Thursday, September 20, 2007

Erin's Pumpkin Cookies

The turnout at this meeting was just over 30 SEACers. I think everyone at this point is pretty dedicated, so I'm really excited about how many members we've retained this far in.

Our extra-special guest this week was Ethan Nuss from Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN). (Guess what! They have a blog, too. All the cool environmentalists are blogging these days.) I don't know about you guys, but I'm super pumped about some of the ideas that he helped us with, and I can't wait to work with him and CCAN in the future. He really helped us in figuring out some direct actions we can perform to put our energy to use. Hopefully, we'll be able to channel all our enthusiasm this year into things that make a difference. Thanks for coming, Ethan! I'm sure we'll see you again.

The main thing we did this meeting was break up into focus groups to think of actions for this year. Specifically, the groups were Green 101, Recycling, Transportation, Consumption, and Campus Environment. We generated some sweet ideas, and I hope to see them get off the ground.

Some things to work on/think about before next meeting:

-Logos for SEAC! We're trying to get a cool graphic to put on all the SEAC materials this year. It would show up on things like fliers, pamphlets, tabling materials, etc. If anyone is into graphic design, we would love for you to donate some creativity.

-Sign up for SGA committees! All students this year have been given the opportunity to be a member of an SGA committee. You all should've received signup forms in your mailboxes. Think about signing up so you can be a voice for the environment.

-If anyone is interested in earning some credit or some money, consider signing up for a work-study program with Larry Hartwick. He needs a student to work on calculating the carbon emissions of St Mary's College, and it sounds like a really neat opportunity.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Egg, avocado, artichoke?

Tonight's meeting had a turnout of about 40 SEACers. This is huge. I'm going to have a tough time learning all those names, so I apologize in advance for calling you "that guy" or "that one with the hair;" really, it's nothing personal.

If you enjoyed the vegan ginger cookies, you can get to the recipe by clicking "Vegan bake sale recipes" in the navigation bar on the right. Scroll down to "Grandma Gibby's Ginger Cookies." They're super easy, I swear. They also work well as bribes.

During our goal shout-out and while going over the Wall of Goals today, we got some really great ideas for what we want to do this year. Remember, you are the driving force behind SEAC! If you have an idea that you're excited about, tell us! A lot of the goals from the meeting today centered around changing the personal habits of students on campus and reaching out to the community. Let's get to it!

Elaine Szymkowiak, who is awesome, also came to our meeting tonight, mostly to talk about Riverfest, sponsored by the St. Mary's Watershed Association. That'll be happening Sept 29, and they'd love to have SEAC involved. Whether we're volunteering to help paint pumpkins or tabling for ourselves, let's get out there! There's going to be an excellent raffle, too. Tickets are only $5, and entering gets you a shot at some sweet prizes, like a fishing trip for 6 or a kayak. Tickets will also be sold at the St Mary's County Fair, Sept 22-23, and they need some help selling them. If you're interested in selling raffle tickets at the fair, contact Erin McDermott.

Last but not least, here are some links for e-activism!

EcologyFund - Register for the site and join the group "St. Mary's College of MD" so we can keep a tally of how many sq feet we've saved as a group!

The Rainforest Site - You know, save rainforest. Pretty cool. They also have tabs at the top for other worthy causes.

Both sites' donations are paid for by the sponsors who run ads on the site, so it costs you nothing to save the world! Cool beans!

See you all next Wednesday! (NC2, 9:00)

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Welcome back!

Hello, fellow SEACers! This is Joanna, your new Secretary, bringing you the latest and greatest news about the club we all love.

Yesterday marked the official return of SEAC to St Mary's, with our first meeting of the semester. We had a grand total of 61 students show up-- this has got to be a record. The ideas tossed out during our icebreaker and on the Wall of Goals are really exciting; it sounds like we have a great group of dedicated, green members. We wrapped up with a round of Eco Stretches, though a few members expressed an interest in playing an enormous game of Duck-Duck-Goose.

Next week, we'll be going over the Wall of Goals and start laying plans for this year's actions. Remember: every Wednesday, 9:00, NC2!