In the Green News: Disc Recycling

Wondering what to do with all of your unwanted or useless CDs and DVDs?  Before you toss them in the landfill, along with the other billions of trashed discs, consider recycling.  There are a few recycling firms which melt discs and reuse the material for such things such as eyeglass parts, fences and more.  For information on CD/DVD recycling, visit the  GreenDisk or the CD Recycling Center of America websites. (OR, If you’re really ambitious, you can use unwanted CDs for art projects, such as this CD mobile).

Green Talk Series Begins Sep. 29th

Expand upon your eco-knowledge and join us for Butler Library’s “Green Talk” workshop series!  All workshops will take place from 12:15 – 1:00 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library.

Tuesday, September 29th; BL 208

On Cloud Nine: Cloud Computing and Power Management Software

Presented by Ken Fujiuchi and Andrew Chambers

Recycling paper is great—but what about cutting down on the amount of paper that needs to be recycled in the first place?  What power management tools are available to help decrease Co2 AND lower electricity bills?  Join us in learning about green technologies and how to work more efficiently in the “cloud computing” environment.

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Thursday, October 15th; BL208

Seeing Green:  Tips for School, Home, & Work

Presented by Lauren White

Join EH Butler Library’s “Green Enthusiasts” for this interesting (and fun) workshop—featuring information on campus recycling services and more!

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Thursday, October 22nd; BL318

Submit Don’t Print

Presented by Meghan Pereira

Come learn how to use the ANGEL drop box so that you can collect, grade, and return papers back to students, all without printing a single piece of paper!

__________________

Tuesday, December 8th; BL210

Going Green for the Holidays

Presented by Susan Jaworski

“Go Green” for the holidays and learn how to make unique cards and gifts from recycled materials!

New Database: GREENR

Stay current on environmental issues with E. H. Butler!   We have a new trial subscription to GREENR: Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources. Why not try it out today?

GREENR: Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (Trial database)
Databases covering environmental, energy, sustainability and green technology topics. Includes magazine, news, and journal articles, plus case studies, maps, videos, statistics, podcasts, Web sites, primary sources, and more. Note: Trial for this source extends through Dec. 31, 2009.

For even more “green” resources, check out our Environmental Topics Subject Guide.

Stay Current on Green Issues with E-mail Alerts

Buffalo State students are eligible to sign up for free e-mail alerts from Environment & Energy Publishing, a leading source for comprehensive, daily coverage of environmental and energy policy and markets.

E&E Daily and Greenwire track environmental and energy issues.

E&E Daily focuses on environmental and energy legislation in the U.S. Congress.

Greenwire covers how these issues play out in the courts, states and federal agencies.

In addition to daily news and analysis, the library’s subscription gives you access to special reports and valuable research tools.  Be sure to check out the story and video archive!  Subscribe for e-mail alerts now at http://www.eenews.net/email_alerts/ (check  “I have IP access” to correctly complete the form).

Go Green! Shut Down Your Computer at Night

A note for all faculty and staff from Computing and Technology Services:

Beginning Tuesday, August 25^th,Computing and Technology Services will start powering on all faculty/staff workstations at 4:00AM to deploy software updates to the campus. Workstations will be left powered down on weekends. It is recommended that you shut down your computer at the end of every work day, rather than simply logging off. The college could realize a significant energy (and cost) savings if the majority of campus workstations were powered down for the 12-16 hours per day that they are inactive.

Remote Desktop Users: On days you plan to access your campus workstation from home, make sure you leave your computer powered on (just log off). On days you DON’T plan on using Remote Desktop, please remember to shut down your computer. Optional: When you’re done using Remote Desktop , you can shut down your campus workstation by clicking the Start button, selecting Run, entering “shutdown –s –t 01” (without the quotes) and clicking OK.

Update Tuesday

Major software updates will be deployed on Tuesday mornings between the hours of 4:00 AM and 6:00 AM. This window was chosen in an effort to minimize the disruption to daily work activities. If there is an occasion where updates must be applied outside of the normal “Update Tuesday” window, we’ll send out a notification prior to the update.

Installing Updates Prior to Update Tuesday

When new updates are available, a dialog box like the one pictured below will appear, giving you the option to install the updates at your convenience prior to Update Tuesday. If no action is taken and you choose not to install the updates prior to Update Tuesday, the updates will automatically be installed the following Tuesday.

Note: The option to install updates prior to Update Tuesday only applies to faculty/staff PCs. On campus Macs, the update process will be completely transparent. On student lab computers, the update process will be handled differently, and we’ll send out a separate notification to department lab coordinators explaining how the process will work.

Connecting Campus-Owned Laptops

If you use a campus owned laptop, we recommend bringing it to campus and connecting it to the campus network at least weekly for approximately 30 minutes or so. By connecting your laptop on a regular basis, you will avoid possible disruptions and ensure that the update process goes smoothly (as described above).

If you don’t connect your laptop to the network on a regular basis, the updates should begin immediately the next time it is connected. In this case, you may experience some performance issues while the updates are installed, and may be prompted to reboot to complete the update process.

Reporting Problems

If you notice that your workstation doesn’t seem to power on during weekdays, or if there seems to be an issue installing the updates, please report the problem to the Computing Help Desk.

Computing Help Desk

Butler Library Information Commons

Phone: (716) 878-4357

E-mail: CHD@buffalostate.edu

Website: www.buffalostate.edu/cts

Office Hours: 8:30AM – 4:30PM (M-F)

Note: Please bookmark the CTS website (www.buffalostate.edu/cts) and check it frequently for notifications regarding campus network and e-mail problems.

“Green Talk” Workshop Series Announced for Fall 2009

Expand upon your eco-knowledge and join us for Butler Library’s “Green Talk” workshop series!  All workshops will take place from 12:15 – 1:00 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library.

Tuesday, September 29th; BL 208

On Cloud Nine: Cloud Computing and Power Management Software

Presented by Ken Fujiuchi and Andrew Chambers

Recycling paper is great—but what about cutting down on the amount of paper that needs to be recycled in the first place?  What power management tools are available to help decrease Co2 AND lower electricity bills?  Join us in learning about green technologies and how to work more efficiently in the “cloud computing” environment.

_________________
Thursday, October 15th; BL208

Seeing Green:  Tips for School, Home, & Work

Presented by Lauren White

Join EH Butler Library’s “Green Enthusiasts” for this interesting (and fun) workshop—featuring information on campus recycling services and more!

_________________
Thursday, October 22nd; BL318

Submit Don’t Print

Presented by Meghan Pereira

Come learn how to use the ANGEL drop box so that you can collect, grade, and return papers back to students, all without printing a single piece of paper!

__________________

Thursday, November  12th; BL208

Topic to be announced!

Presented by Fred Stoss

Frederick W. Stoss is an Associate Librarian in the Arts & Sciences Libraries at the State University of New York University at Buffalo. His primary responsibilities are serving as the Biological and Environmental Sciences and Mathematics Librarian. In January 2007 Fred was trained by former Vice President, Al Gore, and The Climate Project, to give presentations of Mr. Gore’s slide show, on which Gore’s awards-winning book and documentary film An Inconvenient Truth is based.

More information coming soon!

___________________

Tuesday, December 8th; BL210

Going Green for the Holidays

Presented by Susan Jaworski

“Go Green” for the holidays and learn how to make unique cards and gifts from recycled materials!

Drum Roll Please…Introducing the Butler Library Tote!

Need a hand carrying all of your school supplies?  E. H. Butler Library is thrilled to introduce our new tote bag, designed by our talented Web Designer Dennis Reed, Jr.  The sturdy cotton canvas bag will be available for purchase at the Circulation Desk this fall.

25 Ways to Help Curb Climate Change

Do you ever feel as if most of the world is oblivious to the state of the environment? It’s easy to get down about making real changes– but there are simple things that you can do to make a real difference! Mike Tidwell, author of the Ravaging Tide, has created a list of 25 things that every college student can do to help curb climate change:

Adapted from The Daily, independent student newspaper for the University of Washington.
1. Be optimistic! Solving the problem of climate change is possible! Learn the facts about climate change.
2. Get involved. Urge your congressperson to make the environment a priority.
3. Stop using disposable plastic bags at the grocery store, only 3 percent of which are recycled each year. Instead, buy reusable grocery bags.
4. Turn off your computer each night before bed, which could save 83 percent of its carbon emissions.
5. Unplug your cell phone charger when it’s not in use, as well as other appliances around the apartment.
6. Use the cold cycle of the washing machine for washing full loads of clothes, which saves 6.5 pounds of carbon emissions per load.
7. Bring your own coffee cup to your morning coffee shop to reduce waste.
8. Instead of buying bottles of water, invest in a reusable one and fill it at water fountains.
9. Refill printer ink cartridges up to four times at an office supply store.
10. Use both sides of paper and then recycle. Only 9 percent of the 8 million tons of paper used each year is recycled. Print double-sided
11. Run the dishwasher only when it is full, and instead of using the dry cycle, let dishes air dry with the door open.
12. Clean the dryer’s lint trap after each load of clothes.
13. When you leave a room, turn off the lights.
14. Buy local food whenever possible. The further food travels, the more carbon is emitted.
15. Switch from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs.
16. Don’t worry about preheating the oven when baking, except when making bread or pastries.
17. Cut as much beef out of your diet as possible. The meat industry is responsible for 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
18. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth.
19. Buy eggs in cardboard containers, which are more biodegradable.
20. Recycle your newspaper.
21. Ride the bus as often as possible or ride your bike or walk wherever possible.
22. Have a box set aside for recycling in your room — paper, cans, plastic and glass.
23. Take shorter showers.
24. Reuse wrapping paper, bows and ribbons.
25. Recycle your batteries to reduce the 179,000 tons of them that end up in landfills each year.

What other ideas do you have to add to the list?

CFL Light Bulbs in Plain English

Confused on what CFL light bulbs are all about? Check out this informative clip from the “Plain English” folks!

Magazine Exchange Stations in Library

Looking for a little recreational reading? Not sure what to do with that pile of magazines in your dorm room? Need some magazine pictures for a collage project?

We’ve set up three “Magazine Exchange” stations in the library—located in the Copier Lounge, Study Quad, and International Student’s Reading Area (3rd Floor, SE Quadrant). Feel free to drop off your “gently used” magazines in any of the racks—and take what you’ll read or re-use.

Questions? Please e-mail Lisa Forrest forresla@buffalostate.edu OR Andy Chambers chambeab@buffalostate.edu for more information.

Magazine Exchange Station in Copier Lounge

Magazine Exchange Station in StudyQuad