MSL buzz: the Michael Schwartz Library blog

Sustainability Tips for the Week of October 23rd - October 27th: 
Renewable Power Options in Northeast Ohio
 

As we have for the past few years, the Michael Schwartz Library Sustainability Team will be sending out some sustainability tips each week of October, Campus Sustainability Month. Here are this week's tips!

Northeast Ohioans have several options for renewable sources of electric power. Depending on where you live in Northeast Ohio, either Cleveland Public Power or FirstEnergy/Illuminating Company, manages the power lines, delivers the power to your house, and may even generate the electricity itself. But you can select other electrical power suppliers or aggregators for the power generation portion of your electrical service if you’re a FirstEnergy/Illuminating Company customer. Power aggregators help group households together to secure better rates from competitively bid suppliers, and this also allows them to advocate for things like renewable power.   

Renewable power is managed through Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), which represent 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of power from renewable energy sources. Renewable power providers can’t guarantee that all your electricity at any given moment is from a renewable source, so RECs are used as credits for renewable power generation. The power you use right now might not be renewable, but it’s backed MWh for MWh by renewable power being generated and delivered somewhere else. 

Finding a renewable energy provider is not difficult in Ohio. The Energy Choice Ohio web site allows you to compare the various suppliers available via your current power provider. Their Apples to Apples comparison tool allows you to filter by parameters like how much power is renewable, whether the rate is fixed or variable, whether there are fees, and so on. While 100% renewable electricity isn’t the cheapest option among suppliers, there are suppliers with competitive rates. And by comparing the rates and fees and amount of renewable power provided you can choose a supplier that balances your needs against your budget. 

Cleveland’s power supplier is the aggregator SOPEC, a non-profit power aggregator, to supply their power. SOPEC offers 100% renewable power at competitive rates and is opt-out, meaning customers are assigned this supplier by default. You can view SOPEC’s rates at their electric rates page. Many Northeast Ohio communities have arrangements with the aggregator NOPEC. Like SOPEC, NOPEC is opt-out, though you can change your plan within NOPEC. NOPEC’s default electric supply options include only 8.5% renewable power, which is the Ohio minimum under the current renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS). Thankfully, NOPEC also offers 100% renewable options which are similar in cost to the standard options. You can find NOPEC’s current rates and plans at their electric rates page. 

Another option available to Northeast Ohioans is residential solar panels. If you want to learn more about putting solar panels on your home or your property, visit the Cuyahoga Country Department of Sustainability web site to learn about Solar Co-Ops available to Cuyahoga County residents. 

• For more information on exactly what Renewable Energy Credits are and how they work:  
  https://www.epa.gov/green-power-markets/renewable-energy-certificates-recs 
• Compare electric power suppliers and aggregators: 
  http://www.energychoice.ohio.gov/ 
• Information about NOPEC: 
  https://www.nopec.org/who-is-nopec/ 
• Cuyahoga County Department of Sustainability Solar Co-Op information 
  https://cuyahogacounty.us/sustainability/initiatives/residential-solar-co-op 
• Ohio’s renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) 
  https://puco.ohio.gov/utilities/electricity/resources/ohio-renewable-energy-portfolio-standard/  
•  

Thank you for helping to make our campus (and your home) more sustainable!  

-This week's tips compiled by Brandon Walker, Systems & Knowledge Bases Librarian, Michael Schwartz Library, with help from Jenn McMillin, CSU Sustainability Director 

Sustainability Tips for the Week of October 16th - October 20th: 
Talking About Sustainability
 

As we have for the past few years, the Michael Schwartz Library Sustainability Team will be sending out some sustainability tips each week of October, Campus Sustainability Month. Here are this week's tips!

One of the most important ways that you can combat climate change is simply by talking about it! Most Americans are concerned about climate change, but that can be hidden by the fact that people are hesitant to bring it up. When we talk about the climate crisis, we can spur collective action and smarter individual choices to address this major challenge.  

TALKING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE: RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

• Helpful Tips from Hennepin County

• Guide for Talking about Climate Change from the Nature Conservancy

• Yale Program on Climate Communication Tools

• Recommended book: Saving Us by Katherine Hayhoe 
  (Katherine also has a great weekly email)

SOURCES OF FRESH IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION

• Campbell’s 5 Day Sustainability Challenge 

• New York Times Email Newsletter (free with library’s NYT subscription) 

• Yale Climate Communication Email Newsletter 

• Planetarian Email Newsletter 

What other resources do you find helpful for talking about sustainability? Feel free to share with all of us!

P.S. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks about our Luminaries student, Michael's, project to get students talking about environmental sustainability!

Thank you for helping to make our campus more sustainable!  

-This week's tips compiled by Mandi Goodsett, Performing Arts & Humanities Librarian, Michael Schwartz Library

Sustainability Tips for the Week of October 9th - October 13th: 
Green Guides
 

The CSU Office of Sustainability has launched new guides to help employees reduce energy and waste on campus. The Green Office Guide complements the two existing guides focused on events and laboratories.  
 

GREEN OFFICE GUIDE
 

The CSU Green Office Guide was developed by CSU's Office of Sustainability to be a resource for faculty, staff and students working on campus. The tips offered in the guide are meant to support CSU’s ongoing efforts to minimize energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut costs associated with utilities and waste management. By applying the practices mentioned in this guide, everyone can contribute to sustainable campus operations.  Download the CSU Green Office Guide (pdf).

GREEN EVENT GUIDE 

The CSU Office of Sustainability developed this guide to help event planners reduce waste through careful product selection, recycling and composting. It is designed to be a resource for a wide variety of events, whether big or small.  Download the CSU Green Event Guide (pdf).

GREEN LAB PROGRAM  

Laboratories at Cleveland State University are an important part of research but they also consume significant amounts of energy and water. Compared to a standard office, a single laboratory can use TEN times as much energy and FOUR times as much water! Simple adjustments to a few daily habits can decrease resource usage in campus labs. The CSU Green Lab program offers several tools to help lab personnel implement sustainable practices and technologies in order to increase efficiency, save money and conserve resources.

The Green Lab program is designed to reduce consumption and cut costs in labs without impacting productivity. Discover how you can do your part to minimize the environmental impact of labs at CSU:

• Download Green Lab Guide (pdf)

  Best practice guidelines in energy conservation, water conservation, sustainable purchasing, and waste reduction.

• Download Green Lab Checklist (pdf)
  A quick reference list for energy and water conservation, waste reduction and sustainable purchasing strategies for campus labs. 

• Download Fume Hood Fact Sheet (pdf)
  Fume hoods are one of the largest energy users on campus. Learn why they are so energy intensive and how to both save energy and promote lab safety. 

• Download Green Lab Training slides (pdf)
  The  Green Lab training module is part of EHS Lab Safety Training, available on Blackboard. 

Thank you for helping to make our campus more sustainable!  

-This week's tips compiled by Jenn McMillin, CSU Sustainability Director 

Sustainability Tips for the Week of October 2nd - October 6th: 
Reading about Climate Change 

As we have for the past few years, the Michael Schwartz Library Sustainability Team will be sending out some sustainability tips each week of October, Campus Sustainability Month. Here are this week's tips!

Join the Library's Sustainability Book Club

Have you heard about the library’s sustainability book club? It’s not too late to join! This ten-week book club meets in RT 503 on Thursdays from 12-1pm, September 14 through November 16. All students, faculty, and staff are welcome to participate. Register or reach out to Jenn or Mandi to join! 
 

Looking for some inspiring sustainability-related reads? Here are some suggestions from Mandi and Jenn:  

1. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer 
   Kimmerer shares her insights as a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, inspiring readers to gain a deeper ecological understanding of the natural world around. Highly recommended by Jenn! 

2. All We Can Save edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson 
   A collection of essays, poetry, and art created and compiled by women, this book explores how we can muster creativity and courage to face our collective future. This is our sustainability book club book, so we highly recommend it! 

3. The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where We Can Go From Here by Hope Jahren 
   Jahren, who is an award-winning scientist and teacher, explains how systems and everyday actions contribute to the climate crisis and what can be done to fight back. 

4. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken 
   The result of an enormous effort, this seminal book compiles huge amounts of data to reveal the solutions to climate change with the biggest impact.  

5. Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard 
   From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest--a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery. 

6. The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson 
   From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a vision of climate change unlike any ever imagined. Told entirely through fictional eye-witness accounts, The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, the story of how climate change will affect us all over the decades to come. 

7. Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change by Sherri Mitchell 
   Sherri Mitchell draws from Indigenous knowledge and ancestral wisdom, as well as her experience as a lawyer and activist, to address some of the most crucial issues we face today--including indigenous land rights, environmental justice, and our collective human survival. 

8. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard 
   Yvon Chouinard-legendary climber, businessman, environmentalist, and founder of Patagonia, Inc.-shares the persistence and courage that have gone into being head of one of the most respected and environmentally responsible companies on earth. 
    

Looking for more options? Here are some inspiring lists for you to peruse! 

• Titles for getting down to climate business now that children are back to school 
  from Yale Climate Connections

• 7 Nonfiction Titles about the Climate Crisis
  from the American Library Association

Feel free to share your other favorites with everyone! 
Thank you for helping to make the campus more sustainable!  

-This week's tips compiled by Jenn McMillin, CSU Sustainability Director and Mandi Goodsett, Performing Arts & Humanities Librarian, Michael Schwartz Library

Are you hungry for deeper dialogue about the climate crisis and building community around solutions? 

All We Can Save is an anthology of writings by 60 women at the forefront of the climate movement who are harnessing truth, courage, and solutions to lead humanity forward. Through essays, poetry and art, the book fosters deep and fulfilling conversations about climate change and inspires us to connect, nourish, and take action. 

This ten-week book club will meet on Thursdays from 12-1pm, September 14 through November 16. The first two sessions will be in-person, and the rest will either be in-person or online, depending on the preferences of the group. In-person sessions will take place in RT-503 (in the Michael Schwartz Library). Registration is free and the first 12 registrants will receive a free copy of the book. All students, faculty, and staff are welcome to participate. 
 

REGISTRATION LINK

Book club facilitators are Mandi Goodsett, Michael Schwartz Library Performing Arts & Humanities Librarian, and Jennifer McMillin, CSU Director of Sustainability. Contact a.goodsett@csuohio.edu or j.mcmillin@csuohio.edu with questions.

Students: Sign Up for A Five-Day Sustainability Email Series

College campuses across the country celebrate October as Campus Sustainability Month. Starting October 17th, The Michael Schwartz Library will offer a five-day email series on being an eco-friendly Viking. We’ll send our tips and tricks straight to your email – all you have to do is sign up. 

Sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/csusustain2022. Thank you! 

There's a lot going on at CSU in observance of Earth Day, and we wanted to share some library and campus-wide events on our radar:

EarthFest Event: Plant-based eating Chef's Demo

Join us on Tuesday, April 19^th 11:30 - 1:00pm in the 311 Ballroom of the Student Center for a FREE chef's demo! Sample delicious plant-based recipes! Register here to secure your seat.

CSU EarthFest

EarthFest is an annual event on the CSU campus designed to raise awareness about campus and community sustainability initiatives and organizations. EarthFest is hosted by the CSU Office of Sustainability and the Student Environmental Movement. This year EarthFest will take place on Thursday, April 21^st from 11am to 1pm in the Student Center. 

Garden Functional Movement Lesson

Tuesday April 26, 12:15 - 12:45, RT 401 (in the Michael Schwartz Library) Offered by the CSU Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program

Celebrate Arbor Day

Come celebrate Arbor Day with SGA and the Office of Sustainability in the Student Center Atrium on Friday, April 29th, 2022, from 12:00pm-2:00pm. There will be food and beverages as well as plant gift boxes and free SGA merch! SGA in coordination with the Office of Sustainability and the Grounds Team planted two trees. Come check out our tables in the Student Center, learn about Arbor Day and the importance of sustainability, get your free stuff, and go check out the trees that we planted! RSVP here.

Earth Month Library Display (all month)

Sustainability impacts all disciplines! Visit the Michael Schwartz Library's first floor to see a display of sustainability books related to various disciplines of study. Explore even more sustainability-related books from our ebook collection by visiting our Sustainability Research Guide!