Peidmont Project

Peidmont Project
Environment Across the Curriculum at Emory

Green Buzz

Weekly E-newsletter ---FREE!
http://www.greenbiz.com/enewsletter/

GE Ecomagination

http://ge.ecomagination.com/site/index.html

University of Scranton Sites

Sustainability

Physical Plant

Campus Center

Fair Trade

Fair Trade

http://www.fairtraderesource.org/

No Sweat Newsletter

http://www.nosweatapparel.com/index.html

Climate Change Maps

Department of Geosciences Environmental Studies Laboratory

Jonathan T. Overpeck

University of Arizona

http://www.geo.arizona.edu/dgesl/index.html

Environmental Cartoons

http://www.greenberg-art.com/.Toons/environment.asp

Finding additional resources for your own courses/disciplinary interests

As we hope the small sampling of readings we have done over the past several days shows, the internet provides us with a rich array of resources on sustainability (of course, so do good, old-fashioned books and articles). Please go to: http://www.sustainable.org/ and scroll down to the bottom of the page to find additional resources and links organized around major sustainability topics.

A Conversation on Energy Scranton

At the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel - May 16, 2007
The town hall meeting is being hosted by the The University of Scranton and The Pennsylvania State University, and moderated by Joseph H. Dreisbach, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Scranton. Featured panelists include:

• Gene Barr, vice president of Political and Regulatory Affairs, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry
  http://www.pachamber.org/www/contact_us/GA/gbarr.php
  
• Eric Epstein, board member, Sustainable Energy Fund of Central Eastern Pennsylvania http://www.thesef.org/kb/index.php
  
• Brian Hill, president and CEO, Pennsylvania Environmental Council
  http://www.pecpa.org/
  
• John Lowe, Executive Vice President, Commercial, ConocoPhillips
  
• Colette Reynolds, Manager, Technology Development, ConocoPhillips
  http://www.conocophillips.com/index.htm
  

Curriculum Infusion Models

The seventh readings also focus on Education—Emory University has been involved in infusing sustainability across their curriculum for seven years and has developed a terrific website detailing their activities.
a) Please go to Emory University’s sustainability curriculum infusion project (The Piedmont Project) http://www.scienceandsociety.emory.edu/piedmont/index.htm and pay particular attention to the syllabi/course modules [click on the “curriculum” link], especially the ones most relevant to you.
b) In addition, please review the University of Scranton’s Education for Justice: The Case for Sustainability project, on-line at: http://matrix.scranton.edu/sustainability/. If you go to the academic link (http://matrix.scranton.edu/sustainability/done-academics.shtml) you will then find a link to the 2005-06 Workshop on Sustainability (http://matrix.scranton.edu/sustainability/workshop-2005-2006.shtml). This page will provide you with examples of course statements and syllabi of courses at the University that have sustainability infused into them. A year from now we will be asking you for the same information to post on this site.

Education

The UN has declared the years 2005-14 as the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The infusion of sustainability into the curriculum at Scranton is in conjunction with a UN driven worldwide effort to bring attention to the issues of sustainability. The following readings should put our efforts into perspective:
For the UN’s vision of education for sustainable development, please see: UNESCOEducation for Sustainable Development
Then follow links of greatest interest/use to you. Teacher educators might be interested in: UNESCO Education

Optional Resource: reading 5

on environmental estrogens: http://www.envtox.ucdavis.edu/cehs/TOXINS/estrogens.htm

Health

The fifth readings focus on health issues related to air pollution and other environmental toxins.
a) “Air Pollution Fatalities New Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 3 to 1” http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update17.htm
b) Children's Environmental Health: http://www.who.int/ceh/en/ and then click on left link "risks" for further information

Optional Resource: reading 4

More on business and the environment: http://www.bsdglobal.com/sd_journey.asp; this webpage contains lots of resources for those wanting to explore more but the assigned reading focuses on the “big picture.” It is particularly helpful in showing how sustainable business requires more than just mere compliance with environmental regulations.

Economics and Business

Today’s readings center on economics and business. Please read the following articles:
Business Coalition for Climate Action
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?contentID=5828
MIT Launches Sustainable Business Lab
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34539

Optional Resource: reading 3

for a fuller history of the environmental justice movement, see R.D. Bullard’s article: http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/ejinthe21century.htm

Social Sustainability and Social Justice

“What is social sustainability?”

Definition and history of environmental justice: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/basics/ejbackground.html

Optional Resource: reading 2

Lester Brown’s 2006 updated book is available at: http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB2/Contents.htm (full text on-line) Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble (NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 2006).
--Local environmental scorecard: This is a link to a website that provides an environmental scorecard for local areas by entering your zipcode; it’s useful for finding specific facts and figures about Scranton or wherever you live: Scorecard

Sustainability and the Environment

As you have seen from yesterday’s reading (Introduction to Sustainability), the environment, society and economics are intertwined. In the second, third, and fourth readings we will focus on each of these areas. Today’s readings primarily focus on the Environment. Human consumption of natural (particularly nonrenewable) resources and the concomitant production of waste (pollution) is a central issue of sustainability and how it relates to the environment.
a) overview of environmental issues: Please read the INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1. A Planet Under Stress by Lester R. Brown, Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble (W.W. Norton & Co., NY: 2003). http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB/PBch1_intro.htm
b) ecological footprint: To get an idea of how your lifestyle affects the environment, please calculate your ecological footprint at http://www.myfootprint.org/

Optional Resource: reading 1

For further exploration of sustainability definitions: The City of Philadelphia has a website that includes links to many more definitions and considerations of sustainability. If you wish to examine additional definitions, see: http://sustainablephiladelphia.com/html/whatis.html and scroll down to “definitions of sustainability on the web”; there you can trace the origins of many of the definitions.

What is sustainability?

a) Definitions of sustainability: There are many definitions of “sustainability.” The most commonly used definition is from the UN Brundtland Report. Please read definitions at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/sustainability/more_defns.htm
b) Introduction to sustainability: please read “Introduction to Sustainability” at http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/Sustainability/ and then at bottom of this web page click on “An even Better Picture of a Sustainable Community,” or on this direct link: http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/Sustainability/ABetterView.html