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The Sustainability Almanac

The Sustainability Almanac is a weekly newsletter produced by the Sustainability Office. It's a great way to find out about all the sustainability-related events on campus and in the area!

Send an email to register (it's free).

Have information you'd like to add to the Almanac? Send an email and we'll add it to the list.

Current Issue

Pollution-Hunting Robot Fish
When it comes to society's dependence on animal byproducts, media outlets usually print stories on animal cruelty. In a rare example of positive treatment Dairies have been giving their milk cows chiropractic massages, waterbeds, air ventilation, and classical music in order to keep them happy. This method of pampering has proven to produce greater volumes of milk with less purities. Cows work hard and give us so much, so it's nice to see dairies so concerned with their mental, as well as physical wellbeing.

It's not common knowledge around here, but everyone in Pennsylvania knows Centralia, a town that has been burning since the 60's. Centralia was once a coal-mining town that practically got incinerated when the fire department set the town's landfill ablaze in the 60's. This fire ignited a coal vein leading underground into a vast, endless network of mines and crevasses. Buildings burned down, sinkholes were created, and people were exposed to poisonous gases. It's a fascinating story not just because this fire is still going strong 50 years later, but for the fact that there are people who still live in the town and refuse to move.

Moving to local news we have a reminder of college students' wasteful habits at the end of a school year when they throw away what they can't carry home or don't need anymore. The photos show endless piles and dumpsters filled with perfectly good clothing, appliances, and furniture...and no charities in sight to take them away. No one benefits here. This is really sad and it raises serious questions regarding student habits, the apathy from the colleges, and our culture altogether. It's also a reminder that organizations like UMass Dartmouth's Sustainability Office still have much work to do.

Finally, let's leave you with this mental image: Genetically Engineered Mosquitos let loose from their labs to breed with other mosquitos The tested hypothesis is that these mosquitos will contribute to the thinning of numbers in regions heavily-infested with them due to lack of a specific antibiotic in the wild. Is anyone predicting a "Life Finds a Way" Jurassic Park scenario here?

The current issue continues here.