Thank you!

SEA-L hosted the Annual ISEC Fall Conference at their Lakeshore Campus. For more info, please visit the ISEC home page!

Purpose Statement:
SEA-L aims to educate the Loyola community about the environment and to assist in local conservation work.

Environmental Issues Addressed:
SEA-L works on issues of recycling, sustainability, Great Lakes quality, and conservation.Current Projects Recycling and Sustainability at Loyola, Calories-4-Kilowatts, Adopt-a-Beach Program, and booking speakers

Events:

Eco-Homecoming

SEA-L hosted an eco-themed homecoming which included environmentally friendly decorations and eco-friendly clothed guests. The creativity of the guests' attire ranged from neckties crafted from the chipboard of a case of soda to dresses intricately designed entirely of newspaper! Congratulations on the success of Eco-Homecoming 2008!

Projects:

Updates & new projects coming soon!

Light bulb exchanges
The light bulb exchanges that have been held in the past have been quite successful, who wouldn’t want a free light bulb replacement!? We discussed holding a monthly exchange to support the use of energy efficient light bulbs at Loyola.

Plastic Bag Initiative
We are interested in reducing or eliminating the use of plastic bags at Loyola, specifically in the libraries and campus stores. This is a feasible initiative with the cooperation of the student body. So, bring ideas about how this plan might be put into action for next semester!

Recycling ideas
A member mentioned a practice at her old school where students in dorms were given reusable bags with dividers to keep in their rooms that would be used to collect recyclables and carried down to the main recycling
bin in the building….this is an interesting alternative to providing bins on every floor of our large dorm rooms.
 
Past Projects:

Eco-Fair Review
We had such a great time, thanks to everyone who came out help or learn about the vendors and their products! We talked about making the Fair an annual event so plan to come back for more next fall! Laura is going to
forward the SEA some of the feedback that she got from vendors so we can learn how to make the fair even better next year! One idea was to put the vendor information online instead of in paper brochures to reduce
paper waste. We also talked about increasing the time of the fair to five hours from 11 am to 4 pm in order to catch more people on their lunch breaks.

Recycling Center Field Trip
We are planning a group trip to visit the Uptown Recycling Center on Sheridan Rd. There, we will be able to see the recycling process first hand and maybe even volunteer for a bit! The center operates between 6am and 4pm Mon-Fri and 6am to 2pm on Saturdays. Most of the members at the meeting could make it at 10 am on Saturday,
December 8.

Environmental Book Club
Amy has mentioned this idea in the past, and winter break is the perfect time to get this started! We decided to read a book over break and discuss it next semester when we return. The club could also discuss articles and short stories once the semester begins. The book we considered reading is Derrick Jensen’s book, seeing as he will be coming to speak in the spring about it. I believe it’s called Endgame. If you are interested in getting emails about the Environmental Book Club, email Amy at Agalant@luc.edu.

L.A.W.N. & SEA speaker idea
A member of LAWN is interested in bringing Mike and Eda Uca from the Jonah House Community in Washington DC. They want to focus an entire week of learning opportunities at Loyola on “peak oil,” including lectures, teach-ins and more! This sounds like a really interesting event to develop.

CUERP info
Consider advertising the slogan “UNPLUG IT” to remind students to unplug all of their electrical appliances while they are out of town for the holidays. We know that the students on campus are required to do so, but a friendly reminder for everyone else couldn’t hurt.

Focus the Nation is planning a “National Teach-In” for thousands of students on every campus, and millions of students nationwide to participate in workshops and panels to brainstorm on global warming solutions. This will be held on January 31. We talked about being a part of this. And will be developing a plan for the teach-in next semester.

Thanks for staying interested and keeping yourself informed. I really want to find a way to get all of these minutes online so that everyone has access to them whenever they want. Hopefully that will be a part of next semester’s accomplishments! This email will probably be the last one you receive from the SEA secretary this semester, but expect more info to come about the events I described before from other members.

Please visit to learn more about how to reduce consumption, reuse, and what materials you can recycle at Loyola.

Other Sustainability Efforts on Campus:

Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy (CUERP)
CUERP is advancing Loyola's efforts to make its campus more environmentally sustainable. Current initiatives include energy use assessment, biodiesel production, waste reduction, and improved recycling.
Contact: Gina Lettiere, Glettie@luc.edu, 773-508-8255

STEP: Solutions to Environmental Problems (STEP), is an innovative approach to learning which incorporates all fields of study and concentrates it into one particular issue.  The class is currently focusing on recycling waste vegetable oil from Loyola's cafeterias to convert it into biodiesel.  Come in, look around and feel free to visit us, as this non-traditional course is surely to spark your interest. STEP is a new course implemented to tackle some pressing environmental issues at Loyola University Chicago.   

Garden Cyclers
If you missed the event, check out their website and video. This was such an inspirational presentation, I look forward to learning more about these women when their movie actually comes out! We want to have a screening at Loyola when we have the chance.

SEA-L Contact Information

Group Leader: Amy Galanter
Contact email: agalant@luc.edu

Group Leader & ISEC Liason: Lauryn Burkhalter
Contact email: lburkhalter@luc.edu

ISEC Liason: Cameron Stamm
Contact email: cstamm@luc.edu

Environmental Law & Policy Center 35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 1300 Chicago, Illinois 60601 www.elpc.org