Library’s ‘Green’ Collection on Spotlight for Earth Day

by Mary Lou Neighbor, AV Librarian/Assistant Professor

Monday, April 22nd is Earth Day, and the Audiovisual Library will have a table at the downtime (12:30-1:30 p.m.) event displaying our dozens of DVDs on environmental issues.  There will also be a link to a bibliography of the DVDs available to students, staff, and faculty who would like to follow up.  If you would like to see what films we have, go to:  http://bit.ly/mc3ecofilms  After downtime, the films will be on display for the week in the Library.

One of the films in the Audiovisual Library that has been in the collection since 2010 is “Gasland,” which is being shown at the Central Campus on Monday, April 29th, at 12:30 p.m. in CH 144, and available to West Campus at the same time in SH 221.  The filmmaker, Josh Fox, will discuss the film following the screening.

The film examines hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking.”  In 2009, Josh Fox learned that his home in the Delaware River Basin was on top of the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation containing natural gas that stretches across New York, Pennsylvania, and huge stretches of the Northeast.  He was offered $100,000 to lease his land for the new method of natural gas drilling.  The film documents Josh’s cross-country odyssey to find out if the controversial process of fracking is actually safe.  He traveled to 24 states to interview families, EPA whistleblowers, congressmen and scientists.  He unearthed a shocking story about a practice that is understudied and inadequately regulated.  You will want to see this film to become better informed about this practice.

So, please come and visit our AV Library table in the conference room near the cafeteria at downtime on Earth Day, Monday, the 22nd.  And please come and  the Library during the week to check out DVDs on environmental issues, which will be on display!

College Gears Up for Earth Day 2013

by Alana J. Mauger, Think Green Editor

Montgomery County Community College will host a week of educational programs and activities April 22-29 in observance of Earth Day 2013.

On Monday, April 22, the College will join communities across the world in celebrating Earth Day 2013, themed The Face of Climate Change. The day begins with free tire pressure checking stations from 8-10 a.m. in the Morris Road parking lot at the Central Campus in Blue Bell and in the South Hall parking lot at the West Campus in Pottstown. From 12:20-1:20 p.m., both campuses will host a series of displays in College Hall (Central) and South Hall (West). Exhibits include Environmental Club, RecycleMania, Green Office Initiative, GVF/SEPTA transportation options, Campus Bookstore green items, and Siemens ESCO information, as well as a CulinArt Farmers Market.

At 12:30 p.m. in College Hall and South Hall, entries from the Student Sustainability Film Contest will be screened, and awards will be presented. The Climate Council received a total of 16 submissions!

Ceramics Club President Galen Graham spearheads the bowl-making process. Photo by Matt Carlin

As a special treat, the Central Campus Ceramics Club will hold an “Empty Bowls” event to raise money for a local soup kitchen  and for the club. For $10, Earth Day participants can receive a brand-new, handmade bowl, filled with fresh soup and baked bread supplied by on-campus food services provider CulinArt. Read more about this project.

On Tuesday, April 23 at 12:45 p.m., the College will screen the film Thin Ice: The Inside Story of Climate Science in College Hall and South Hall.  The film is a collaboration between Oxford University, United Kingdom, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (VUW), and London-based DOX Productions. Debuting on Earth Day, the film is being screened globally free of change on April 22 and 23. Watch the Thin Ice trailer.

On Wednesday, April 24 from 12:30-1:30 p.m., the College’s Dean of STEM Dr. David Brookstein will offer a presentation on “Alternative Fuel Vehicles– Environmental Opportunities and Challenges” in College Hall at the Central Campus with a video simulcast to South Hall at the West Campus.

On Thursday, April 25, author Chari Towne will discuss her book A River Again, which focuses on the environmental cleanup of the Schuylkill River in the 1940s and 1950s. The discussion will take place at 12:45 p.m. in the South Hall Community Room at the West Campus, with video simulcast to the Advanced Technology Center room 101 at the Central Campus. Towne’s book is available for purchase from the Schuylkill River Heritage Area or can be downloaded as a free PDF from Delaware River Keeper.

On Monday, April 29, filmmaker and activist Josh Fox will visit the College’s Central Campus to discuss hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking,” following a free screening of his Sundance Award-winning and Academy Award -nominated documentary, GASLAND. The screening (107 minutes) will begin at 12:30 p.m., followed by Fox’s presentation and a question and answer session. Both the film and talk will take place in College Hall Room 144. The event is sponsored by the College’s Environmental Club. Read more about GASLAND.

In addition to the above events, cell phone and battery recycling stations will be available all week in College Hall and Parkhouse Hall at the Central Campus, and in South Hall at the West Campus. The Office of Student Leadership & Involvement will also be holding its “Service Rewind” celebrations for students on Tuesday, April 23 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the South Hall Lobby, West Campus, and Thursday, April 25 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the College Hall Lobby, Central Campus.

All Earth Day activities are free of change (except for the Empty Bowls project) and are open to the public.

~ Robert Gardner and Amy Kolsky contributed to this article.

Ceramics Students Prepare for Earth Day ‘Empty Bowls’ Project

by Robert Gardner, Think Green Correspondent

As part of Montgomery County Community College’s Earth Day celebrations on Monday, April 22, the Ceramics Club will be holding an “Empty Bowls” event to raise money for a local soup kitchen (TBD).

Guests of the Earth Day Empty Bowls event are invited to a modest soup-and-bread meal.  For $10, donors will receive a brand-new, handmade bowl filled with fresh soup and baked bread supplied by on-campus food services provider CulinArt.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of homemade ceramic bowls will also be reinvested in the club, which consistently makes use of recycled materials, thereby reducing waste as well as MCCC’s overall carbon footprint.

“More than half of the clay is re-processed from student waste clay,” said Galen Graham, club president.

On Saturday, April 6, Ceramics Club hosted a “glazing party” for MCCC students, faculty, and staff.  The glazers shared refreshments while creating between 180-200 individual pieces of pottery.  The variety of participants ensured a variety of artistry. Check out photos of the glazing party below.

“Someone might think to use colors or do something that I never would,” Graham said.  “And that’s always a good thing.  The veteran members of the club have so much experience and they were willing to help anyone just starting out.”

According to Assistant Professor and Ceramics Club Advisor Michael Connelly, the kiln was loaded and fired on Tuesday, April 9 and was unloaded by the club on Thursday, April 11.

Empty Bowls is an international movement determined to battle hunger.  The group invokes the powerful image of an empty bowl to remind those with enough to eat:  There are far too many empty bowls across the globe.  In true grassroots spirit, these events enlist local potters, artists, and other citizens to provide assistance to the hungry in their own communities.

The Ceramics Club thanks the following partners for supporting the Earth Day fundraiser:

• Presidents Climate Committee
• Barnes and Noble College Bookstore
• Arts and Humanities Division
• CulinArt
• Student Leadership & Involvement

Photos by Matt Carlin

PHOTOS: Environmental Club Works at Pennypack Farms

by Robert Gardner, Think Green Correspondent

On Friday, April 5, the Environmental Club returned to Pennypack Farms and Education Center.  The volunteer group from Montgomery County Community College helped dig and pull several rows of ripe carrots; they also fought the winds in order to stretch a fabric screens over rows of newly-planted seedbeds.

The Club’s next volunteer date at Pennypack Farms will be Friday, April 26. For more information on all of Environmental Club’s activities, check out their Facebook page.

Photos by Serena Dunlap

Earth Day 2013: The Face of Climate Change

Earth Day Network Sets Global Theme to Highlight Growing Impact on Individuals Through Interactive Digital Campaign

WASHINGTON – The global theme for Earth Day 2013 is “The Face of Climate Change,” Earth Day Network announced last month. Earth Day Network, the group founded by the organizers of the first Earth Day to coordinate the annual day of action that builds and invigorates the environmental movement, said that this theme was chosen because of the need to highlight the mounting impact of climate change on individuals around the world.

“Many people think climate change is a remote problem, but the fact is that it’s already impacting real people, animals, and beloved places all over the world, and these Faces of Climate Change are multiplying every day,“ said Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network. “Fortunately, other Faces of Climate Change are also multiplying every day: those stepping up to do something about it. For Earth Day 2013, we’ll bring our generation’s biggest environmental challenge down to size – the size of an individual faced with the consequences.”

The Earth Day Network is collecting and displaying images of people, animals, and places directly affected or threatened by climate change and tell the world their stories. The organization will mobilize its extensive global network of Earth Day event organizers and other partners to help collect the images. But they’re also asking ordinary people to become “climate reporters” and send their pictures and stories that show The Face of Climate Change.

On and around Earth Day – April 22 – an interactive digital display of all the images will be shown at thousands of events around the world, including next to federal government buildings in countries that produce the most carbon pollution. The display will also be made available online to anyone who wants to view or show it.

The campaign is focusing heavily on social media. Organizers are asking people to tweet using the hashtag #FaceOfClimate, and “climate reporters” can also post photos to Twitter and Instagram using that hashtag for inclusion in the digital display.

“The Face of Climate Change will not only personalize and make real the massive challenge that climate change presents, it will unite the myriad Earth Day events around the world into one call to action at a critical time,” said Franklin Russell, director of Earth Day at Earth Day Network.

2012 was marked by many climate change milestones. Arctic sea-ice cover reached a record low in September, a new high-water mark in a long-term decline. The United States experienced its hottest year ever; this, after the World Meteorological Organization announced that the first decade of this century was the hottest on record for the entire planet. Public perception of extreme weather events as “the new normal” grew as unusual superstorms rocked the Caribbean, the Philippines and the northeastern United States; droughts plagued northern Brazil, Russia, China, and two-thirds of United States; exceptional floods inundated Nigeria, Pakistan, and parts of China; and more. Meanwhile, international climate change talks stagnated. But glimmers of hope for a political solution began appearing in recent months, perhaps most notably in U.S. President Barack Obama’s high-profile promises to tackle climate change during his second term.

This is why organizers say that 2013 is ripe for a major push to confront climate change.

Each year, more than one billion people participate in Earth Day-related activities, making it the largest civic observance in the world. On and around April 22, communities across approximately 192 countries voice their concerns for the planet and take action to protect it.

“We’ll harness that power to show the world The Face of Climate Change,” said Russell. “And we’ll call on our leaders to act boldly together, as we have, on this critical issue.”

To learn more about Earth Day 2013 and The Face of Climate Change, go to www.earthday.org/2013.

Filmmaker/Activist Josh Fox to Discuss ‘GASLAND’ Following Screening

by Amy Kolsky

Will the growth in natural gas drilling around the Delaware River contaminate the Philadelphia region water supply?  Filmmaker and activist Josh Fox will visit Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) on April 29 to discuss hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking,” following a free screening of his Sundance Award-winning and Academy Award -nominated documentary, GASLAND.

Watch the Trailer

The screening of GASLAND (107 minutes) will begin at 12:30 p.m., followed by Fox’s presentation and a question and answer session. Both the film and talk will take place in College Hall Room 144 at MCCC’s Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike Blue Bell. The event is free of charge and is open to the community. For more information, call 215-641-6581.

In GASLAND, Fox embarks on a cross-country journey, including Pennsylvania, to meet individuals who have fallen victim to contaminated water due to natural gas drilling around their property. Variety magazine calls GASLAND “one of the most effective and expressive environmental films of recent years.”

In addition to an Oscar nomination and several film festival accolades, GASLAND premiered on HBO in June 2010 and won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Direction for Nonfiction Programming. The sequel, GASLAND 2, is due out this year.

The screening and presentation are part of MCCC’s week-long celebration of Earth Day 2013, which is April 22. MCCC’s student Environmental Club is sponsoring the event.

Join the Schuylkill Scrub!

Throughout the month of April, individuals and organizations are joining efforts to clean up the Schuylkill River Watershed. Collectively dubbed the Schuylkill Scrub, these projects stretch from Philadelphia to Schuylkill County and focus on removing trash and debris from  streams, roads and parks.

To join the movement, find a Schuylkill Scrub event near you or register your group’s event!

Groups that register with the Schuylkill Scrub will also be registered with the Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania, a statewide effort. Gloves, safety vests, outreach literature, and trash pickup is available for groups through PennDOT’s Keep America Beautiful program and private landfill sponsored Pick It Up PA Days program.

Environmental Club Learns About CSA at Pennypack Farm

Editor’s Note: Think Green features periodic updates about the activities of Montgomery County Community College’s student Environmental Club. 

by Robert Gardner, Think Green Correspondent

As part of its budding affiliation with Pennypack Farm & Education Center, the College’s Environmental Club sent four of its members to the community supported agriculture (CSA) site in Horsham on Friday, March 15.  It marked the first visit by the Club since the autumn semester and the students were eager to chip in at the sustainable farm.

Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Club Advisor Jerry Coleman was on-hand, typical for a Friday afternoon, to help guide the students while educating them on the sustainable features of the CSA.

With winter closing, much of the earth and soil needed to be prepared for spring planting.  The students removed what remained of last year’s crops—specifically the broccoli; they also turned the soil and pulled weeds.  In order to refresh the land, a fresh layer of compost was spread atop the depleted earth.  Some of the students took their work inside, pulling weeds from the rows within one of the many greenhouses.

Environmental Club is dedicated to discovering fun, new ways to promote sustainability both on campus and in the surrounding communities.  The club meets each Wednesday during downtime (12:30 p.m.) in Science Center room 308 at the Central Campus.  For more information, check out the club on Facebook.

Green Topics Featured on ‘MCCC On The Air’

Montgomery County Community College President Dr. Karen A. Stout is hosting a Sustainability Series as part of her weekly On The Air radio program! Check out these recent sustainability-themed episodes:

• Honors Colloquium and the Trees on Campus with Assistant Professor of Biology Jerry Coleman (3/17/13)

• The College’s Energy Conservation Efforts with Vice President for Finance and Administration Tom Freitag (2/24/13)

• The College’s Green Office Initiative with Executive Assistant to the President Joshua Schwartz and Purchasing Manager Marie Ryan (2/17/13)

Want to hear more? Check out an archive of MCCC On The Air episodes.

Students: Enter ‘Earth Day’ Sustainability Video Contest!