The UF Office of Sustainability has just released the 3rd Edition of their handy “Green Guide”, a resource for UF students that contains a variety of information on sustainable living. In the Guide, students can find tips on everything from conserving energy to sustainable eating, along with lots of fun facts about our campus and community. You can download a PDF version of the Guide here as well as the Green Guide posters at the Sustainable UF resource center. Check it out!

GSC will host Earth Day on the Plaza on April 22 from 10 to 3pm. We will be joined by over 25 student organizations, including:

1. Animal Activists of Alachua
2. American Solar Energy Society
3. BioEnergy and Sustainable Technology Society
4. Campus Climate Solutions
5. Campus CodePink for Peace
6. Chapel House
7. College Democrats
8. Environmental Health & Safety
9. Engineers Without Borders
10. enVeg
11. Environmental Protection Division
12. Florida Alternative Breaks
13. The Free Store
14. Gators for Israel
15. Get Carded
16. Greeks Going Green
17. Habitat for Humanity
18. Hazardous Materials Awareness
19. Hillel
20. Hispanic Student Association
21. Ocean Aware
22. Roots and Shoots
23. The Kickstand
24. TRiP
25. UF Asset Management

Be sure to join us for one of the largest Earth Day celebrations in UF’s history!

Click to RSVP on Facebook.

Another year’s gone by and move-out time is almost here! After packing up your clothes, books, and leftover boxes of pasta, you might be left wondering what to do with that TV your brother loaned you that never quite worked right or that energy-saving light bulb that finally burned out.

The Office of Sustainability and Gators for a Sustainable Campus present you with a solution: a hazardous and electronic waste collection (appropriately) on Earth Day—April 22nd—at the Plaza of the Americas from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM.

Household (Dormitory/Apartment) Hazardous/Electronic-Waste Collection

The details:

Acceptable Waste to bring:

DO NOT BRING ANY UF laboratory or facility wastes. IT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

• Fluorescent lamps/bulbs (CFLs) - Computers
• Cell Phones/Electronics - TVs/Electronics
• Paints (Nail polish, paint cans, etc.) - Aerosol cans
• Batteries

Transport material in secure and safe containers. Do not transport hazardous material that could spill on to campus. Take this material directly to the Alachua County Hazardous Waste Collection Center. Only bring PERSONAL HOUSEHOLD ITEMS. All University property is to be handled by UF Environmental Health and Safety and/or UF’s Asset Management Department.

Contact EHS at (352)-392-8400 for assistance.

Call the Alachua County Hazardous Waste Collection Center at (352)-334-0440 or EH&S at (352)-392-8400 for more info!

Join Gators for a Sustainable Campus and over 25 student organizations to celebrate Earth Day on the Plaza of the Americas on Wednesday, April 22 from 10 to 3pm.

University of Florida President Bernie Machen will deliver his annual report on the State of Sustainability at UF at 10:30 a.m.

Following Machen’s speech, UF will honor faculty active in the field of sustainability as part of the university’s first sustainability recognition awards program.

Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan and City Commissioner and UF Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Jeanna Mastrodicasa will participate in a panel discussion from 1 to 2 p.m to assess the role of local governments in solving the climate crisis. Panelists will explore ways to accelerate the transition to clean energy while creating jobs and spurring investment in new industries.

Other activities at the Earth Day event include games, face painting, a plant giveaway and interactive opportunities to learn more about UF’s commitment to sustainability.

The Free Store will be present, along with a household hazardous materials roundup, so bring in clothes, books, and stuff to trade; and your PERSONAL e-waste to recycle (read the details). Also, Gainesville’s Direct Development International will collect textbooks which they will hand-deliver to schools in Belen, Peru and Entebbe, Uganda this summer.

Earth Day falls on the last day of classes, so come by and have a good time!

Click to RSVP on Facebook.

Please join local attorneys, law students and others from the National Lawyers Guild for their Bicyclists, Know Your Rights! presentation on the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists under Florida law.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 25th @ 7pm
WHERE: Civic Media Center, 433 S. Main St.
COST: Donations appreciated

This event is part of the CMC’s ongoing Know Your Rights series, and the Gainesville Chapter of the NLG’s ongoing Street Law series.

Please nominate yourself to run for a position on GSC’s executive board next year. Below is a list of the positions open and their job descriptions.

Note that being a member of the e-board requires a serious time commitment, and your job may involve more than what’s listed in the following descriptions, but it’s a rewarding experience and we highly recommend you run, regardless of experience.

Click to read the rest »

Join the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (FARE) to lobby in Tallahassee for clean energy. If you went to Power Shift ‘09, this is a great followup opportunity.

From FARE’s website:

Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Time: 8:00 am to 2:00 pm
Meet at: Tallahassee Community College Capitol Center Downtown, 300 West Pensacola St

Agenda:

• 7-8 am Registration
• 8-9:30 Briefing/Training
• 9:30-11:45 Lobbying
• 1 pm Rally & Press Conference
• 1-5 Lobbying
• 5:15 Debrief
• 6 pm Depart

Renewable energy businesses, experts, and advocates will be there to show support for a Renewable Energy Dividend for Florida, similar to the Gainesville feed-in tariff currently in place.

Click to read FARE’s proposal for a Florida Renewable Energy Dividend.

Appalachian string band Here’s to the Long Haul came to Gainesville yesterday to share music and stories about mountain culture in Appalachia and to tell us about how the coal industry is harming America.

The guys gave a workshop on mountaintop removal at UF, followed by a performance last night at the Civic Media Center along with Lars Din and Dirty Fist.

Play the video below to see parts of Here’s to the Long Haul’s performance at the CMC, and to hear what Willie Dodson and Joe Overton had to say to UF students about the challenges we face in our coal-powered country.

[If you are reading this via email, click here to watch the video.]

Learn more at herestothelonghaul.com.

The next Gators for a Sustainable Campus meeting will be held Tuesday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m. in room CSE E119.

If you want to be on the board of GSC next year, come nominate yourself (or have someone else nominate you) to hold one of the following positions on the e-board next year:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Student Involvement Coordinator
• Treasurer
• Publicity Coordinator

We’ll talk about job descriptions and the obligations of e-board members at the meeting.

Aside from e-board positions, there will continue to be opportunities for all members who want to lead their own projects. We’ll be breaking out into task forces to discuss specific upcoming projects, and you’ll have the chance to start your own task force to begin to pioneer positive changes at UF.

RSVP for Tuesday’s meeting on Facebook.

Update: Click to watch the video of Here’s to the Long Haul’s performance at the CMC on March 16.

Willie Dodson and Joe Overton, along with guest musicians and activists, make up this Appalachian string band & teaching team that is traveling the US celebrating the culture and life of the mountains while telling stories through music of “everyday people living everyday lives and trying to stand up for what’s right.”

You can learn more about their mission at the Here’s to the Long Haul web site.

On Monday, March 16th at 3pm in MAEB 229 on UF campus, Dodson and Overton will teach a Mountaintop Removal 101 workshop to show how coal-mining has affected 470 mountains and 1,000 miles of streams in Appalachia, and to talk about what we can do about it. Find MAEB 229 on UF’s campus map.

The workshop will be followed by performances at the Civic Media Center at 10pm by Here’s to the Long Haul, Lars Din and Dirty Fist.

RSVP for Mountaintop Removal 101 on Facebook.