Most students don't spend a lot of time thinking about environmental issues on campus except maybe when they step in gum someone left on a sidewalk.
Lots of students are involved in groups like the Campus Greens and the Student Environmental Alliance are committed to working for ecological causes on both the local and the national level. But plenty more students never think about these issues at all, and still others think those issues are ridiculous and that anyone concerned over them must either be a liberal or some sort of "environmental wacko."
Nevertheless, there are plenty of opportunities on campus for students to help out the environment. There's a lot of room for improvement in plenty of areas; nevertheless, some individuals and groups have succeeded in initiating a variety of programs to make the college more eco-friendly.
In many ways, the college's recycling program represents one of these successes. As a single glance into any dorm's recycling bin can tell you, college students go through an awful lot of beverage containers in a remarkably short period of time and it's a good thing so many people are willing to take the extra time to separate their recyclable trash and put the bins out to the curb once a week.
One area where there's still room for improvement, though, is in paper recycling. Students generate a huge amount of paper trash as well, but as yet the college hasn't been able to work out a deal that would allow paper recyclables to be picked up from the dorms. Reportedly, paper trash is picked up from several of the academic and administrative buildings on campus, but this program isn't widely publicized to students.
Until a more expanded paper recycling program is available to the students, one solution would be for Buildings and Grounds to make a public receptacle available at one of the academic buildings, so that interested students could drop off their paper trash there. In the meantime, the most convenient way to recycle paper seems to be to cart it home over spring break along with the dirty laundry.
Speaking of paper, most students don't seem to realize that paper flyers posted outside can also have negative effects on the local environment. A lot of groups have tried to drum up attention for various events by taping flyers to light poles, outdoor walls, fire hydrants, and the like. What those groups might not know is that when those flyers get rained on, the chemicals on and in the paper inks, dyes, and bleaches are washed out and deposited in the groundwater or, eventually, into local streams and rivers. And, judging just by appearances, the Chester River is dirty enough as it is.
Out of all the "environmental" concerns on campus, the question of "light pollution" seems to be the one most frequently mocked by students. Back at the beginning of the semester, there was some debate about this issue, as a few students questioned whether or not the new lights on campus were causing unnecessary light pollution.
First of all, it's important to recognize that student safety must take precedence here. It's a great credit to the powers that be at this college as well as Kat Bennett, SGA Secretary of Student Services and Campus Properties that they responded to student concerns and put up so many new outdoor lighting fixtures. It feels a lot safer to walk around campus at night because of their efforts.
It would also be a mistake, however, to totally ignore concerns about light pollution. The college wastes a lot of money and electricity when it pumps all those lumens of light into the eyes of drivers on Route 213, instead of down on the walkways where it actually does some good. The SGA has been working on an information packet about light pollution to present to the administration, so that ways of addressing this problem can be explored. There should be a solution here which involves less "wasted" light but doesn't compromise student safety.
One last SGA initiative that addresses an ecological concern is the fledgling "Adopt-a-Part-of-Campus" campaign (not the official title). The program is remarkably simple: groups who are interested those with service requirements or environmental interests, for example can sign up to take care of a zone on campus, regularly patrolling it to clean up litter and generally keep it in good shape. Of course, it remains to be seen if the program will take off as well as the popular "Adopt-a-Highway" programs (from which it borrows its format). Nevertheless, it's encouraging that six student groups had expressed interest in signing up within a few weeks of the program's approval by the SGA Senate.
From recycling to flyers to light pollution to picking up trash, there are plenty of opportunities for students to get directly involved in environmental issues on campus. Of course, not everyone will see any reason to participate in some of these initiatives either because of lack of interest or because they don't believe these are legitimate problems. Nonetheless, there's still a chance that even the most die-hard skeptics will eventually join in.
Because even people who believe that Global Warming is a myth should be able to see the benefits of a litter-free campus.
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