Think Sustainably

What does it mean to think sustainably at Unity College?

We push ourselves and each other to think creatively about how to meet the needs of our current generation without compromising the needs of future generations. This is our great challenge if we are to live “sustainably.” As part of challenging ourselves to think about sustainability, we offer two new academic degree programs in the field: ourselves and each other to think creatively about how to meet the needs of our current generation without compromising the needs of future generations. This is our great challenge if we are to live “sustainably.” As part of challenging ourselves to think about sustainability, we offer two new academic degree programs in the field: Sustainability Design & Technology, and Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability. For students who are not majoring in a sustainability degree, they can still get involved in the dialogue by posting on the Unity College Sustainability Blog, or by taking an active role in one of our clubs that explore environmental issues, such as our Constructive Activists Club.

But, it’s not enough for us to educate ourselves. We have a strong history of trying to educate others as well. For example, Professor Mick Womersley and countless students have been working on community wind projects in central Maine. They’ve been educating communities on the truths and myths about the technology of wind power, as well as the economic feasibility of installing wind turbines in specific locations. A major component of these projects is conducting comprehensive wind assessments of how viable the wind currents are using anemometers.

We also use our on-campus activities as teaching tools. For example, in the Grease Car Collaborative, Unity College students retrofit engines to run on used vegetable oil that they collect from the cafeteria and other local sources. Jake Harr owns the group’s model car, a Mercedes that has traveled over 30,000 miles on grease they processed themselves from dining services on campus. Besides the obvious benefit of having fun, Harr’s main purpose is to teach students and community members that we can utilize sustainable alternatives. And he believes that one of the most effective ways to teach sustainability is to lead by example.

How are we helping society to think more sustainably?

We reach out to the greater world as well. We have a 20-year old non-profit right on campus named the Center for Environmental Education. The Center provides one of many opportunities for our students to learn how to teach others about responsible environmental stewardship. The Center’s mission is to help K-12 schools across the country learn how to physically “go green” and how to incorporate “green” curriculum into their classrooms.

In the spring of 2009, nine of our students traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the national dialogue of sustainability. They lobbied our two Maine Representatives to Congress face-to-face and asked them both to pass strong climate change legislation before the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December. In addition, they met with the aids for Senators Snowe and Collins.

	Unity College Student Steve Swartz shakes hands with Congressman Mike Michaud after asking him to stand with us and pass aggressive climate change legislation through the House. Unity College Student, Emily Pike, stands in the background. Emily told the Congressman that we can slow climate change and stimulate the economy by building green jobs.

How are we working with the community to build a sustainable region?

We are working with the community to help regional sustainability initiatives in a number of ways. This is imperative because the environmental challenges we face are woven complexly into social, political, and economic constraints, of which we are all bound. We, as a college, can offer unique strengths toward regional efforts, and other organizations and businesses can offer their own unique strengths. We can’t all do everything well, but if we can work together and use each other’s unique strengths, then we can accomplish a lot.

In our immediate community…

we’ve developed a composting partnership with MOFGA (The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association). Our students collect our compostable food waste from campus and haul it down the road to MOFGA’s headquarters, where it is processed in windrows. The finished compost will be used by MOFGA farmers, as well as the non-profit Veggies for All, which grows organic produce for low-income families. We’ll even use some of the compost right here in our community garden on campus, which will complete a full cycle food system since most of the food we grow in the garden is used by our cafeteria. The compost partnership is a great example of community partners maximizing their utility by working together. Unity College has compostable food waste to spare, and hard-working students to haul it. MOFGA has a facility for processing compost and can give the compost piles the care and attention they need.

At the town level…

we’ve worked closely with the Unity Barn Raisers, a non-profit that acts as an organizing agent for community initiatives. Together, we participate in a weatherization program for low-income families every fall, and we’re currently posed to start an energy-auditing program for local families, where we’ll do blower door tests and offer energy efficiency suggestions.

In our regional community…

we’ve played a leadership role in helping to form the Mid-Maine Sustainability Council.  In January of 2009, Interim Sustainability Coordinator, Aaron Witham, attended a three-day long community building event in the Waterville Opera House, where 60 business leaders and representatives of various organizations gathered to discuss how to make central Maine “sustainable.” To this end, they drafted a vision statement called “2020 Vision” which lays out how we want our community to look by the year 2020.

After deciding on a common vision, the group laid out priorities, including building renewable energy infrastructure, developing transportation alternatives, and improving our local food systems. Since the event, Witham and Unity College students Jamie Nemecek and Tom Ianello have helped the group implement their vision by serving on the capacity building committee that serves as a central intelligence to the coalition. The coalition has been busy weatherizing low-income homes and considering the development of model energy legislation on the state level. To help get real work done, Witham’s committee has hired a strong team of paid interns to work over the summer conducting carbon inventories, energy audits, and detailed sustainability analysis. Two Unity College students, Jamie Nemecek and Cody Floyd, will likely be among the interns.

At the state level…

we’ve worked with the Maine State Housing Authority in two separate initiatives. One of them is weatherizing low-income homes during the fall to help families save on heating bills. The other is a carbon offset agreement. We purchase 250 carbon offsets a year to help Maine State Housing Authority have the financial resources needed to improve the efficiency of low-income homes. Carbon offsets are an important way for us to take immediate action toward our goal of being a “carbon neutral” campus. We could buy these offsets from anywhere, but we chose the Maine State Housing Authority because we believe in promoting social equity and we want to keep the money in our own neighborhood so we can help our community members in need.

Jimmy Carter’s solar panels and the foundation of our vision

One little-known and unique fact about Unity College is that we are the home of the famous “Jimmy Carter” Solar Panels.

The panels were placed on the roof of the White House in 1978 and 1979 at President Carter’s order following the important energy speech of April 18, 1977. The speech was an historic moment for the United States because Carter was calling for a drastic change in the way we use energy in America. The panels symbolized his dream that the U.S. would be using 20% renewable energy by the year 2000. Unfortunately, after Carter left office, the United States mostly forgot about that vision. But, Unity College students didn’t forget.

Even after the panels were removed from the White House, Unity College was still very much concerned about building a future of renewable energy. We were so concerned, in fact, that we felt the need to save the famous Jimmy Carter solar panels, and everything they stood for. In 1992, a Unity College administrator named Peter Marbach drove our old school bus down to Franconia, VA, to liberate the panels from a General Services Administration warehouse under the government surplus donations program. They had been in storage since they were removed during the administration of President Reagan in 1986.

We placed 16 of them on our cafeteria roof in 1992, and used them to provide hot water for 12 years. The remainder was placed in storage, although one or two have occasionally been used for student experimentation.

We have retired these panels from active use and are now working to preserve them as historical artifacts. We would also like to use them to raise money to support our new sustainability design & technology program and to purchase replacement renewable power systems in wind, modern solar photovoltaic, and modern solar heating. We’ve already used one of them to promote our environmental programs during President Obama’s inaugural festivities in January, 2009. We shipped the panel to Washington D.C. where it is currently on display at Google Headquarters. http://www.unity.edu/NewsEvents/News/UnityGoogle09.aspx.

We propose to provide at least one panel, set up as a display with historical information, to the Smithsonian Institution. Others can be distributed to other important centers for sustainability and energy education, given as gifts to major donors, or sold to collectors to raise money for student projects.

If you are interested in the Jimmy Carter Solar Panels, please call our development office at 207 948 3131 ext 302 or email advance@unity.edu