That’s more of a sentence than a title, but it is totally true.  You already know about the stupendous student work and victories Columbia and Harvard (if not, read the previous and next-to-previous blogs I’ve written, people), but guess what— there’s more!
Students at the University of Alberta have publicly voiced their concerns over their school’s disposable paper purchasing, and their campaign has even gotten newspaper attention.     
    Though the Students' Union at the University of Alberta has adopted an ethical purchasing policy of its own, and only uses toilet tissue and paper towels made from recycled paper, the school (i.e. not the Student Union) uses Kimberly-Clark for their toilet paper. If you were to wonder: "Well, the Student Union can do this, why not the school?", you wouldn't be alone. After all, that’s what the students want to know too. "We are petitioning the University of Alberta to also adopt an ethical purchasing policy and stop using virgin forests for products that are flushed down the toilet," said student Jolene Shannon.
    The university responded that it takes the issues raised by the students seriously, and it is “committed to conducting our business in an ethical manner and with a view of sustaining the environment.” The topic of ethical purchasing policies will likely be taken up with campus stakeholders in future talks.
    The students’ work garnered a news story in the Edmonton Journal.  Check it out:
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/cityplus/story.html
?id=51103a3c-3356-4f13-8ba8-b4b59c49d6dc

Go student power! In a newspaper article published in Harvard University’s the Harvard Crimson, Harvard University announced that it is beginning a phase-out of Kimberly-Clark products in student housing facilities. And at the Kimberly-Clark AGM (its Annual General Meeting- i.e. a yearly meeting for the company and people who own stock in it), Harvard student Elizabeth Shope got up in front of KC board members, KC executives and KC shareholders and announced this!

Harvard is the fourth campus to express concern over Kimberly-Clark’s poor sustainability practices following American University, Skidmore College and Rice University.

Read the Harvard Crimson article here: http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=509012 and read about more exciting developments at the KC AGM here: http://kleercut.net/en/KC-AGM

Hot off the presses (and computer screens) check out a very awesome Green My Apple student action at Columbia University:

Thursday, April 26-- A group of students at Columbia University led by Lauren Valle presented a 4 x 3 foot postcard addressed to Columbia Board of Trustee chair Bill Campbell. The postcard bears the names of 850 Columbia students who signed smaller postcards asking Mr. Campbell, who is also on Apple Inc.’s executive board, to make Apple to cut back on the toxic chemicals found in their products and improve their recycling programs.

Though Campbell was not in office when the students presented the very large postcard, Valle emphasized that the students will not "drop this issue until we get a response." Valle continued, "I understand they [the trustees] have a big agenda and I respect that, but we all have to step outside ourselves and look at some larger issues."

Read the story published in Columbia University's student newspaper (all one line, obviously): http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/
storage/paper865/news/2007/04/27/
News/Students.March.Against.Apple-2884999.shtml

 

Where can you get such a large petition? Start the Green My Apple campaign on your school's campus- email students@sfo.greenpeace.org for more information.  

Maybe I should have posted this last Sunday, on Earth Day, but I was too busy having a picnic with friends at Golden Gate Park (see my new photo! It’s been called “Renaissance-y! " ) on Earth Day to drag out my laptop (and besides, it was Sunday . . .). Annnywaayyyy, I thought that you all might be interested in checking out some of these green living guides. Some of the guides give you easy to implement, helpful lifestyle changes, and some point you in the direction of green businesses in your area. Also, some of the info these guides list repeat, but really, will it kill you to read a few times that you should use compact fluorescent bulbs, not regular light bulbs? Don’t think it will, and you might even do it!

Starting with ours at Greenpeace, here they are:  

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/getinvolved/green-guide – Greenpeace’s Green Guide
http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages/  -- Coop America’s Green Pages
http://www.nrdc.org/cities/living/gover.asp  – NRDC’s Green Living Guide
http://www.colby.edu/environ/glpg.html – Colby College Green Living Guide
http://www.mixitproductions.com/prjmisc/guides/greentips/greentips.html – Union of Concerned Scientists Green Tips

 

. . .Now go out and start living greenly! 

  

After just about 5 days, 60 events and more than 500 photo petitions asking Steve Jobs to create a totally green Apple, the Green My Apple Week of Action is coming to a close.
The Week of Action has shown Steve that students across the US support our campaign to make a truly green Apple, and that whatever small environmental improvements he might choose to make in the upcoming weeks will not be enough. The Green My Apple photos are a stunning visual display of green grassroots power! I’ve put a few below, but check them all out at http://www.flickr.com/groups/greenmyapple/

Also exciting is our Apple Skull-pture that is making the rounds in California’s Silicon Valley (where Apple is headquartered and where many Apple employees live). The Skull-pture made an appearance at a San Jose Giants game a little less than a week ago. Metroactive, Silicon Valley’s weekly newspaper, took notice:


Skull and Groans
San Jose Giants fans got more than a double header this past Sunday. They were greeted at Municipal Stadium's gate by Greenpeace activists and a giant electronic skull and bones made from thousands of pieces of junked Apple products. Greenpeace kicked off its Toxic Tech Tour at the game, handing out literature and answering questions about E-waste while the massive skull's computer monitors played videos of children working on Mount Everest-size global trash heaps in developing countries like Africa and China where these discards are sent. During the game, fans watched faux Apple ads from the stadium's JumboTron and were asked to urge Apple to go green. Ashby Marshall, Greenpeace organizer, says they'll be touring Silicon Valley until Apple's annual shareholders meeting in May, where they hope Apple CEO Steve Jobs will announce new eco-policies. Greenpeace asked Apple's board of directors to pass resolutions removing the most toxic substances from its products and to offer free take back everywhere Apple products are sold. But our question is: since when did minor league baseball go all Al Gore? "When we asked if we could come to the game," says Marshall, "the San Jose Giants said 'yes' right away and offered us their JumboTron. This campaign is very positive. We love our Macs and Ipods. We just wish they were greener. We're still saving whales, but we're looking at E-waste because it's massive and it's a hazard that's impacting the entire world."

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/04.18.07/fly-0716.html