Going Green @ Haverford

Tucked away on Featherbed Lane, a little stone house built circa 1935 by  Mathematics Professor Cletus Oakley, houses one of Haverford’s many hidden garden treasures. Five years ago Richard Ball took over the reins when Professor Lyle Roelof moved on to Colgate University and he has waged war on invasive plant species ever since.  Gout weed, Lesser celandine and Norway maple don’t stand a chance when faced with Richard’s boundless energy. He won’t admit how many hours he spends in the garden but looking at what he’s accomplished over the last several years, it’s quite a lot.

While Richard loves most plants he considers himself a tree man.  Scattered around his wooded garden are, at last count, 25 small trees that he has planted. Whether he bought them from the Forest Farm nursery catalog, a local native plant sale, or plucked them out of cracks in the sidewalk in Avalon, each plant is lovingly labeled the year it was planted and fenced off. Not just for protecting it from deer, but his own feet as he moves through the garden.

Chemical free, Richard has some unique ways of dealing with invasive species. Lesser celandine over the last decade has taken over our local woodlands, choking out the native flora. Richard has hand dug the bulbs, wheelbarrowed them over to a remote part of the property, and has covered the bulbs with a tarp. He’s hoping, one day, to be able to use the soil again. Another technique is picking up discarded boxes from the Dining Center and laying them over the plants he wants to eradicate and covering them with compost or wood chips. Previously, he had been using old carpet to smother the plants, but felt the cardboard boxes were a more sustainable approach as they can be tilled in once they break down.

Moving through the Dahlias, Crocosmia and Daylilies you come upon a grove with stone picnic benches built by Oakley, the home’s original owner. Shaded by evergreens, the tables and benches are covered with rocks.  When asked about them Richard replied, “They just grow by themselves.” What to do with them? “My plan is to make a plan,” he replied.

His love for the garden is unmistakable. As horticulturists, the Arboretum crews have often walked through his garden and appreciated his work. Richard commented that this is the first year he feels that he’s seeing results that even the lay person can appreciate.  So next time you bump into Richard on campus, ask him about his garden, he’ll be happy to fill you in.

While not a fully mature roof there’s still plenty to see. It can be seen anytime from the 3rd floor hallway outside the Career Development Office or attend one of our tours scheduled for this summer.

If you’re on a bike and it’s Wednesday, then wave!

Brought to you by the San Francisco Bike Coalition, www.sfbike.org

Answers to commonly asked questions:

What’s Waving Wednesday?

It’s a simple concept! It’s Wednesday and you’re riding a bicycle. You see someone else on a bicycle. You wave to them. They wave to you.

Does it cost anything to particiapte in Waving Wednesday?

Waving Wednesday only costs about 3 calories per wave.

If I wave on Wednesdays, can I still wave on other days?

Waving to promote cameraderie among cyclists is always encouraged.

What qualifies as a wave?

A wave ‘counts’ when you move your hand back and forth at least 3 times. Nodding or saluting do not count-those salutations can find their own darn days.

        Do I really have to do this?

        Yes, you have to.

The Committee for Environmental Responsibility and The Center for Peace and Global Citizenship is sponsoring a “Go By Bike” workshop series, encouraging community members to bike more. For more information contact ckent@haverford.edu or www.haverford.edu/staff/gobybike/ 

Anna Sajina

The Committee for Environmental Responsibility recently welcomed Anna Sajina as its newest member. Sajina, who holds a doctorate in Astronomy from the University of British Columbia, is a postdoctoral research associate and visiting assistant professor of Physics at Haverford.

“I have been interested in environmental issues for quite some time, and we have adopted many environmentally-friendly practices in our home,” says Sajina. “I am particularly interested in passive heating/cooling and water recycling.”

Sajina learned a great deal about about these issues last summer during a stay with other Haverford faculty in an earthship house in New Mexico. Highly energy-efficient, earthship homes are constructed using old tires and rammed earth.

Says Sajina, “I look forward to working with the other CER members toward greater sustainability at Haverford.”

In response to concerns about computer energy consumption, Facilities Management along with Administrative Computing have devised an energy conservation plan directed specifically at computers.

Administrative Computing is currently assembling a list of administrative and academic computers, their model types and typically how much energy they consume. These numbers will be directed to Facilities Management where a calculation of how much energy is used will be converted into a dollar amount.

A list of administrative computers along with their back-up nights will be distributed to the Energy Work Study students. All administration will be asked to turn off computers along with printers, scanners, speakers etc., except for their back-up night. If an employee leaves a computer on, a “friendly reminder” will be left encouraging the user to be more energy aware.

Because of sensitive information on academic and some administrative computers, we will not ask for these computers to be shut down. Directions on how to put computers in a low power state and request that printers and scanners be shut down will be distributed. Students will not enter faculty or sensitive administrative offices for any reason.

Thank you for support and participation in this matter.

The Facilities Management Department has developed an Energy Conservation Awareness Initiative to help mitigate the unprecedented escalation in energy prices that has occurred globally in recent months.

As we face this challenge, we are calling upon our campus community to support this campus initiative by implementing simple changes in energy utilization behaviors that can positively affect operating costs and the environment while relieving some pressure on institutional resources.   We have identified four major awareness components of this program below.
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