President’s Corner – An End to Chapter 1

Hey Net Impact,

This is my last President’s Corner. This will be my last ramble, final thoughts, and a conclusion of my two-and-a-half year leadership of the chapter. It’s been a wonderful journey working with four sets of leadership teams entwined by the continued support of past officers. In a time of transition, I am happy to say that I am leaving our club better than the way I found it.

In my first week at Wash U, I was introduced to the administration at Olin. In the fourth week, I went with three other students as a delegation for Olin to a conference at William and Mary, hosted by their chapter of Net Impact. By the end of my first semester at Wash U, I founded our chapter. If it wasn’t for my fast track to leadership at this school, looking back I can now say that my experience would have been much different and less rewarding. Leading Net Impact has shaped me as an individual, and has defined a significant part of my undergraduate experience at Wash U.

My advice: Lead with passion. Let your ambitions drive your will to work, and follow the path that not only excites you now, but will prepare you for the future. Learn a vast array of skills to hedge your bet against external forces that life presents. Experience as many opportunities as Wash U lends, and when that is not enough, pop the bubble to enter into the the community around us. Attend conferences, compete in competitions, lead student groups, and graciously work with others to promote and enhance the world around us all. Your only asset in college is time – DON’T WASTE IT.

Lead initiatives and committees, set short-term and long-term goals to shape a path. Use your machete to whack away the hurdles so that it is easy for others to follow. Help others. Realize that hard work, diligence, and persistence are what you need to accomplish any worldly ambition, and that you have the mental capacity and physical tool set to achieve each and every one.

I’m not going anywhere today, tomorrow, or even the next day, but this post represents the finale to my three years of hard work. I will do my best to make it to as many meetings as possible, and continue to support any and every member that comes to me for help. Use me as a resource, a connection, and a sounding board. My new goal for my Net Impact involvement is to act as an accelerator for any initiative in need of help – I will be there to push you ahead of each speed bump you encounter. You can count on that.

A Final Toast, and Cheers,

Harry

Business Spotlight – 3 Degrees

As an Outreach Associate with 3Degrees, you will communicate directly with Ameren Missouri customers about Pure Power program with the ultimate goal of enrolling customers in the program. You will interact with the public in a variety of settings, including festivals, storefront tables, community events, and going door-to-door in select neighborhoods.
This is a part time position that offers mostly evening and weekend hours, along with some weekday hours. Training is provided and there are opportunities for advancement.

Mississippi campaign Intern
http://www.stlouisgreen.com/jobs-education/job/1-mississippi-campaign-intern

The campaign’s main recruitment method is to talk to people face-to-face at River festivals, events and workdays where Interns will encourage people to become River Citizens—people who pledge to help protect the River by taking simple actions; each region aims to recruit 1,000 River Citizens in 2013.  In addition to attending recruitment events, interns will be required to track the River Citizens recruited, recruit and train volunteers, write 1 blog post per month and submit 2-4 press releases regarding the campaign in their region.

This program will include training opportunities and at least one in-person meeting with other campaign interns from around the country. Through this experience 1 Mississippi campaign interns will develop organizing skills, a unique understanding of values-based communications campaigns, public speaking and teaching experience and the ins and outs of a national environmental campaign.

MRN is hiring a paid campaign intern for one day a week, plus event days totaling an average of 20 hours a week for the duration of the summer, beginning with our training in March until early October.
GIS/Engineering Internship
http://www.stlouisgreen.com/node/863

You will need to have a strong background in GIS software, the ability to integrate complex datasets into watershed modeling software, and a passion for using technology effectively and creatively to the benefit of our environment and quality of life.
The major components/goals of this interns work plan:
•           Compile all relevant GIS, flow and water quality data for the Kiefer Creek Watershed Plan
•           Process datasets for integration into the following watershed models : ArcHydro, Nature Serve Vista, and TR55
•           Integrate processed datasets into the above listed watershed models
•           Articulate watershed models for public consumption using Google Earth Pro to create enhanced kmz and kml layers

Software the intern will/may be using: ArcGIS 10.1, ArcHydro 2.0, FME, Manifold, Nature Serve Vista, Google Earth Pro, Basins, Photoshop/Illustrator/Premier, SketchUp
Duration : 240 hours
Send resume, cover letter, three references, and relevant work samples to lcrandall@moenviron.org

President’s Corner: Consumer Privilege

Consumer Privilege: It’s Complicated

Human exploitation of the planet is reaching a critical limit while our demands are ever increasing.

The two most complex systems on Earth are the environment and human society. For the entirety of our history we have existed together in harmony. However, our gift of manpower is creating a dynamic shift in the natural equilibrium we have come to enjoy. Humans have evolved to be the species leader of the Earth and we are leading in the wrong direction, to the destruction of a biological-supportive nature. We have been given dominion over nature, and as such, feel separated from our ecosystem. However, in no way can we ever be completely disassociated with nature. Expectations, politics, and selfishness govern our human-created environment that enforce separation with all other living things, and nature itself. Our existence on this planet is dependent on nature – for it’s diverse natural processes that keep our atmosphere intact, and for its abundance of vitamins, minerals, and resources we take for granted.

We must undergo a cultural transformation to understand the balance of consumption. It’s time for us to get away from a continual growth model, as we are constrained by a finite level of resources. Our role as students is to become responsible and well informed activists to show our government that ecology must be intertwined with all legislation. Maybe if we can create the common appeal, and common level of education on the matter of the proposed future if we stay on the same track, then change will happen. Everyone has the power to vote; and I’m not talking about for the President. We have the power to vote on products and services, and our vote is carried out through the purchase of a good for us to enjoy. There must be a common understanding on the need for frugality and the disassociation with corruptible wealth. Everyday we do something different, now, let’s use that power for the good of our friends, family, community, nation, world, and life itself.

Growth is a means to an end. The wrong kind of growth reduces our quality of life, and we must take economics back to a human-environment optimization. The human mind created the concept of the future. We look ahead, recognize where the opportunities are and where the dangers lay, and choose accordingly to survive. No other living organism carries the same intellectual capacity. Constant growth is an unnatural term created by the lack of foresight in humanity. The only model for comparison is the entire universe, which some believe is constantly growing from the original big bang. Even if this is true, do we really have the audacity to think we hold a parallel power to the whole universe in that there are no boundaries to our reach (major God-complex)? If we do, I am unbelievably scared for our future as a species, especially on our home planet.

Here’s two facts for thought for you to enjoy:

• Consumers can recognize hundreds of company logos but most do not know 10 native plant species in their hometown.
• Americans spend more money on lawn maintenance than India receives in tax revenue

Your President,

Harry

P.S. How many native plant species of St. Louis are there, and what are they? Can you name five of them?

President’s Corner: The Sacrificial Lamb (Parts 1 & 2)

The Sacrificial Lamb, Part 1

From the dawn of humanity on this planet to modern day, culture has existed through the activities and rituals that individuals and communities partake in. The basics cover nutrients, shelter, the desire to live, and to help others. Viewpoints change over time, and with new perspective comes variance in activities. Communities revolve around a center of ideas and commonalities. People join into interest groups, societies, and organizations because of shared interests or have interests bestowed on them by others. Religion too.

 

In Monotheistic Religions, historical interpretations of biblical textures called for a sacrifice for the common good. In earlier times, the lamb was a highly valued possession, which was offered to God as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. Communities that practiced such religions believed that a sacrifice was necessary to make right the situations when common law and ethics were not strictly followed.

But why kill a lamb? The stature goes that the sacrifice was equivalent to the price of the sins committed. This act of slaughter proved faith and commitment towards becoming a better person and acceptance of sin. However indecent this may seem to some, each and every one of us sacrifices something for change. Our viewpoints on rituals and ethics continually revolve through advances in society, but the notion of sacrifice stays constant.

What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your personal goals? Your community’s goals? Before agreeing to kill a lamb, think about alternative sacrifices that are beneficial and that provide a clear path as a milestone on your endeavor. Changing a practice is never easy, but understanding the sacrifice made and the outcome achieved is the first step.

Diligence. Once committed, stay on track, and do not lose sight of the original objective that prompted the “sacrifice”. Mistakes happen, but habitual routines are psychologically ingrained. Consider these five points:

• Comprehension (of overall outcome; what it means to you)
• Acceptance (of willingness and desire to change)
• Sacrifice (one’s comfort with old practice for new)
• Diligence (staying on track)
• Achievement

Look forward to next week’s president’s corner on modern examples of beneficial sacrifice for the betterment of yourself and others.

……………………………………………..

The Sacrificial Lamb, Part 2

 

Comprehension, Acceptance, Sacrifice, Diligence, Achievement.

The Sacrificial Lamb can be viewed as the turning point in daily routines towards sustainable activities. From carnivorous diets to vegetarian, gas-guzzling cars to all-electrics, and constant indoor air temperature to changes depicted on outside conditions, creating beneficial change in one’s daily habits is a milestone in the individual quest towards working with the world for the future. In each decision made daily one goes though a cycle of instantaneous emotional response and higher level reasoning. Poor-form spontaneity, in this case the depiction of unsustainable activities, is primarily caused by a dull in the consistent level of satisfaction one receives day by day. When faced with a decision that harms the environment on a nuclear, or global level, it is in most cases out of the mental sketch of the rapid-fire decision-making we all carry out on a second-by-second basis. So how do we create the global picture in the minds of the individually and socially focused?

Step 1) Figure out what the world means to you. Understand your personal position in the world around us. Know the facts.

Step 2) Accept the fact that your actions play into a larger picture; that everything you do is scalable, and, as a mental activity try to universalize your action. When you leave the lights on in your apartment or dorm room when vacant, you may shrug off the action; but, let’s imagine a scenario where every person in the world leaves their lights on for the same time period. Seven billion people multiplied by let’s say 1 kilowatt-hour consumes 7,000,000 kWh of electricity. This would take a typical coal power plant (500 megawatt capacity) two years to produce. Remember that 100% of this electricity produced is being wasted. Now, consider how many times you leave electric devices, lights, and machinery on when not in use, and for how long. Using a benchmark of 1 kilowatt-hour for a wasteful activity shows you the universalized ramifications of an individual action. If everyone in the world was like you, how many coal-fired power plants would it take just to produce the electricity/energy being wasted?

Step 3) Commit to sacrificing the comfort of continuing the negative activity. This step of commitment serves not only as the willingness to change but also the ability to overcome the obstacle ahead of you. A negative habitual routine is similar to an addiction in that the change in and of itself is mentally taxing, can be physically uncomfortable, and is even more difficult to work on alone. Committing to an action with a friend, group, or campaign provides the external motivation to keep you in line when the mental anguish is internally unbearable. Finding others to commit to a similar change is easy, especially with the strength and friendship of everyone in Net Impact.

Step 4) Discipline and diligence serve as the final step towards obtaining the goal of personal achievement. It won’t be easy, but the rewards are substantial. Just as you universalized the wasteful electricity practices as an example in Step 2, universalizing the outcome makes for sweet satisfaction. One more fact. Our electricity grid is unbelievably inefficient. From the stages of fossil fuel extraction to production, distribution, and end use efficiency, it takes more than five times the capacity of coal at a large electricity-generating plant to produce the same electricity for the light-bulb in your home as it would a solar panel attached to your roof.

We have the choice, the ability, and the reason to change many of current practices for personal betterment and for the livelihood of our friends, family, neighbors, and citizens of the world alike. Each step we take to minimize our negative impact on the world will lead to a better, more promising future. Isn’t that what we all want?

If you would like to try one or more changes in your own life, come out to our next meeting and learn about the Small Steps Campaign. Through the friendship of our chapter we can help each other make positive choices in our lives and lives of others.

Your President,

Harry

Business Spotlight – Energy

This week we get down to green energy itself.

To start things off, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on some recent events. Now as we all have read in the news, Energy Secretary Steven Chu is leaving the administration, overall he’s got some mixed reviews. The case that stood out the most that got grilled over and over before and during the campaign season was the failure of Solyndra bankruptcy — $528 million federal dollars spent on the company only to see Chinese competitors getting more subsidy, producing cheaper solar panels and drying up the market. Not trying to make a political point, I think both sides could agree that a greener, more sustainable energy future is inevitable and the industry will have to experience some birth pain, and it’s not doing too bad when Exxon Mobile and other big oil companies are still getting millions and millions in tax credits.

Mr. Chu once said that he’s confident that hybrids and electric cars were going to play a big role in US transportation in the coming decades, and “we need an infrastructure for charging”, plain and simple, and keep in mind, these words came from a guy who had a Nobel prize in physics before he took the cabinet post.

Now back to green energy in St. Louis. For those of you who courageously attended the Career Fair last week despite the snow, you may have seen Syndicated Solar. They are a perfect example. Something I learned from talking to Mr. Loughridge, basically the way it works it that they come to your home, depending on what kind of roof you have and what the surrounding of the house looks like, they design an individualized plan for installation, and it’s guaranteed for 25 years, once it’s integrated to the grid, you can start saving right away. The mean time, Syndicated Solar is also trying to spread the product by allowing people to buy solar panels at a lower price if they could help make referrals — that’s why we have seen clusters of homes having these solar panels out in some communities in Colorado, apparently people have started to see the benefits of it and it’s only a matter of time that we’ll see a greater proliferation.

As I was reading President Clinton’s book Back to Work, I was humbled by his knowledge on green energy and one suggestion he made was that “at least paint the roofs white” (to safe energy on heating)— ironically after nine other suggestions he acknowledged as unfeasible in today’s political environment, one of which happens to be more federal support on tax credits and deductions on solar panels purchases. As we have four more years of President Obama in the White House, this prospect might not be the top priority, but it is surely covered under a more friendly administration. This could be significant because as the green job report points out, this is an industry that depends heavily on customer demand since it’s still in its infancy compared to big oil, and if people are not willing to buy the technology into their homes than it would be very hard for the industry to be itself sustainable. Therefore employers in this sector are looking for people who have a degree preferably on math, science or engineering, who have the knowledge of how green alternatives work and  be able to use persuasion to illustrate the long-term and short-term benefits of using green energy.

Small Steps Big Wins: 1st Place!

Great work and congratulations to all the SMALL STEPPERS… this week we moved into 1st place in the country!! Let’s continue taking as many actions as we can in efforts to reduce our individual global footprints.  Remember to tell your friends about the challenge, walk, bike, or take public transit when possible, and try to take on Meatless Mondays.  Join me for a great volunteer opportunity if interested in environmental policy (which can also earn you 15 points!) this Wednesday at the Missouri State Capital to work to protect Missouri State Parks.Check out Environment Missouri for more information.  Great work and keep STEPPING!!

Check out http://smallsteps.netimpact.org/ to sign up, track points, and see all eligible actions.

4th Annual Olin Sustainability Case Competition

Blight, Plight and Urban Flight: Stimulating the Sustainable Development of Vacant Land in the City of St. Louis. 

In previous years the case competition has been very campus-centric (tackling issues of landscaping, parking, and energy use on our own grounds), but this year, at the behest of the Office of Sustainability, we have taken the case ‘off-campus’ to tackle the issue of vacant land in the urban core of St. Louis and its social, economic, and environmental ramifications.  The topic has proven to be of great interest to the student body, building upon the synergies with the Sustainable Land Lab, and we launched the case to packed house of interested students from across the campuses in November.  The case (linked here) was officially released to our registered teams on December 13th and we’re looking forward to reviewing a set of first round submissions on January 20th.

Our judges will soon begin filtering down the participants to a group of 3-4 teams who will be invited to present at the Finalists’ Presentations on February 8th at 1:00 PM here in Simon Hall’s May Auditorium.  The awards and reception will follow at 3:30 PM at the Knight Center.  We would be delighted and honored if you could join us (details below).