Eco Hawks Newsletter - raise the bar!

Eco Hawks Newsletter
March 30, 2015
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Eco Hawks taking flight!

Our March 30 Newsletter shares Eco Hawk success stories, the interconnected impacts of clothing consumption, and resources you can use to ACT.

Eco Hawks' network and resources are expanding. Check out the website for a rearranged look, an updated toolkit (an addition on clothing), and instructions on updating your email signature with the Eco Hawks logo!

Check the music video at the bottom that definitely is the most popular song to have glorified shopping second-hand. Can you guess what it is?

Eco Hawks are taking action. How can you?

"I’m totally nerdy for EcoHawks."

"Walking out of the Eco Hawks training session with my shiny new Eco Hawks certificate in hand I ran into some friends at the University. They asked about my fancy new certificate, and I was able to explain Eco Hawks and followed up later over email with a link to get them to sign up."

-Becca Don, Behavioral Health Consultant

Being goal-oriented!

"I have looked at the Toolkit for Staff and saved a copy to my electronic space as a PDF. I am working through the list and am replacing the bullet points with the dates I have completed an activity or taken action on it. I’ll use this dated list to pull from when I fill out my evaluation form for next year to cite ways I am contributing to University goals.

I printed a copy out for the wall behind my desk, so that if anyone asks about what they can do to further sustainability, I can spin my chair and talk off the list."
- Eco Hawk in Information Technology

An invitation goes a long way.

"I’ve sent a note out on our staff Intranet and I’ve approached a few people individually that I thought would be interested in joining."

-Brian Thompson, Systems Librarian

Sustainability Ed: Clothes have footprints, too

Your consumption has consequences. Let's look at clothes, water, and people.

The average water footprint for a cotton shirt is 659 gallons (Water Footprint Network)
New clothes are manufactured by people in countries with working conditions much lower than US health standards. (International Labor Organization 2014 report).
Textile waste in Iowa City landfill is 3.9% of 120,584 tons - that's 9,405,552 lbs of textiles (Iowa DNR)

Here's a tool to calculate water consumption for different items you own.

Here are actions you can take.

Consign or donate unwanted clothes, and buy reused or not at all as first options.

In Iowa City, there are fantastic resources that offer opportunities to sell, donate, or buy used clothing items.

Here's a map of area resale shops! A snippet of the map is below. There are probably some gems near campus you haven't discovered yet.
Pinterest and sites like Upcycling Clothing are great for a little inspiration.

Attend the UIEC Treasure Trade event on April 22.

You can get rid of old clothes AND get some new, FREE stuff!

Click here for more info.
Put it on your calendar now.

Use your toolkit!

New information has been added to the toolkit on the first and last page because of the importance of clothing consumption. If you have friends, roommates, or colleagues unaware of these issues and local opportunities, spread the word.

Buying used is cool, you guys. Click it.