Hey Activists – Save the Date!

Join Green Corps for a Social and Environmental Justice Organizing Workshop
Monday, January 28th
RAJ Conference Room, 4:30 – 6:00 PM

Want to build political power to make a difference on environmental and social justice issues?

How about help Middlebury divest from coal?

Green Corps, the nation’s premier field school for environmental organizing, is partnering with the Middlebury Sustainability Office, MCOF, and Students Stand Up to provide a workshop for Middlebury students on Monday, Jan. 28th at 4:30 PM. The workshop is a rare opportunity to learn from professional organizers and social change makers like Arshad Hasan, Executive Director of Democracy for America, who will be participating as a guest trainer. Come learn how to tell a campaign story, set goals for your campaign, and recruit leaders who will help us build our organizations, fuel our projects, and win campaigns for social change over the long-term.

The workshop is free and open to all students, faculty, and community members.

Please fill out THIS FORM if you are interested in attending

**This is non-binding- we are simply trying to gauge attendance

Green Corps is a one-year, paid training program whose mission is to train organizers,

provide field support for today’s critical environmental campaigns, and graduate activists who possess the skills, temperament, and commitment to fight and win tomorrow’s environmental battles.

Questions? Contact ksiegner@greencorps.org.

The Environmental Council is now requesting a second round of grant proposals for the 2012-2013 academic year. Grants range from $25- $2500 and fund projects that reflect and inspire environmental leadership and spread sustainability initiatives on and off campus.

We have found that the most successful projects are collaborative and creative- bringing together groups and individuals from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds, providing a new solution to a difficult problem, and having continuity beyond the initial funding phase.

To learn more and apply visit go/ec
Applications due: February 1, 2013
For more information contact: sustainability_integration@middlebury.edu

The Campus Sustainability Coordinators and MAlt are teaming up to provide you with yummy and sustainable snacks to help you all “sustain” yourselves through finals week! Come find us in the Great Hall and the Davis Family Library today, Wednesday, from 8-9 p.m. We’ve got lots and lots and lots of Cookie Love cookies to share with you! Support MAlt, learn more about the Campus Sustainability Coordinator program, and spread some delicious Cookie Love love!

We’re wrapping up a really exciting semester for Middlebury’s Solar Decathlon Team. Since the team was chosen as a finalist for the 2013 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon last January, over 90 students have participated in the project. This fall students have worked on finalizing the design of our solar powered house including designing mechanical systems and specifying building materials. As the semester comes to a close, we are looking forward to starting construction on our home in January! Any and all students are welcome to come and help out with construction in J-Term and the Spring, please contact middsd@middlebury.edu to get info on the necessary training if you want to participate!

The team is also hosting an Atwater Dinner featuring yummy local food and fun conversation about the project on December 3^rd. If you want to attend please RSVP to sd13team@gmail.com with your name and ID number. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Come to Hillcrest’s Orchard Room on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. to enjoy a movie screening of YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip, hosted by your Campus Sustainability Coordinators. The following is a movie synopsis from the film’s website:

3 friends. 50 States. One wild year! Called to action by a planet in peril, three friends hit the road – traveling America with hope, humor . . . and all of their garbage for the year – to explore the good, the bad, and the weird across every state in search of the extraordinary innovators and courageous citizens who are tackling humanity’s greatest environmental crises. As the YERT team layers outlandish eco-challenges onto their year-long quest, an unexpected turn of events throws the project for a loop in this award-winning docu-comedy. Featuring Bill McKibben, Wes Jackson, Will Allen, Janine Benyus, Joel Salatin, David Orr, and music by Ben Sollee, Mark Geary and more.

The YERT Feature Film had its world premiere at the 2011 Environmental Film Festival at Yale, where it received the Audience Award, tied with Oscar-nominated Waste Land!

This semester has been really productive so far! We’ve allied with some key stakeholders regarding the direction of the school’s food purchases and submitted an application to become an official student organization. There’s still a lot in the works though! We’re currently planning a campus-wide food survey, a week of educational outreach, and a local foods Atwater dinner. Come to the next weekly EatReal meeting – Monday night at 9:30pm in Munford – to learn more and get involved!

The workshop, which will occur at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy in New York, November 30th – December 2nd, is part of a series called the “C2C Fellows” workshops (www.c2cfellows.org). C2C stands for Campus to Congress, and also for Campus to Capitol, to City Hall, and to Corporation. The workshop convenes regional weekend training sessions that support students to envision a path to early leadership and to develop their skills to ensure achievement. This interactive workshop covers communication, entrepreneurship, environmental and climate science, media, raising capital, and other critical topics. It is taught by Dr. Eban Goodstein, an economist, scholar, Director of the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, and Dean of the Bard MBA in Sustainability.

Club leaders get the registration fee completely waived and groups of 5 or more receive a discount. Email sustainability_integration@middlebury.edu for more information or if you’re interested!

Help distribute green bins around campus and spread the goodness of composting! It’s this easy: first, send an email to sustainability_integration@middlebury.edu and request a  location, stop by Hillcrest 109 to pick up a bin up for your room, suite, office, hallway etc. and we’ll notify facilities about the new bins to be emptied.

FOO (February Outdoor Orientation) is the orientation program for Febs and it needs a coordinator!  Job includes trip planning, leader training, and overall stupendous organization!  Go/SEO and search for campus jobs!  The application is open until filled (no deadline but get your app in ASAP if you are interested!)

NOTE: The announcement accepting FOO leaders will be issued later, this is simply for FOO Coordinator.

Applications due: Monday, October 29th.

For more information: Go/ec