Eco-Rep Updates

by The Cowl Editor on April 11, 2019

Eco Updates

by Madeline Stephen ’21 and Payton Morse ’20

Eco-Representatives

Join ECOPC and Eco-Reps on April 28 to celebrate Earth Day! The Earth provides a beautiful home for us all to live on, so help show your appreciation by coming to Slavin Lawn between 11 a.m.-3 p.m. to check out the festivities.

There will be various groups on campus who will be co-sponsoring the event, including, Campus Ministry, Gaelic Society, Photo Club, Student Congress, Outdoor Adventure Club, and the American Marketing Association.There will also be outside groups coming to celebrate, such as the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, Waste Management, National Grid, and Frey’s Florist’s Community Garden.

With tons of activities, you will not be bored at the event. There will also be pots to paint, bags to decorate, shirts to tie dye, and games to play. There will be environmental trivia where you can win exciting prizes. If none of those activities interest you, feel free to just come hang out with the live band and enjoy a snack, such as a vegan ice cream cone, popcorn, pizza, potato skins, healthy smoothies, and more. Come check out the hype for yourself on April 28. We hope to see you there.

PC Recycles Updates

by The Cowl Editor on February 7, 2019

Eco Updates

by Maddie Stephen ’21 and Payton Morse ’20

Eco Representatives

Valentine’s Day is a beautiful day for couples, family, and friends to show their love and appreciation for one another. This is frequently expressed through Hallmark cards, flowers, or chocolates.

However, most of the cards and flowers get thrown away and the chocolate goes uneaten. In fact, 65 percent of the cards given on Valentine’s Day end up in the trash.

This year, try having a “green” Valentine’s Day! Rather than splurging on an expensive card, make a homemade one. Look around the house for scrap paper and old pictures. This gives the card more meaning and a personal touch.

If creativity isn’t your thing, look in the store for cards that say, “made from recycled materials.” This prevents the exploitation of resources.

Furthermore, approximately $2.1 billion are spent on flowers every year. Consider recycling the flowers you received. There are easy ways to make flower perfume or potpourri at home. Just do a simple Google search for instructions. If that doesn’t interest you, bring your flowers to a nursing home or hospice center.

Despite being a bit old, the flowers will be much appreciated by those receiving them, will help cheer them up, and put a smile on their faces.

This year, spend quality time with your loved ones, a gift that lasts forever. Take your date on a hike, enjoy the fresh air, and make memories that will last longer than a card, flowers, or your box of chocolates (it will save you calories too)!

Eco PC Updates

by The Cowl Editor on December 6, 2018

Eco Updates

by Maddie Stephen ’21 and Payton Morse ’20

Eco Representatives

With the semester coming to a close, the holiday season is rapidly approaching. The holiday season is a time of great happiness and cheer, but also a time of great waste.

However, there are many ways you can reduce your waste so that the holidays do not have a major impact on the environment.

A great place to start reducing your waste over the break is with wrapping presents. In fact, every year, 30 million trees are chopped down in order to produce wrapping paper. However, most wrapping paper is not recyclable.

Keep an eye out for wrapping paper made out of recycled goods, or use recyclable wrapping paper.

Other methods include wrapping presents with colored newspaper or recyclable gift bags, that you can decorate while at the kitchen table for some quality family time.

Rather than purchasing new supplies and goods each season, consider reusing materials from past holidays.

When you open a present that has a pretty bow or ribbon, tuck it away in a box and then save it for the next gift.

This also goes for decorations. Rather than buying new lights and decorative Santas to put around the house each year, store them all away in a closet to save them.

This will not only help reduce your consumption but will save you money when you do not have to purchase new supplies and decorations.

Lastly, think twice before purchasing and sending out Christmas cards to all your loved ones. The cards themselves, and the envelopes that you stick them in, results in a lot of unnecessary paper and resource consumption.

Although most of the cards and envelopes themselves should be recyclable, there is no guarantee that they will be recycled.

Most likely they will be put in the trash and not the recycling bin. If all the Christmas cards sent this year were placed next to each other, they would stretch around the world 500 times.

Therefore, instead of purchasing the cards, try making them yourself with recycled paper. They will be much appreciated. Or, cut back even more by sending an e-card this holiday season.

Eco-Rep Updates

by The Cowl Editor on November 15, 2018

Eco Updates

by Madeline Stephen ’21 and Payton Morse ’20

Eco-Representatives

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it is important to recognize the negative impact that wasting food has on our environment. Food waste is the single largest component of trash in landfills and is also the single largest contributor to total methane gas emissions from landfills. In fact, 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year and just one-quarter of all wasted food could feed the 795 million malnourished people around the world who suffer from hunger.

Thanksgiving produces a mass amount of food waste due to the immense surplus of food served at the majority of tables across America. Despite attempts to buy the right sized turkey, more than 200 million pounds of turkey will still be thrown away. Help reduce the amount of food waste we produce by following some tips on how to reduce your food waste this Thanksgiving:

Try buying the ugly produce that would usually otherwise be thrown out simply because it is bruised or has a weird shape. Produce will be peeled, chopped, and mixed so what does it matter if they looked ugly at the store?

Try choosing recipes that “fit” together. This may take some more preparation than usual, but it is an extremely efficient way to reduce food waste. For example, if a stuffing recipe calls for half an onion, find another recipe that calls for the other half!

Don’t toss the scraps! Vegetable peelings and meat bones can be used to make a homemade stock.

Plan ahead and know how many people you will need to be providing food for. Have your guests bring containers so that they can bring home leftovers as well.

Eat your leftovers rather than tossing them out! Or, if you need a break from the holiday food, stick the turkey in your freezer and save it for a later recipe.

Finally, find a local food pantry and donate. Many people will go without food this holiday season so donate that extra can of cranberry sauce that never got opened so that someone else can enjoy it.

From 11a.m.-1p.m. in Raymond Dining Hall on Nov. 13, Waste Management and PC’s ECOPC and EcoReps will be hosting an event titled the “Clean Plate Challenge” to raise awareness about food waste! This is a great opportunity to learn a bit more about the issue of food waste and methods of reduction in the comfort of our own dining hall.