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Fall is in full swing and so are we! As you all know hike October has taken off and it has been a blast! We have been loving seeing all the faces and adding all the miles to our goal! If you would like to visit our fundraising page or anything else current and relevant we have added an affiliate links page you can check.
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Not only that, but we have a juicy sustainable Halloween workshop in the works for y'all next week!
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We are of course looking forward to more hiking and more rock finding explorations in this month. We are also getting excited for Make A Difference Day and spooky science night to get the word out!
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We hope to see you partaking in all of the NMUCC events and prompts, and we hope to keep seeing you tagging us in photos and sending us your creative goods!
- Russian surfers say mystery ocean pollution is poisoning them and killing animals
Unless you have been living under a rock, some pretty major environmental stuff has been going down in Russia. It all started with surfers going blind, and then weeks later, sea life washing ashore and massive polluted water burst coming with it. Whats the cause of it all? Petroleum products being much higher than they should be in the lovely ecological area. Click the header to read a full report.
With COVID driving up fast food takeout practices and food being packaged for safety, theres a new fear to be on the lookout for, bad stuff in packaging. PFAS are the chemical that block grease and other things from coming out of your takeout container, but they are also preventing you from living a full healthy life. Read more by clicking on the bolded title.
-The Pandemics effects on the environment
COVID-19 has brought about many changes in how we function, but what have these changes done to the environment, and are they permanent? Click the title to read about the varied effects of COVID-19.
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Q: What are some small changes I can make to be better?
A: To be fair, making sustainable changes can often seem daunting and making small ones, even for the average joe can create a desire to do more. That being said, there are so many small changes. For instance using a mason jar instead of a plastic cup, using a shampoo bar and conditioner bar instead of bottles soaps. Some other easier ones, shop in bulk things you eat a lot of like rice and such, and maybe try to buy less packaged foods or dip your toes into making your own snacks and such. All these small changes will add up, and will give you the desire to move toward the more massive changes too! Also, always bring reusable bags and wear a reusable mask!
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Q: In a perfect world what would a sustainable utopia look like?
A: To be fair, most of us environmentalist have doomsday features, so this question is so off-par of our normal discourse. But, upon further consideration, it would probably look a lot different than the Green Building and other pleas of being better. The article linked below this section is a good read about what that might look like!
Link: https://sites.google.com/site/iciscenter/research/sustainable-utopias
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The cool thing about all your greens is that they most likely grow in the ground... what that means is that you can regrow them! Provided you leave yourself a lil wiggle room to stick them in water it's pretty darn easy and you can probably do it in your dorm room! Here's a little video if you want to try it yourself! Or you can just wing it like me (Isabel) and hope it works! It probably will, it's pretty easy!
Leave No Trace Ethics
Jacklyn Lenten
Leave no trace ethics are incredibly important to follow, but the actions of others can hinder our conservation work. Thank you to the folks in the Outdoor Recreation Department for suggesting this soapbox submission! If you're not familiar with leave no trace ethics, we're here to highlight some of the main concepts we think every outdoorsmen should be familiar with.
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The idea behind leave no trace ethics is that we have an obligation to leave nature better than we found it. This concept applies to obvious things, like not littering, but also applies to things you may have never thought of. For example, it's extremely important to only have fires in designated camping spots. Having fires outside of fire rings poses the threat of wildfires and could disrupt ecological functions, vegetation health, and soil health. This concept also applies to touching wildlife. As fascinating as it may be to interact with wildlife, such as picking up turtles or feeding deer, it's not okay to disturb the ecosystem.
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A final yet very important concept of leave no trails ethics revolves around proper dog etiquette. It's disrespectful to not pick up after your dog on the trail, but it's worse yet to leave used doggy bags. We understand that it's not fun to carry a used doggy bag throughout your hike, but it's important you don't leave it in the wild. Dog waste in a doggy bag can't even properly decompose and could be sitting on the forest floor for years. It's also incredibly important to keep your dog on a leash in designated leash areas. Loose dogs can disturb wildlife and we have to remember that unfortunately, not all trail users are fond of dogs. We need to ensure that the trails are welcoming to everyone.
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"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time."
- John Muir
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October So Far
It's only the second full week of October and we have already done so much!
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We Went on four group hikes and have already been crushing our #hikeoctober goals!
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We did one cleanup on campus with His House.
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And we released our second newsletter... didn't read it? Click the button!
Watch this now!
This movie delves deep into the familial ties of animals and the deep disgusting truths of the meat industry.
Watch this too!
This video came out a while ago, but its message is still very relevant!
