Appreciation of Mr. 3rd Floor...I salute you!

Yesterday, while I was hanging some coca-cola sponsored posters advocating recycling the bottles they sell their products in, I received a nice surprise just in passing.  I was on the 3rd floor of SF and a guy passing through on his way downstairs complemented the round barrels around campus for recycling.  The barrels were also a donation from coca-cola along with the stickers we cut and labeled them with before they were placed on campus.  I told the guy from the 3rd floor that I appreciated his positive feedback as we eco reps get little in the way of positive feedback from others on our works.  3rd Floor Guy, whomever you may be, you are awesome. 

It was nice that he was complementing a project I just so happened to work on last fall and spring.  It felt good to have someone recognize what I do and be passionate about it to the same degree.  I have hope that more folks in SF are like Mr. 3rd Floor. It was also nice because my posters were not torn down nor was my room crammed full of temporary tattoos under the door. Destroying my work and shoving temporary ink under my door is childish. 

Come on, I say if you're going to have some ink done go to a professional and plan it out slowly. Make the tattoo meaningful for you and have the ink done properly in the right scale by someone who loves tattoos as much as you do. Be sure the tattoo parlor of your choosing is up on their health inspections and follows all the health codes.  You wouldn't eat food from a non compliant restaurant so don't get ink done from a dirty shop.  Put clean things in your body and you'll have fewer worries. I chose at the age of 28 to get my ears pierced for the first time ever.  I wanted a professional body piercer to do it because I wanted it done by a professional who is proud of their work. I wanted health codes to be imposed on the parlor rather than going somewhere in the mall who just does it willy nilly and aren't held to regulations at all.  Mall shops don't have to comply with health or safety codes like tattoo parlors do for piercings.  I had mine done at Aces Tattoos here in Denton and my ears are quite happy and free of disease. The professional body piercer also took a lot  of time and care to be sure my piercings were level from one ear to the other and to be sure I had a comfy experience while there. I even got an after piercing care booklet and some jolly ranchers.  I would go there again should I ever need their service. 

My point in all of this is to illustrate how passionate people providing services are often higher quality specialists and that's critical to having a good final product.  Hats off to Mr. 3rd Floor and to any other sustainability supporters in SF. I appreciate your feedback re the recycling barrels around campus and you made my day a brighter place! I salute you Mr. 3rd Floor. : )

Heavy Heart

Today your humble blogger writes to you with a heavy heart. In my effort to represent Santa Fe Square, the hall I represent as an Eco Rep, my patience is definitely being tried.

Last night I put the finishing touches on a new poster I made to promote this blog, and my services as an eco rep, but I awoke this morning to the poster being torn down and a bunch of smiley face temporary tattoos shoved under my door. This has become personal. I would much prefer residents of my hall to just come by and tell me if they have a problem instead of immature antics.

My first year as an Eco Rep for Santa Fe Square there was a handful of people in the hall who chose to  personally attack me just for doing my job as an Eco Rep. It looks like they haven't gone away...just shifted locations.

My duties include adequately representing my hall and talking to people to try and get the word out. I am there to inform and to offer sustainable programming. These are all tasks I take seriously.

I will continue to fulfill my duties as an Eco Rep but I am saddened that folks prefer to behave childishly instead of talking to me. I feel as though I have let down my fellow eco reps, and my hall in this series of events. A small handful of residents are trying to cheat everyone else out of representation and programming.

BYOB and Win a T-shirt.

The BYOB contest begins October 4, 2010 and will feature winners weekly. Go to : http://inhouse.unt.edu/drink-re-usable-bottles-save-planet-win-t-shirt for details. To see a video on BYOB and being green go to http://www.youtube.com/user/WeMeanGreen. Ask yourself the question, Where Has Your Bottle Been? and come up with a creative picture of your bottle in a new location. Has your bottle been traveling near or far? Has it melted? These questions and more.
-The office of sustainability

Campus Energy Conservation

The university is working on a green track record while improving current water and energy facilities.
"Once completed, the project will provide energy savings equivalent to removing 206,939 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is comparable to removing 41,387 cars from the roads or planting 56,287 acres of trees." (http://inhouse.unt.edu/air-conditioning-lighting-and-tracking-program-will-boost-campus-energy-conservation). Preliminary projects have begun as Schneider Electric surveys the affected buildings. Water cooling systems across campus will be streamlined for efficiency while they are expanded. The campus will also be implementing features such as centrally controlled light with motion sensors.