Getting around the green way~

by Jenna Gardner

It’s time to start moving smarter. Moving smarter means changing the way we get around in order to create a more sustainable world. How do we do this? We change our mode of transportation. When people think of the word transportation, most people think of a car. Other modes of transportation include rail, air, transit, non-motorized vehicles, bicycling, and walking, but Lancaster Green Infrastructure highlights the importance of just two of those modes. Bicycling and walking are two of the most “green” ways to get around. Lancaster Green Infrastructure plans on creating a guide/plan to implement walking and bicycling into the county’s transportation system. Transportation planning can be used to promote green infrastructure goals through approaches such as encouraging the use of alternative modes of transportation that reduces impacts on natural resources (Green Infrastructure, 2011).

Clean our Creek, Clean our River, Clean our Bay.

By Christopher Gailey

Project Green Lancaster takes a look at the local green and sustainable issues in Lancaster County. What we have not talked much about is how Lancaster County affects its neighboring counties and state water supplies. Lancaster County is a part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This watershed stretches from Southern Virginia through Central and Northern Pennsylvania and peaking in upstate New York. The emissions of water pollution from Lancaster County and all the other watershed regions affect the Bay.  What the Lancaster green infrastructure and their water recourse plan, aim at doing is keep it local. The theory of the plan is “all things run down hill.” With this theory in mind, if we clean up Lancaster’s water supply it will improve the Susquehanna River which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. So, Clean our creek, Clean our River, Clean our Chesapeake Bay.

Walking tour news~

Looking to check out one of our Lancaster City sustainable locations that will be included on our walking tour?  Take a look at one of the initiatives Carmen and David’s Creamery, located on Prince Street, has pursued in an effort to contribute to environmental leadership as they serve up their delicious ice cream treats!

http://www.carmenanddavidscreamery.com/

http://www.f-k.com/index.php?option=com_content2&task=view&id=185&Itemid=74&cat=74

Greenware cups are created from a resin produced from plants.  These cups are just as durable as those that aren’t so environmentally friendly, and they are sourced locally while manufactured domestically in the United States.  Their simple design allows for the product in the cup to be showcased, while demonstrating Greenware’s unique attention to design.

Stop by Carmen and David’s creamery to check out Greenware.  The creamery uses them for ice cream, water and to sell some of their customers’ favorite snacks!

Looking for a way to make your next event or sustainable business endeavor a bit more eco-friendly?

Check out BioCutleries.com for biodegradable utensils, containers, plates and bowls that are built from reeds of sugarcanes and PLA based utensils that offer another sustainable option rather than using petroleum based utensils.

Stay tuned for the sustainable walking tour of Lancaster City soon to be offered by Project Green Lancaster!

Cute Shops Inhabit Downtown Lancaster

By Jess Boone

Many people in Lancaster don’t know about the city itself or any of the businesses that line the streets.   This is a shame because of the large number of cute shops and novelty stores that inhabit downtown Lancaster.  One of these shops is Mommalicious, located on Queen Street.  Co-owned by friends Alicia and Debbie, Mommalicious sells a mix of antiques and unique, hand-made gifts, focusing on what Alicia calls the “eye for the imperfect.”

In recent years, Mommalicious has grown to be a successful part of the downtown Lancaster scene.  However, success didn’t always come naturally.  In 2004, the shop was just a pipe dream to Alicia, before her business teacher at Millersville University pushed her to pursue her goals.  It was then that she drafted her first business plan.  Alicia says she needed someone to push her, and she “needed to get uncomfortable.”

In this situation, getting uncomfortable was exactly what was needed.  In May of 2005, she had a store on Prince Street and was living her dream.  She was learning the ropes of business first-hand, and selling “old stuff”, the stuff she is passionate about.  However, Alicia knew there was always room for improvement.  Since opening, she had much success.  But, as she told her husband, she was daring to dream a little bigger.  Ideally, she wanted her shop to have apartments above it, so she and her family could live directly above her store.  Like her teacher did before, this time it was her husband who pushed her to test the waters.  She started looking for a new location, and by September of 2006, Mommalicious moved to its current location, Alicia’s dream location.

To some people, Mommalicious may seem like just another store in the blossoming city of Lancaster.  But if you dig deeper, you will realize that Mommalicious is a perfect example of putting your mind to something to accomplish it.  What may seem like a far off dream at one point, can easily become a reality with a little determination and drive.

Musings about Fair Trade

By Tess Black

While sitting in the Student Memorial Center where I am participating in a bake sale I noticed that Millersville University’s juice bar sells fair trade coffee. In order for a company to be labeled as fair trade, the company must provide a moral work environment, substantial wages to allow the workers to live above the poverty line, and perform processes that allow for future processes. There are many people that will only buy products that are fair trade and many companies are now making the switch. After noticing the juice bar participates in fair trade it made me wonder what other companies may also be fair trade. After doing a little research I learned that Sheetz, Starbucks, Green Mountain Coffee, and Seattle’s Best Coffee all participate in fair trade. One company that I was surprised to find is not a fair trade company was Hershey’s. Hershey’s makes many chocolate products as well as Twizzlers and Ice Breakers. Hershey’s does not treat its employees in such a way that aligns with fair trade. The biggest area where Hershey’s is not fair trade is dealing with the workers overseas. Hershey’s products are made from cocoa which has to be harvested. The company uses small children who are given large machetes to harvest the cocoa. These children are promised better lives for themselves and their families, however they rarely are given anything they are promised.

Black and Yellow… And Green?

By Bobby Bechtel

Cutbacks to high education in Pennsylvania are affecting Millersville a little less. Green efforts across the campus are saving the University money, and ultimately saving students’ tuition.

Since 2008, Millersville has partnered with Noresco, an energy conservation consulting firm based in Massachusetts. Through studying the habits of the University’s faculty, staff, and students – the firm developed ways in which the campus could reduce its carbon footprint, which ultimately saves the University money. The tactics developed by Noresco include:

– Trayless Dining Halls

– Two Sided Printing

– Water Efficient Showerheads

– Paperless Billing

These ways however are noticeable. The University is also taking strides in energy consumption as well. These presently include:

– Reducing nonrenewable energy consumption

– Retrofitting buildings to be energy efficient

– Using local and organic food in dining halls

Since the 2009-2010 school year when many of these changes took place, Millersville was able to reduce its carbon footprint by 7% (The Snapper, 10/6/11).

New content creation begins!

For students in COMM 380: digital media writing, October is a time for research and more research to gather the words for new content on the Project Green Lancaster website.   They have been out and about in Lancaster City and County, visiting, interviewing, and photographing green initiatives with the help of the following local community partners: Annie Anne’s, My Aunt Debbie Shop, Farm to Table in Lancaster, Green Lighting, Habitat MT, Habitat ReStore, Horn Farm Center, John J. Jeffries, Lancaster Green Infrastructure Initiative through the Lancaster County Planning Commission, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Lemon Street Market, Marauder mart, Mid Atlantic concrete equipment, Mommalicious, Native Plants, MU, PhoenixLink Inc., Sustainable day trips from Lancaster County, Sustainable walking tour/map of Lancaster City, Transition Lancaster.

Guest bloggers to start this fall

Students in the Department of Communication and Theatre’s digital media writing class will have new tasks this fall—guest blogging here!  Each student will receive points for their contribution.  I have never graded blog entries before so this is new territory.  I think it is the perfect platform for them to share their content for the Project Green Lancaster website.  Next up–Tweeting.  Yes, they will be tweeting @ProjGreenLanc.  Social media is not just Facebook anymore.  But they will be doing some updates there too.   Looking forward to this new media venture.