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The BioTour bus made a stop at Hamilton on Feb. 24. BioTour is an educational non-profit comprised of 13 young people who travel the country on two school buses that they've converted to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO) and solar paneled electrical power. Their presentations are aimed at educating listeners about smart policies and realistic practices in renewable energy. Hamilton students toured the bus outside the Science Center and in front of KJ.

BioTour, an educational non-profit working toward building a national movement in sustainability, will visit the Hamilton campus on Tuesday, Feb. 24. BioTour is comprised of 13 young people who travel the country on two school buses that they've converted to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO) and solar paneled electrical power. Meet them and tour their bus in front of the Science Center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and again in front of KJ (in the driveway circle) from 2 - 4 p.m. They will be making a special presentation in the KJ Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

The Recycling Task Force replaced the waste baskets in Spencer House on Feb. 13, making it the first Hamilton building that "Canned the Can."  Can the Can is a waste reduction program where office waste is targeted for recycling by reducing the waste basket or eliminating it from the office work station. Ninety-five percent of office waste is white paper, which should be recycled, and often a large waste basket is unnecessary.

Since November 2008, Hamilton has been producing power from the wind turbine on the South Campus and its two photo-voltaic solar arrays located on the roofs of Kirner-Johnson and the Outdoor Leadership Center, according to Associate Vice President for Facilities and Planning Steve Bellona.

The College's sustainability committee recently reviewed a study measuring Hamilton's environmental stewardship and carbon footprint. Created by the consulting firm Sightlines, the study measured, monitored and benchmarked Hamilton against other colleges and universities and analyzed the distribution of its greenhouse emissions by various activities.

Coming off the success of the first big year-end waste reduction project, "Ham Cram & Scram," the Recycling Task Force (RTF) initiated the "Mini-Scram" for semester break. In each residence hall's common room, a collection station was created for unwanted items and food for the local food bank.

Hamilton College was awarded a Respect our Earth certificate from Milliken Floors in recognition of the installation of environmentally responsible and carbon neutral carpet in Keehn Hall. Casey Wick, assistant director of custodial services for Physical Plant, said the Milliken Traction Back® carpet tile used are manufactured in such a way that they are considered carbon neutral.

Seven of Hamilton's residence halls have been competing in a Dorm Energy Battle since November 1. The competition, which ends November 15, matches similarly sized residence halls together to see which can reduce its energy consumption the most. Milbank leads the large residence hall battle, and Kirkland leads the smaller residence hall matchup after 10 days.

Members of the Hamilton community who don't have a car on campus will be wheel-less no more, thanks to the arrival of Zipcar on the Hill. Zipcar, the world's largest provider of cars on demand by the hour or day, will begin its service at Hamilton this week, as an environmentally friendly alternative to the costs and hassles of keeping a car on campus. The partnership continues Hamilton's commitment to invest in sustainable solutions on campus and marks Zipcar's entry into Clinton, bringing its operations to more than 50 cities, including London, England, and 28 North American states and provinces. 

Hamilton's Environmental Action Group (HEAG) is sponsoring a number of activities to celebrate Green Week, Sept 29-Oct. 3.  To start things off on Monday, Sept. 29, HEAG is hosting a lecture, "Colony Collapse Disorder in Honey Bees: The Tip of the Iceberg," by Dr. John P. Burand, associate professor of entomology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.