Welcome to ICCSustain Wiki!

GET READY FOR 10 IN 90!

The Sustainability Resource Team is kicking off fall term with 10 IN 90. We are challenging each house to reduce its energy consumption by 10% over 90 days. Start here for energy conservation tips, and here for water conservation tips. We will be visiting each ICC house to share the guidelines of the 10 IN 90 challenge. The house that reduces its energy consumption the most will win a set of solar panels generously donated by the new ICC General Manager, Eric Lipson!

UPCOMING EVENTS

• NASCO Institute 2007, "Beyond Capitalism: Cooperative Tools for Economic Justice," is coming to Ann Arbor 2 - 4 November 2007. The Institute will include several courses that may be of interest to co-opers who want to learn more about living sustainably in cooperative communities. Click here to learn more!

NEWS & INFORMATION

• Want to join the Sustainability Resource Team? Just send us an e-mail, or check our calendar for upcoming Sustainability Resource Team events!
• We will be hosting an ICC-wide happy hour the first weekend of November at Leopold Bros. (523 S. Main St.), an environmentally sustainable brewpub and distillery owned by Scott and Todd Leopold, grandsons of conservationist Aldo Leopold, author of the landmark book A Sand County Almanac.
• Calling all ICC food stewards! Want to make more environmentally sustainable purchases for your house? You can order from United Natural Foods through the Student Buyers' Association, which is located in the Rochdale Center along with the ICC and North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) offices. Start by purchasing paper towels and toilet paper made from recycled content. According to Seventh Generation, if every U.S. household replaced just one roll of 120-sheet virign fiber paper towels with 100% recycled paper towels, we would save 1 million trees, 2.6 million cubic feet of landfill space (equal to over 3,800 full garbage trucks), 367 million gallons of water (a year's supply for 2,800 families of four), and avoid 38,000 tons of pollution. If every U.S. household replaced just one 4-pack of 260-sheet virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recyled toilet paper, we would save 988,200 trees, 2.5 million cubic feet of landfill space (equal to 3,700 full garbage trucks), 356 million gallons of water (a year's supply for 2,800 families of four), and avoid 60,600 pounds of pollution!
• Our friends at Tantre Farm in Chelsea are offering special Thanksgiving shares through their CSA -- stock up on vegetables for the holidays or for winter storage for just $80!
• How green is your ecological footprint? Play Consumer Consequences from American Public Media's "Consumed" series, and find out what the world would look like if everyone lived like you.

WHY SUSTAINABILITY?

Sustainability and wise use of resources is intrinsic to the mission of the Inter-Cooperative Council

"By reusing, recycling, and reducing resources, ICC actualizes our belief that all of the world’s people have the right to enough to meet their basic needs. We pledge to continuously look for ways to care for the earth." (ICC Statement of Beliefs and Values, adopted February 2003.)

The purposes of the Sustainability Resource Team

A) Educating team members, the board, the staff and the ICC as a whole on ways of reducing ecological harm and increasing the long-­term environmental sustainability of the co­ops by

B) Advocating the sensible use of ICC resources towards these ends,

C) Maintaining the ICC community garden,

D) Encouraging and supporting creative initiatives from within the ICC community to work towards these goals. (ICC Standing Rules.)

The Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The ICC has been providing affordable student housing in Ann Arbor since 1932. The ICC's vision and mission are:

"We, the member-owners of the Inter-cooperative Council, envision an affordable living community in which equal, and educated members work together to further the cooperative movement." (ICC's Mission, adopted 18 August 2002.)

"We, the member-owners of the ICC, provide a home for students that equally embodies quality living, community and social equality, all within the cooperative movement.  We continuously strive to maintain and improve our organization and our houses through shared work.  We are committed to furthering our education by building life skills, a strong community, and personal relationships.  We create and maintain a safe and affordable environment where our members feel comfortable and at home." (ICC's Vision, adopted 4 August 2002.)