Clothing Swap Recap!

This week we have two posts from some fellow Green Clubbers to hear their takes on the clothing swap a few weeks ago! If you are interested in writing a blogpost, let us know at the next meeting!

With Black Friday on the horizon, it’s easy to get caught up in the consumerism of the season. Sales on everything you knew or didn’t know you wanted or needed, from half-price electronics to life-size teddy bears. As fun as gifting, flying home, and making tons of food can be, we often forget that all these goodies take a hefty toll not just on our bank accounts but on the environment, too. So when I heard about Green Club’s clothing swap I was eager to participate, as it’s a great way to get more things but with less of an impact.

 Students from all over campus brought clothes to Pocket Park last Friday, and a half a dozen or so volunteers – myself included – took up the task of turning a mountain of motley bags into a presentable display. Within an hour, the articles of clothing were sorted by type, and students peaked in before opening to see what was in store. The swap was organized as a one-for-one, meaning that for a clothing item or a dollar you could take one item – anything from a sequined crop-top to a blazer – in exchange. By the official start of the event the place was buzzing with students (and even staff!) ransacking the piles for hidden gems.

Everyone who came walked away with an exciting find, showing that one man’s trash really can be another man’s treasure. But what’s the best part? All of the leftover clothing was donated to those in need in New Orleans, and all of our “new” clothes were simply up-cycled and, true to our cause, 100% green.

Green Clubber

Roxanne Heston

            I had never been to a clothing swap before and I was anxious to go to the Green Club’s one because it seemed like a cool idea. I didn’t realize that I had conjured any expectations of it until they were immediately proven wrong when I arrived to Pocket Park Friday afternoon – the setting of the swap. I was expecting a table – yes, just one – with a giant pile of clothes all jumbled and tossed around. I imagined a few members of the green club monitoring this table with a few other members of the green club sifting through the hodgepodge of clothing in effort to find something they could wear for a situation such as Halloween or Mardi Gras. So after school on Friday I scrutinize my clothes that I brought with me to Tulane and grab four t-shirts to bring to the swap. Upon arrival I was stunned by the size and effectiveness of the swap. There was a table at the entrance where you could bring your own clothes to earn credits. Each piece of clothing was one credit and shoes were two. Then there were various tables and racks with sorted out clothing, pre-organized for swappers, including, tank tops, t-shirts, casual and fancy shirts, dresses, rompers, shorts, pants, ect. Some of these were even divided by gender – for example men’s pants and woman’s pants. I was really impressed; also at the amount of people that were present. There were constantly people at each table finding stuff they liked and asking their friends for their advice. I found a cute winter dress, a pink tank top, and two pairs of shorts – one of which was Brandy Melville! Once I was ready I made my way to the check out table to mark off my credits and to show off the gems I found.

            I imagine it would be very difficult to leave that clothing swap disappointed. Mostly because of how happy I left the swap myself but also from seeing how excited people were, running up to their friends and showing them something they found. Now, a few weeks subsequent, I can’t even count the amount of people that have come up to me asking me when the next clothing swap is. Either they went to it, were just as blown away as I was, and can’t wait for the next one or they heard from a friend how awesome it was, are heartbroken they missed out, and want to make sure they make it to the next one. Either way, all those people and myself are waiting and excited for the next one.

Green Clubber

Catherine Urso

Powershift 2013 Recap

This weekend we sent 17 green clubbers to Powershift, a nation environmental convergence in Pittsburgh, where they attended workshops, listened to speakers, and met other students from around the nation. Speakers ranged from 12-year old activist and songwriter Takaiya Blaney to entrepreneur and environmentalist Tom Steyer. With an overwhelming choice of topics and discussions each day we split up and headed towards the issues that interested each one of us the most. We heard stories from Coal Country, learned economic alternatives to capitalism, talked about permaculture, and strategized about divestment.

One of the coolest things we learned this weekend was about the intersectionality of the environmental movement. Whether you’re more interested in issues of race, class, sexuality, or overall social justice, it all relates to climate change. All of these issues interact on multiple levels and it was fascinating to hear how students and leaders are working across the nation to create clever, multi-dimensional solutions to the existing problems.

National leaders and innovators such as Michael Brune of the Sierra Club and Bill McKibben of 350.org called upon us, the youth, to take action and make our voices heard. Over 6,000 students came together this weekend and stood in solidarity, vowing to take a stance against climate change and even if you couldn’t make it, the power is still in your hands. Get involved, join us! We’re always open to suggestions and now that we’re back on campus we’re excited and itching to take action. If we learned one thing from this weekend it’s that this is OUR movement and we’re ready to fight.


Created with flickr slideshow.

Second Line for Sustainability Recap

Don't know if you heard, but this weekend we had what could be the biggest Green Club event ever!

We teamed up with 350 NOLA on Saturday to host our Third Annual Second Line for Sustainability- coinciding with 350.org's national day of action against Keystone XL Pipeline. Not only did we succeed in getting the fact that tar sands threaten New Orleans out to tons of French Quarter bystanders, we had over 200 people participating in our action!

We rocked out with Lagniappe Brass Band in true New Orleans fashion, putting our own unique stamp on the incredible action going on all over the country. Who knew rallying could be so much fun? Our journey ended at St. Mark's United Methodist Church where speakers addressed the crowd- Bishop Shelton Fabre, Scott Eustis of the Gulf Restoration Network, Cherri Foytlin a Gulf Coast activist, and Anne Rolfes of the LA Bucket Brigade all gave us a different spin on why standing up against tar sands is standing up for our city!

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped make this event such a success- and keep the momentum going! We have two other awesome sides of environmentalism to check out this week- a NOAA fisheries hearing on Tuesday and marsh grass planting on Saturday, we hope to see all your smiling faces soon!

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A Good Start

Hey Guys!

We are excited to report on all of the exciting activities that have taken place in the last few weeks. We began the year with our first meeting with over 100 attendees! We discussed the history of Green Club, our role here on campus and introduced the following action groups: BOSS (Back to Old School Sustainability), Composting, Ninja Task Force, Recycled Paper, Take Back the Tap, Reusable Containers. Make sure to contact us if you are interested in joining one of these groups!

We also had a pretty awesome table at the activities expo, where we distributed buttons and clementines, along with collecting information of people looking to be a part of Green Club.

This past Saturday, Green Club headed over to TREE (Teaching Responsible Earth Education), which is a camp for local youth to learn more about the environment. Though the camp was not in session during our visit, we helped clear trails, general cleaning and even arts & crafts!

The program is super cool, as we even got to experience TREE as a camper when they described their nutrient cycle and food systems exercises.

 This Tuesday, we had a screening of the documentary Dirty Energy, directed by Bryan Hopkins. We had 45 people show up and were lucky to welcome the director himself to share some insight on the making of the film and Raleigh Hoke, the communications director of Gulf Restoration Network, to provide some context to film, which centered around the aftermath of the BP oil spill in 2010.



We hope to see everyone at our next meeting Tuesday, Sept 17 in Boggs 104 at 7:30 PM. If you cannot wait until then, we will have a hike this Saturday in Black Creek, Mississippi. We will also be attending 350 NOLA's first meeting at the Bayou Beer Garden on Sunday, Sept 15. Shoot us an email for more details!

Welcome Back!

Today marks the first day of classes and the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. We are all excited to have our first meeting of the year next Tuesday, September 3 in Boggs 104 at 7:30 PM. Make sure to mark your calendars and also tell your friends to join us, as we will be discussing tons of pretty cool information as well as some ideas for the new year.

Don't worry if you can't wait until next week, as we will have some events this week as well. We will have a stand at the activities expo this Thursday on the quad, so make sure to stop by, as we will be handing out candy and have some sign up sheets for both new members and members from past years. On Saturday, we will have an informal Fly day after Outreach Tulane. It will be at 3 PM, so try to stop by there as well!


Remember to follow us on Twitter and check out our Facebook page for more information. Thanks for reading!

Bringing in the new (school) year 2013-2014

By Anne Bevis

Hello All!

This will be my first post of the year as Green Club president. I want to lay out some of my goals for the year as well as my hopes/ dreams/ sensual green club fantasies. We have some absolutely AWSOME stuff going on this year starting with our second line for sustainability (date to be announced), the Powershift conference in October, several bayou marsh grass plantings (Clare, Alex and I just did one, it was a lot of sweaty fun), our fabulous bi-weekly meetings and much more!

This year we plan to work with a wide range or organizations: Bike Easy, Gulf resoration Network, the Juggling club, the Green Project, YLC, Unity, Verdigras, Sierra Club, Green Light New Orleans and many others.

Some on campus goals that I have:

• Get Bruff-to-go to start a pilot re-usable container program. Watching all that plastic get thrown away makes me cringe.
• Get Green Club involved with YLC wednesdays where we would serve as walking recycling cans while listening to great music and hanging with some awesome people!
• Host another debate with the poly-sci department. Last year we hosted a nuclear power debate which was a huge success. This year we're thinking fracking as the topic of choice.
• Go on more outdoors adventures/ camping trips!
• Canvass for music festivals AKA spread environmental awareness and get into concerts for free
• Screen some award-winning environmental documentaries in partnership with TUCP 

I'm excited to inherit some great Green Club traditions such as the Semesterly clothing swap which has saved literally hundreds of tons of water by avoiding new purchases (as well as keeping all our wallets much fatter!)  as well as the Crawfest vegetarian boil and delicious corn bread where we are the only vegetarian option present. I'm also excited for our members- new and returning-that make green club so great! We have a passionate, quirky, awesome group that has caused some real change on campus as well as in this great city!

What  I really want to know is what do YOU want to see this year?!

54 Arrested Protesting KXL's Study's Conflict of Interest

State Department hired a firm that lied on its conflict of interests form

 

by Nick "Taco" Stracco

 

The State Department is in its final steps of assessing the environmental impact of the proposed 36-inch wide, 1,179-mile long Keystone XL pipeline. The project would bring tar sands oil from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico for sale abroad. The pipeline has been wrought with controversy from the start, but new developments have turned up the heated debate. Amid criticism from the EPA, claims of merely 35 permanent jobs, a likely increase in energy prices in America, TransCanada's history of tar sand spills, and anomalies in the existing southern section of the pipeline, opponents of Keystone XL can now add conflict of interests to the  growing  list of reasons to reject the proposed project.

CONSULTING FIRM HID BUSINESS TIES TO TAR SANDS COMPANIES

Friends of the Earth along with The Checks & Balances Project recently discovered that Environmental Resources Management (ERM), the company that wrote the bulk of the State Department's environmental review of the project, lied on their conflict of interest form filed with the State Department. FOE and the CBP compiled a dossier of publicly available documents showing the very clear conflict of interest and deliberate lack of disclosure by ERM.

In their papers to the federal agency, ERM assured the State Department that “ERM has no business relationship with TransCanada or its affiliates”, when in fact the two have been working together since at least 2011 on a pipeline in Alaska. In addition ERM claimed to have no relationship with businesses that would be affected by the pipeline. FOD and the CBP's report discovered that ERM has done business with over a dozen companies with stakes in Alberta's tar sands that are fit to benefit if the pipeline is built.

54 ARRESTED AT ERM'S OFFICE

Last Friday a coalition of environmental groups, including 350.org and Walk for Our Grandchildren to orchestrate a day of civil disobedience to protest this corruption of transparent environmental review. Over 100 people gathered at the office building that houses ERM. 54 people entered the lobby and refused to leave when the police asked them to do so. Six of them chained themselves to one another with a black tube connecting their arms that read “NO KXL.”

I personally partook in this day of action but was not one of the 54 who got received court dates. With our friends in the lobby waiting for the next of six police wagons to pull up, about 70 more of us were outside showing our support for them and denouncing the lies of ERM. Many people who were intrigued by the commotion stopped to listen to what we were upset about. Every person that gave me the chance to fully describe the bias of ERM agreed that it is inappropriate for the State Department to accept their report on the pipeline.

CALLING ON THE STATE DEPARTMENT TO SCRAP THE REPORT

It does not take extensive knowledge on the subject to understand that ERM is not the proper firm to assess the environmental impact of the Keystone XL project. Because of this clear breach of trust to conduct an objective study, a group of 30 organizations wrote an open letter to Secretary John Kerry asking him to restart the environmental review of the project, to punish ERM for lying on federal forms, and to initiate an investigation into why the department failed to notice these clear conflicts of interest.

It seems possible that if FOE and the CBP did not catch this conflict of interest, it would have gone unnoticed. It is troubling to consider that this is likely just one of the many instances where the fossil fuel industry is secretly gaming the system to their advantage to the detriment of the climate.
 

OBAMA’S CHANGING TONE ON KXL

Last month President Obama unfurled his long-awaited climate change plan. In it he stated that he would only approve the Keystone XL pipeline “only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.” Bringing the decision down to greenhouse gases was a big step.

In a shift in tone Obama told the New York Times last week that the number of jobs from the pipeline would be just “a blip relative to the need,” invalidating claims from Republicans that the project would bring thousands of jobs He cited estimates from the State Department that the tar sands project would only create 50 to 100 permanent jobs once the project is completed.

 

And then in a speech in Chattanooga, TN, Obama mocked the claims again. “They keep on talking about this oil pipeline coming down from Canada that’s estimated to create about 50 permanent jobs. That’s not a jobs plan,” he said with a smirk, seeming to stifle a chuckle.

 

One year ago even the most optimistic environmental activists had to admit that the future looked bleak on the Keystone XL issue. To hear the president speak in this new way about the project is leaps and bounds ahead from where we were. Much of this progress should be accredited to the activists out in the streets, organizing rallies, writing letters, and spreading the word about this corrupt process. The public debate on the pipeline for the past few years has reeked of oil money. But that is changing thanks to the people who know that democracy is for them, not the corporations.

Video courtesy of Chesapeake Climate Action Network
(That's me leading the chant at 1:08)

Conflict of Interest in KeystoneXL Environmental Impact Statement

State Dept Contractor ERM Lied About TransCanada Ties, Another Fatal Flaw of Environmental Review (via Desmogblog)

The contractor the Obama U.S. State Department hired for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) of the northern half of TransCanada's Keystone XL (KXL) tar sands export pipeline overtly lied on its conflict-of-interest disclosure form…

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Year End Progress Report

This may be my last blog post as Tulane Green Club president. It has been an incredible year. Thank you so much to everyone who came to our meetings, events, rallies, and social events. You all are what made this year such a success. You inspired us to keep fighting the good fight. Thank you.

 I'll do my best to list all the accomplishment's we've made this year:

Events
I am extremely pleased to say that we hosted five events this year that garnered over 100 attendees! These are the first five listed.

• Our very first meeting (about 115 people showed up)
• Nuclear Power Debate, featuring expert speakers from Public Citizen (where I am interning now!), The Alliance for Affordable Energy, Entergy, and Clean Energy America (over 140 people came!)
• Both semesters' clothing swaps (well over 100 people came out!)
• New Atlantis? Climate Disruption and New Orleans (About 130 people came and we sent 87 hand-written letters to Obama)
• Teamed up with TU Health and Veggie Club to give out free crawboiled vegetarian food at Crawfest since they don't cater to our needs. We also got a couple hundred signatures for Bike Easy and the Sierra Club
• 20 of us trekked all the way to DC for Forward On Climate, the largest climate rally in American history. The protest was organized by 350.org and the Sierra Club. Here's a photo album from the weekend
• Carried out a little guerilla environmentalism and placed little slips of paper with green tips all over campus (don't worry, the paper and the stickers were diverted from landfills)
• We were featured on a french documentary!
• Unofficially hosted 2 zero waste parties and a few potlucks
• Hosted our 2nd Annual Second Line for Sustainability. Here's some more photos
• Continued the Green Club Lecture Series by bringing in a bunch of profs. local businesspeople, and advocates to speak at our bi-weekly meetings
• Hosted our 2nd annual No Impact Week, asking people to make sacrifices for one week 
• Sent 5 Green Clubbers to Bard College's C2C Fellows conference for young enviro leaders
• Made a bunch of upcycled stuff with our subcommittee BOSS (Back to Old School Sustainability) 
• Went to a rally organized by Restore The Mississippi River Delta for the opening of BP's trial in New Orleans. Photos of us were syndicated around the world!

Greening The Green Wave

How we've made Tulane's campus a little bit greener (that includes students!)

• We finally received official approval for Tulane's first Residential Composting System and started collecting compost in the dorms with help from our lovely Compost Captains
• Tulane Technology Services, who mantains the printers at the library, Boggs and Willow's labs, has officially switched to 100% post-consumer waste recycled printer paper
• A few of us helped launch Divest Tulane, one of the campaigns at over 300 schools across the nation seeking to stop their schools from investing their endowments in fossil fuel companies
• We picked a Green Theme every 2 weeks at each new Green Club meeting, a small earth-friendly habit to try out for 2 weeks and then talk about it and (hopefully) adopt it thereafter 
• Continued to make progress on working with Sodexo to switch BruffToGo to reusable to-go containers. We hope we can facilitate the switch sometime next year

Local Organizations We Volunteered With

Overall we contributed well over 300 hours of time to these awesome groups

• Bike Easy
• Sierra Club
• Verdi Gras
• NOLA Wise
• Gulf Restoration Network
• LA Bucket Brigade
• ARC of Greater New Orleans
• Green Light New Orleans
• Our School at Blair Grocery

Again, thank you so much to everyone for all your support. It has been great leading Tulane Green Club for two years. I have learned a lot from everyone and been inspired by you all. Stay tuned for next year. I have faith that next year's Exec Board is going to have some great things in store. 

It has been truly meaningful to me to work with you all. I felt like being Green Club president was my calling. Thank you. 

Yours in the struggle,

Nick Stracco

Outgoing Tulane Green Club president 

New Tulane Green Club Executive Board

Well my friends the time has come to pass the proverbial torch to the new leaders of this 25-year old organization. It has been a wonderful year indeed. We organized four events that garnered over 100 attendees, we made the trek to DC for the largest climate rally in the history of the US, we made Tulane a little bit greener, and we helped out with the local New Orleans environmental community, among tons of other stuff.

We are proud to present the new Executive Board of Tulane Green Club (rockin' the brand new Tulane Green Club zip-ups we got that are 100% recycled materials!)

From left: Kate Sheehan, Anne Bevis, Natalie Lirette, Aubrey Suber, Becca Greaney, Michael Hammer, Claire Beauchamp and Ellen Bartow-Gillies (not pictured)

Here are the positions:

President - Anne
Exec VP - Natalie and Kate
Event Coordinator - Aubrey
Outings and Outreach Coordinator - Claire
Communications Director - Michael
Treasurer - Ellen
VP of Lagniappe - Becca

We have very high hopes for this new crew. They have a contagious fun energy about them that is sure to provide a great vibe for Green Club next year. We're sure they are going to make Green Club even better than it was this year ( which lets be honest, was pretty great).


Good luck to you all!

Nick  Stracco
Former Green Club president

New Atlantis? Climate Disruption and New Orleans

On April 18th Tulane Green Club teamed up with the Sierra Club to host a night of informative talks and discussions about the fate of New Orleans as a result of sea level rise. NOLA specifically has a grave future in store. Not only is global sea level rise increasing at an alarming rate, but Louisiana has well-documented high rates of land subsidence which is soil compacting and sinking. 

Over 120 people attended!

The high rates of subsidence we're seeing is a result of our management of the Mississippi River. It used to flood its banks and deposit sediment all over the delta, adding land to the area. Now with the levees we've built to protect people from flooding, the delta is starved of that sediment so the subsidence that has always occurred now outpaces the rate of sediment deposition. 

We invited in Tim Osborn, pictured above and below, to speak about the rates of local sea level rise. Tim is a scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Louisiana is projected to see between 4.3 - 8 ft of local sea level rise, the worst projections in the entire world.  This is a result global sea level rise being exacerbated by local land subsidence. 

We also invited in ecologist Bruce Fleury, one of Tulane's most beloved professors, who a little more broadly about climate change in general. 

 Dr. Fleury and outgoing Green Club president Nick Stracco

Lastly Sierra Club organizers Jordan Macha and Devin Martin closed out the evening talking about what we can do as citizens to protect New Orleans from becoming the New Atlantis. We passed out paper to hand-write letters to Obama. We will be sending the President 87 letters from this night asking him to take measures to curb climate change. 

Thank you to everyone who attended! 

Get a bike!

-Nick Stracco, Outgoing Green Club President

Spring Clothing Swap

Last Friday, we put on our biannual Clothing Swap, which took place in Pocket Park in the LBC. Among piles of donated clothes and shoes for both men and women, students and other members of the community perused the various items to get new clothes without using new resources from the environment to create them.

Customers could either trade in an item of clothing for a different item or donate 1 dollar for each item. What a steal!

Come to our last Green Club meeting at 7:30 PM this Tuesday to learn more about this semester's clothing swap!

-Michael

Bike Easy volunteering at Freret St. Fest

 Last Saturday we volunteered with Bike Easy to help them run their free bike valet program at Freret St. Festival. Simone, one of the Green Clubbers who came out, wrote a blog post about the volunteering.

I volunteered today for bike easy bike valet at the Freret St. Festival. This was my first time volunteering for the organization although it was not my first encounter with them. During the Blues & BBQ festival fall 2012 I parked my bike with them because I worked the festival with La Divina. It was a great service for me because I didn't have to worry about my bicycle being taken in the crowded festival. Volunteering was an equally good experience because I felt the appreciation and support from members of the community who prefer to bike but are worried about the high rate of bike theft in New Orleans. The staff were friendly and helpful and volunteering was not stressful at all. Additionally, a band was positioned near our tent so I got to listen to great music and take a break to grab some awesome fish tacos! I would definitely volunteer with this organization again.

Simone Ballard
Tulane Green Club member

Environmental Classes at Tulane

Tulane course registration time is here. Here's a few classes with the environment in mind. These reviews are written by Suzannah and Erik, both Green Club member. The ratings are out of 4. If you have some more classes you'd like to write a review for, send us an email at TUgreenclub@gmail.

EVST 1010 Intro to Environmental Studies, Meredith Dudley, Rating of 3: This was a solid introductory class that focused mainly on issues in Louisiana, which I thought was useful. We were also given the opportunity to put together a final project with a topic of our choosing. Pretty easy course.

EBIO 2050 Global Change Biology, Michael Blum, Rating of 2: This is a challenging class. The average of the first exam was a D and he blamed the students, not himself.

EENS 1300/1310 Environmental Science and Lab, Jeff Sigler, Rating of 4: Sigler is adorably self-deprecating and knowledgeable. This is a solid overview of all major environmental systems and concerns. An easy class if you do the work.

COMM 3510 Environmental Communication, I think the professor died :/, Rating of 2: This was a very dry course with interesting though basic material. Perhaps now there's a new professor who can liven it up a bit.

PHILL 3340 Humanity's Place in Nature, Keith Silverman, Rating of 4: This was one of my favorite classes at Tulane. It isn't so much focused on environmental issues as it is love (???), but Silverman is great. The course is easy provided you try just a bit.

SRVC 4890 Green Seminar, Adam Beebe, Rating of 3: This is connected to the service learning internship course. It had great readings on environmental principles that you won't find in other courses. Very easy and great conversations.

EBIO 2010 Evolution of Health and Human Disease, David Heins, Rating of 3: Fascinating class that could be tricky for enviro students because of the heavy human health information. It's doable and definitely worthwhile. The topics will interest anyone who's into public health.

EENS 2230 Oceanography, Brad Rosenheim, Rating of 1: One of the most difficult classes in my academic experience. It was unexpectedly tricky, and requires a lot of studying.

(Editor's note: Oceanography was one of my favorite classes at Tulane. I would rate it a 4 and found Rosenheim to be one of the most passionate profs I've had.  -Nick)

EENS 3720 Infrastructure of Sustainable Urban Environments, Jeff Sigler, Rating of 4: Again, Sigler is great and reasonable. The information is really fascinating and relevant for future career choices.

Theory and Methods of EEB--Dr. Henry: 3/5.
This class is now required for all environmental biology students as well as EEB kids. Its basically a paper-centered class, in which we read 4 published papers by Tulane faculty and analyzed them to learn about the scientific method as it is actually practiced. It has some interesting topics and Dr. Henry is great (though Derryberry taught it this semester); however I was frustrated by the type of work we had to do. Its low on lectures and high on group-work, specifically work that often felt like high school style busy work. In fact, "group work" is the best concise summary of the class.
Marine Biology--Dr. Caruso: 4/5
Environmentally-minded folks might want to take this class because the marine environment is so different from the terrestrial one. A good understanding of the nature of marine environmental issues requires an understanding of the unique features of marine organisms, food chains and habitats. If you like interesting lectures and can handle a lot of memorization, you should do fine. Note: Caruso could easily have called this class "Animals I have Eaten," as you'll see once you meet him.
Processes of Evolution--Drs. Heins and Sherry: 4/5
This class is hard. Like, really hard. But its required for ENVB and EEB, so suck it up and enjoy it, because it is also the most fascinating course I have ever taken here. Though the amount of detail covered is probably excruciating for most people and the tests are really hard, if you are interested in evolution you will get a lot out of it. The main bummer in my opinion is the mandatory recitation, which fills a large chunk of time with busy work. The secret of the class : everything they taught you about evolution in high school is wrong or grossly over-simplified.
Note: I have to agree with Nick that I loved Rosenheim (Brosenheim?) and thought oceanography was fascinating and rewarding.
Note: I went to a lecture by Keith Silverman and realized that he does not believe in the Darwinian Theory of Evolution. This was kind of a bummer. While I'm sure he has many interesting and valid things to say, his arguments against evolution were circular and sort of pissed me off, and I'm not sure I would be able to "open my mind" enough to take a class with him. 

EVENT on Apr. 18th ~ New Atlantis? Climate Disruption and New Orleans

Tulane Green Club and the New Orleans Group of the Sierra Club are teaming up to co-host an event about the affects of climate change on Louisiana on April 18th. The event will be catered by Whole Foods and open to the public. 

The New Atlantis? Climate Disruption and New Orleans

Thursday, April 18

7:00pm to 8:30pm

Tulane Law Clinic Building, Rm. 110

     New data about climate change and subsidence in Southeast Louisiana don't bode well for the future of our city. Can New Orleans survive rising seas, sinking soils, and more intense storms over the course of this century? Join NOAA scientist Tim Osborn, Tulane ecologist Bruce Fleury, and Jordan Macha and Devin Martin from the Sierra Club as we discuss the state of the science and what can be done to prevent New Orleans from becoming the New Atlantis.

Presented by the Tulane Green Club and the New Orleans Group of the Sierra Club

Earth Fest!

The earth is worth celebrating, and this Saturday we did just that. Earth Fest is a fun way for Audubon Zoo goers, both old and young, to learn about current environmental issues and solutions. We worked at the Sierra Club's booth and children approached us to receive a stamp for their green-themed scavenger hunt. They had to answer this question: What makes oysters, crawfish, and seafood inedible? We received some silly and adorable answers like vinegar and salt, but even most young New Orleans children were quick to think of oil (the answer we were looking for is more of an umbrella term, hint: it starts with a p and rhymes with shmollution). With older kids we talked about the changes Louisiana can expect to see with rising sea level which sparked some powerful discussion about our region's future. Overall it was a really rewarding day, and getting to walk around the zoo for free in the beautiful spring weather wasn't too shabby either.

Come to our meeting this Tuesday 7:30 in Boggs 104 to learn about more volunteer opportunities. Thanks for reading!

Emma
Executive Vice President 

No Impact Week--Event Update

Hey Everyone!

Saddly, we have to cancel the Nature Walk scheduled today.  But don't worry, you can come by for the picnic tomorrow!  We are meeting at the bell at 3, BYO-lunch, puppy, frisbie, friends, etc.

For Saturday, we are adding another volunteer/hang out option.  The zoo is hosting Earth Fest and we have the chance to volunteer with Sierra Club there.  If you're interested check out the facebook page.  Also the fest will be super fun and everyone is welcome to just come and hang out at the zoo!

Home everyone is doing good with your lists!

~Dan
  VP of Education and Campus Affairs

No Impact Week!

Hey Everyone!
            This Sunday is the kick-off of Green Club's Annual No Impact Week!  Based off of the movie No Impact Man, No Impact Week is a week-long environmental challenge with the a goal of having as small of a carbon footprint as possible. Its the time to go extreme and in the end hopefully you'll learn that a few changes in your daily routine have no impact on your quality of life, but a huge one on the quality of the environment.  To make this already sweet week even better, we're hosting an event nearly everyday!
They are:

Sunday- Start Your List!

             Monday 8_PM, Jones 102-Screening of “No Impact Man”
             Tuesday 7:30_PM, Leadership Lounge- Shirt Silk-Screening and BOSS Upcycling
             Wednesday 7:30_PM, Hebert 210- Green Panel, come talk to Eco-Professionals
             Thursday 4_PM- Guided Nature Walk
             Friday 3_PM- Picnic in the Park
             Saturday- Volunteer with Green Light New Orleans

Here is a copy of the pledge:

No Impact Week

1.     Name

2.     Tulane Email

3.     Challenge Yourself! What will you try to do this week?

            (The more you do the better, its only one week!)
¨  No meat
¨  No new products
¨  No “to-go” food
¨  No new printer paper
¨  Only use library computers (they are already on all day)
¨  No cars
¨  No paper towels
¨  No disposable water bottles
¨  Only short shower (try turning off the water why you shampoo!)
¨  No wasted food; clean plate club
¨  Compost your scraps
¨  No lights during the day
¨  No machine drying- hang your clothes up to dry
¨  No running water while brushing your teeth
¨  No chemical cleaners
¨  No plastic bags
¨  No cosmetics
¨  Unplug chargers when not in use
¨  Limit electronic use
¨  No TV
¨ Other:

You can come by the table we'll have quad side of the LBC at Thursday 12:30-2, during FAQ, Monday of No Impact Week 11-1 and 3-4 to sign-up.  Or it'd also be awesome for you to fill this out and send it to me (dcolema3@tulane.edu) or Susannah (shalbroo@tulane.edu) so we can keep up with all you no-impacters!

 

Get pumped! This week is going to be hard and a blast!

 

~Dan Coleman

  VP of Education and Campus Affairs

La. Coast Facing Grim Reality

The Advocate of Baton Rouge recently published "La. Coast Facing Grim Reality," an article highlighting new data that shows Louisiana's coast is far worse from sea level rise than we had originally thought. The low estimates are now 4.3 ft by the year 2100. That means the projection in this image are no longer even within the optimistic end.

In response to this article, I wrote a letter to the editor addressing the proposed Ram LLC coal export terminal to be built in Plaquemines Parish on the exact same site as a river diversion project to rebuild the coast. Here is the letter and a link to the Advocate's page

Letter: Ram coal project a reckless risk

MARCH 04, 2013

15 COMMENTS

The article “La. coast facing grim reality” republished in The Advocate highlights new data that shows that Louisiana is likely to see “the highest rate of relative sea-level rise on the planet.”

Tim Osborn, the expert quoted in the article, mentioned at Tulane’s Environmental Law Summit recently that the estimates range from 4.3 to 9.5 feet by the end of the century. Given Southeast Louisiana’s average elevation of only 3 feet, we have a lot at stake.

As of yet, we have consistently met, if not exceeded, climate scientists’ worst-case projections for sea-level rise. Louisiana must take serious action to not only adapt to rising seas from climate change, but also to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions wherever possible.

One obvious way to reduce our state’s contribution to our own destruction is for the state to reject the proposed Ram LLC coal export terminal to be built near Myrtle Grove in Plaquemines Parish. This new terminal would allow more carbon-intensive coal to be burned and its greenhouse gases to add to sea-level rise affecting Louisianans.

Even worse, it is sited on the exact spot that the state has determined is best for a river diversion project that could help rebuild coastal wetlands southeast of New Orleans. The state government is implementing its master plan for a sustainable coast to help protect us from rising seas and hurricanes.

The state government has the authority to reject the Ram coal terminal. Louisiana residents will be displaced with these rising seas, but we have the power to minimize the amount of people affected.

To put its own restoration plan at risk and flirt with dirty coal terminals at the expense of Louisianians is not only unwise, it is reckless.

Nick Stracco

Tulane University student

New Orleans

Thanks for reading.

NS ~ President, Tulane Green Club

A green and delicious weekend

Much of this weekend was spent at Tulane's own Environmental Law Summit, seeing awesome presentations about eclectic topics including GMOs, sea level rise in the gulf, green economics, the BP oil spill, copper mining in Alaska, and a talk from green business owner and keystone speaker Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. Becoming well informed can build up an appetite, so in classic Green Club style we hosted a potluck dinner.

 Chernoff, Wil, and Sam brought overwhelming amounts of delicious fresh arugula!

 

 Screen printing stencils made by our own executive board members, Susannah and Dan

Complete with good friends and good food, the night was an overwhelming success.


Emma
Executive Vice Prez