Blog | Second Nature

July 30, 2012

Posted in: Education for Sustainability, Second Nature Team

Make Way for Ducklings (And Carrots For A Cause)

By Van Du, Program Associate

Ouack, Pack, and Quack show their supports for Second Nature Carrot For A Cause, so should you!

Okay, so it’s not “Make Way for Ducklings and Carrots” in Mr. Robert McCloskey’s story, but Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack, are up to something lately!

Now that they have mastered swimming and diving lessons, Quack, the youngest duckling, informs me that they currently have an even bigger mission to accomplish:HELPING SECOND NATURE WIN A WEBSITE MAKEOVER OPPORTUNITY! Why, you might ask? Because once upon a time, the ducklings woud like to learn more about Second Nature’s Affiliate Membership program, but could not locate the information and got rather discouraged with the current SN website layout, which was designed sometime in the 20^th century. Hrm. Something’s gotta change…And so, since July 23rd, they have marched to the Boston Public Library everyday and casted their votes for Second Naturein the Carrots For A Cause contest—a website redesign competition for Massachusetts non-profit organizations, hosted by Boston-based website design firm, Jackrabbit Design.

July 27, 2012

Posted in: Second Nature Team

Where are the Second Nature Carrots for a Cause today?

By Ulli Klein, Director of Operations and Communications

We need to update our website! And with that I mean that we probably need to start from scratch. What looked great in the 90s hasn’t changed a whole lot since then. We have invested our attention and staff time into our initiatives and into their respective websites and we are proud of them. Now it’s time to try to help out the Second Nature website in the Carrots for a Cause contest where we are currently in 3rd place to win a website makeover!

Our Carrots for a Cause took a trip to Faneuil Hall today to check in with John Adams and pitch our case to him.

Pitching our case!

I would like to report back that Sam Adams stated he would MOST DEFINITELY vote for us.

So should you!

So please help us by voting daily, bookmarking the voting page and, just as importantly, spreading the word to anyone you think would like to support Second Nature’s mission.

July 19, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, Campus Green Builder, Education for Sustainability, News, Second Nature Team

A Small Deed with Big Impact: Vote for Second Nature

by Rima Mulla, Communications Manager, Second Nature

If I had a wishlist of things I’d like to accomplish in my role at Second Nature, an update of the organization’s website would be # 1 on that list. The ACUPCC’s website is in pretty good shape — always room for improvement, of course, but the mission of the initiative is clear and resources for signatories are well-organized and accessible. We even do a pretty good job of keeping information up-to-date onCampus Green Builder, a web portal aimed at under-resourced schools for which the initial funding ended over a year ago.

But when it comes to Second Nature’s website, it’s a classic case of the cobbler’s children having no shoes.

That’s why we entered this year’s Carrots for a Cause website redesign contest by local Boston design firm, Jackrabbit. (Voting has begun and continues through August 12. Votesmay be cast once a day, every day!)

July 16, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, Partnerships

Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative – June - July 2012

By Peter Bardaglio, Senior Fellow, Second Nature

Welcome to the June-July 2012 issue of the TCCPI Newsletter, an electronic update from the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative (TCCPI).

Photo credit: MJM Creative Commons.

Get Your GreenBack Tompkins Heats Up

Karim Beers

Karim Beers took over direction of Get Your GreenBack Tompkins (GYGBT) last month and hit the ground running, making sure that the county’s energy saving campaign did not miss a beat. Karim just received his masters degree in regional planning at Cornell University and brings with him a wealth of experience in education, community development, and planning. He has coordinated community education programs in Columbia and Spain, and taught social studies in the Philadelphia public school system.

As the campaign coordinator for GYGBT, Beers has laid out ambitious plans to inspire community members to take steps to save energy and money in the areas of food, building heat and lighting, transportation, and waster. Having started out with transportation as the focus in May, GYGBT declared June as “Waste Reduction Month” and the “Step of the Month” is to Buy Used.

July 11, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, ACUPCC Implementer

Thoughts on RIO+20, Students, and Leadership by College & Universities

By Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College & Founder of 350.ORG

(This article appears in the July, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Bill McKibben Addresses 2012 Climate Leadership Summit from RIO+20

Young people were the only real leaders at the Rio+20 confab–and they led by walking out. On the day before the conclave ground to its final, pointless conclusion, many of the college students on hand staged a sit-down protest along one of the walkways between the various plenary halls. Even though they were unfailingly polite, the head of UN security told them that if they didn’t cease their ‘unsanctioned activity,’ they would ‘lose their credentials.’ At which point one of the young people remarked: “Why would we care? The credentials just get us in the door of a process that isn’t working.”

July 11, 2012

Posted in: 2012 Climate Leadership Awards, ACUPCC, ACUPCC 5th Anniversary, ACUPCC Implementer, Conferences & Events, Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards

2012 ACUPCC Climate Leadership Summit - Highlights

By Sarah Brylinsky, Program Associate, Second Nature

(This article appears in the July, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Download the 2012 Climate Leadership Highlights PDF

Signatory presidents of the ACUPCC pose for a photograph during the opening reception

July 11, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, ACUPCC 5th Anniversary, ACUPCC Implementer

The ACUPCC: Reflection on Progress and Goals for the Next 5 Years

By Timothy P. White, Chancellor of University of California, Riverside and Chair of the ACUPCC Steering Committee

(This article appears in the July, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

July 9, 2012

Posted in: Education for Sustainability

Making the Case for Energy Literacy

By Bill Barnes, PhD, Associate Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies at the University of Portland. Second Nature awarded a posthumous Visionary Leadership Award to Ray Anderson during the 2012 Climate Leadership Awards at American University, June 21-22nd, 2012.

The first Industrial Revolution is flawed; it is not working; it is unsustainable; it is the mistake. And we must move on to another, and better, Industrial Revolution, and get it right this time. -The late Ray Anderson, Founder of Interface Global, the world’s largest modular carpet manufacturer

Ray Anderson, Founder and CEO of Interface Global

The most refreshing thing about Ray Anderson was his transparency. When he spoke as a representative of the business community, his sheer honesty and humility would typically astonish, bringing the audience to tears. His main message was simple and powerful: we must change, and we can change. And he would typically build his case by detailing how Interface learned to continually monitor and improve the life cycle impacts of modular carpet, and how to make money doing it.

According to Anderson, increasing consumer awareness was the initial key to the conversion of Interface in the mid 1990s.

June 28, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, Presidents' Perspectives, School Innovations

What Colleges Want the Public to Know

We recommend this recent article originally posted on the Huffington Post, by Dr. Scott Miller, president of Bethany College and signatory to the ACUPCC.

With the current election year, among other topics capturing headlines and media analysis, it's sometimes challenging for other newsworthy stories to receive the coverage they deserve.

A prominent example is higher education. Aside from high-profile scandals, spectacular jumps in tuition costs or significant research breakthroughs, much of the news about colleges and universities escapes the attention of the mainstream media. Not only is this news generally good, but it directly impacts families and their daily lives all across America.

As a former reporter, I know well how and why certain stories are assigned in the newsroom. As a college president, however, I also appreciate the little-publicized but substantial achievements of higher education -- as well as their related challenges -- that deserve the public's attention. Here are some examples:

Please link to the Huffington Post for the full article.

June 14, 2012

Posted in: ACUPCC, Partnerships

Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative – April - May 2012

By Peter Bardaglio, Senior Fellow, Second Nature

Welcome to the April – May 2012 issue of the TCCPI Newsletter, an electronic update from the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative (TCCPI).

NY Students Rally in Albany for a Clean Energy Economy

Young people from around New York state headed to the Capitol at the end of April to call on Governor Andrew Cuomo to ban hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and lead the state toward a clean energy economy.

The Green Umbrella, a network of high school and college students fighting climate change, held a conference in Albany over the weekend of April 27-29. Speakers at Power Shift NY included Bill McKibben, Josh Fox, Sandra Steingraber, and Dominic Frongillo.

On Monday morning, the students gathered on the banks of the Hudson River at Albany’s Corning Preserve and then marched to the Capitol. Along the way, they engaged in some attention-grabbing street theater, including a mock “wedding” between gas companies and politicians.

Green Umbrella students at Power Shift NY in Albany on April 30.
Photo credit: Energy Action Coalition.

Get Your GreenBack Tompkins Heats Up

NY Students Rally in Albany for a Clean Energy Economy

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