jbkrygier – Page 14 – Sustainability & Environment @ OWU

OWU Environmental Studies & Sustainability Progress, Spring 2016

A summary of established and ongoing efforts during 2015-16 in environment and sustainability by Ohio Wesleyan students, staff and faculty as well as off campus collaborators.

*Stitched together drone images of central Bahia Ballena-Uvita, Costa Rica. Environmental Studies / Geography Travel Learning Course, Fall 2015.*

Environmental Studies & Sustainability Progress, Spring 2016

March 7, 2016

A summary of established and ongoing efforts in environment and sustainability by Ohio Wesleyan students, staff and faculty as well as off campus collaborators. All the projects below are active during the 2015-16 academic year.

OWU Sustainability Plan: Drafted in the spring of 2015 and currently under revision, a comprehensive overview of OWU’s environmental and sustainability efforts with goals for future efforts.

May Move Out: A student initiated project in collaboration with Goodwill, to defer usable materials from the trash as students move off campus in May. 9.5 tons of donations collected in the spring of 2015. One year grant funding offset costs for the 2015 May Move Out. Efficiencies initiated by Buildings & Grounds have made the 2016 May Move Out possible without the grant and without additional expenditures over last year’s budget for dumpsters alone. Ohio Wesleyan’s May Move Out program was awarded the 2015 Recycling Award from the Keep Delaware County Beautiful Coalition.

Reusable Food Containers in Hamilton Williams Campus Center: A student project initiated in the fall of 2015 has met with success and is being expanded during the spring of 2016. A new dishwasher was installed in HWCC over the summer, making reusable containers an option. Limitations of OWU’s aging ID Card system and cash registers limit further expansion of the program.

Environmental Studies Mentored Minors: A Food Studies Minor (developed from the Food Course Connection) has been officially proposed to APC (as a collaboration between Health and Human Kinetics [HHK] and Environmental Studies). Two more minors, Sustainability and Climate Science are being developed.

Farm and Food Collaboration: Building on the Food Studies Minor and student interest in gardens, farming and food, OWU faculty in Environmental Studies and HHK are developing a collaboration between Stratford Ecological Center farms and the Methodist School of Ohio farms. Initial efforts will focus on student internships and engagement of OWU in a regional food network. With financial support for staff (donations or grants) campus gardens will be developed. Efforts will focus on the practice of ecologically sound farming, food production, regional food networks and social outreach (building on the existing Cooking Matters Program, organized by Dr. Chris Fink) to engage students and community members in growing food.

Environmental and Sustainability Internships: 10 internships at Stratford Ecological Center and the City of Delaware, spring 2016. Focused on environmental education, marketing, farming, and sustainability.

Amy Work (OWU '06) and Olivia Lease (OWU '17) working with drone imagery, Bahia Uviata, Costa Rica, January '16 — *Amy Work (OWU ’06) and Olivia Lease (OWU ’17) working with drone imagery, Bahia Ballena-Uvita, Costa Rica, January ’16.*

Global Environmental Change Collaboration & Travel Learning Course: OWU collaboration with Amy Work (OWU 2004) and her organization GeoPorter in Bahia Ballena-Uvita, Costa Rica. Learning and using environmental assessment methods in Delaware, Ohio (Fall 2015) and during a travel learning course trip (Geography 347) to coastal Costa Rica (January 2016). Goal: to understand how local environmental data is collected and relates to regional and global climate and environmental change.

*Proposed locations for chimney swift towers, near Stuyvesant Hall on the OWU campus.*

Chimney Swift Towers: A collaboration between students and OWU Alumni Dick Tuttle (OWU 1973) to build a chimney swift tower on the residential side of campus. Plans have been drawn up and a budget is being developed by a contractor. Funds will be provided by Tuttle. We anticipate construction this summer pending approval from B&G and OWU’s Administration.

Bird feeders near the Schimmel Conrades Science Center on the OWU campus.

Campus Wildlife Habitat Enhancements: Student efforts to install and maintain bird houses, feeders and solitary bee houses on campus.

The Place of Waste: Exploring Asian and Western Perspectives on Waste, Sustainability & Environment. Sagan National Colloquium & Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment. Funding received from the Luce Foundation and OWU’s Sagan National Colloquium by faculty in East Asian Studies and Environmental Studies to explore the idea of waste in cross cultural context. Funding for a Fall 2015 Symposium and Summer 2015 and 2016 travel to Asia. Next round of funding (up to $400k) to be submitted summer of 2016.

Green Week 2016: Building on a successful water-focused week of events in 2015, students are organizing another week of events for the spring of 2016 (the week prior to Earth Day).

Meek Retention Pond Native Species Planting: A collaboration between students and Friends of the Lower Olentangy Arboretum (FLOW) who have provided funds for the purchase of native plants, shrubs and trees to be planted adjacent to the Meek Aquatic Center retention pond.

Delaware Run Assessment and Restoration: Ongoing student research focused on restoring Delaware Run between Sandusky St. and Henry St. Emerging collaboration with stream restoration specialists who propose restoration of the stream and adjacent riparian zone in return for state of Ohio stream credits. Ongoing hydrogeological assessment, Spring 2016.

“Salamander Swamp” Restoration and Research: Student-driven efforts to rehabilitate a campus wetland (behind the tennis courts on Henry St.). Initial research has focused on environmental assessment of the impact of invasive species in the wetlands area.

Bottled Water Sales Reduction: Student-led efforts to drive down bottled water purchases on campus, including the installation of hydration stations and promotion of reusable water bottles. Chartwells reports declining campus sales for bottled water.

Food Recovery Network: Student-initiated effort to donate unused campus food to lower-income Delaware residents through a clinic nearby campus.

Invasive Plant Removal with Goats. Goats!

What if we used voracious megafauna – goats – to remove invasive honeysuckle? Amur honeysuckle is an invasive species covering large areas of the U.S. The plant has significant negative impacts on ecosystems and has been extensively researched. Mechanical removal of honeysuckle is typically recommended as most effective. However, mechanical removal is difficult, time-consuming, and thus costly. Might goats be the answer?

eating honeysuckle 2 — Meigan Day and her goat friend in the honeysuckle patch, Fall 2015

Meigan Day
OWU ’16, Botany and Environmental Studies

Amur honeysuckle is an invasive species covering large areas of the U.S. The plant has significant negative impacts on ecosystems and has been extensively researched. Mechanical removal of honeysuckle is typically recommended as most effective. However, mechanical removal is difficult, time-consuming, and thus costly.

What if we used voracious megafauna – goats – to remove the honeysuckle? Inspired by stories of “rent a goat” companies (who offer goats for brush removal) I proposed an experiment to determine if goats prefer the taste of honeysuckle over other native plants. If so, then they could be released into an area to and reduce the amount of labor require to remove honeysuckle.

Methods for the removal and eradication of honeysuckle have been studied: herbicide application and removal by a biological agents are the most common. Ultimately, mechanical removal is typically recommended. Research also suggests the time of year to remove the honeysuckle, how to keep it from returning, how it affects local water quality, and to what extent it affects the biodiversity of an area.

Honeysuckle significantly disrupts the biodiversity of forests but there are few people willing to dedicate their time to eradicating this invasive plant. Love et al. determined that between cutting, mechanical removal, stump application of herbicide, and foliar application of herbicide the most effective method was mechanical removal. This is accomplished by pulling smaller shrubs by hand, or with a Pulaski if they became too big. Mechanical removal is the most labor intensive method for removing honeysuckle and is the second highest in cost due to the need to pay workers.

Amur Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is tagged as an invasive species in many regions and can be found in eastern Asia and North America. The honeysuckle examined throughout this study is Lonicera maackii, also known as Amur honeysuckle, which appears as a large shrub that can grow 6 meters tall. It was introduced into many areas as an ornamental plant used for its flowers and hedge qualities. The overpopulation of Amur honeysuckle is known to destroy many native species coverage and fitness. This shrub does well in the shady habitat of a forest understory and on the forest edge where it grows very fast and out-competes native plants for resources, especially when it is the first greening species in the spring and the last to lose its leaves in the fall. Amur honeysuckle spreads throughout an area by the means root systems and seed dispersion. It produces bright red berries that hold numerous seeds and are eaten by birds that eventually disperse the seeds in their droppings.

The Toggenburg Goats of Stratford Ecological Center

I performed my experiments at the Stratford Ecological Center, south of Delaware, Ohio using their herd of Toggenburg goats.

If the Toggenburg goats used did prefer to eat honeysuckle over other vegetation the efforts to remove honeysuckle would require less manual labor. The plant species made available to the goats were Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), winged euonymus (Euonymus alatus), privet (Ligustrum), willow (Salix), beech (Fagus grandifolia), and maple (Acer saccharum).

These species were selected because Amur honeysuckle, winged euonymus, and privet are all known invasive species of Ohio and the native species selected were some of the few that still held leaves in the mid to late Fall. The three experiments were conducted on October 30th, November 5th, and November 12th 2015 and all of the plant samples were collected the day before feeding. Because the timing is later into the fall season many of the native plants had begun to brown and lose their leaves while the Amur honeysuckle and other invasive plant’s leaves remained green longer into the season. This was to promote the best conditions when honeysuckle would be found more favorable than the other species present.

Experiment 1: Taste Test

Goats are browsers that eat the foliage off vegetation, so in the first experiment the leaves of each species were pulled from the branch and placed into 5 liter feeding containers randomly placed throughout a barn pen. Female goats ranging in age were brought into the pen one at a time and given the chance to eat from the containers as they pleased. The goats eating behavior was categorized as either:

sniffed and moved on
tried and moved on
liked (ate for extended period of time)
returned (after leaving and eating another species)
favored (showed more interest than liked)

After five goats were brought through the pen one at a time the conclusion was that out of the six species of foliage available honeysuckle and winged euonymus were the most favored. Overall the invasive species were liked more than the natives, which were frequently tried and then passed by.

Following the same procedure with the foliage of each species in a 5 liter container, 2 goats were released into the pen at one time. It was clear that the goats were influenced by what the other goat had liked. If one goat would show any interest for a species the other would immediately join and eat it for at least a short period of time. Even with the two goats in the pen they showed preferences identical to each other and similar conclusion of the individual goats. The two goats appeared to favor honeysuckle but continued to return to winged euonymus; liked privet and beech equally; liked willow the least; both goats tried and moved past maple.

Experiment Two: Browsing Preferences

To continue controlled conditions in order to easily observe what the goats are showing preference for eating, for the next experiment whole branches of each species were collected and tied up to hang from the pen walls. The containers used in the previous experiment were familiar to the goats for holding food Hanging vegetation would give a more realistic comparison to forest browsing. Maple was not available for the duration of the experiments because it was difficult to collect a large enough sample due to leaf loses.

Five different goats were taken into the pen one at a time and none showed significant trends of preference. All of the goats displayed similar patterns of remaining at the first species that had been chosen and occasionally changing to a different species, trying them all in relatively equal amounts. After the first five goats were observed they were released back into the pen all at one time.

Because of the high demand for the plants the goats would begin at different species, with one or two goats sharing a particular sample. Overall the goats showed good browsing tendencies by walking around and eating all species that were available.

Experiment 3: Goats in the Field

A single goat was placed on a lead and taken to a nearby forest area. The area that was chosen had honeysuckle 2 meters tall and the size of shrubs as well as goldenrod and black berry that no longer held many berries left. Only one goat was taken because none of other the goats were accustomed to being on a lead and are not easily walked to destinations far from the barn. The goat showed no true preference for any of the species available and moved from one plant to the next without showing much real interest.

This final experiment suggests that goats (or at least the one goat tested!) are not useful biological agents for eradicating honeysuckle, to the extent that they don’t distinguish between honeysuckle and non-invasive species. Honeysuckle appeared to give no taste benefit to the goats in order to increase their favorability. Goats are known for having a palate for taste similar to a human. They avoid foliage that has high concentrations of tannins that give a bitter taste and prefer vegetation that produce berries. On the other hand honeysuckle is known for creating extremely dense thickets and this research suggests that goats would be useful to cutback these overgrown areas. Once the goats have reduced the vegetation people would be able to access the area and manually remove the honeysuckle. Alternatively, repeated early spring and late summer goat assaults on the early and late leafing honeysuckle might slow, stunt or possibly kill honeysuckle. More research is required.

Discussion

These experiments were conducted with the help of Stratford Ecological Center for providing the goats and the land. Bob Harter, the invasive species management team leader, had high hopes that these experiments to show that goats preferred to eat honeysuckle because his team consisted of only two people. They were available to assist Bob pulling invasive species only a few hours a week at a 236 acre state reserve. Forming an alliance with the goats could only help. The director and farmer of the facility, Jeff Dickinson, was in fact surprised by how much the goats ate the honeysuckle equally to the other foliage that was provided. From his previous experience the goats had always shown avoidance for honeysuckle. With this new information there are future plans to use the goats to cut back the overgrown vegetation in an area on the state reserve that is bursting with honeysuckle. Once the goats have cut back the vegetation, volunteers can continue to remove the honeysuckle on the property and further restore biodiversity of the forest.

Reference

Love, Jason P., and James T. Anderson. “Seasonal effects of four control methods on the invasive Morrow’s honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii) and initial responses of understory plants in a southwestern Pennsylvania old field.” Restoration Ecology 17.4 (2009): 549-559.

OWU Earns “Keep Delaware County Beautiful” Award

Ohio Wesleyan’s May Move Out program was honored Dec. 3 with the 2015 Recycling Award from the Keep Delaware County Beautiful Coalition.

Ohio Wesleyan’s May Move Out program was honored Dec. 3 with the 2015 Recycling Award from the Keep Delaware County Beautiful Coalition. May Move Out is supported with a grant from Delaware Knox Marion Morrow Solid Waste Management District (DKMM SWD). OWU earned the award for helping students to recycle unwanted goods when they left campus for the summer. The “May Move Out” program recycled about 9.5 tons (19,000 pounds) of materials, benefiting Goodwill Industries and keeping reusable items out of area landfills.

OWU’s May Move Out effort was initiated by students and continues to engage dozens of student volunteers. Information on the first few years of the program is here.

The Keep Delaware County Beautiful coalition, led by the Delaware General Health District, provides recycling and litter prevention programs and environmental education activities to residents and businesses in Delaware County.

More information on the May Move Out can be found here.

OWU Press Release Here.

Tossing The Trash Habit

Imagine if you will: a world without garbage. No landfills, no dumps, and no garbage trucks driving down the street once a week to pick up bags and bags of trash. It’s a nearly impossible world to imagine, but for the past 3.5 weeks, I have tried to do my part to get a little closer to that world.

by Reilly Reynolds (OWU ’16)

Imagine if you will: a world without garbage. No landfills, no dumps, and no garbage trucks driving down the street once a week to pick up bags and bags of trash. It’s a nearly impossible world to imagine, but for the past 3.5 weeks, I have tried to do my part to get a little closer to that world. I delved into the lifestyle modernly known as “zero waste”…or at least I attempted.

I made a plan all those weeks ago to take the steps necessary to reduce my garbage footprint. I made a list of what I would do to toss my trash habit. I would:

Collect all the trash I did make in a mason jar so I could evaluate what I used the most of.
Carry reusable items with me everywhere.
Create DIY products to replace some of my more waste intensive/ less planet friendly products.
Reduce my consumption of packaged/processed foods.

The first day of my new lifestyle, I bought a hot chocolate without thinking about the reusable mug I had with me. I gained a paper cup to throw in my mason jar. The second day, I realized that every time my school dining hall charges for a meal, an automatic, unrecyclable receipt prints

We live in a trashy world. As such, I had to get creative. I started saving my receipts, and I crafted a to-do list note pad. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a start. At least those tiny slips of glossy paper will have one more purpose before the landfill gets them.

My goal was to have only accumulated one mason jar of trash by the time the month was up. With three days of the month left, I have filled two jars.

Examining the contents, I see:

2 paper coffee cups
6 single-serving chip bag wrappers
3 granola bar wrappers
And various kinds packaging from food, clothing, and assorted day-to-day items

I consider the month a success. I didn’t hit my goal, but I did learn a lot about my consumption patterns, and I made decisions I wouldn’t ordinarily make. I started refusing straws at restaurants, carrying my own take-out containers with me, and sending an email to my school’s dining services director to see if there’s anything we can do about those blasted receipts.

I followed my plan pretty closely. I carried my thermos, travel mug, water bottle, cloth napkin, and silverware with me everywhere, and though it frustrated some baristas and servers, others accepted (and even praised!) my sustainable choices.

My processed food consumption could be improved. Chips are my downfall, but I suppose I will just have to learn to make my own. After all, it turns out I’m okay at making my own things. I crafted natural hair mousse, laundry detergent, a foot scrub, and body moisturizer this month! Once I run out of my current shampoo and conditioner, I’ll try my hand at those too.

Will I continue my zero-waste trend? That’s the plan. We’ll see if I can meet my mason jar goal next month.

For me, being zero-waste has become more than a new way of life. It’s also a mission, a challenge. It’s a way to start recognizing the patterns of consumption that we all take for granted every day. It’s a way to make change, and encourage others to ask questions.

Perhaps most importantly, trash stinks for the Earth, and we’re running out of places to put it. So rather than finding a new landfill spot, I propose that we cut our consumption.

Let’s take a hard look at what we buy, why we buy it, and how we can buy it more sustainably. Let’s vote with our wallets.

Let’s write letters to corporate executives and ask for less (or at least more Earth friendly) packaging. Let’s make change, because we can.

In fact, it would be a waste not to.

Perhaps most importantly, trash stinks for the Earth, and we’re running out of places to put it. So rather than finding a new landfill spot, I propose that we cut our consumption.

Let’s take a hard look at what we buy, why we buy it, and how we can buy it more sustainably. Let’s vote with our wallets. Let’s write letters to corporate executives and ask for less (or at least more Earth friendly) packaging. Let’s make change, because we can.

In fact, it would be a waste not to.

Environmental & Sustainability Internships for 2016

Ohio Wesleyan’s Environmental Studies Program and Sustainability Task Force have formalized several internship opportunities for students at the Stratford Ecological Center and the City of Delaware. The internships are suitable for credit via the 495 Apprenticeship or Internship credit most departments offer.

Ohio Wesleyan’s Environmental Studies Program and Sustainability Task Force have formalized several internship opportunities for students at the Stratford Ecological Center and the City of Delaware. The internships are suitable for credit via the 495 Apprenticeship or Internship credit most departments offer (you will need a faculty member to agree to oversee the 495 credit). The internships can happen in the spring semester, and, potentially, in the summer.

Please let Dr. Anderson, Dr. Amador, or Dr. Krygier know if you have any questions.

City of Delaware Internship:

The City of Delaware is seeking student interns to work on sustainability planning for Spring 2016. Interns would work with Public Service Director Dan Whited to identify sustainability needs and priorities for Delaware and would also work with the Sustainability Task Force at Ohio Wesleyan University to highlight areas where the city and university could partner to move sustainability efforts forward. Students will gain valuable experience in city planning and the workings of city government. Students can gain academic credit for this internship by signing up for a unit of 495 (apprenticeship credit) with a faculty supervisor at Ohio Wesleyan.

Interested students should contact Dr. John Krygier or Dr. Nathan Amador for more information.

Stratford Ecological Center Internship:

Spring 2016 internships are available at the Stratford Ecological Center. The internship can focus on a range of topics related to sustainable agriculture and environmental education, such as organic gardening, bee-keeping, agroforestry and maple syrup production, and sustainable animal husbandry. The attached flier provides more information. Stratford Interns need an on-campus faculty supervisor in order to gain course credit through the 495 class section. Download a flyer (here) for more information.

Interested students should contact Dr. Anderson for more information.

OWU Campus Sustainability Month ’15: How to be a Lean, Green Machine

October is Campus Sustainability Month, and I’m here to be a little green angel on your shoulder and share a few ways to spruce up your space in an eco-nomic way.

Reilly Reynolds

When most people think of “going green” there is an image that pops into your head of bread that tastes like cardboard, embracing the smell of body odor, and asking people to call you Sister Willow.

While all of those things are well and good, being sustainable doesn’t have to be so crunchy and counter-cultural. It simply entails caring enough about the state of our planet to make meaningful changes and encourage others to do the same.

October is Campus Sustainability Month, and I’m here to be a little green angel on your shoulder and share a few ways to spruce up your space in an eco-nomic way.

Green Tip #1: Invest in an organic pillow! Conventional pillows are made with chemicals like polyurethane foam which can interrupt regular sleep patterns, and are energy intensive to make too! Swap your pillow for one from Naturepedic (naturpedic.com) or Sachi Organics (sachiorganics.com) and sleep like a baby. With all that (re)new(able) energy you can start a green revolution!

Green Tip #2: When thinking about décor for your room, think less about plastic based products from retail stores, and think more about DIY! You can make things yourself that are one of a kind and reuse materials that would otherwise be thrown away. Think about making a green terrarium out of old glass jars (you can find unique ones at thrift shops!). Instructions are easy to find online, and your new plants will help improve your air quality. Other DIY ideas: home deodorizer (it’s 2015 and aerosols are so out), record player bookends, and pillows made from old t-shirts.

Green Tip #3: Clean up your laundry routine. Conventional detergents often contain artificial colors and fragrances that can irritate your skin. When you dry your clothes, you unnecessarily use energy to do a process that the air will do all by itself, given a little more time. Often, your clothes will end up less wrinkled and smelling fresher if you hang dry. And one more thing: If you use dryer sheets, they leave a thin coating of formaldehyde and other chemicals on your fabric. Yuck.

Making your own laundry detergent couldn’t be easier.. 2 cups baking soda + 1 cup Super Washing Soda + ½ a bar of grated castile soap = a super cost effective way to live greener and feel good about your laundry day. If you prefer a store bought option, Seventh Generation makes a great detergent.

You’re ready! Get out there and rock the world, eco-warrior. And if you have any questions, feel free to email me at rjreynol@owu.edu.

12th Annual Olentangy Watershed Forum October 22, 2015

For the past 12 years, the Olentangy Watershed Forum has connected citizens and experts who wish to explore issues that impact the quality of life in the watershed. This year’s agenda is filled with professionals who will speak on topics pertaining common sense approaches to keep the Olentangy Watershed healthy

12th Annual Olentangy Watershed Forum 2015:

Best Management Practices for a Healthy Olentangy River

When: Thursday, October 22nd, 2015 from 9am – 3:15pm. Doors open at 8am.

Where: Liberty Township Complex at 7761 Liberty Rd N. Powell 43065

OWU Students have attended this Forum in the past and had a great time. Please contact Krygier if you are interested in attending (and we can arrange transportation).

ORGANIZED AND SPONSORED BY:

For the past 12 years, the Olentangy Watershed Forum has connected citizens and experts who wish to explore issues that impact the quality of life in the watershed.

This year’s agenda is filled with professionals who will speak on topics pertaining common sense approaches to keep the Olentangy Watershed healthy. Confirmed speakers include:

Jed Burtt: Biodiversity
Eugene Braig (OSU): Best Practices for Healthy Ponds
Amy Dutt (Urban Wild): Liberty Park Stormwater Improvements
Jason Fyffe (OEPA): Olentangy Stormwater Construction Permit
Dr. Jay Dorsey (ODNR): Stormwater Best Management Practices

Plus reports from the Olentangy Watershed Coordinators, Del-Co Water and Preservation Parks.

After our networking sessions, we will host a walking tour of the Liberty Park Stormwater Best Management Practices.

This forum is for local residents, water resource professionals, township officials, landowners, and farmers who want to learn about water quality issues in the Olentangy Watershed and what effective planning strategies can be employed.

Come and get an update on all the initiatives in the Olentangy River. Why is this important? The river serves as our drinking water supply, provides recreational relief from the urban environment and is an essential link for wildlife survival. The more you know, the more you can help protect the Olentangy.

Forum Specifics: The cost to attend the Forum is free but registration is required. Seating is limited to 100, so walk-ins will be accommodated if space is available. Lunch will be provided.

Registration: Pre-registration requested by Monday, October 19th. For more information or to register, please contact Erin Thomas at ethomas@delcowater.com or 740-548-7746 ext 2221

Press Contact: Laura Fay, Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed, 614-580-2656

Choices for Sustainable Living Course | Stratford Ecological Center | Oct 1 – Nov 19, 2015

Earth Institute Course: Choices for Sustainable Living
When: October 1 – November 19, 2015: Thursdays 6:30pm-8pm
Location: Stratford Ecological Center
Cost: $30

Choices for Sustainable Living discussion course is part of a series developed by the Northwest Earth Institute in Portland, Oregon. The series is promoted by Simply Living in Columbus, Ohio. Their aim is to educate and motivate people to live more simply and sustainable in their lives. This course provides participants a powerful opportunity to explore sustainability more deeply and learn its unique meaning from individual, societal and global perspectives. We are excited to offer this updated eight week course, including introduction, for up to twelve people. The course is participant led with no right or wrong answers, providing an opportunity for open discussion. The $30 fee covers the postage and cost of the hard-copy book.

If interested in attending, let John Krygier know and maybe we can arrange ride-sharing.

2015 OWU Campus Bird Nesting Season Data

Earlier this year a posting about Bird, Bee & Bat Habitat on OWU’s Campus detailed the construction and placement of, among other things, a series of bird houses and feeders on OWU’s campus. Dick Tuttle has documented the bird’s use of the houses and feeders over the summer and provides the following report.

Earlier this year a posting about Bird, Bee & Bat Habitat on OWU’s Campus detailed the construction and placement of, among other things, a series of bird houses and feeders on OWU’s campus by Jayne Ackerman (OWU ’15, jjackerm@owu.edu), Blake Fajack (OWU OWU ’16, zbfajack@owu.edu) & Dick Tuttle (OWU ’73, ohtres@cs.com).

Dick has documented the bird’s use of the houses and feeders over the summer and provides the following report.

Bird Houses

All four nestboxes with 1-1/8 inch entrances produced a total of 23 native birds. The small entrance holes are designed to exclude non-native House Sparrows. Here is a detailed report on those boxes. Boxes #1 and #2 are in the back yard of the Tree House. Box #1 raised six House Wrens with the box being active with eggs and young from May 16 – June 19. Box #2 fledged five House Wrens and was active between July 6 and August 7.

Box #3 stands at the corner of the Student Observatory directly north of the Tree House and across a parking lot. House Wrens caused two chickadee nest attempts to fail before the wrens raised six young after laying their first egg on June 16 and fledging their last nestling on July 19.

Box #4 is located among evergreen trees between the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center and the Mowry Alumni Center. A first nest attempt by Carolina Chickadees failed after four eggs were laid but the second nest was successful between May 2 and June 6 to fledge six chickadees. I have not removed the old nest from this box.

A Wood Duck box located between Delaware Run (creek) and Henry Street remained inactive all season. Perhaps, lights from the stadium are a problem. Relocating the large nest box should be considered once Delaware City completes their plans for the stream where it runs through campus. Wood Duck boxes can also raise Eastern Screech Owls.

On April 13, 2015, students Jayne Ackerman and Blake Fajack and I installed four Carolina Wren boxes on two Student Living Units after three or so other students helped with construction and painting. I did not check these boxes until the end of the season and I only looked at them from the ground. The two boxes at the Inter-Faith House showed no signs of use while one of two boxes at the Citizens of the World House had nesting material sticking above the entrance slot. The box had been active and is located near the ceiling of the carport. My advice is to leave the nest material in the box so Carolina Wrens can roost in it this winter. If the nest contains any moss, it belongs to a Carolina Wren. A House Sparrow’s nest will not have moss, but will have grass with some trash items, etc.

Bird Feeders

I serviced the bird feeder station in front of the Chappelear Drama Center all summer while I only filled the thistle feeders at the station at the Science Center. I reactivated the Science Center feeders on Sunday, August 23 to greet returning students.

The large hopper feeder at the Science Center is one of two that I built for OWU. The second one resides in my basement waiting for an idea for its location. I would like to install it where students live and near a main artery where it could be watched as students walk from their campus “homes” to and from their classes.

The ears of corn on the hopper feeder are for Blue Jays. Blue Jays are common at my home, but so far, none of the ears of corn on campus have been pecked at. Even the resident crows have avoided the corn. Maybe, once the second hopper is installed, I believe Blue Jays will become more visible on campus.

Conserve on,
Dick Tuttle

May Move Out 2015 – Results

OWU’s Spring 2015 May Move Out focused on getting students to donate reusable items to Goodwill (by placing them in storage pods) while moving out of the dorms. Overall about 19,000 pounds of material was collected by Goodwill throughout the May Move Out period. That is about 9.5 tons of material kept out of the landfill (and close to our estimated 10 ton diversion rate).

OWU’s Spring 2015 May Move Out focused on getting students to donate reusable items to Goodwill (by placing them in storage pods) while moving out of the dorms. The effort worked well given our goals of diverting stuff from the landfill (and to Goodwill) while clearing the dorms (in preparation for their summer use).

Overall about 19,000 pounds of material was collected by Goodwill throughout the May Move Out period. That is about 9.5 tons of material kept out of the landfill (and close to our estimated 10 ton diversion rate).

Earlier this year, Ohio Wesleyan was awarded $10,000 from the Delaware, Knox, Marion, Morrow (DKMM) Joint Solid Waste District through the efforts of OWU’s Sustainability Task Force.

Overall, we rate the effort a B with areas of improvement to include promotion and logistics.

Of the larger items, according to Goodwill, we collected 45 mini refrigerators, 12 bins of textiles, 37 misc. wares, 13 futons, 14 office chairs, 18 rugs, 27 storage containers and a dozen or so misc. chairs.

Our Goodwill partners were very happy with the effort, as were OWU’s Buildings and Grounds and Residential Life staff. In other words, we have a model that can, with some tweaks, work in the future.

With overall success come a series of problems and proposed improvements to consider.

Problem: Promotional efforts did not work as well as possible. This will be a big challenge for May Move Out 2016.

Michelle Smith pulling a nice bike out of the dumpster. Potential donations were removed from the dumpsters by May Move Out volunteers. When asked, a signficant number of students professed ignorance of the May Move Out effort.

Solutions:

Earlier efforts to inform students and RAs, Fraternities and SLUs about the May Move Out effort. Promotion in the last month of classes came at a time when everyone was distracted by many other issues. Consider outreach efforts that will reach students already hit by a barrage of information.
Consider a fall and early spring promotional effort with a Goodwill truck with a “May Move Out 2016 (Early!)” banner parked in residential area. Possibly a similar effort mid-spring semester. Allow for early donations (as well as faculty and staff donations) but focus is to raise awareness for the actual May Move Out.
Banners for May Move Out on each donation pod. Potential for green balloons floating above pods.
Organizations and groups to help with outreach: Tree House, UC 160 Sustainability focused section, spring 2016. Students and courses in Environmental Studies.
Brainstorm promotional ideas:
- Pod Puppies: puppies (from Companion Dogs company?) for end of semester stress relief and promotion of May Move Out
- Green Week or Earth Day promotion
- Have a contest (like Greek Week) based on how much you get donated (organize by floor, dorm, SLU, etc.)
- Swag? Green Week efforts? Social Media?

Problem: Lots of recyclable material, particularly paper and cardboard, in the dumpsters. Part of the problem is the lack of a recycling program in the City of Delaware for businesses and multi-tenant buildings (such as the dorms on campus).

A May Move Out promotional poster (above) in the dumpster!

Lots and lots of paper and cardboard in the dumpsters.

Solutions:

work with the City of Delaware on this problem
investigate dual dumpster / recycling bins
improve campus recycling on the residential side of campus, in particular many of the cardboard boxes were from Aramark cleaning materials.

Problem: Limited donation dates and times meant that materials that could have been donated were thrown in dumpsters (for example, over night when the donation pods were locked).

Donations left by a locked donation pod overnight (above).

Solutions:

Have pods placed on campus earlier.
With better promotion, students will know to leave donations by the pods if they are locked. Banners: “May Move Out Goodwill Donations. Leave it Here if You’re Not Sure”

Problem: Students have a tendency to toss everything (including potential donations) in the closest dumpster or garbage can.

Potential donations in a dumpster that was closer to the dorm than the donation pod.

Potential donations dropped off by the trash can closest to the dorm exit.

Solution:

Better promotion of May Move Out effort to encourage students to carry their donations the extra distance to the donation pods
Adjust donation pod locations so that donations can be made by all well used dumpsters (see image above). Attempt to get donation pod closer to dorms than the dumpsters.
- Bashford pod: try to get dumpster and pod closer and facing same direction

Problem: too many nearly unused donation pods near SLUs and Frats.

Things were very quiet at the donation pods near the SLUs (Small Living Units) and Frats.

Solution: This is actually a good thing, as it means we will probably need fewer donation pods for the Spring 2016 May Move Out (saving some money).

Work with Fraternities & SLUs to determine if donation pods are needed and where they should be. Possible that the fraternities and SLUs can organize an effort to get donations to the donation pods near the dorms, rather than have their own donation pod.
Revised May Move Out Promotion effort for Fraternities and SLUs

Additional ideas and issues:

gloves for volunteers at each pod
hours for each pod posted on pod
have real estate lock boxes for pod keys (rather than pick up and drop off)
encourage volunteers to circulate – don’t have to stay by assigned pod