Thanksgiving is only three weeks away, so we’d like to remind all staff and faculty to remember to shut off lights, computers, monitors, printers, copiers, etc. before you leave your offices when the Thanksgiving break officially begins on Wednesday, Nov. 21. Also unplug items in your office such as coffee makers, microwaves, radios, etc. since these small appliances often waste energy when plugged in and not in use.
As you begin to think about your Thanksgiving plans, here’s a great article we found online about how you can have a “greener” Thanksgiving. Some good tips include:
- Purchasing only as much food as you need
- Choosing products that come in packaging that can be recycled
- Buying locally grown food to support the local economy
- Choosing organic food since it is produced without antibiotics and artificial hormones
- Consider staying home vs. traveling. If you do choose to travel, the article provides great advice on how to use less fuel and lower your emissions when making that long road trip.
We know you may not be thinking about holiday shopping yet, but Saturday, Nov. 24 is Small Business Saturday. Sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to support their local economy by patronizing brick and mortar businesses in your community. Consider if items you plan on buying this holiday season can be purchased from locally owned “mom & pop” stores.
Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and safe holiday season!
Kevin Caffrey is the Senior Associate Registrar at UMW and serves as Staff Co-Chair of the President’s Council on Sustainability. Formed in the fall of 2009, the PCS consists of faculty, staff, and students and reports both to the Executive Vice President for Administration and Finance and the Provost, serving a critical role in shaping administrative goals and objectives relating to campus sustainability. Their next meeting is Monday November 5th at 4:30PM in HCC 307. Meetings generally last one hour and are open to employees, students, and the public.
Thank you for this piece, especially the great tip about turning off lights/monitors etc! Such a good reminder to all of us that there are small, easy things we can do to make UMW greener!