Quest for Zero: Wagner Free Institute

Philadelphia's Wagner Free Institute of Science had it's “greenest” year yet, and the no-landfill goal was a huge part of that.

Don Azuma reports that in 2015 WFIS recycled 77% "of the waste stream that normally would have gone to landfills."  They raised that to 88% in 2016.  That's a terrific result on its own, and it dwarfs the 46% rate of a six-month baseline established in 2007. 

  

Don reports the 88% break out here:  

                1,051 lbs Trash

                7,665 lbs Recycled/Reused 

                                5,743 lbs Paper

                                641 lbs Combined (glass, aluminum, plastic)

                                330 lbs Cardboard

                                275 lbs Compost

                                And 26 different classes of materials that did not go to landfills, 

                                        such as auto tires, office equipment and expired medications.

All the staff at The Wagner pitch in with the zero waste program - how else
would these great examples come about?

The @wagnerfreeinstitute doesn't just manage its own waste production, but also the errant refuse from the neighborhood. The total diversion rate of 19.6 tons of materials since June 2007 includes 3,209 estimated pounds of neighborhood refuse diverted. 

Azuma says "We are a clean little island in the neighborhood," and he reports that some of the neighbors have even taken time to express their appreciation. Now that's how museums contribute to community - by example, by connection, by thinking outside their own spaces. Bravo Wagner! 

Join a Green Team for Green Leaders

In summer 2017 Sustainable Museums is piloting the first of two Super Green Teams. These are study communities, and the first is for campus-based informal learning institutions: zoos, aquariums, gardens, any campus-based site or open air history museums and farms. The second is for smaller history museums and historic sites. I can also custom design localized learning groups for cities or regional groups interested in cooperative learning and collaborative ideas.

The purpose is to create a learning-group of institutions with shared interests and related concerns, then provide the structure of regular communication and support to advance institutional sustainability goals.

The field is changing; informal learning institutions are expected to set an example in environmental impact, yet it's impossible to keep up with current best practice and anticipate changes to the field. 

That's my job. As your team leader and coach I can bring you the information from your field and related ones, and share the information and sources you're looking for. As a national consultant my time spent visiting sites and speaking to funders, practitioners, and leaders in the field, can be turned to your advantage.  

And your peers - the ones who may have finished similar projects, or have similar questions - they are your learning team. It can be tough to fit new learning and new practice into an already-busy schedule, even when it makes a big difference. There are marvelous opportunities for strengthening our missions while caring for the environment - and it's easier to do if you're working with and learning from others as you go.

Are you ready to advance your current green work? Would you appreciate a team of your peers to think with and to source examples? Join a peer group with ideas, experience, and energy to inspire you. Whether you’re a green team leader, sustainability manager, or operations guru, if you are the one to make a difference at your institution, then you’re the one to join us. 

Twelve organizations can be part of the team 

Benefits:

• Facilitated discussions to advance green practice
• From-the-field reports and customized content for group calls 
• Shared learning among group members
• Links to valuable resources - contributed and collected: articles and blog posts, product examples, case studies, sample forms, templates, online databases, supporting your needs
•  A copy of The Green NonProfit: The First 52 Weeks of Your Journey, and The Green Museum 2^nd Edition

Join the Team: Ensure your institution’s environmental impact is positive, and you’ll never again feel isolated on your green journey

Interested? Let's talk about how this team may help you make the difference you want. 
Please email me at sarah@sustainablemuseums.net or call me at 978-505-4515. 

Greening STEM - Taking Technology Outdoors

Taking Technology Outdoors is a big part of National Environmental Education Week [April 14 - 23 alongside Earth Day] and they're singing my song: Citizen Sustainability!  - well almost.

Take a look at this list of kid-oriented outdoor tech tools. They are exciting apps for involving students in recording environmental data - bird migration, the presence of wildlife, and the amount of trash in nearby rivers or along the ocean. This sort of citizen science is an important awareness tool and research support tool.

I hope next year they're working toward Citizen Sustainability - where apps encourage kids [and their friends, teachers and families] to change personal behaviors and to share those changes with others. When people see the change it's a lot easier to be the change. This work is starting at the college and city level with Joulebug.


Volunteering for Pickering Creek and Blackwater
National Wildlife Refuge with funding from Toyota
for native grass materials.

And how about beyond apps? EPA has funded two cool-looking Environmental Education in Action projects. Never underestimate the power of inspiring your visitors to get outdoors and get dirty. It feeds the soul - yours and your visitors'. 

Museums can help this work leap forward -- what difference is your museum making?

The Apps are Coming!

Elizabeth Merritt at the Center for the Future of Museums just sent me this  link to a great article on an app that might help offices become greener.

It sounds a lot like the Citizen Sustainability post I put up last May about using apps to engage individuals in measuring their sustainability improvements in an engaging, sometimes gaming way, while piling up data on gains for the environment.

The article in Good addresses offices, mainly, but the JouleBug video  (the developer)  shows how ordinary people can use it in all sorts of situations. Hypothetically I already have 5 points for the reusable coffee mug, 28 points for my reusable water bottle, and points for walking, sharing items and lurking about the Goodwill store; or I would if I had an iPhone. 

Don't you think we should do this sort of thing in museums?  And especially do this sort of thing in our communities for our communities?

Come on - as soon as they make it for Androids I challenge you all to play with me.  And once we really understand how it works, let's band together to create this type of app-supported environment to mobilize our museums' staff, volunteer and visitor forces for the greater good.

Revisit - The PILOTs are Coming!

This article in MassNonprofit discusses the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) fees being paid by nonprofits in Boston, MA. 

Scroll down to the end of the article and the note about the Museum of Science and New England Aquarium declining to pay the voluntary fee based on their provision of services to the City.

Darned right they provide services!  And I bet they can quantify the green steps they've taken as part of those services.  Think of the value of managing stormwater runoff on behalf of Boston's Harbor, reducing water consumption on behalf of Boston's municipal water system, and reducing electricity consumption in support of the grid shared with the City.

I worried about these troubles for museums in my May 10, 2010 blog post on PILOTS. 

So, to reiterate - what avoided costs and important benefits do your green practices offer your community?  Can you quantify them, value them monitarily and avoid the PILOT fees coming your way? 

Are you ready?