Just in Time for Spring: It’s Getting Easier to be Green

by Joseph Caputo

Wednesday April 4, 2007

Did you knonw unused cell phone chargers continue to consume energy when left plugged in? How about that Westchester County does not recycle pizza or cereal boxes? Maybe you’ve heard that bags of recyclables are often contaminated and discarded because garbage is carelessly tossed into the paper or plastic slots?

The Campus Greening Committee is spreading the word. The group of students, faculty and administrators formed last November after the fourth annual Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities, and is committed to promoting an environmentally sustainable campus.

Part of that commitment is encouraging everyone to join, what needs to be, a campus-wid emovement. First-year Justin Butler, an outreach subcommittee member, leads bi-weekly “greening meetings” to promote environmental thinking through film screenings, letter writing, and lectures. The first event carmmed over 70 people into Titsworth Lecture Hall to watch An Inconvenient Truth and half that number stayed to participate in the after-movie discussion. “People are coming together because they understand how hot the water is that we’re in. I think the potential for change at SLC is exciting. At such a small school, every voice can be heard,” said Butler.

To get involved, students can: be part of the light bulb brigade, going door to door to exchange inefficient bulbs with ones that use less energy and last long; attend events on sustainability, such as Progressive Produce’s Earth Week and a lecture by New York Times environmental journalist, Andrew Revkin, in April; or participate in Campus Greening Committee meetings, which are open to everyone. For example, sophomores Isis Hockenos and Alex Erod, two members of the education subcommittee, are developing texts for an informational website, looking into environmentally friendly food containers and cleaning products, as well as researching more effective ways to recycle.

Institutional change relies on students to participate in low-cost but highly effective activities like recycling. It sends the message that the school’s impact on the environment is important. “Next year, a substantial amount of our purchased energy can be renewable,” said Butler. If students make an effort to conserve energy now, the administration is more likely to push for the investments required for sustainability.

Students are not the only ones who need to take action. “It’s going to be everyone’s future,” said Mo Gallagher, Director of Facilities. Faculty and administrators can incorporate sustainability into the curriculum, bring recycling procedures to the table at departmental meetings, or serve on the committee. Gallagher, for instance, now orders green cleaning products that peform just as well as regular brands. Over time she hopes to see hand-dryers repalce paper towels, more opportunities for composting and a more effective Swap Box, the end-of-year opportunity for students to donate leftover belongings to charity. “It is physically impossible to oversee. Students want to do it, but we need to work together to figure out how to make it better,” commented Gallagher.

When asked where he saw Sarah Lawrence a year from now, Butler responded, “Our transportation fleet can be converted to run on alternative fuel; students who travel long distances to school can be offered carbon offsets; solar panel and wind turbine feasibility surveys can be conducted to get the ball rolling on that front; we can make sustainability a focus of many of our courses; and drastically increase purchase of locally-produced food.”

For now, please recycle.