Autumn 2011-12 Newsletter
GAIA groups have been actively involved in a range of sustainability projects on an off campus during the Autumn 2011. We present the highlights of the work of each group in this page.
For questions and comments about any specific project, please contact the individual groups (links to each group’s website can be found at the right sidebar).
Green Events Consulting
Over fall quarter 2011, Green Events Consulting (GEC) recruited and trained ten student consultants, who will be working on project teams to help student groups improve their events over the next two quarters of the academic school year. Throughout winter and spring of 2012, we will be advising and working with fifteen VSOs and events: Alternative Spring Break, Art after Dark, Code the Change, FLIP (Stanford's First-Generation Low Income Partnership), Korean Students Association, Latinos Unidos, Stanford's NAACP Chapter, Relay for Life, SHPRC (Stanford Sexual Health Peer Resource Center), Sigma Theta Psi, SPILF (Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation), STAND (Stanford's Student Anti-Genocide Coalition), SWIB (Stanford Women in Business), and Taste of Palo Alto. GEC will also soon be expanding its programming to offer more short-term and quicker advising to student groups regarding the sustainability of their events.
Stanford Students Environmental Consulting
SSEC will kick off the new year on two primary projects: 1) a solar feasibility study for the Galveston Housing Authority (GHA), Texas, and 2) developing a business prospectus to attract carbon offset investors to finance mangrove carbon sequestration projects in Mexico with the EDF. Most recently, SSEC completed a market-entry strategy for a residential solar developer and received positive feedback. In February, several members of the Galveston Project Team will be traveling to Galveston to perform on-site measurements and present to the GHA at their board meeting courtesy of a Mel Lane Student Grant.
Green Living Council
This Fall, the Green Living Coordinators worked hard to introduce themselves to their dorm communities. With a record of over 650 pledges, this years GLCs have proven that they can effectively reach their peers, an essential skill for the upcoming Conservation Cup and SEED projects. And, we had some fun at the same time during our Green Screens, farmer's market trip, and Challah for Hunger bake.
NAACP Environmental Justice Committee
In Autumn Quarter the NAACP Environmental Justice Committee organized "An Evening with Mr. David Roach, founder of Mo' Better Food" which was part of the week leading up to Food Day. Our GEC VSO application was accepted and we received a Green Events Consulting Team to aid in our events for Winter and Spring quarter.
Students for a Sustainable Stanford
In the fall, in addition to spearheading a campaign to gather student input on a Stanford’s new long-term strategic sustainability plan, SSS campaigned locally for Palo Alto’s anaerobic digester and nationally against the XL Keystone Pipeline. We also continued our past work in improving campus waste diversion, installing water catchment systems on Row houses, and have begun organizing the installation of a PV system on the lower row.
Stanford Grid Alternative
20 Stanford Students Completed a Full Residential Bay Area Solar Installation from Start to Finish.
Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW)
Autumn
- ESW Projects Presentation: Our interns for the Vista Alegre Microhydro project and the Safe Schools project presented the work from their summer in Peru.
- Recruited our 2011-2012 officer core: We have 12 new officers and project leaders. We had an officer retreat in beautiful Big Sur.
- Solar Oven Workshop: ESW led a solar oven workshop in White Plaza open to everybody. Participants had the opportunity to make their own solar oven from recycled cardboard boxes and aluminum foil using basic thermodynamic theory.
- Reusable Bag Project: In collaboration with The Coastal Society, who donated ESW-branded reusable bags, ESW was able to fundraise at local supermarkets by selling these handy and environment-friendly bags.
- Collaborated with STAND on Darfur Fast: STAND's annual fundraiser helps protect women in Darfur from sexual violence by supporting the Darfur stoves project. Every year ESW supports this project.
- Safe Water Systems in Dhaka, Bagladesh: One of our projects had an early start and recruited its team in the Fall. This project seeks to improve the access of safe drinking water in Dhaka, Bangladesh by designing a new community-level disinfection water treatment technology.
Looking Forward
- CEE 177x/277x and CEE 177s/277s series: In the Winter quarter we will begin our seminar and design course series where 15-20 students will have the opportunity of working on one of our 3 international service engineering projects, including the Safe Water Systems in Dhaka project. The other two projects are the Anam City Project, a sustainable city project in which Stanford students will work on agricultural product storage, wastewater treatment, and renewable electricity system design, and the Solar Irrigation Project in India, where a solar irrigation system will be designed to aid subsistence farmers.
Last modified Friday, 09-Dec-2011 17:20:59 PST