Although we live in a state whose daily weather report depends mostly on the roll of a die, our rapidly rising global temperatures are as brutally obvious as a punch in the face. But as our environment quickly absorbs the gray of our daily routines, our university avidly tries to add a little green to our campus. So kudos to College Park (both university and students); after all, being green means spending green.
The question isn’t really whether we recycle, but can’t we do more? Although we are among the top green schools, are we as a university making enough necessary sacrifices?
This past year the university assigned Mike Tidwell’s The Ravaging Tide as the first year book with the hope of encouraging students to acknowledge the need for change in our habitual routines that affect the environment. This step toward awareness is clearly worthy of recognition.
Then again, if students chose not to take advantage of this opportunity, the initiative could very well have been worthless. I hope, however, those students that did choose to pick up and read the free book recognized, in some way or another, its intentions. Hopefully, students choose to change their routines in the slightest. I realize that taking a long, hot shower after going to the gym may seem like the most tempting of tasks, but limit that water use to fewer times a week. It’s truly upsetting that water use has become a commodity, but it is what it is.
As far as The Diner goes, however, environmental health has obviously become of great concern. So even though we may be paying unreasonable prices for meals, at least we can say with some confidence that we are not paying the cost of our atmosphere. As Dining Services converts cooking oil to biodiesel fuel that’s used to power our buses, we have to wonder if we students are doing enough to support our school’s efforts. How often do we use carry out containers to dine in?
Of course, the university could get greener still by changing the most obvious, existing form of pollution: Styrofoam cups. Aside from the fact that tens of thousands of tuition dollars go towards slogans that students either ignore or, well, ignore, the worthless cups are far from biodegradable. The turtle will, thus, be seen once and then thrown into a pile of garbage for the rest of its existence. Chances are, fortunately, that even without these possibly fashionable yet mostly useless environmental hazards, people will still fear the turtle and embrace our school pride. So, rid our green Diner of these red cups – they won’t be missed.
And, coincidentally, the Styrofoam cups do not travel alone. Obviously, stupidity comes in pairs. Styrofoam containers shower our Diner with environmental hazards every day as more and more people decide that carrying a tray is too much of an inconvenience. Now, there are many who choose to actually leave The Diner with food (me included) and should still be provided that opportunity. However, rather than reaching for the compact world-diminishing white container, go for the more eco-friendly clear one. That’s right, choose plastic not Styrofoam. If our school is perfectly willing to increase tuition by spending thousands on making greener buildings, how can we not ask why they don’t spend a little more for plastic containers?
Still, our university does, generally, continue to strive for increased awareness and decreased pollution. As a result, I commend our campus for its enduring efforts. Although many students may already adhere to these concerns, all students can increase their consciousness. So, before going out tomorrow, rid your wardrobe of the black and gray and consider wearing a greener outfit.
Gina Sagar is a freshman fire protection engineering major. She can be reached at gsagar@umd.edu.
