Go green for a clean 2012

Go green for a clean 2012

by Hillary Macswain
The Captain's Log (Christopher Newport University)
January 31, 2007

Think Green. That’s the theme of the Global Warming Action Week, a four-day awareness campaign launched this week with a global warming discussion panel. The student-comprised panel talked about campus achievements on reducing global warming and ways that CNU can make their campus “greener,” or more environmentally friendly.

The panel, consisting of five William and Mary students and one University of Richmond student, discussed the action that they had taken to institute cheap and cost-effective policies on their campuses. One of the measures undertaken by the William and Mary students is to present a petition signed by 1,500 students to the president of the university. The petition calls on the administration to set benchmarks for a gradual switch to clean energy.

One of the long-term goals, said student Josh Wayland, includes 100 percent clean energy by 2012. One of the short-term goals is to have 20 percent clean energy by 2009. Liz Burrows, another William and Mary Student, said that the petition is to be presented to the president within the next few days. The petition was created last year in response to the fact that the school does not use energy efficiently on campus.

Many of the dormitories are old and heat is lost very quickly. There are also no energy meters on the buildings to track how the energy is being spent and where it is going to, said Burrows. She and the other William and Mary students are all on a committee called the Student Environmental Action Committee (SEAC), which is spearheading the movement.

Jason Webb, a student at University of Richmond, said that his school does not currently use any renewable energy. This was reflected in the College Sustainability Report Card, which measures five factors in schools’ efforts to institute environmentally friendly measures. One of the factors that are measured is food efficiency and waste protocols. Another factor is the schools’ green factor. Webb said that the school recently built its first completely green building, for which it received a “B” in that category. However, the University of Richmond received a failing grade when it came to the students’ ability to work with the administration to institute policies and raise awareness.

Overall, the school received a C-. Tom Owens, who works with local grassroots organizations such as Campus Climate Challenge, attributed a lot of the poor green factor to difficulties with administrations.

“The administration doesn’t know how to respond to a small group of kids who want to do things,” he said. Owens spoke of the success stories amongst campuses throughout the country.

At Penn State, he said, students got the president to sign a proposal to make energy consumption more efficient. When he changed his mind about his committal to the proposal, students barricaded themselves in his office for several days until he re-committed.

At New York University, the administration bought 100 percent renewable resources, making it the biggest purchase of renewable resources by any university.

At James Madison University, the students created a “Green Is Sexy” calendar. Students who supported the cause posed “not entirely fully clothed” in green environments, said Owens.

Katie Wingfield, who leads the CNU chapter of Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), said that CNU does not have any policy or commitment towards creating a more environmentally friendly campus.

“CNU doesn’t have anything implemented right now.”

However, Sparks said President Trible seemed receptive to the idea when she spoke to him last week. While there is no official protocol or commitment from the school administration, several clubs and organizations on campus have instituted programs to raise awareness about recycling and ways to use energy efficiency.

The Ecology Club is holding a “Recycle Fest” on Friday. Clubs and organizations will have the opportunity to represent themselves by building a statue made out of recyclable materials. Information about efficient energy use will also be made available from several clubs in the Student Breezeway the same day.

Global Action Week also included a talk by Chris Moore from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation last night. Programs for the rest of the week include the signing of the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement tonight at 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Music and Theatre Hall and a slideshow presentation by Patricia McArdle on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium. McArdle is one of the 50 people trained by Al Gore to give his “Inconvenient Truth” slideshow.