9.22.2011

Upcoming Events and Reminders

1. This Saturday September 24th, we are attending the Moving Planet rally. ESO will meet in front of SMG at 2:30 to walk to the event at Columbus Park. Remember, we will be walking so wear comfortable shoes. We will carry posters that we made at the meeting, but feel free to make some on your own to bring to the rally. The event begins at 4 and ends by 6, but there are plenty events going on all day in the Boston area. (Again, please check out the site for the event: http://www.moving-planet.org/events/us/boston/433).

2. On Monday, October 3rd, the Science on Screen series begins at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. Monday, October 3rd at 7:00 pm the theatre will be showing Little Shop of Horrors then hosting a lecture by ecologist Aaron Ellison. The movie and lecture will be $7.75 for students with ID. The theatre is located at 290 Harvard Street in Brookline. 

3. On Saturday, October 24th, Dining Services is having a trip to a cranberry bog and orchard to go apple picking. The trip will be from 10 am- 4 pm and it is free to attend. Please let ESO know by October 7th the latest if you would like to go with our group , so we can submit a group count. 


At today's meeting we voted on the plans for the semester and the results are...
 For events and trips: 1. pumpkin picking and carving, 2. dinner at a Green Certified restaurant.
 For speakers: 1. Sabrina Pashtan, the Sustainability Director at BU, 2. Dan Goldstein, a BU alum who owns a sustainable business
 For campaigns: 1. Renew Boston (http://renewboston.org/)

We are very excited about all of the events this semester and hope you are too! Please let us know if you need any clarification about anything. We hope to see you all on Saturday at 2:30 in front of SMG.

9.16.2011

Meeting Minutes 9/15 and Moving Planet Rally


Thanks for a great turnout at the first meeting! During the meeting, we discussed ideas for trips, events, and important issues to address this school year.

At next week’s meeting, we will prepare for our first event: the Moving Planet rally, which is Saturday, September 24th. The event focuses on using other means of energy beyond fossil fuels. We will make posters at our meeting on September 22nd to carry on our walk to the event. More information about the rally will be provided at next week’s meeting and in our emails. 

7.12.2011

Unpaid Internship with the Boston Gardeners Council



A new internship has been added! Check it out!

Global Environmental Brigade Trip to Panama August 15-22


Do you want to develop sustainable environmental solutions to mitigate ecological degradation in bio-rich, but economically disadvantaged communities in Panama?


Join an 8 day student-run Environmental Brigade to Panama! We will be sending a group of dedicated volunteers who will work alongside engineers to build ecologically sustainable projects. These projects range from energy-efficient designs (such as eco-latrines, eco-stoves, greenhouses, and sustainable farming methods), to educating the locals with an environmental curriculum implementation.

This is a unique opportunity for anyone who is interested in the environment, international development, or experiencing Central America first hand. We especially need Spanish-speaking students on the brigade; however, everyone (even with no Spanish or engineering experience) is encouraged to apply.

We will be working on our assigned project throughout the Spring and Summer to bring a plan down with us to Panama from Aug 15-22.

If you are interested, please contact Ting Saw at ting.saw@globalbrigades.org. Further information can be obtained at our website at www.globalbrigades.org

6.01.2011

Bike Trips to Local Farmers Markets


If you love farmers markets and riding your bike around town, join your fellow BU locavores on bike trips to Boston farmers markets. Email Sabrina Pashtan, sustainability coordinator for BU Dining Services (harpers@bu.edu) if you’re interested in coming on a ride. BYOB (bring your own basket!)


The first ride is Wednesday, June 8th- Cambridge Center/Kendall Square Farmers Market at noon. Hope you can join us!
Schedule:
Wednesday, June 8th- Cambridge Center/Kendall Square Farmers Market- noon
Thursday, June 16th- Brookline Farmers Market, Coolidge Corner- 2pm
Tuesday, July 12th -Harvard University Farmers Market- noon
Wednesday, July 20th- Somerville Davis Square Farmers Market- noon
Thursday, August 4th- Boston Public Market/Dewey Sq. Farmers Market- noon
Thursday, August 11th- Prudential Center Farmers Market- noon


Meeting place: Marsh Plaza. Look for bikes and baskets.

5.26.2011

Have a Great Summer!

Know of any awesome environmental events going on in Boston or around the globe? E-mail us at environmentalstudentorg@gmail.com and we'll post it in Upcoming Events. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter too!

See you in the fall!

4.08.2011

Meeting Minutes April 6, 2011

In our meeting yesterday we discussed the progress of our anti bottled water campaign and our thoughts on nuclear power in light of recent events in Japan. 

There are many exciting green events coming up in BU and around Boston this month, I hope you can at least attend one of them :) See "Upcoming Events" for more information.

3.31.2011

Meeting Minutes March 30, 2011

In our meeting yesterday we discussed ideas for Earth Day (Friday April 22). Our theme will be water and we will be tabling once again with water taste tests. Also, we will be showing the movie One Water on Wednesday night of that week.

It’s time for us to find new e-board members for next year! If you are interested in joining the e-board, please come to the meeting earlier at 6.30pm next Wednesday (April 6) for more information. For logistical reasons, we are looking for people who will be here for both fall and spring semesters.

3.23.2011

Water Quality Analysis from the Department of Earth Sciences

Below are the results for the water quality analysis conducted by BU's Earth Sciences Department. The EPA limits are listed below each compound. Magnesium, Phosphorous, and Calcium are not regulated because they are not necessarily harmful but may cause differences in taste. Magnesium and Calcium are only required by law to be reported by municipal sources if they are above the concentration of 100 parts per billion (highlighted in pink). The highest concentrations in each column are highlighted in green.

Click Image to Enlarge

As you can see, the tap water sources are just as healthy if not healthier in some cases (Evian) than the bottled water brands.

3.22.2011

Comming Soon...

The water quality analysis data has been distributed, and interpretation/graphing is on its way.  Thanks to everyone who helped make World Water Day a success!  The graph(s) and visuals will be posted tomorrow evening at the latest.  We will also try to compile the blind taste test results and make them readily available soon.

Cheers,
Meredith

3.10.2011

Meeting Minutes March 9, 2011

Hello everyone, in our meeting this week we planned out the details for the photo scavenger hunt (more info will be posted on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2200049270).

World Water Day is coming up on the Tuesday we get back from spring break (March 22)! We will be tabling from 11am-2pm at the BU Beach. Come by to join the water squirting, learn some interesting facts about water, get some DIY pins, or take our water tasting test.

In the evening we will be showing the film One Water in CAS B12 at 7pm. The winner for the photo scavenger hunt will also be announced at that time.

We will have a final planning meeting on Monday March 21 at 7pm in STO422. We need people to help chalk in classrooms on Tuesday, please attend this meeting if you would like to help.

P.S. If you are interested in joining the “water bottle militia” in squirting the unsuspecting bottled water drinkers who pass by our table to catch them in the act, please contact Nick: 978 270 4754. It will look something like this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq58zS4_jvM except with water guns.

Hope you all have a wonderful spring break!

3.02.2011

2.24.2011

Meeting Minutes February 23, 2011

In our meeting yesterday we came up with more ideas for World Water Day:
- Visual displays to discourage bottled water use (e.g. poster, giant bottle shaped sculpture made from empty bottles, baby pool filled with empty water bottles)
- Give facts on bottled water use on campus
- Host debate on bottled water use

We also started a petition in STO442 (Geography and Environment student lounge) to have the bottled water in that room removed. It is next to the water dispenser; please drop by to add your signature to the list.

Next week we plan to make the bottle cap pins and prepare for regular tabling in the GSU. Please collect some bottle caps and bring them along to our next meeting. (If you don’t have any yourself, that’s great – try looking through some recycling bins.)

2.17.2011

Meeting Minutes February 16, 2011


In this week’s meeting we discussed ideas for World Water Day, which is coming up on March 22. We decided to table at the BU Beach with a raffle and craft activities (making pins from bottle caps) in the afternoon; we may include water squirting and dunking. In addition, we would like to screen the film “One Water”.
            There are two events coming up soon: A Greenpeace ship is in town and we would like to join a tour on Saturday afternoon; we will be chalking to publicize the event Israel and the Environment. Please see our "Upcoming Events" page for more details.

Maggie

2.10.2011

Meeting Minutes February 9, 2011

In this week's meeting Saprina Harper (sustainability coordinator of BU Dining Services) came to talk to us about our upcoming trip to Save That Stuff and answer some questions we had regarding dining services.

We also plan to help publicize two upcoming events:

Seminar on Israel and the Environment – a guest speaker will come in to talk about the oil shortage problems in Israel and their use of alternative energy as a solution: Tuesday Feb 22 at 7.30pm in the Hillel House (it will be a Monday schedule day)

Powershift (Apr 15-18 in Washington D.C.) – a youth climate movement summit we would like to attend. We strongly advise anyone who is interested in environmental/sustainability/energy issues to attend this event because it is a great opportunity for learning, leadership training, and network building. We also encourage you to bring friends who are perhaps not so aware of the environmental issues yet.

Please also check out our list of upcoming events by clicking the “Upcoming Events” tab.

Maggie

Week(end) events

Hello all,

If you're looking for something to do this weekend there is a lot going on. 

Tonight:
There is an info session about IEc, a consulting company based in Cambridge, in CAS 453 @ 5:30.
At 6:00 join us for the green groups potluck in the basement of the GSU next to the HTC in the Student Union Lounge

Friday:
BU Anti-war Coalition is hosting a discussion- "No War, No Warming" from 7-9pm in PHO 306

Saturday:
SNOWSHOEING!!! We'll be traveling to the Boston Nature Conservancy near Forest Hills to participate in a guided nature walk
in snowshoes =)  Meet us at Marsh Plaza at 10am and we will take the t together.  Please bring $12 for the tour and snow shoe rental.  My cell phone number is 610-213-9403 if you don't see us on Marsh.

Meeting minutes from this past week will be posted soon on our blog.

Have a good weekend,
Meredith

PS: If you have been receiving delayed emails from us please be sure to refer to our blog as this is becoming our primary source of information sharing.  The link is below.

--
Environmental Student Organization
Boston University

2.03.2011

Meeting Minutes From Feb 2


In yesterday’s meeting we discussed the four events/campaigns we will focus on this semester. We will be splitting into four committees to plan for these events; please think about which one you want to join:
- Tap water campaign (ongoing) – educating student body on bottled water
- World Water Day (March 22)
- Earth Day (April 2)
- Powershift (April 15-18 in Washington D.C.) – a youth climate movement summit we would like to attend


We also discussed some community service/field trip ideas for the semester including:
- snow shoeing
- art show in Feb (eco art)
- Audubon society
- Charles River cleanup (in spring)
- Earthworks urban orchids (in spring)

In addition, we are considering showing one or more of these water related films:
- Flow
- One Water
- Tapped

Upcoming events:
  • There will be a Green Groups Potluck next Thursday (Feb 10) at 6pm in the Student Union Office (located at basement of GSU): come share food and ideas with students from other green groups on campus
  • Monday Tea hosted by the Geography and Environment Department takes place from 2.30-3.30pm on Mondays in STO442 (GE student lounge): you get to meet professors and other students in the department (and there will be free tea and snacks!)
  • Saprina Harper (sustainability coordinator of BU Dining Services) will come to give a talk about a field trip to Save That Stuff (in our next meeting?)