Catching up with old posts...

A few whirlwind semesters later I've returned to finish some old posts.

1)  The Reply from my Army Corps of Engineers Rouge Project inquiries:

We [I] got a reply from the Army Corps of Engineers about my comments on the Rouge River channel project, since I wanted to share the letter in full (minus my address), it took a long time to upload.

You can read the letter and a brief assessment of what's going on about outreach and steakholder coordination between the federal government, municipalities and local organizations:http://sustainableum-d.blogspot.com/2012/01/rouge-project-comments-reply-from-army.html

2)  Graduates, loved ones, and anyone else inclined to obtain a ring/other precious metal jewelry:

For those of you who purchased, already own, or are considering to own a class ring, I'm doing a series of blog posts to relay what I've come across about the sustainability impact of class rings.  

It's in progress (I'll update this post when part or all of it is completed) and I'm not sure when I'll finish but here's a summary of my recommendations in the meantime:

To everyone, I recommend advocacy for substantial and authentic progress in your vendor's involvement.
If you do plan to get a class ring: wait.

Already purchased or own a class ring? Don't fret, you can do something very important too: as a customer and potential future customer (several of these companies have been around and will probably remain for decades or centuries) you already have their attention, urge the jeweler/brand to do better!

Since it's got some important themes and has potential to run long, here's an overview of themes that you'll find throughout the series (it's a glocal one):

-Human Rights 

-International Security

-Environmental Impacts

-Diamond Industry

-Recycled metals/precious metals

Many of these themes are inspired by reading the website of our school ring purveyor, Balfour  (the link will take you straight to their environmental statement page), a brand under the company of "Commemorative Brands".

Another key document I examined was the Golden Rules compact,which Commemorative Brands was among the first to sign according to the Balfour website.  The Golden Rules are part of a campaign called "No Dirty Gold", a project under the non-profit called Earthworks Action.
The Kimberly Process, used to promote diamonds that were not obtained through extortion and human rights violations and that proceeds from their sale do not go to warring rebel factions, gets an anecdote from on-campus experience.  However, most retailers can't guarantee where their diamonds came from or whether they've contributed to global conflict (I'll leave it to about.com's page on conflict diamonds to give details on this for now).

From there who knows what will happen...

Cheers to the summer!

The Vegan Sub Sandwich Option

Do you like healthier, affordable, environmentally and ethically responsible food options?

If yes, then we're pleased to inform you that Dr. Skrbina's vegan sub sandwich proposal to the campus Subway as a viable way to make it happen sooner.  These arguments are applicable to campuses everywhere, but you may have to check the prices.  Our campus subway charges a bit more across the board than most other subways do.  Here's a bit from Dr. Skrbina:

At present there is only one way to buy a vegan sub: the Veggie Delight (all fresh vegetables), with vinegar and oil dressing. This sells for $5.29, the same price as if the customer included cheese, egg-product, and dairy
dressing. By comparison, the ham sub is $5.89—just $0.60 more. Subway’s (and Aramark’s) profit margin on such a ‘vegan sub’ is undoubtedly huge—surpassing every other product they sell, given that the ingredients are the lowest-cost. And given that a ‘$5 footlong’ is a viable product, and 3 for $12, we should expect a sub-$5
price on the vegan alternative.

In effect, buyers of a vegan sub are subsidizing the non-vegan and meat subs. Based on the above facts, it should be the other way around: vegan subs should be the cheapest, and the cost burden placed on the meat.

 Full paper below: