The Center for a New American Dream gathered these statistical "costs" from commercialization of the holidays.
5 million extra tons of trash are produced between Thanksgiving and New Years Day in the US each year (1997 Use Less Stuff Report) You can Simplify and Green your Holidays. For tips, check out:
http://www.newdream.org/holiday/
http://www.es.wapa.gov/pubs/files/02_121ES_holiday_lght_1105.pdf
http://peaceworks.missouri.org/articlesustainableholidays.html
http://www.earthbeat.sk.ca/newheadlines/nov03/consumerbreak.htm
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et1295/et1295s2.html
http://www.earthshare.org/tips/01-winter.html
http://eartheasy.com/give_sustainchristmas.htm
Read "Hundred Dollar Holiday" by Bill McKibben
(Simon & Schuster 1998)
Winter Term Workshops supporting sustainability
and global citizenship
For full descriptions of each class, go to CCAL's webpage address below.
Register between December 1st - December 12th
Winter Term Workshops
THE ART OF BICYCLE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR Mondays beginning January 5th from 6-8 pm Cost: $30.
ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY Thursdays beginning January 8th from 7-8 pm Cost $60.00
BASIC CAR MAINTENANCE Wednesdays beginning January 7th from 4:30 – 6:00 Cost: $25.00
BASKETMAKING Saturday, January 10th from 9:30-2:30 Cost: $35.00
CPR(Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) Wednesday, Jan 7th or Sunday, Jan 18th from 7-10 p.m. Cost: $17.00
CREATIVE BOOKBINDING Thursdays, beginning Jan 8th from 7-9 pm Cost: $25.00
DESIGNING YOUR SPACE WITH FENG SHUI Friday, Jan 9 4-5:30 pm; Saturday, Jan 10 10-5 Cost: $50.00
INDIAN CUISINE Wednesdays beginning January 7th 7:30-9:30 pm Cost: $50.00
KNITTING 101 Tuesdays from 4:15-6 pm or 7:15-9 pm Cost: $55.00
FROM LITHUANIA TO LEBANON: CULINARY HERITAGE OF MY ANCESTORS Tuesdays 4-6 pm Cost: $55.00
NEED A BREAK? COME TO THE MOUNTAINS! Saturdays 9:30-12:30 $25.00
NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE & CULTURE Tuesdays & Thursdays from 9-10 pm Cost: $20.00
PACK BASKETS Sunday, January 25th from 10-5 Cost: $55-$65
SIGN LANGUAGE Wednesdays from 7-9 pm Cost: $15.00
SNOW SHELTERS Friday, January 16th from 4:30-6:30 and Saturday, January 17th from 9 - 6 Cost: $15.00
HOSPITALITY IN COMMUNITY SERVICE Thurs from 6:00-8:00 pm Cost $15.00
YOGA FOR TRANQUILITY & JOY Mondays from 4:00-6:00 pm Cost: $40.00
INTRODUCTION TO ASHATNGA YOGA Mondays 7:30-8:30 pm Cost: $15.00
Howard E. Woodin Colloquium Series
ES 401 Seminar student presentations will culminate the fall Colloquium Series on Thursday, December 4th. Students have focused on three different service-learning projects related to the seminar theme of environmental justice. The titles for their presentations are:
"Service Learning with Clarendon Families Interested in Researching Sickness Together (Clarendon F.I.R.S.T.)"
"Toxics in Vermont: A Spatial Representation"
"It's Not Just Dirt: Permitting the Storage of OMYA Inc. Mine Tailings in Florence, VT"
All Howard E. Woodin Colloquium presentations take place in Bicentennial Hall Room 216 on Thursdays from 12:15-1:15 with lunch provided. These events are free and open to the public.
COMMUNITY SERVICE ENVIRONMENTAL OPPORTUNITIES
Service-Learning Courses:
The Environmental Studies department offers a variety of service-learning courses each semester, which provide students with the opportunity to explore a topic in depth academically and then put theory into practice with a related community service project. Courses offered this academic year include:
ECON 0265 Environmental Economics
ENVS 0211 Conservation and Environmental Policy
ENVS 0360 Environmental Science Practicum (L)
ENVS 0401 Environmental Studies Senior Seminar
GEOG 0221 Rural Geography
GEOG 0320 Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 0340 Explanation in Geography
GEOG 0420 Seminar in Geographic Information Systems and Cartography
GEOL 0255 Surface and Ground Water (L)
Community Service:
There are a number of nonprofit organizations that are focused on protecting the natural resources of Addison County. Students can make an impact in the local community and gain valuable hands-on experience by volunteering with these organizations including Spirit in Nature, Middlebury Area Land Trust and the Moosalamoo Association. Contact Heather Cronk, Community Service Coordinator at x 3099 for more information.
Internships & Jobs:
The best way to learn more about career possibilities in the environmental field is to do an internship over J term or during the summer. This will better prepare you for the job search in your senior year, giving you a sense of what the options are as well as making you more marketable to employers who want to see that you've had some experience in the field. There are a number of resources available for finding internships and jobs with environmental organizations:
MoJo~Middlebury's online career center: http://middlebury.erecruiting.com/er/security/login.jsp
By filling out a profile with your career interests, you'll become eligible to receive e-mail announcements of internships, programs and special events related to those interests. You can also search in the internship and job section of MoJo to find opportunities in the environmental field.
MiddNet Online: www.middleburyalumni.org
Host to over 130 Middlebury alumni who work in the environmental field and have volunteered to offer career advice to students and other alumni. Networking with these alumni will provide valuable information about their career field and resources that can help you secure an internship or a job.
Career Resource Library~Environmental Resources
Links to websites with general information, internship and job listings
Idealist.org: www.idealist.org
Extensive listing of internships and jobs in the nonprofit sector, both here in the US and abroad.
Fellowships:
There are a number of post-graduate fellowships available for students interested in a range of academic subjects and contemporary issues. The Careers in the Common Good website "Fellowships and Scholarships" section includes links to fellowship database.
Two examples of social justice fellowships:
Green Corps is a one-year paid fellowship that provides recent college graduates with hands-on training and experience they'll need to launch their social change organizing and advocacy careers. www.greencorps.org.
Echoing Green is a two-year fellowship awarded to individuals with innovative ideas for creating new models for tackling seemingly unsolvable social challenges. www.echoinggreen.org.
Sustainable Communities 2004 Conference in Burlington, VT
July 14-18, 2004
Call For Papers & Presentations DEADLINE: DECEMBER 15, 2003
http://www.global-community.biz/conference/Call%20for%20Papers.htm
Practitioners, students, academics, authors, and workshop leaders are
invited to submit proposals for presentations at the Sustainable
Communities conference being held in Burlington, Vermont from July 14-18,
2004. The goals of the conference are to provide as many practical, tested
practices and processes as possible, and to give conference participants
hands-on experience with new ideas and techniques. For this reason, a
variety of formats for conference presentations are encouraged.
The conference format will focus on several working groups, where
participants will have the opportunity to explore an issue in depth in several sessions. The short format presentations: the papers, posters,
case studies, and simulations, will be integrated into working group
sessions whenever possible. Presenters are encouraged to submit proposals
for all of the types of presentations, however, because there will be time
for panel discussions, for case study presentations, and others.
Suggested Topics
The Visioning Process
Public Participation
Arts in Sustainable Development
Institutional-Community Partnerships
Sustainable Development Planning
Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems
Indicators for Change
Community Revitalization
Public Education and Sustainability
Peace, Security, and Sustainability
Equality, & Opportunity
Green Purchasing
Local Agenda 21
The Earth Charter
Cities and Climate Change
Sustainable Housing
The Role of Higher Education
Systems Thinking for Cities
The Restoration Economy
Poverty Alleviation
Food, Compost, and the Nutrient Cycle
Sustainable Energy for Cities
Integrating Social Services
Transportation Challenges
Economic Development
Developing a Sense of Place
Creating Social Capital
Sustainable Building and Construction
Environmentally Sound Technologies
Ethics, Wisdom and Faith Traditions
Sustainability Discussion Course
One or two new 9-week discussion courses will begin on campus in January, meeting at lunch time one day each week. Under consideration are programs designed by the Northwest Earth Institute focusing on "Choices for Sustainable Living" and/or "Globalization". The discussion courses will be facilitated by Professor Bob Osborne and Campus Sustainability Coordinator Connie Leach Bisson. Information about the courses will be sent via campus e-mail and described in MiddPoints in the next few weeks. If you are interested in receiving a personal e-mail describing these courses in more detail, contact Connie at cbisson@middlebury.edu