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May 17, 2017

Attendance:  , Alex Bocconcelli, Holly Wilson, Sean Medeiros, Dave Derosier, Ken Kostel, Dina Pandya, Andrea Harvey, Stephanie Madsen

#1  WSS Events – Conversation centered around all the great bike events taking place in May.

·         Bike to Work Week – May 15th-19th (Big Success!! 53 of the 103 bikers who signed up at the table were WHOI peeps!)

·         Bike to Work Day – Wednesday, May 17th 7:00-9:00am @ intersection of Surf + Bike Path – 53 Whoi Bikers!

·         Bike Maintenance Workshop, Friday, May 19th 3:00-5:00 Fenno Patio-Bethany-fruit, Steph-cookies (At least 10 people attended and learned hands-on fixes from Corner Cycle bike techs - many people had their bikes worked on)

·         Climate Coffee Chat May 18th 2:30 at Coffee O - We crammed in 11 people in the back booth of Coffee O - lots of good discussion and recommendations for reaching the cynical.

·         New events proposed– walks, bike rides, lawn games?

Action:

  • Schedule additional hikes for June (SM)
  • Hike to Spohr Garden -Thursday, June 1 @ 12:00pm Meet at Tennis court-Quissett Campus (SM-done)
  • Bike Ride - Friday, June 9th 4:30 pm. Meet by WH Shuttle/Coffee O. We’ll bike 10 miles, round trip on

bike path followed by socializing at the Landfall.

  • Another botany walk with Pam Polloni – this time through Moraine/ Fitness trails (PP+SM)

Guest Speakers suggested –

  • Megan Amsler,  Cape + Islands Self-Reliance, to discuss residential solar programs and/or Paul Gentile from Falmouth Energy Committee to discuss phase changing materials (AB)

#2   Beach Cleanup- with Skip the Straw group, SEA, T3C

·         July 15 or 16th – Surf Drive Beach

-          Another bike path cleanup was suggested for the Fall – date tbd

Action:

  • Schedule specific date for cleanup 15th or 16th (SM- waiting to hear back from J Brodeur)

#3  Bike Update – We received $1,800 in funding from Woods Hole Foundation for the Bike Loaner Program!

·         Bike Loaner Program going strong! Thanks to Susan Mills! Because bikes are going fast, we got permission to buy 6 more bikes for the loaner program.

·         24 abandoned bikes cleared from racks on campus – working with Bike Lab to upcycle (they took 8)

·         Bike Friendly Business status for Whoi – applying for status (due in June) - $500 fee (lasts 3 years)- we secured grant funding to pay the application fee. Application almost done!

·         Bike storage – basement Carriage House (cleaned out and waiting for lock to be installed)

·         Bike Storage Container for Clark South was ordered – can host 15 bikes. Order is being processed.

Action:

  • Finish up and submit Bike Friendly Business Application by June 15th (KK +SM)
  • Pick a color for bike storage container (leaning towards bright green with white circle and bike silhouette inside circle)

#4  STF Website –We discussed the merits of having our STF webpage outward facing on the WHOI webpage. The plan is to amp up our existing internal site and stage it for public access

·         Make STF page more comprehensive if going Public (SM) – We added a blurb about Sustainability at Whoi and added it to Whoi’s external webpage under ‘Committees’ (thanks Dina!)

Action:

  • Add  Water conservation, green purchasing, gardening plots, fitness trail and photographs to website (SM)
  • Design Plan Map for new STF website (CEC Intern + SM)

#5  Solar Update – We discussed the various options – Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) vs. Ownership – with SRECs. Because we are non-profit, we don’t qualify for 30% off tax incentives.

·         Analyzing submitted proposals from vendors

#6  Building Reps – We need schedule the following building walk throughs with reps:

-          Fenno – Colin Reed (joining May 2 Dept. Meeting to discuss results)

-          Clark 2nd Fl wing- Kim Deisher

-          Nobska House- Patty Mahoney

-          Shiverick – Danie KinKade (reschedule)

-          Exhibit Center – Holly Wilson (schedule walk through)

#7        The Offshore Energy and Storage Symposium (OSESS)

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution               July 11-14, 2017

For more information, go to https://www.osessociety.com/oses2017

#8  New Business

Recycling at Exhibit Center and other locations on Village Campus.

There have been rumors floating about whether or not recycling is happening in all buildings by the night-time custodial staff, particularly in the Village.  After talking with John Sheedy about this several times, I can assure you that they are recycling properly. This is a write up from John explaining how custodians in the smaller buildings bag up the recycling in clear bags.

WHOI Recycling Program

Update by John Sheedy, McGarr Cleaning Service Manager

Deskside (blue bin) recycling is performed on Wednesday evenings in lieu of emptying office and lab trash cans. Trash is removed from all common areas – restrooms, conference rooms, breakrooms, etc.

In the large buildings, recycling is collected in the blue curbside totters. These are left outside of each building in a designated location and emptied the following day by Republic Services. In the smaller houses, deskside recycling is collected in large clear liners. These liners are left outside the buildings and collected. They are then deposited in some of the various blue totters at the larger buildings or in one of the designated single stream dumpsters located throughout the Institution.

Cardboard and redeemable bottle/can recycling is performed as required. The recycling is collected simultaneously with the trash. It is then sorted at the Distribution Warehouse where there are two compactors, one for trash and the other for cardboard. There is a separate container for the bottles and cans.