NAELS 2008 Poster Symposium

The first in what we hope to be an annual event, the NAELS Poster Symposium provides students and practitioners with the opportunity to present their campus greening efforts to peers, faculty members and the environmental law community at large and to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas across a wide variety of disciplines.

Patience Burke
pbosl001@umaryland.edu

We have taken a quality over quantity approach to meeting the Campus Climate Neutral goals. Our energy has been put into hosting our first annual student-run Focus the Nation event! By reaching beyond the law school, we strive to inform the graduate campus as a whole about the effects of climate change by bringing together a wide array of professionals. The conference addresses four different areas of interest as they are affected by climate change: Maryland Public Policy, Clean Energy Industries, the Law post-Mass v. EPA, and Environmental Science and Human Health Effects. We have amassed an impressive list of speakers coming from organizations such as ACORE, BP Solar, EPA, NRDC, NWF, Sierra Club, and more! In fact, our keynote speaker is the Maryland Secretary of the Environment Shari Wilson!

Beyond the speakers and the information they will provide, we are also making sure that our food and promotional materials are as "green" as is possible. In addition, we will be monitoring the carbon footprint made by the panelists and plan to plant trees on Earth Day to help negate the effects of their travel.

These efforts have been going on simultaneously with a larger graduate campus climate neutral endeavor. The conference will take place just a few weeks before a presentation is made to the Board of Regents to make the campus carbon free. We hope that an impressive showing at the conference will influence the Board's decision. Heads are turning, and minds are changing!

The Indiana University Environmental Law Society provides academic resources and support to students pursuing careers in environmental law. ELS also hosts speakers and events to educate the IU campus and community about environmental issues. In March 2007, ELS hosted a campus-wide Inconvenient Truth event. Keynote speaker was Jeff Riegel, Indiana naturalist and a member of Al Gore's "First Fifty," the first class of environmental leaders trained and licensed to give the presentation on global warming made famous by Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." The event attracted over 200 people, including students and community members. ELS continues to provide leadership and guidance to the IU campus on environmental issues by participating in the IU Council for Environmental Stewardship and by providing advice to Indiana University's Sustainability Task Force, created to study the University's impact on global warming through its day to day operations. The group has also helped to coordinate a new Conservation Law Clinic, started in 2006, which allows students to find solutions to real worldenvironmental problems. Past projects have included work on combating invasive species in the Great Lakes and an analysis of Pennsylvania's gravel mining laws. Nationally, IU's ELS participates in the Pace Environmental Law Moot Court competition and has participated activelyin NAELS. In 2007 IU was second only to Vermont law school in the number of students attending the NAELS spring conference.

The University of South Carolina Green Quad serves as a model of currently available technology and as an advocate for sustainability on campus. We promote and facilitate collaborative relationships among students, faculty, staff, and community members that center around sustainability issues. We embrace green values and apply a holistic perspective to all aspects of our programs and operations. We strive to build a "green community" that provides inspiring first-hand experiences with sustainable living.

The Green Quad has a silver leed certification and contains offices, meeting rooms, and student residences. Our goal is to challenge each resident and visitor to explore how their actions can help move our community and our world toward a more sustainable society. Some of the main green aspects of the facility include a hydrogen fuel cell, a turf roof, natural day lighting, and recycled carpet. The Green Quad's programs are very diverse and include educational talks, film festivals, permaculture classes, and even a yoga hour each week. The Learning Center for Sustainable Futures is located in the Green Quad and coordinates nearly all of the programs and activities including the garden project, the service learning project, and the green living initiative.

The Green Quad is partnering with many student organizations as well as local groups in an effort to expose and educate as many people as possible about the need for change and the options and opportunities available in moving toward sustainability and creating a clean, comfortable future for our world.

Each year, over 17 million gallons of oil are used to create petroleum-based bottled water. This waste of energy does not even include the energy necessary to transport the water. Corporations have taken over the manner in which most people get water, even though local, high quality water is available to anyone who simply turns on the tap. This corporate appropriation of water has caused environmental harm beyond the energy issue including local watershed disruptions and other ecological consequences. Also, the marketing of bottled water has caused many people to come to believe that bottled water is "better" or "healthier" when in reality, a lot of the water is simple tap water that is put into fancy bottles and sold for ridiculous amounts of money.

Because of these issues, a group of students from Vermont Law School decided that we wanted to educate community about the wastes of bottled water and how much it costs. We also wanted to try and get rid of bottled water on our campus since our school is the #1 environmental law school in the country. It seemed ridiculous that such an ecologically-minded school would condone the selling of bottled water. Thus we put together a campaign to end bottled water on campus. We have created and posted informational signs around campus to inform people of the harms of bottled water and to encourage alternatives, such as bringing your own refillable bottle and using the drinking fountains. We hope to further the campaign by doing a blind water taste-test to prove to people the lack of difference between bottled water and tap water.

U.S. companies sent 35 billion pieces of direct postal mail in 1980, 64 billion pieces in 1990, 90 billion pieces in 2000, and 100 billion pieces in 2005. That's more than 300 pieces of bulk mail for every man, woman, and child! (U.S. Postal Service).

Vermont is one of 14 states that have introduced Do Not Mail legislation in 2007. The bill would establish a Do Not Mail Registry. This would allow Vermont citizens to voluntarily give their name in order to stop receiving junk mail. The Senate Commerce Committee has been discussing the issue for the past month. No official response has been given.

This poster was used to create awareness of the situation. VLS' Environmental Law Society had 18 people bring in their junk mail for a month. Each person collected around 3 pounds of junk mail for only four weeks. Isn't that disgusting?

Vermont Law School

Mark Seltzer

mseltzer@vermontlaw.edu

Power to the people. There are ways you as an individual can take energy conservation and alternative into your own hands! Here is one example, since 2003 Mark has been running his Volkswagen Golf vehicle, dubbed the "Fryolator" on alternative fuels. His primary fuel source comes from local restaurants and bars which provides plenty of fuel for his vehicle which averages between 45 to 50 MPG. The main impetus behind his conversion was the feeling of being "trapped" into using fossil fuels for his 60 mile round trip commute prior to law school. The solution was to buy a diesel vehicle and convert it to run on a recycled vegetable oil. His car has a minimal carbon footprint and he feels good about sustainable driving. Look for the Fryolator poster and the car in true form at the conference!

Poster guidelines and criteria will be available online along with a downloadable template providing dimensions and sizing suggestions.

Poster dimensions should be roughly 3ft by 4ft (orientation unspecified). The above template is for your convenience.

Before designing your poster, please check your local printing options (i.e., Kinkos, Staples, your school, etc.).

UVM has onsite printing services available; pricing and time constraints are based on your particular format. (see details below)

When using a PPT template, increase the view to 100% and stand about 8-10 feet from your screen...can you reasonably read the text? Remember to make headers bigger so that they stick out for easy reference!

Option 1: Underground Copy at the Davis Center
Dimension restrictions: 24 inches wide (max) by any length

Cindy Billado - Cindy.Billado@uvm.edu (802-656-5886)

Option 2: Print and Mail Services at Waterman Building
Dimension restrictions: 40 inches wide (max) by any length

We hope that you are able to join us in celebrating greening efforts around the nation!