Green Information Please

W k Put your sustainable notions into daily practice with ideas

gleaned from these local resources By Ana Barbu

T
oday’s trend toward all things green
makes sustainability literacy increas-
ingly necessary. When it comes down
to learning about sustainability, Syracuse
offers a wealth of educational resources
that community members can access and
explore to create their own environmentally
friendly lifestyle. The result is an improved
quality of life at home, at work and for the
community.
Steve Lloyd, associate director of Syracuse
University’s Sustainability Division, highlights
three concepts that should persuade most
skeptics to embrace sustainability. The sev-
enth-generation idea of the Haudenosaunee,
who believed that before doing anything that
could affect the environment, “you have to
look ahead and think about how cutting a tree
will affect the seventh generation,” Lloyd says.
“You’d go out over a matter of seven genera-
tions.” Then, there are the concepts of “reduce,
reuse and recycle” and “people, profit, planet,”
which yield social justice and a better living
environment by supporting increased wages
and child labor laws, among others.
“We can’t be constant consumers of coal,
oil, natural gas. We should look for wind,
solar or geothermal energy sources,” Lloyd
says. “Any of the reusable energy sources last
longer and are replaced easily.”
While sustainable practices initially cost
more, green efforts pay off in the long run,
according to Lloyd. For instance, Leader-
ship in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED)-certified buildings bring with them
a 2 percent to 6 percent higher construction
costs than regular buildings. But the invest-
ment is worth it because it leads to improved
worker productivity. “There are fewer sick
days due to better inside airing and better
water quality,” Lloyd says.
But home and business owners have differ-
ent needs regarding sustainability. “Businesses
have different air circulation needs, there’s
more lighting, a lot of information technology
and outside lighting and parking,” Lloyd says.
“A lot of people are more aware of the con-
sumption in their home because they are more
driven by money-saving.”
SU’s Sustainability Division uses dif-
ferent ways to disseminate green-practices
information. “We go to senior citizen homes
or organizations because they like the face-to-
face interaction,” Lloyd says. “Some of these
people have never used a computer, so you
have to do face-to-face.” Meanwhile, parents
are urged to teach their children by setting
good examples, such as turning off audio and
visual equipment and recycling, Lloyd notes.
While most universities and colleges in the
area offer academic courses focusing on sus-
tainability, SUNY College of Environmental
Science and Forestry and SU not only offer
them, but they also invite expert speakers to
discuss sustainability topics. SU’s Sustainabil-
ity Division website (http://greenuniversecity.
syr.edu/) lists numerous academic events open
to the public, while SUNY-ESF offers the
Going Green webinar series about sustainabili-
ty (www.esf.edu/sustainability/goinggreen.asp),
produced in collaboration with News 10 Now.
The Internet is a valuable learning and
assessment tool that can help you identify life-
style practices that need improvement, accord-
ing to Lloyd. For instance, SU’s Sustainability
Division website provides an online energy use
and lifestyle calculator that helps people assess
their carbon footprint and enables them to take
action, such as consolidating car trips. “You
have to find out what your baseline is to make
changes,” Lloyd says. “Change one or two
things, you shouldn’t go all crazy and try to
change everything at once because you’ll fail.
“Say you’re not computer savvy, you can
always call a school and ask about sustainabil-
ity,” Lloyd adds. “A lot of times, people in the
university arena can help local companies.”
Green Grass-Roots
One such company is GreeningUSA, a
Syracuse-based non-profit environmental
organization that has promoted sustainable
practices since its inception in 2004 and pub-
lishes a newsletter that lists local sustainabil-
ity events, according to Diane Brandli, com-
pany communications chair. “We advocate
for sustainable communities to the benefit of
local economies and environments,” she says.

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10 February 16 - 23, 2011 Syracuse New Times NEWS & OPINION FEATURE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS CLASSIFIED
 GreeningUSA developed top-to-bottom
and grass-roots approaches to spread the
green word. The “12 Traits of Sustainable
Communities” program, spearheaded by local
architect and sustainability consultant Peter
Arsenault, entails discussions with community
leaders. Introduced last year, it is a rating sys-
tem that counties, cities and towns can use to
assess and improve their sustainability levels.
At the grass-roots level is the Sustainability
Academy, implemented through interactive
sessions held in workshops or festival for-
mat, to bring sustainability education to local
communities. Developed by GreeningUSA’s
education committee and chaired by environ-
mental educator Gregory Michel, the academy
was created in 2007.
Michel, president and founder of Fayette-
ville-based Eco Aha! that provides consulting
services to schools, businesses and communi-
ties, had attended a FOCUS Greater Syracuse
“Citizens Academy” seminar, where he honed
his knowledge about the inner workings of
local government and ways in which citizens
can improve the quality of life in their com-
munities. The academy also came out of a
Syracuse City School District reconstruction
program implemented in response to a Sustain-
able Design Assessment Team report of the
American Institute of Architects in 2006.
On average, workshop series include up
to 12 sessions spanning two months. Each
workshop is tailored to the learning needs
of the hosting community, Michel says. For
instance, the three-seminar workshop held
at Fowler High School for Near West Side
community members in May 2009 included
“Sustainability 101,” “Recycling,” “Food,
Gardening and Green Infrastructure” and
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“Healthy and Green Schools.” Meanwhile, a
one-day “Trick or Trees: Time to Plant Festi-
val” facilitated the planting of more than 150
trees in the Near West Side.
“All of the sessions have been on the grass-
roots level,” Michel says. “We’re talking to
community members who live and breathe
the neighborhoods and we’re mostly focusing
on the Near West Side to introduce financial
involvement of energy efficiency and healthy
food on a lower budget.”
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“Sustainability projects are a huge opportu-
nity for communities and their quality of life
on a national and local level,” Michel adds.
“There are a lot of commercial opportunities
that come as a surge in communities looking
at green jobs. The more residents are aware
about sustainability, the more opportunities
there are.”
For parents who want to offer their chil-
dren a head-start in sustainability literacy,
Lloyd recommends 50 Simple Things Kids
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Syracuse New Times February 16 - 23, 2011
Can Do to Save the Earth, by Sophie Javna
(Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2009) and
Sheri Amsel’s 365 Ways to Live Green for
Kids: Saving the Environment at Home,
School, or at Play--Every Day! (Adams
Media, 2009). Those seeking guides to
daily sustainable approaches can read Greg
Horn’s Living Green: A Practical Guide to
Sustainability (Freedom Press, 2006) and
Stephen and Rebekah Hren’s The Carbon-
Free Home: 36 Remodeling Projects to Help
Kick the Fossil-Fuel Habit (Chelsea Green
Publishing, 2008).
“Anything by author Bill McKibben,”
Lloyd also recommends. “He’s an author-
ity in the field.” An environmentalist who
writes about global warming and alternative
MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO
energy and advocates for localized econo-
mies, McKibben’s works include The End of
Nature (Random House Trade Paperbacks,
2006) and Deep Economy: The Wealth of
Communities and the Durable Future (St.
Martin’s Griffin, 2008).
For further reading, the Onondaga County
Public Library offers GreenFILE, a biblio-
graphic directory featuring nearly 300,000
records concerning environmental issues, such
as global warming, energy conservation, natu-
ral resources and pollution. You can access
the directory on the Library’s website, under
the “A-Z List of Databases” tab (www.onlib.
org). Sustainability topics include installing
solar panels, recycling, green agriculture and
waste management. The library also provides
an Environmental Issues and Policy Collec-
tion with more than 175 journals, featuring
scientific, governmental and corporate per-
spectives on the environment. o
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