Signing up for V515 was a bit of a gamble, as I am not part of any SPEA programs nor did I know anyone who had taken this course previously. I was hoping it would relate to my interest in connecting sustainability to the higher education realm, which it actually did. That was one of the things I enjoyed most about the course: connecting the material in this class with my courses in the School of Education. A lot of rich conversation in my other courses stemmed from things I learned in V515 and I even felt that I brought I different perspective to V515 being the only non-SPEA student at the table. The blog was a pretty significant challenge for me. It felt as though I was a step behind everyone not being a SPEA student. While I was busy doing research and developing my base knowledge of the ideas posed in class, many of my classmates seemed to already have the base knowledge that they could springboard off of to craft engaging and thoughtful blogs. This challenge was appreciated, however, because I had to work hard to research and synthesize new ideas, something I desire to do as a graduate student.
Concerning the out-of-class experiences: these were all things I would have done on my own anyway so they weren't as much of a challenge.Becoming more involved in the sustainability community in any place I live is something I strive to do, so this gave me a great opportunity to explore what Bloomington has to offer and familiarize myself with my options for acquiring sustainability knowledge. Additionally, in having to write the blogs, it was nice to have built-in time for reflection on those experiences though. I know that if I had gone to these events and not been forced to sit and reflect, I may not have made the same connections to my life or explored as deeply the experience I had and I appreciate that opportunity. I think the JITT method for the twitter feed does along with this too. Having to slow down and digest the readings each week in a critical way helped the words on the page come to life in my own world and illuminated a lot of things that were going on around me that I had never noticed before. The links to articles and videos related to the various topics we discussed also built my arsenal of websites to read and reference regarding sustainability.
Finally, some criticism. The NESCO project has been difficult to define in my head for a while and I think it boils down to the fact that I felt very powerless in the process. The task force working on this initiative has been doing so for quite some time now and I felt as we moved forward with the project that what I was bringing to the table was old news or just plain not feasible. Perhaps this had to do with the focus of my group (the brownfield site) but I had a hard time feeling like I was actually useful to this organization. I do hope that the overall effort of our class aligns with what their expectations were coming in and I am looking forward to hearing how they feel about what is presented on Tuesday.
Overall, I had a few a-ha moments in this course this semester. I have also gleaned a lot of valuable tools to use moving forward in my sustainability-focused career (The CBSM is amazing!!!!). I appreciate the thought and innovative techniques that were built in to the class structure; it kept things interesting and certainly kept me on my toes. Thank you for a great introduction to sustainability here at IU. It was the perfect way to get to know what it looks like to be a green Hoosier.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Final Personal Project Post
The final results of the Energy Challenge came my way this past week which was exactly what I needed to round out my personal project. From the beginning, I had wanted to devise ways to get residents involved in sustainability measures in their own community and the Energy Challenge was a great vehicle to test that with. Leading up to this past week, I had no idea how Teter Quad had fared in saving energy and water during the month of October and whether or not the programming I conducted with students had made any sort of impact on actual usage.
Below is the breakdown of how much electricity and water Teter Quad used during the challenge in relation to their baseline. Here, the baseline is calculated by taking the previous year's usage and correcting that data with base 65 heating degree days (L. Walters, personal communication, December 4, 2013). The units are percentages of baseline usage on any given day, i.e. on October 17, Teter Quad used 115% of their baseline resource usage as calculated from the previous year.
Below is the breakdown of how much electricity and water Teter Quad used during the challenge in relation to their baseline. Here, the baseline is calculated by taking the previous year's usage and correcting that data with base 65 heating degree days (L. Walters, personal communication, December 4, 2013). The units are percentages of baseline usage on any given day, i.e. on October 17, Teter Quad used 115% of their baseline resource usage as calculated from the previous year.
What I was interested in is if there was any correlation between the programming I put on and a drop in usage after the programs. The programs we held in Teter revolving around the Energy Challenge were a movie night on Tuesday, October 29 and an Ugly Sweater Party on Friday, November 1. The basic idea of the Challenge was explained to residents and there was food and prizes available at both events to entice participation. Unfortunately, in looking at the data, there doesn't seem to be much correlation between the events and the impact it had on usage. In fact, it seems the opposite may have occurred. Between October 29 and the end of the challenge, resource usage increased a few percentage points compared to the baseline.
This is discouraging, considering that I actually got a lot of positive response from residents verbally and in a short survey we administered at the events. The students who did attend (approximately 80 total between the two events) admitted to understanding more about sustainability after the events and even said they would use that new knowledge in their daily lives moving forward. I suppose this is a small proportion of the Teter Quad population (about 14%) so the effect that small of a group can have on a larger building may be minimal.
However, in a way, I still see this project as a success. The fact that 80 student attended programs dedicated to sustainability and conserving energy and positively received the programs is supremely exciting and I hope to ride that momentum into next semester's challenge.
Moving forward, in reviewing my plans for the RA sustainability workshop I will be conducting in the spring, I would love to get the feedback of RA's to use to tweak the presentation. Then, with an edited and honed down presentation, I would hope to use the presentation to inform many student groups in the residence halls about the importance of sustainability. This could include floor communities, student governments, community councils, academic leadership councils, etc. The opportunity to train so many students in short little increments is immense in the residence halls and I look forward to exploring this idea in the upcoming semester.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Small Business Saturday in Fort Collins
Over Thanksgiving break, I made my way back home to Colorado. I spent the holiday relaxing and working at my mom's home in Fort Collins. In between day hikes, delicious home-cooked meals, and football, we decided to do some holiday shopping. While discussing plans for where we would like to shop, my mom and I quickly realized a mutual interest in shopping local for our gifts this year. Between the breweries, coffee shops, kitchen stores, and book and music stores we figured we could find something for everyone in the family right there in Fort Collins. We decided to venture out on Small Business Saturday, a "shopping holiday" created by American Express in 2010 to promote economic activity in one's local community. Here's a quick promotional clip about the idea:
We started our day at La Creperie, a small French bakery and restaurant with the best croissants this side of the Rocky Mountains. As we sat drinking espresso and digging into our pastries, we casually chatted with our server, Jean Claude, as he whizzed past our booth to help other customers. In the brief conversation we had, he said he noticed an uptick in business on this particular Saturday, although his Saturdays tended to be generally busy on their own. I explained that it was Small Business Saturday and that that may have been the cause for the cardio workout he was getting serving tables. Jean Claude seemed genuinely excited to know about Small Business Saturday and wanted to know more. I told him about our household choosing to purchase our holiday gifts locally, to keep our money within the community, and he mentioned that that was something he tried to do as a general practice. It made sense to Jean Claude, as an employee of a small business, to support his friends and neighbors in the hope that they would reciprocate down the road. He also mentioned La Creperie partnering with local agriculturalists to source more local food products to enhance the quality of their food and support local farms. It seemed like a great idea to me, something a lot of businesses already do in Fort Collins and beyond, and gave him the name of a local coffee shop that sourced all of its prepared food locally.
Next, we stopped in Curiosities, a gift shop full of items from local artisans. As I was walking around, I asked a sales associate how the day was progressing. She mentioned that they were so grateful that Small Business Saturday had finally rolled around because the flooding from the Fall had really taken a bite out of their sales. Interestingly, I hadn't pondered the implications of the flooding on small business in the area and how its economic effects could have rippled out months after the actual incident. The floods were a distant memory for many by now, but for Curiosities, and a lot of other small businesses in the area, they were a daily challenge to overcome even months after. Being able to purchase items at Curiosities for my loved ones not only made me feel like I was able to give back to a community I know and love so deeply, but it provided me with a backstory I can tell the recipients of the gifts about their items, where they were purchased, and why it was important to me to purchase from local vendors. I was not only giving a physical gift to my friends and family but also a piece of me, something that isn't really possible to do at Target or Walmart.
Fort Collins takes Small Business Saturday seriously, especially in the Old Town area of the city. Old Town serves as a gathering point for the Fort Collins community, hosting festivals, First Friday Art Walks, local bars, restaurants, and coffee shops, and many, many local businesses. The area is nicely landscaped, inviting, dog-friendly, and easy to navigate via bike, car, or as a pedestrian. It even served as the inspiration for Disneyland's Main Street, USA! It is not uncommon to see the sidewalks of Old Town bustling with people throughout the day and into the evening during any part of the week. For Small Business Saturday, many businesses advertised up to 50% off merchandise or coupons to cut the cost of shopping at a retailer that may not always be able to give the lowest price for an item on your wish list.
Here's coverage of Small Business Saturday in Fort Collins by the local newspaper:
We started our day at La Creperie, a small French bakery and restaurant with the best croissants this side of the Rocky Mountains. As we sat drinking espresso and digging into our pastries, we casually chatted with our server, Jean Claude, as he whizzed past our booth to help other customers. In the brief conversation we had, he said he noticed an uptick in business on this particular Saturday, although his Saturdays tended to be generally busy on their own. I explained that it was Small Business Saturday and that that may have been the cause for the cardio workout he was getting serving tables. Jean Claude seemed genuinely excited to know about Small Business Saturday and wanted to know more. I told him about our household choosing to purchase our holiday gifts locally, to keep our money within the community, and he mentioned that that was something he tried to do as a general practice. It made sense to Jean Claude, as an employee of a small business, to support his friends and neighbors in the hope that they would reciprocate down the road. He also mentioned La Creperie partnering with local agriculturalists to source more local food products to enhance the quality of their food and support local farms. It seemed like a great idea to me, something a lot of businesses already do in Fort Collins and beyond, and gave him the name of a local coffee shop that sourced all of its prepared food locally.
Next, we stopped in Curiosities, a gift shop full of items from local artisans. As I was walking around, I asked a sales associate how the day was progressing. She mentioned that they were so grateful that Small Business Saturday had finally rolled around because the flooding from the Fall had really taken a bite out of their sales. Interestingly, I hadn't pondered the implications of the flooding on small business in the area and how its economic effects could have rippled out months after the actual incident. The floods were a distant memory for many by now, but for Curiosities, and a lot of other small businesses in the area, they were a daily challenge to overcome even months after. Being able to purchase items at Curiosities for my loved ones not only made me feel like I was able to give back to a community I know and love so deeply, but it provided me with a backstory I can tell the recipients of the gifts about their items, where they were purchased, and why it was important to me to purchase from local vendors. I was not only giving a physical gift to my friends and family but also a piece of me, something that isn't really possible to do at Target or Walmart.
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| Beautiful Old Town Fort Collins - pedestrian and dog-friendly |
What was especially cool about Curiosities was the interaction with local artists they provided that Saturday. The shop invited many of the artists to hang out in the store for the day, sharing their passion and process for their creations with the general public. I had a great discussion with Will, a local woodworker who makes furniture out of pine beetle kill wood. Will praised Small Business Saturday as a great opportunity to get out of his shop and thank his customers for their patronage. Unless he is working on a commissioned piece from a specific client, he mentioned, he rarely interacted with his customers. He felt the opportunity to be in-store with his creations was a great way to solidify relationships with clients and entice them to become repeat customers. It was also a convenient way to genuinely show his gratitude for those who support his work and livelihood.
Small Business Saturday was a wonderful way for me to connect what we read in Roseland a few weeks back about sustainable economies and the prevention of economic leakage. The overall experience was also more satisfying as the consumer. Being able to actually engage in conversation with local artisans and business owners while I was shopping leant to a more meaningful experience and the conversations I had can be stories I pass along to the recipients of my holiday gifts this year. I also find it interesting that American Express, an enormous credit card company, would initiate an event like this. I imagine it has earned them significant public support and positive publicity but I am unaware of any additional gains from their affiliation with the event.
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