Mother Earth
SLIPPERY ROCK — Climate change. Pollution. The mining of fossil fuels. Climbing carbon dioxide levels.
Mother Earth has been taking some lumps from us, her unruly children, but Earth Day 2018, April 22, is a chance to make some amends.
Paul Scanlon, Slippery Rock University's director of sustainability, believes that while the issues seem daunting, every individual — whether a renowned chemist or a college freshman — can contribute to the effort of making positive change.
With that in mind, the SRU President's Commission on Sustainability, of which Scanlon is a co-chair, will provide a “Community Electronic Waste Recycling Days” event from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 28 as part of the university's Earth Day events. The event is free and open to the public.
Items can be dropped off at SRU's Recycling Center at the Stores II facility on Kiester Road.
The list of acceptable electronic waste includes any type of cell phone, computers, printers, MP3 players, VCRs, keyboards, power cords, copiers, scanners, consoles and stereo equipment. Only batteries from laptops or UPSs will be accepted.
“This event gives residents a legal option to get rid of items no longer accepted in their household trash or landfills,” said Joel Brown, assistant director for environmental health and safety. “It also helps us move forward with our goal of reducing the carbon footprint of our university and surrounding communities.”
Only items from residential homes will be accepted.
Participation is limited to residents of Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Beaver, Clarion, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango and Westmoreland counties. Proof of residency, such as a driver's license, is required for all drop-offs.
Last year's event collected nearly 2,500 items, ensuring the items were disposed of legally and recycled when possible.
“Our goal, first and foremost, is to raise the level of awareness among students and faculty,” said Scanlon. “There are so many resources and opportunities, like this annual collection, that we have on campus, that people are completely unaware of.”
He added Maven Technologies of Rochester, N.Y., the university's main electronics recycling vendor, cooperates in the effort once a year.
“It's our donation to the community to give them free recycling for that stuff,” said Scanlon.
“We use Earth Day to raise awareness of climate change and what we need to do about it,” he said.
Other organizations in Butler County are using Earth Day for restoration efforts.
The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania plans a Day of Service for the Earth from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Succop Nature Park, 185 W. Airport Road, Penn Township.
According to Chris Kubiak, the development associate for the Audubon Society, “We are restoring a meadow for monarch butterflies. We will be planting milkweed and other plants.
“People can come up and help us. They can just show up,” he said.
The society is also inviting volunteers to come out to its Todd Nature Reserve, 347 Kepple Road, Sarver, from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday to help remove invasive species and return native plants and trees to the ecosystem, or help out on the reserve's trails and improve green spaces for birds and local wildlife. Families and community groups are encouraged to participate.
The Cranberry Sunrise and Noon Rotary Clubs and the Seneca Valley High School Interact Club planted 113 trees along a section of Brush Creek Trail last Saturday as part of Earth Day observances.
Rotary member Henry Anna said the planting was in response to a request by Rotary District 7280 Governor Judith Hughes asking the club to plant a tree for each member.
“Earth Day is now a global event each year, and we believe that more than 1 billion people in 192 countries now take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world,” said Kathleen Rogers, president of the Earth Day Network, the organization that leads Earth Day worldwide.“It is a day of political action and civic participation. People march, sign petitions, meet with their elected officials, plant trees, clean up their towns and roads,” Parker said.“Corporations and governments use it to make pledges and announce sustainability measures. Faith leaders, including Pope Francis, connect Earth Day with protecting God's greatest creations, humans, biodiversity and the planet that we all live on,” she said.Earth Day Network will leverage the platform of Earth Day and the growing interest in the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2020 as a catalyst for global action.One such action in Butler County is the Robert A. Macoskey Center. according to SRU's Scanlon.The center, situated on 83 acres, is dedicated to “education about sustainability, physical demonstration of sustainable technologies and systems and supporting sustainability-focused academic initiatives and research.”Complete with a farmhouse, passive solar energy, geothermal heating and cooling and a noncatalytic woodstove, the center stands as an example of sustainable living and embodies SRU's goal of a low carbon footprint.Scanlon said the center is managed by graduate assistants and SRU's Department of Parks and Conservation and Department of Recreational Therapy.Efforts such as these have led to Slippery Rock University being recognized as one of the country's foremost “Green Colleges” by The Princeton Review. SRU also is a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School Postsecondary Sustainability Awardee that is committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2037.Scanlon said SRU is typically on the Princeton Review and the Sierra Club lists of “Good Green Colleges.”“Carbon dioxide emitted into the air by burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming,” said Scanlon. “By 2037 we should no longer be emitting global warming gases into the atmosphere.”“We hope to reach that goal by energy conservation and using alternative and renewable energy,” he said.“This has really been a response to the leap in fossil fuels and atmospheric carbon dioxide which has been invoking climate change since the Industrial Revolution,” said Scanlon. “What scientists have been predicting every year since then, we are now observing. If we do not begin change soon, it may become too late.”“The Green Ribbon Award is a little more extensive. It considers sustainability and health and wellness on campus,” Scanlon said. “We are the only four-year college to earn that in 2016.”And when Earth Day 2037 rolls around, SRU may have achieved its goal of eliminating greenhouse gases, Scanlon said.“We are definitely on track. We are seeing a real trend to renewable energy. It is becoming much more economical.”
- 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., April 26, Stephen Mulkey, Unity College president emeritus, discussing “The Long Game: Sustainability and Reality in the Environmental Century,” Eisenberg Classroom Building Auditorium.- 1 to 2 p.m., April 26 Carolyn Davis' “Make and Take: Spring Cleaning Products Workshop,” Macoskey Center. RSVP to erin.strain@sru.edu.- 10 a.m. to noon, April 28, “Host a Spring Garden Party Workshop,” Room 324, Smith Student Center. RSVP to erin.strain@sru.edu.- APSCUF Faculty Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup, April 29. Meet in the Old Stone House parking lot. RSVP judith.silva@sru.edu.
