustainable world are going to come from making sustainability a norm, and to do that, it realistically has to be an easy option. So, I guess what I鈥檓 saying here is that it perhaps is not that 乐播传媒ies don鈥檛 care about proper waste disposal, but that there are so many other things going on things just get lost along the way, and unfortunately one of those things is proper waste disposal sometimes. Now, I鈥檝e only spoken to the first of your questions, and your second question is a great one too. Unfortunately, I don鈥檛 have a happy answer for you. So here鈥檚 how it works: If the waste that is meant to be brought to the recycling company from 乐播传媒 is comprised of more than 15-20% landfill waste, then the entire load is compromised. That is, if overall our campus鈥檚 recycling load has too much improper/non-recyclable/landfill waste, none of the recycling will be recycled! Oh boy. Another layer of this is that our custodians are aware of this issue, so they too act as a check, and will just send a recycling bin鈥檚 load to the landfill pile if they deem it too full of landfill trash. As I鈥檓 sure you can tell, this is a pretty worrisome reality in the context of realizing how much landfill waste gets improperly disposed of. So, beyond making the sustainable option, i.e. correctly recycling, more appealing and easy, what do we do? This is a really hard question, and honestly it just comes down to awareness. The Ecoreps do what they can to educate and publicize sustainability knowledge on campus, but in reality, we are only about .05% of the 乐播传媒 population. It is just as much up to you and everyone else to spread the word and make change, because truly we all have a lot more potential influence in the context of sustainability on campus than we may realize. I do have some great news to end on though: if you are interested, the Ecoreps have come up with a new recycling poster/directory that can be hung above any waste receptacle to help the process of sorting waste go a little smoother. You can email any Ecorep at all, or even write to me, to request a poster for your dorm. It sure sounds like Cheney could use it, but I bet there are more places on Campus that could too!

-Sustainable Abigail

*Content originally published in The 乐播传媒 Student Newspaper*

I鈥檓 a huge yogurt person! Unfortunately, I always feel bad eating yogurt in Commons because we just have the individual yogurt cups (unless it鈥檚 a Sunday hooray for Greek Yogurt!), and it seems like a lot of packaging. I remember hearing once that 乐播传媒 had some sort of deal with the Stonyfield Yogurt Company that allowed them to help with our sustainability. I can鈥檛 quite recall the details on that, but if that was the case at some point, is it still? Also, what exactly did it entail? Thanks so much!

-Don鈥檛 Want to Give Up Yogurt

Dear Don鈥檛 Want to Give Up Yogurt,

I too am an avid yogurt eater, and do understand where you are coming from with the concern about packaging. If every 乐播传媒 student eats one yogurt everyday for a week that is around 14,000 wasted yogurt cups. In one month that becomes about 56,000, and in one academic year we鈥檙e looking at about 448,000 yogurt containers (give or take, this is a rough estimate).

In any case, that is a LOT of little wasted plastic containers. Fortunately, you are correct: 乐播传媒 does have a great relationship with Stonyfield Farm and they actually collect and recycle all of these 448,000 yogurt cups! So every time you are eating a yogurt, don鈥檛 worry too much because Commons and Stonyfield are looking out for each of our individual impacts. Nonetheless, your question inspired me to do a little research regarding the sustainability of our yogurt. It turns out we are pretty lucky at 乐播传媒 to support Stonyfield! Stonyfield is one hundred percent organic and to the best of their abilities aid and invest in family-farmer-supplied organic milk by not only exclusively purchasing milk from family farms, but also investing when they can in strategies to aid family farmers as well as in organic education and research. However, of course, there are a lot more factors that go into being sustainable.

One such that is great to have on your radar is the carbon footprint of the food products that you consume, or what is called the 鈥淐O₂e鈥� score of the product. This score is the 鈥渃arbon dioxide equivalent鈥� score, which references the amount of greenhouse gases emitted throughout the entire life cycle for a product. So for example, thinking about yogurt, the CO₂e score of yogurt with fruit is about 306. Now, let鈥檚 compare that to an alternative breakfast food: a Tuesday or Thursday omelet with meat and cheese in it has a CO₂e score of 1573! In other words, in terms of carbon footprint, there are many worse things than yogurt. Thinking about the carbon footprint of the different foods you eat is a great way to get serious about being sustainable in even more nuanced ways. Thanks so much for writing, and thanks for caring about the way your food has a big impact!

-Sustainable Abigail

*Content originally published in The 乐播传媒 Student Newspaper*

Hello! Let me start by saying first, I really value 乐播传媒 initiatives that aim at increasing Sustainability, and there is nothing I dig more than a campus that cares about such things. Nonetheless, obviously there are a ton of different people on this campus studying a ton of different things, and it seems fair to say that not all of the different majors cover important environmental sustainability topics. 聽I have recently declared my major, and have found that I am running into this very issue with the classes that I am required to take. I wish I could learn more, but I also love my major and value everything I get from it. I also really feel like even if I knew more generally, I wouldn鈥檛 really know how to implement any changes to contribute to my local community (ie. 乐播传媒) even though I think it鈥檇 be great to do so. How would you recommend expanding my horizons to learn more and then act more, because I do feel like I have a bit of a disadvantage in terms of contributing to a more sustainable world?

Best,

At a loss about learning more

Dear At a Loss,

You bring up a good point here. Even though we live in a time where so much information is extremely accessible, it is easy to get caught up in our own field of study and at that, world, and miss out on learning about other things such as Sustainability, let alone take action to contribute to change regarding Sustainability! A quick and easy answer is to check out the Ecorep鈥檚 monthly newsletters, which all have valuables facts, initiatives, and resources that can up your sustainability knowledge. There are also opportunities like JA sustainability educational programs, Ecorep facebook and instagram educational posts, and events during Sustainable Ethics week, which is right around the corner. However, this question also calls to mind an incredible exciting opportunity that we have as 乐播传媒 Students. 乐播传媒 College is officially a member of the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN)!!!! 鈥淲hat is that?鈥� you say, 鈥渨hy do I care?.鈥� Great questions! So, PLAN is a network that aims to connect and support students from college campuses across the campus, and offers a range of opportunities to help these very students to become leaders on campus and make a change by launching zero waste projects. Again, you say 鈥淪o what?.鈥� Well, here鈥檚 what. Being a member of PLAN means that all 乐播传媒 students with a bates.edu email address, (i.e.: ALL BATES STUDENTS), have access to Digital Leadership Trainings, Best-Practice Manuals for Waste-Reduction, One-on-One Advising from Plan Staff, and Discounts on Sustainable Products and Services. Simply by using your 乐播传媒 email address to create an account with PLAN, you will quickly be able to participate in various Workshops and Leadership Certification training sessions such as 鈥淐omposting Programs,鈥� 鈥淔ree & Thrift Stores,鈥� 鈥淒eveloping a Zero Waste Road Map,鈥� 鈥淩epair Caf茅 with iFixit,鈥� and 鈥淧LANning a Project from the Ground Up.鈥� These are just a few of the many workshops with which to engage, and learn about sustainability and even better, how to promote it and take action on campus. If that wasn鈥檛 great enough, you can turn to the 6 different Best Practices Manuals that they offer members, which give even more info about how to make sustainable changes on campus! If neither of those two were great enough, (and trust me, they鈥檙e pretty great), PLAN also offers One-on-One advising with staff members who can go over your questions, ideas, and projects with you step by step over the phone. Wowee that is pretty neat. Finally, as far as the discounts go, while we sustainable people are not huge proponents of consumerism, there are some great companies that PLAN gives 乐播传媒 students discounts on, including Klean Kanteen (40% off!), Gear Aid, Patagonia, Sheffa, and many more! Now, I know I gave you what essentially seems to amount to a large sales pitch in this answer, but I really do hope I answered your question. 乐播传媒 is not only sustainable in itself, but really does want to encourage students to participate and engage in that sustainability because we are all incredible and talented people. So, make an account with PLAN, and start right away, because I know you can do a lot! Thanks for writing!!

-Sustainable Abigail

*Content originally published in The 乐播传媒 Student Newspaper*

I am a first-year at 乐播传媒, and one of the reasons I love it so much here is for all the efforts I see daily to make the campus a more sustainable place. I love that we don鈥檛 have paper cups, and that we have special recycling bins, and everything around that I see. But, one thing I often think about is energy, and more specifically solar energy. So, I鈥檝e just been wondering, are we moving towards solar energy on campus?

-Energetic about (sustainable) energy

Dear Energetic about (Sustainable) Energy,

I鈥檓 really glad you brought this question up! It鈥檚 pretty wonderful that you are so excited about sustainable energy, and I do have some answers for you. You may or may not know that 乐播传媒 has a house in Phippsburg, Maine, called 鈥淪hortridge,鈥� that students are welcome to reserve and visit with clubs throughout the year, as well as stay at and do research or work in the area during the summer. This house is pretty neat for a multitude of reasons, including its beautiful location right down the road from Popham Beach and its warm, homey atmosphere. However, speaking as a Sustainability advocate myself, I think the best part about Shortridge is that just this year Shortridge has become 100% solar! Over the past two years, the Ecoreps and others involved in 乐播传媒 sustainability have been contributing to this important work by doing research, garnering support and funding for the project, and eventually helping install the solar panels to the roof. Finally, this year, the work was complete. In October 2017, Shortridge officially became 100% solar, and 乐播传媒 officially became even more sustainable. If you are interested in learning more about that process, check out this great article that was written about it, which includes a video of the installation process: /news/2017/11/16/campus-construction-update-shortridge-goes-100-percent-solar/.

All of that being said, I still haven鈥檛 gotten around to your main inquiry. In regards to whether 乐播传媒 is moving towards solar on campus, the answer is鈥� YES! Shortridge鈥檚 solar energy was one step in a long walk towards 乐播传媒 solar and other renewable energy practices. As we speak, the sustainability heroes of 乐播传媒 are in the process of researching funding sources and related contributors that play into making solar energy a reality on the main campus. Of course, this is a long process and quite a feat, so it won鈥檛 be something that happens tomorrow, but keep your spirits up because solar on campus is definitely in the works! Thanks for writing!

-Sustainable Abigail

*Content originally published in The 乐播传媒 Student Newspaper*

I鈥檝e always admired commons for their commitment to sustainability–with the mug club, the local food, and the various waste bins. However, I鈥檝e also always wondered what happens with the liquid waste? Especially now that we have the separate spot at the dish return to pour our liquids down, I鈥檓 just wondering where all that goes?

-Lingering questions about Liquids

Dear Lingering questions about Liquids,

Great question, the chute down which our leftover liquids go is a pretty mysterious place. I鈥檓 really glad that you brought this question up, because it actually brings up a lot of important points. But, first, to answer your question: all of the liquids that are poured out in commons into the liquid waste place simply go into a bucket and then get dumped down the drain. Unfortunately, while our food waste can be repurposed for the pig farmer鈥檚 use, liquids are a whole other issue. They are simply not useful for 乐播传媒鈥檚 purposes nor for the farmers purposes; thus, every cup of water, juice, soda, coffee, etc. poured down the liquid waste chute is just that: waste. Which brings me to the first important point that this question raises: a necessary awareness of how much liquid we are taking versus how much we are actually drinking. You may have noticed the increase in size of the plastic cups, part of the initiative to rid Commons of paper cups last year, and thought 鈥渨ow look how much orange juice I can drink now!鈥� While this is true, there is a lot of space for orange juice, the worry with the larger cups is all of that extra orange juice that never makes it into your stomach. Liquid waste is a significant issue at 乐播传媒, and just as it is important to only take as much food as you are going to eat, it is important to only take as much liquid as you are going to drink, especially because any leftover will go down the drain. The second point that I wanted to briefly touch on was that of the other waste receptacles that we have throughout campus, with spots for recycling, compost, landfill waste, and of course, liquid waste. While this liquid waste is similarly wasted in that it gets poured down the drain, it is still important to separate any liquids into it because if any liquids end up in the recycling section of the waste receptacle, then that entire batch of recycling gets compromised. Liquids can damage paper fibers thus compromising their ability to be reused (check out this link for more tips about recycling right! ). So, try not to waste liquid products and take only what you are going to drink. However, if you must waste them, put them in the proper location so as not to harm other important waste processes. Thanks for asking, write again soon!

-Sustainable Abigail

*Content originally published in The 乐播传媒 Student Newspaper*

Thank you so much for participating in changing the way we interact with and appreciate our world. I know at times the environmental plight can seem overwhelming and dire, and the individual impact that we all have can seem small, but I just wanted to send along some holiday cheer and a reminder that each and every person can make a change that aids the health of our planet, and ultimately our relationship with our home. I want to do so by sharing with you an incredible change that some of our very own 乐播传媒ies made happen. This year, a group of 11 motivated 乐播传媒 students representing all class years came together and participated in the 鈥淢aine Food System Innovation Challenge,鈥� a challenge that called for a creative and inspired idea for addressing and supporting 鈥渢he expansion of production, distribution, processing, and consumption of local, sustainably produced food and seafood.鈥� It was a big task to take on, but the 乐播传媒 team took it in stride, sharing in the teamwork, motivation, and thoughtfulness that went into the process. The planning stages of the project took many weeks and many meetings at the Ronj, involving ideas such as 鈥渆dible landscaping to using milk that was past its expiration date (but still perfectly fine to consume!) to make yogurt at a kitchen in Mill #5 in Lewiston.鈥� While all of these ideas were exciting, the group settled on pursuing a project involving gleaning, which entails 鈥渞educing food waste by distributing excess crops to people who could use them, rather than leaving good food in the field to rot,鈥� hoping to connect farmers to gleaners and make a significant difference in food waste. As they developed the idea further, the days passed quickly until finally the big competition day was upon them. The weekend of the competition involved an 8 am to 5 pm workshopping day on Saturday, followed by the various teams pitching their idea on Sunday. During the workshopping, the 乐播传媒 team met with 鈥渙ver 15 professionals from Maine involved in all aspects of the food industry and/or running a business, including lawyers from Drummond and Drummond, the owner of Rosemont Bakery in Portland, farmers from all over, a representative from Sodexo, and more!鈥� Sophie Landes described the experience as a wonderful learning opportunity, noting 鈥淥ur team went into the competition with very little prior business and entrepreneurial experience. Through the wide variety of experts brought in for consulting and step by step guidelines on how to create a value proposition and business model canvas thanks to the organizers of the competition, we were truly able to learn so much over the course of a single weekend.鈥� After a long weekend of inspiration and hard work the team was finally ready to pitch their idea. They took to the stage, and in a live-streamed presentation, delivered an incredible plan to make a change to the way we address 鈥渢he twin challenges of food waste and food insecurity, both locally and beyond.鈥� After all of the teams had presented their ideas, the time came to announce the winners. The 乐播传媒 team sat anxiously listening; as third place was given to another team and second place given to yet another. Their hopes were falling when suddenly the announcer proclaimed 鈥淎nd First Place goes to the 乐播传媒 College team!鈥� While I, Sustainable Abigail, was not there, I can only imagine the crowd went wild. The first place team received a cash prize of $2,500 to implement their project. Professor of Environmental Studies Francis Eanes will be teaching a Winter Semester and Short Term course called 鈥淯rban and Regional Food Systems鈥� in which students will continue working on this project and making it a reality. 鈥淪o what?鈥� you may ask, 鈥渉ow do I know that I can do that too?鈥� This project and sustainable change was founded in the passion and inspiration within just a few 乐播传媒 students, and came together when they shared in and built upon each other鈥檚 thoughtfulness and creativity. If you have an idea, or a question, or even the beginnings of a thought about making a difference for good, rest assured you are not alone and there are people at 乐播传媒 and beyond that want to help you make the world a little better. Perhaps every idea won鈥檛 come with the $2,500 cash prize, but I can guarantee that every idea you have will spark an inspiration and conversation in someone in your community and beyond, and that is the first step. Just remember, keep your head up and your heart open to making a difference, because you can!

Happy Holidays,

Sustainable Abigail

*Content originally published in The 乐播传媒 Student Newspaper*