A. Referendum on Student Government spring 2006 election ballot, asking students whether they support a new student fee of $6-$8 per semester to be used for the purchase of renewable energy for UK's campus.
1. Needed 1,000 signatures to get referendum on the ballot.
2. Greenthumb collected more than the amount needed in spring 2005, but the signatures were disqualified because of a "miscommunication" with Student Government.
3. Greenthumb members again collected more than the needed 1,000 signatures in spring 2006, got the referendum successfully added to the ballot, and campaigned to raise student awareness about the issue.
4. The referendum passed by a nearly two-thirds majority vote of the students after two years of work by Greenthumb.
5. When it came time to create the next year's budget in January 2007, the renewable energy fee was passed over by UK administrators, who instead offered questionable excuses for not including the fee.
B. Call-in campaign to UK Vice President for Student Affairs and Provost.
1. Facebook group urging people to call Vice President Terrell and Provost Dr. Kumble Subaswamy, asking that the green energy fee be included in the package of student fees presented to the Board of Trustees (text taken from Facebook group).
2. Greenthumb members also urged students to attend the Board meeting in support of this initiative
3. Vice President of Student Affairs Pat Terrell claimed that Kentucky state law enforces a maximum amount that universities can raise student fees per year and that the new fee would exceed that limit.
4. It seems, though, that provisions in the law would allow UK to appeal that limit in light of the fact that students voted for the renewable energy fee.
5. Official word from UK was that the University would foot the bill for renewable energy purchases rather than implementing a student fee to obtain the needed money
a. Such an arrangement failed to guarantee a set amount of money per semester, replacing the money that the fee would bring in with a vague commitment from UK with no set dollar amount.
b. Technically, student referendums are non-binding and merely represent strong student opinion, but by choosing not to implement the fee, UK administrators effectively ignored the voice of the students.
c. UK also lost a golden opportunity to take a strong step toward making UK a greener campus and helping to alleviate the heavy toll non-renewable energy has on the economy and environment of both this university and the country.
C. Working with UK's Sustainability Task Force/President's Commission on Sustainability (name change is currently pending).
1. In light of the overturned student fee, Greenthumb members issued recommendations to the Task Force in spring 2007.
2. Sent letter to President Todd in spring 2007 urging him to sign onto the Presidents Climate Commitment, an agreement among 84 colleges and universities to make their campuses more sustainable.
D. Victoria's Dirty Secret campaign.
1. Nationwide campaign against Victoria's Secret stores, protesting the store's catalog practices.
2. Greenthumb participated in three protests as part of this campaign, in spring 2005, again in fall 2005, and then on Valentine's Day 2006.
3. Each protest was coordinated with a National Day of Action organized by ForestEthics environmental group.
4. The protests included costumes, signs, and chanting, as well as handing out flyers and delivering a letter to the store manager outlining Greenthumb's concerns.
5. At the time of the Greenthumb protests, Victoria's Secret was sending out over 1 million catalogs a day, using less than 10% recycled paper; most of the catalog paper was coming from Canada's endangered Boreal Forest and old-growth forests in the southern U.S.
6. In late 2006, Victoria's Secret finally agreed to ForestEthics' demands![1]
a. To reduce impact on wildlife, Limited Brands, Victoria's Secret's parent company, promised to stop using paper from endangered forests and to abide by Forest Stewardship Council standards.
b. Will increase use of recycled paper.
c. To cut down on overall paper usage, will reduce direct mail and conduct more efficient target mailings of other materials sent to customers.
d. Made a commitment to raise awareness on the issue and advocate change in the catalog industry.
E. Adopt-A-Highway—Greenthumb members signed up to pick up litter twice a semester on the side of a one-mile stretch of highway.
F. Earth Days in the Bluegrass—month-long series of events in April celebrating Earth Day.
1. Co-sponsored by Greenthumb and UK Residence Life Recycling.
2. Held for the past three Aprils (2005, 2006, 2007).
3. Events have included:
· marathon reading of Silent Spring and other environmentally-related books.
· community mural project.
· local foods dinner.
· speakers on eating locally, global warming, and other topics.
· highway cleanup.
· tree planting.
· organized bicycle rides.
· bicycle workshops.
· environmentally-focused movie showings.
· Mountaintop Removal Roadshow, education/protest.
· much more!
G. Volunteering at Bluegrass Energy and Green Living Expo (2004-2006).
H. Tabling at Earth Rock! concert to raise money for mountaintop removal opposition efforts.
I. Conferences:
· Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference (2004-2006).
· Healthy Foods, Local Farms Conference (fall 2006).
. Sierra Club Activist Weekend
J. Save Robinson Forest Campaign
K. Focus the Nation National Teach-In about Global Warming