Return from Costa Rica

Since my return from Costa Rica, I have spent a lot of time with my family planning how we can be more sustainable. Currently, my husband is building our home here in Rhode Island and he is using a unique application of spray foam on the outside of the house to create a higher R value (more insulation) and energy efficient windows and doors with argon gas, which will help us use less electricity to heat or cool the inside. We are using a well for water and a septic tank for waste, so we will not rely on the town or city for these services. The most exciting part is that we will use windmills to provide all of the energy for our home and the excess energy will go to our neighbors. This will be a great help to them when a winter storm knocks out the electricity. Our neighbors all use well water, so without electricity, they are also out of fresh water. 

Some of the additional things we would like to do (and didn’t really consider before Costa Rica) include composting, planting a garden (maybe a greenhouse) and recycling as many forms of waste as possible. We hope to reduce our total consumption to cut down on waste and resource use.

I am so glad that I was able to be a part of this course. Although I was one of the instructors, it turned out to be a tremendous learning experience for me. 

Our goal was to get the most out of our time and resources invested in this learning adventure. We have aligned the three pillars of academia: research, teaching and service. We are sending out manuscripts to multiple outlets for publication, reveling in the fact that students really enjoyed the learning experience while becoming experts on a highly relevant subject matter and industry, and we are thrilled to share these findings with the business community to provide a valuable service and help businesses become more sustainable.

Join our learning adventure on March 3^rd at 4:00 p.m. in Bello at Bryant University to discover methods to improve sustainable practices to make a better tomorrow!

 

(image reproduced courtesy of Sligo County Council) and The Waste Disposal Authority (WDA)

Stefanie Boyer