Aramark Unionization

EcoAction is proud to announce its support for the unionization efforts of Aramark employees at Georgetown!

Last week, the Voice reported that Aramark employees at Georgetown—who work at Leo’s, as well as in Wolfington Hall, at Cosi and Starbucks, and at Dr. Mug—have announced to Aramark management that they plan to unionize. They plan to join Unite Here, a labor union of approximately 265,000 members in the U.S. and Canada that officially backed the efforts at Georgetown in July.

Power Shift 2011

The following post is by Ty Eldridge from Georgetown Energy Coalition.

When Energy Action Coalition first conceived of Power Shift 2007, it was one year out from the historic 2008 election. When we set out again in 2009 to draw young leaders from across the country to DC, it was in the immediate aftermath of President Obama’s election, and our mission was clear – to hold the President we had just elected accountable to the promises of a clean energy future.

As we embark on Power Shift 2011, the stakes are even higher, the
political backdrop more divisive than ever, and the urgency for bold leadership and vision more critical than ever before. Gone are the illusions that any particular political party or leader can solve the crisis before us. We now know that it will take unparalleled will from the people of this country to push our broken political system, which is ruled by dirty energy interests, to move past the short-sightedness of our leaders--a short-sightedness that leaves our generation in peril.

Recyclemania 2011

In case you didn’t catch the campus-wide email and the article on Georgetown’s website, Sunday marked the beginning of Recyclemania! Recyclemania is a national, ten-week competition to increase recycling among over colleges and universities. Schools like Georgetown report data about recycling rates and amounts of trash, and are ranked weekly according to four factors: the amount of recyclables per student, the total amount of recyclables, the amount of trash per student, and the school’s overall recycling rate.

The competition involves 630 schools, 6 million students, and over 1.5 million staff and faculty, in forty-nine states, Canada, and—of course—here in the District. Last year’s competition involved 607 schools, which collected over 84.5 million pounds of recyclables.

At Georgetown, Recyclemania is led by the Office of Sustainability, University Facilities, and the Office of Student Housing. Nationally, it is run by the College and University Recycling Council, with support from Keep America Beautiful and the EPA’s WasteWise Program, as well as The Coca-Cola Company, Alcoa, Waste Management, SCA and the American Forest & Paper Association.