Spring 2011 Plans

At our Monday meeting we came up with some committees for this semester.

BOSS - Back to Old School Sustainability

BOSS gets together every Sunday afternoon in the Patterson lounge to learn to make things such as salve, granola, body scrub, fruit leather, etc. Hopefully this semester, they will begin selling products on campus and become a truly sustainable committee. If you are interested in getting on the email list contact Jake Winkelman (jwinkelm@tulane.edu).

Education

This committee will be in charge of environmental education, both on campus and off. Some suggestions at the meeting were chalk facts around campus, coordinating with Green Light to volunteer in schools, etc. Someone also suggested a bike rally to promote awareness both on and off campus, which we could perhaps coordinate with the New Orleans Metro Bicycle Coalition. It was also suggested that we compile a list of green businesses in New Orleans, which I think should be a task for this committee.

Fundraising

The Green Club would like to get some fundraising both to help Green Light, as well as be able to do more things like T shirt making and movie/pizza nights for the club.

Waste Action Committee

This committee will encompass recycling, composting, and perhaps a campaign to reduce styrofoam and plastic use on campus. Our goals will be to increase easily accessible recycling bins on campus, expand composting into Leadership Village, and try to promote reusable cups, water bottles, etc.

Volunteering

This committee is only for those who would like to help plan Green Club volunteering. Many people were interested in helping out at Hollygrove, Green Light, and around campus. Anything that we plan, we will advertise through the listserv, so you don't have to be a part of this committee to participate.

Other Suggestions: (not under any committee so far)

Coordinating competitions (similar to Recyclemania) to get people involved. If anyone has ideas for contests, please let us know.

Create a "1 Green Thing a Day" to students: easy changes that can make a big difference.

Host a "Green Week" when people commit to do something environmental for one week, that might seem intimidating to make as a complete lifestyle change, but can help to create incremental change. For example, going vegetarian - a really big change, but doable for a week, and it might inspire you to eat more vegetarian meals.

The last thing that was very clear in everyone's "5 Things" was getting to know other members of the Green Club and creating a "green community" on campus, which we will do by hosting more things like T Shirt making and movie nights.

BOSS's Fall Endeavors

BOSS (Back to Old School Sustainability) is a subcommittee of the Green Club that meets a few times a semester and makes things we'd like to learn how to make ourselves instead of buying. So far we've made salve, fruit leather and applesauce, we plan to make granola this Sunday (November 21), and would like to make things like shampoo, cleaning products, dried fruit, etc. in the future. Email Jake Winkelman (jwinkelm@tulane.edu) if you'd like to get involved.

*****

For our first meeting we made salve. It's a super easy recipe and great to use for lip balm or to put on scrapes, to heal dry skin, etc. It's made from oil and beeswax, with a little bit of essential oil thrown in for a nice scent.

Notes: The ratio that we used for making the salve was 2 tablespoons of wax to 3 ounces of oil. You can use any sort of oil for the salve. We used olive oil, but coconut and jojoba are also suggested. On it's own, the salve is only a lubricant and moisturizer, and adding essential oils give it its higher medicinal qualities. We used lavender for ours, which gives the salve antiseptic and anti-inflammatory capacities.

Salve Recipe:

Heat the oil up a bit.

Add the beeswax and essential oil.

Continue to mix until your salve reaches the right consistency.

If you would like to purchase a little container of the salve for $1, you can contact Jake Winkelman (jwinkelm@tulane.edu).

*****

In our second meeting, the we made applesauce, a perfect fall food, and some fruit leather.

Applesauce Recipe:

Cut up the apples into small pieces, removing the core. If you're going to peel the apples, it's probably easiest to peal before cutting.

Put apples in a pot on the stove on low heat with a little bit of water. We recommend cooking mostly with the top on to contain the moisture. Cook for about three hours, until it's the consistency that you prefer.

Add a little bit of cinnamon if you feel like spicing it up, but it's great on it's own too!

Notes: We made two batches of applesauce: one with the peel and one without. They turned out very different, both because of the peel and because of the cooking method. For the applesauce with the peel, we added more water and subsequently stirred it for a longer time without the top on. This one is a lighter color and a little chunkier (thanks to the peels). We added less water to the applesauce without the peel, and initially cooked it with the top on. It came out much darker and more soupy.

Fruit Leather Recipe:

Peel the fruits that you will be using for your batch.

Puree the fruit in the desired quantity.

Spread VERY thinly on a greased cookie sheet (about 1/8").

Let bake in the oven on 150º F (or the lowest setting of your oven - ours was 170º) for about 3 hours, until it is the right consistency.

Notes: We used bananas, pears, and peaches for our recipe. We used about 3 peaches, 3 pears and 3 or 4 bananas, and we had way too much mixture and not enough cookie sheets, so keep your quantity in mind. It's pretty essential to have a food processor for the pureeing, as a blender really doesn't work very well to get a very fine consistency. We did not peel the fruit, and subsequently the texture is a little grainy and the leather looks uncannily like vomit. But it tastes perfectly delicious! Also keep in mind that you want a very thin layer. If you have it even slightly too thick, the outsides will bake, but the middle won't. Another note: it's best not to refrigerate the leather once it's baked. It will keep at room temperature, and it gets too moist in the fridge.

Heyyououoouo

If you are not on our list-serv and would like to recieve emails about our meeting times please email Greenclb@tulane.edu.

If you did not make it to the first meeting and you are interested in getting involved with any of the following topics email the leader of that group:

Community Outreach- Arianne Wolfe (Awolfe1@tulane.edu)- as mentioned in the previous email, this group will be planning trips with different volunteer organizations throughout the city.

Volunteering with Hollygrove- Brooke Schueller (bschuell@tulane.edu)- Get involved with local farming. You'll be able to help with planting and harvesting as well as working at the market. There is also talk of a weekly bike ride to the market.

Aquaponics- Kevin Morgan (kmorganr@tulane.edu) - a very interesting and innovative method of sustainable agriculture. We are working on a small scale system and plan on doing some grant writing for a larger setup.

Eat Local Dinner- Emily Cardarelli (ecardare@tulane.edu)- a catered dinner taking place sometime in November with local foods

Bike Rental Program- Brett Levin (BLevin@tulane.edu)- volunteering to help maintain and run the bike rental program (which should start up in a week or two).

Composting- Arianne Wolfe (Awolfe1@tulane.edu)- trying to make composting more available on campus.

Homemade- Jake Winkelman- (jwinkelm@tulane.edu)- this group will show students how to make organic products from scratch like the olden days.

If you would like to discuss any other topics please bring them up at our next meeting.

Also, I just wanted to remind everyone about the Law School's lecture series on the Deepwater Horizon ( http://www.law.tulane.edu/bp/ ). Check out the schedule and go to them if you have time. They should be very interesting, and it's certainly an education that you couldn't get anywhere else (unfortunately).

Oil Spill Job Training and Volunteer Information

For information on Job Training and Volunteer information go to:

http://emergency.louisiana.gov/

For general information on the oil spill go to:

www.gulfoilspill.org

Some Information that may interest you.

THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF ASSORTED TOM FOOLERY AND OTHER SORTS OF PECULIAR AND OTHERWISE ABSURD AND BAFFLING NONSENSE (also known by our most premier acronym, THE TULANE JUGGLING CLUB)
-Top of the parking garage 9pm Tuesday and Thursday
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=tulane+juggling+club&init=quick#!/group.php?gid=5862983769&ref=ts

Tulane Adventure Club/ Rock Climbing Club
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=43657084535&ref=ts

TUCOBABE (Tulane Coalition of Bicyclists and Bicycle Enthusiasts)- A general meeting is coming soon. We will be discussing upcoming bike trips. If you want to join the mailing list join the facebook group and post your email on the wall. We specialize in nudey bike calendars.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=2213468402&ref=ts

Also make sure to check out the links to the right. If you have any more interesting sites, suggestions, or ideas email them to Greenclb@tulane.edu

Meeting Tuesday February 23rd 7:30

There will be a meeting tomorrow Tuesday February 23rd at 7:30pm on the third floor of Alcee Fortier. The subcommittees will discuss their progress. Music, food, and philosophical discussion is also welcome.

Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Round Table Discussion at Tulane University

Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Round Table Discussion at Tulane University

Date: Thursday, February 18, 2009
Time: 7:00 PM-9:00 PM
Location: Tulane University: Kendall Cram Room in the Lavin Bernick Center for University Life

Event Description: Round Table Discussion with Rev. Yearwood, President of the Hip Hop Caucus; D. Woods, R&B Singer; Gloria Reuben, Actress; Dr. Beverly Wright, President of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice; Sess-45, Community Organizer and Hip Hop artist. Event will be DJ'd by Biz Markie. Food!

http://hiphopcaucus.org/events/hip-hop-caucus-clean-energy-now-round-table-discussion-at-tulane-university

Hosted by the Center for Bioenvironmental Research, the Division of Student Affairs, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and the Center for Public Service. Campus contact: Liz Davey, Office of Environmental Affairs and Center for Bioenvironmental Research, ldavey@tulane.edu or 865-5145.