Thanks to the EvCC Grounds crew, the hillside by Parking Lot C is blanketed in native wildflowers. Not only do these wildflowers brighten the EvCC campus, they serve an important purpose as well! These beautiful blooms help guard against soil erosion and provide habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects. Wildflowers also tend to require less maintenance and water than other plantings, making them a great sustainable choice. They are in full bloom at the moment, so check out EvCC’s wildflower meadow on the hillside by Parking Lot C and Grey Wolf Hall today!
On May 3rd, 2019 the Student Green Fee Administrative Committee chairperson presented the Student Green Fee budget for fiscal year 2019-2020 to the EvCC ASB Senate for approval. After a few questions and a brief discussion, the 2019-2020 Student Green Fee budget was unanimously approved!
A large part of the budget has been set aside for student-led sustainable projects. The Student Green Fee Advisory Committee is in the process of finalizing the guidelines and processes for students seeking to utilize Green Fee funds and intends to begin accepting applications for projects beginning January 2020. If you are interested in getting involved in the Green Fee Committee please contact us at sustainability@everettcc.edu or 425-388-9484!
Portions of the budget will also fund three student employment opportunities in the Office of Sustainability. Applications for Sustainability Officer, Event/Media Coordinator, and Program and Data Coordinator are being accepted until July 15, 2019.
EvCC’s remaining Index Hall Building B is slated for demolition beginning mid-August 2019. Following EvCC’s commitment to sustainable practices all furnishings and equipment in Index B have been carefully evaluated with an emphasis towards reallocation elsewhere on campus.
We are pleased to announce that we have a new pilot paper towel composting program in Jackson Hall restrooms brought to you by the EvCC Custodial Services. Both Jackson Hall restrooms now have specifically labeled receptacles for used paper towels. The materials collected will be composted along with EvCC kitchen and other compostables collected by Cedar Grove Composting. Cedar Grove also collects food waste from the EvCC Early Learning Center kitchen. To learn more about Cedar Grove Composting processes, go to: https://cedar-grove.com/for-your-business Thank you to EvCC Custodial Services for helping to pilot ways to keep EvCC Sustainable!
On November 6th, late in the evening in the Jackson Wilderness Room, two students working on the Student Green Fee Initiative presented the final draft of the Financial Code, the document that outlines the governance and policies for the new fee. After a short power point presentation, a round of congratulations was in order as the BOT adopted the Green Fee and Financial Code unanimously.
After 22 long months, the hard work and dedication from the dozens of students who supported this initiative finally paid off. The next steps include the collection of the fee, beginning in Winter Quarter 2019. Prior to the start of the quarter, an interim Student Green Fee Administrative Committee will be convened to draft a temporary budget proposal, which will go before the ASB Senate for approval.
This limited budget is only intended to hire at least one of the student positions that are to be created with this new funding, as this is an important step in the coordination of the Green Fee Administrative Committee and the budget development for the upcoming fiscal year. On this note, the Office of Sustainability is currently seeking to recruit additional students for the committee. As it stands when this post was published, there are openings for three more students, at most. Email sustainability@everettcc.edu to learn more and (hopefully) get involved!
The newest sustainable energy addition to campus comes in the form of a parasol. But, this isn’t just any ordinary parasol, as it has several solar panels attached to the top, which feed a battery that sits on the surface of the picnic table it rests upon. From there, you can plug in any device that can connect to a USB port and charge away – guilt free – knowing that the energy that is charging your device is supplied completely from the sun. Pretty cool, huh?
We encourage everyone to use this new piece of equipment, and let us know what you think!
The solar panels that supply the charging station with electricity
The day was Monday, September the 17th. A crowd of spectators, made up of some EvCC students and employees, Everett Transit and City of Everett Officials, even our US Representative, Rick Larsen, gathered together across the street from Whitehorse Hall. What for, you may be asking? Well, Everett Transit has officially introduced its first ever 100% electric bus, and it was here, at EvCC’s College Station, that they held the ribbon cutting ceremony.
The All Electric Bus as it pulls into Everett Transit’s College Station.
According to the official statements from Everett Transit, the bus is just one of many more to come. In fact, they plan to electrify about half of their fleet by 2021. All of this is in large part due to a $3.4 million federal grant through the USDOT’s Low or No Emissions Vehicle Program, which was developed to help with replacing old and polluting public vehicles, such as transit buses.
Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin and EvCC’s Sustainability Manager Molly Beeman having a chat.
As Mayor Franklin pointed out during her speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, by 2022 there will be 18 of these new vehicles, replacing Everett Transits decades old fleet. These new buses wills save Everett Transit more than 10,000 gallons of fuel each year. This also reduces the Everett Transit systems carbon footprint by more than 100 tons each year. That’s the same amount of CO2 produced by driving an average passenger vehicle for about 250,000 miles.
Everett Transit’s first all electric bus with the ADA ramp deployed.
This is a very exciting development that only proves that local governments are stepping up and leading the way toward a sustainable, environmentally conscious future.
For those of you familiar with EvCC’s EV Charging Stations located in Parking Lot F (if you fall into this category, we thank you!), you may have noticed that 3 of the 6 charging stations are not currently operational. This is due to a nationwide network issue. Below is a statement issued by Blink Network Support:
“We are currently experiencing a nationwide network outage at this time. Out networking team is currently working on having it brought back up, but we do not have an ETA on when the network will be back online at this time. If you would like to receive an update as to when the network is back online please reply to this message. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Campus Sustainability will issue a notice when we receive word that the stations are operational again. Thanks for your patience, and check back soon!
UPDATE 9/21/18:
EvCC Sustainability is currently waiting on a quote from the vendor that supplies the Blink Charging Stations. We will provide additional updates as new information becomes available.
EvCC Sustainability and Laura Wild’s Nutrition Spring Quarter class partnered to install 35 Mason bee “huts” across the EvCC Campus in late May 2018.
The project is intended to help EvCC students, employees and neighbors understand the importance of these tiny pollinators to our campus plants, as well as providing a legacy project for Laura Wild’s students to manage each year. An online EvCC Bee tour will be available online soon, courtesy of one of Laura Wild’s students. The EvCC Mason Bee project will be featured later this month in Crown Bee’s newsletter.
As we near the opening of the election on the Green Fee, some of us are curious to hear what students have to say about it. The Green Fee Committee has began collecting statements from students across all demographics; ASB Senators, club members, student leaders, and students at large. Here are a few of our favorites:
“My name is Evonne Aguirre; I’m a student senator here at Everett Community College and I am in support the Green Fee Initiative. Every day I see my peers not only working hard at creating bright futures for themselves, but also are coming together in support of protecting our planet through continued efforts to keep EvCC eco-friendly. This student-led initiative reflects the care that we as students share for wanting to foster a healthy environment, and the Green Fee has the potential to help us reach our goals of creating a future for our planet that’s as promising as our students. I’m proud of what our students have accomplished so far, and I’m excited to see what new heights we can reach when we pass the EvCC Green Fee Initiative!”
– Evonne Aguirre, ASB Senator
“I’m supporting the green fee because I think that for the price of my breakfast from Starbucks once a quarter, promoting sustainable programs on my college campus is a no-brainer. Being a good steward of the Earth is something I think we should all want to do, and this has got to be the absolute easiest way to do it.”
– Cameron Calder, ASB Senator & Social Justice and Current Events Coordinator
“I support the Green Fee because great things start from small community. In this era of technology, we need more initiative to keep the Earth safe while working on new innovations, and i know this Green Fee is a good start!”
– Zarith Sofiy Mohammad Azlan, ASB Senator & Student Ambassador
I’m voting green because I believe in funding opportunities for students to become more engaged in sustainability on campus.
– Katherine Abdallah, SEA Club President
“I support the Green Fee Initiative because I know that my small contribution will lead to a more sustainable campus, thus making a positive impact for generations to come. Together we can lead the way to a sustainable future by supporting this initiative. “
– Emmerson Hunter, ASB Senator
“I’m voting green because it’s the responsible thing to do!”
– Marlene Barnes, Student-at-large
Thanks to all those who provided a statement. If you’d like to provide one, just email your statement to sustainability@everettcc.edu.
