Back on the face of the earth

Hi! Sorry it's been so long since I blogged, this is in no way an indication of the amount of stuff the Green House LLC has had going on.

To highlight a few things we're working on now:

1. Petitioning GW's Office of Sustainability and GW Facilities and Maintenance to install doublepane windows in Building JJ to reduce electricity consumption and save on heating bills.

2. Putting together two successful Green House dinners, pictures may follow...

3. Meeting with green certified business owners to talk about buying local.

4. Attending film screenings hosted by GW's Food Justice Alliance

5. Working with our advisors to bring a green architect to JJ

Last night we had a fantastic meeting with Teri Van Goethem, owner of DC Bread and Brew and it looks like she will be a great contact for us. She offered to set us up for two tours, one at the Green Building Association, and one at Polyface Farms, famous for its appearance in Food Inc as a model of sustainable agriculture. Annie did a great job putting this event together and we had delicious food while we met with Teri!

We're really looking forward to these events and I'll try to do better at updating in the coming months!

DC VegFest!

As promised, a report on our trip to DC VegFest in U Yard this past weekend.
Couple great things we saw/learned/tasted at VegFest:
1. Coconut-based ice cream ("Coconut Bliss")
2. Sweet treats from no animal products
3. Several recipe books for delicious meals with no meat or animal by-products.
4. Coupon books to enviro-friendly businesses (mainly restaurants) around DC.

On these themes, some food for thought: the argument that meat industry is one of the biggest environmental hazards to the planet is well established--our attendance at this festival celebrating alternative diets makes sense from this point of view.

Something I'm not as clear on is how we as environmental advocates should feel about TREATMENT of animals in the meat industry. What I'm getting at is there are a multiplicity of reasons why one might become a vegetarian/vegan that are both ethical AND environmental. This may be an issue we as the Green House can consider together as we enhance our understanding of our position in the environmental movement.

Think about it!
Jane

"Local Food in a Global City"

Pictures of Room 101's adventure at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market! Thanks to Maris!

Farmers markets are a great way to support local producers and find fresh organic food!

Read the Organic Consumers Association top 10 reasons to shop at farmers markets.

Thanks for reading!

Check back after the weekend to read about our trip to DC VegFest.

Title credit for this blog entry goes to Marisa.

Peace,
Jane

Sodexo is Afraid of Liz Glusman

Today one of our LLC members (Brittany) visited that hallowed GW establishment, J Street. She discovered that Sodexo has embraced environmentally friendly takeout containers made from sugar cane and potato starch! This is an extremely exciting development that has been a long time coming.

One of our main collaborative efforts this year was supposed to be working with Green GW to keep up the pressure on Sodexo to get rid of their harmful Styrofoam and plastic products in our dining halls. Our own Liz Glusman was going to spearhead this LLC initiative and it's my personal opinion that Sodexo heard Liz was coming for them and they backed down. Major kudos to Green GW working so hard with the University to get Sodexo to go green.

Comment with ideas on how we can use the momentum from this victory, or with ideas for alternatives initiatives, to make the university even greener!

Peace,

Jane

PS The Hatchet recently covered Sodexo's unwillingness to allow student orgs to provide food of their choice at their events. Read more here. Sodexo employees have also complained of unfair working conditions. There's obviously still more work to be done to make Sodexo more accommodating.

Hello!

Glad you're here! This blog is dedicated to the activities of our green living Living and Learning Cohort (The Green House LLC) at GWU. We'll share stories, events and photos of our year.

The Green House LLC is dedicated to living sustainably, promoting conservation, and community service.

Some of our projects this year include:

Fundraising for a well in Kenya

Partnership with Casey Trees

Working with Sodexo, our food service on campus, to use environmentally friendly methods and dishes.

Check back in for more updates!