{"id":2480,"date":"2023-11-20T09:58:26","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T13:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/?page_id=2480"},"modified":"2023-11-20T13:50:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T17:50:27","slug":"post-2480","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/meetings-activities\/meeting-minutes\/post-2480\/","title":{"rendered":"Post #2480"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

November 15, 2023<\/h1>\nAttendance: <\/strong>Alex Kinsella, Sebastien Bigorre, Liz Maloney, Bryan Urquhart, Gretchen Swarr, Alan
\nGaul, Claire Anacreon, Stephanie Murphy, Morgan Anthony\n

 <\/p>\n #1 Beach cleanups (first Thursday of the month at noon)<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Liz will lead December 7
\n\u2022 Gretchen will lead January 4\n#2 Energy Master Plan<\/strong> – Updates on plan for Lunch and Learn
\n\u2022 The EMP hasn’t been presented to the board yet, which might hold up the lunch and learn.
\nAlso, the current focus is on the new dock project. Bryan will follow up with Dave Derosier
\nto see where we are on the EMP lunch and learn for the WHOI community.
\n\u2022 Bryan: In the meantime, progress from Facilities on energy conservation: smart thermostats
\nhave been installed on Winding Lane, HVAC systems are being turned on\/off at optimal
\ntimes, and more.
\n\u2022 Sebastien: This is a good communication opportunity where STF can partner with Facilities
\nto tell the community that we are making progress on an energy plan.
\n\u2022 Alan: Is there a plan to make the new dock more energy efficient?
\n\u2022 Sebastien: There was investigation of ocean-source geothermal, but it probably won’t
\npan out. Also looking at making the new Smith building more energy efficient.
\n\u2022 Bryan: Plans haven’t been finalized yet.\n#3 Invasive plant removal<\/strong> – Choosing plants for re-planting Clark parking lot corner in the
\nSpring
\n\u2022 Alex: We will have funding in the spring to re-plant the green corner in the parking lot
\nclosest to Clark. If anyone has ideas about what should go there, let us know. Maybe some
\nkind of fruit tree.
\n\u2022 Alan: We can put a collection of pollinator-friendly plants below the tree to have a well trafficked
\narea with an example of a native ecosystem.\n#4 Lunch and Learns<\/strong> – Update on data library\/herbarium tour
\n\u2022 Claire talked to Pam Polloni and Jeff Donnelly about an NSF proposal they would like to
\nwrite that would help fund the herbarium in parallel with preserving core samples. This
\nwould be through the G&G department. Jeff offered freezer space for herbarium
\nspecimens.
\n\u2022 Data library doesn’t have space for lunch, so it would have to be just a tour. A good time
\nmight be December 13 at noon to avoid department seminars.\n#5 Plant-based vs. petroleum plastics<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Stephanie Murphy is on a committee with the Town of Falmouth that is charged with
\ndeveloping a regulation to reduce or eliminate single use plastics in food establishments.
\nShe relayed that the committee is considering including plant-based compostable plastics in
\nthe ban for now because we have no industrial composting facility on the Cape. These items
\noften end up either in recycling streams, where they are a contaminant, or in landfills, where
\nthey release methane as they decompose.
\n\u2022 She wanted to start a conversation about how this might impact the use of plant-based
\nplastic to-go containers at the Buttery and develop strategies for minimizing the impact of a
\npotential ban. Although WHOI has a contract with an off-Cape industrial compost facility,
\nthe issue is with containers that are taken out of the Buttery and back to offices (or other
\nplaces) where there is no composting. They are often not disposed of properly. The only
\nplace we can currently dispose of industrially compostable materials is at the Buttery.
\n\u2022 Alan: Can we get more compost locations at WHOI?
\n\u2022 Maybe, but that will cost money.
\n\u2022 Morgan: If we further developed composting at WHOI, could employees bring in home
\ncompost?
\n\u2022 Maybe, but again that will cost money.
\n\u2022 Even at the Buttery, people are often not putting materials into the correct bins. How can
\nwe improve this?
\n\u2022 Liz will help improve signage at the Buttery
\n\u2022 Alan: Volunteers can occasionally direct people how to properly dispose of their
\nwaste so that they learn for next time.
\n\u2022 Liz: The most effective method is putting actual examples above the bins of what
\nshould go in them. Or maybe even a screen with a short video?
\n\u2022 Claire: We could also put STF updates on the screen.
\n\u2022 Sebastien: The underlying problem is single-use plastics. We should be encouraging people
\nto choose reusable options as much as possible, such as the plates.
\n\u2022 Alan: Can we make the plates the default option at the Buttery?
\n\u2022 Bryan: That might be more expensive, and also we would need to look at health
\ncodes to see what is allowed.
\n\u2022 Claire: How many dishes can the Buttery accommodate? Let’s ask them.
\n\u2022 Sebastien: Can we stack containers in the compost so that it needs to be picked up less
\noften?
\n\u2022 Stephanie: You are not supposed to stack PLA because it doesn’t decompose as well
\nin that case.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 15, 2023 Attendance: Alex Kinsella, Sebastien Bigorre, Liz Maloney, Bryan Urquhart, Gretchen Swarr, Alan Gaul, Claire Anacreon, Stephanie Murphy, Morgan Anthony   #1 Beach cleanups (first Thursday of the month at noon) \u2022 Liz will lead December 7 \u2022 Gretchen will lead January 4 #2 Energy Master Plan – Updates on plan for Lunch…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249,"featured_media":0,"parent":11,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/249"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2480"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2484,"href":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2480\/revisions\/2484"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.whoi.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}