Guest Post: Wanna Make a Big Impact With a Small (Carbon) Footprint?

August 3, 2010 by Brenda
Filed under Green Living, Guest Posts, Things To Do, Top Picks

7 Ways to Create a Greener Environment at Your College Campus

Widespread coverage of the BP oil spill, disappearing coral reefs, and the plight of polar bears doomed by diminishing ice caps may have left you shaking your head over the waste, the destruction and an uncertain future. You may be wondering how you, one measly college student, can make a difference and ensure a better future for humankind. Well, maybe you can’t, not all by yourself. But a small group can…and you can lead the way. “Think Globally, Act Locally” is an old saying, but it contains a wisdom that’s helping students all over the world change their frustration to innovation, and their perspiration to inspiration!

College students just like you are making a difference by “greening” their campuses, and they’ve come up with great ideas for lowering energy costs, encouraging recycling, and educating others to make environmentally sound choices. Their efforts have ushered in campus-wide changes that started with small improvements to dorms, Greek houses and classrooms. There’s a lot you and other like-minded students can do. These seven suggestions will help you get started and put an end to the “I can’t save the world” paralysis.

Drive less. Walk, bike or take a bus to campus, and carpool when you must drive. Encourage friends to join you. Start a carpool service on campus.
If your campus has an ecology club, join and get involved with their efforts. If there is no club, advertise on campus to find others who share your interests and start one. Even a small group can organize speakers, brainstorm campus improvements and meet with Building Maintenance or the Cafeteria Director and about incorporating earth-friendly measures.
Organize recycling efforts in your dorm or Greek house. Speak to your Residence Director about placing recycling bins on every floor and have their use explained and encouraged at residence hall meetings. If there’s no organized recycle pick-up on your campus, suggest to Maintenance that one be established. In the meantime, ask for volunteers, each of whom (you, too) will be responsible for taking the bins to a recycling center once a week.
Reserve one recycle bin for printer paper. Encourage students to reuse the clean side of the paper for note-taking, sketches or inter-dorm messages. Another way to cut down on paper waste? Ask your teachers if you can submit work printed on both sides of the paper, cutting by half the amount of paper used per assignment. Ask friends to check with their teachers, too.
Talk to others in your building about switching out your current lightbulbs for high-performance, compact fluorescent ones. They use less energy and last much longer. And while you’re at it, encourage others to turn off lights, TVs, and other energy-wasting devices when not in use. Don’t be preachy; let your enthusiasm for earth-friendly habits inspire others. Encourage them to come up with their own ideas for cost and energy savings, too.
Where relevant, ask academic department chairs if they’ve incorporated green topics into their classes. For instance, many Interior Design departments now offer classes in design using earth-friendly materials. Better yet, some incorporate the use of non-toxic materials and green design practices into all their design classes.
Check out www.grist.com for a list of the 15 Greenest Colleges and Universities and get ideas from their student activists.

There are just so many things you can do! Start with these seven, but if you’re feeling ambitious? Learn how to conduct an energy audit for campus buildings, start an organic garden and a compost pile to help it grow, hold campus building competitions to see which building can come up with, and implement, the most energy-saving ideas in a week’s time, organize a Green Expo on your campus. There’s a world of ideas on sites like grist.com and hundreds of other potential “green student activists” waiting for someone (you!) to take the lead. Show your campus it’s no longer “everyone’s out for him (or her) self,” it’s all about “everyone’s in this together!”

Breana Orland is a writer for Student Grants. Breana also gives advice on the pursuit of higher education and career options for young adults.