Model Universities Going Green

Universities are making efforts to bring sustainability to their campuses and helping start a trend for other campuses. They are trying to improve their classrooms and creating opportunities for other institutions to model. 

I found this article "How green is your campus?" to be a great read and on target. Considering that the Green Coalition at Florida A&M University is trying to get the Student Green Energy Fund passed, understanding what other schools have done to promote going green is a very important tool.

According to the article, Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.  gave its 1,300 incoming freshmen and parents their first lesson during their orientation. School officials served them food that was locally and sustainably produced and had them eat with cutlery that was made from sugar cane. I personally have never seen cutlery that was made from sugar cane, but I am now definitely interested in what that may be.

To further encourage students and parents, school officials gave out compact fluorescent light bulbs and reusable water bottles, which were in reusable grocery bags.

Emory University has created a model that is easy and simple for other schools like FAMU to follow. Encouraging freshmen who are probably the most easily influenced at that stage is where school officals should start. "From the first time the students interact with Emory, we try to make it clear that sustainability is part of our DNA, that this is our expectation from them," says Ciannat Howett, director of the university's office of sustainability initiatives. (Mascarelli, 2009, Nature 461)

During the two-day orientation period, Emory composted about two tons of waste. As part of  its first near-zero-waste freshman orientation.

Emory is only one of the many colleges and universities that are following the trend of going green. With this in my mind, I hope that learning from what other schools like Emory have done as a class, we can use these different and easy tactics to promote going green at FAMU.

Mascarelli, A. (2009, September). How green is your campus? Nature,  461 (7261), 154-5.  Retrieved November 10, 2011, from Research Library. (doi: 1860920651)

To read this full article please visit the following link: http://proquest.umi.com.famuproxy.fcla.edu/pqdweb?index=4&did=1860920651&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1320940322&clientId=20177

Colleges Going Green

Reading this article caught my attention and kept it throughout the entire article. This would be a good read to go along with the research that my group members and I are doing for the Green Energy Fund.

According to the article, there were survey results that were conducted by the higher education consulting firms, like Noel-Levitz, and by organizations representing interests of physical plant administrators.  Their results show that students are now starting to consider the conditions of a school in their decision factor for college. These students are paying more attention now to the trend of “Going Green” and looking into the condition of these campus facilities that they may be considering.

This point that this article made struck my attention and made me want to know more. This is because I felt that my group can relate this to the students of Florida A&M University that we will be informing about the Green Energy Fund.

This article can be used as useful information to the other groups of our class by giving them an insight on what other schools do to promote sustainability and why.

 One of the questions that the author of this article, Jason Kovac, poses is, “Why focus on building green as part of your college's commitment to sustainability?” He responded that according to Paulo Freire’s idea about designing a school, "Attention should go into every detail of the school space. ... By making clear that the educational space is valuable, the administration is able to demand the due respect from learners" (Kovac,1998, p. 97).

This statement is something that my group members and I can put some thought into because it gives us a different angle to look at why students should consider voting for the Green Energy Fund.

An example that this article gave was that at St. Louis Community College in Wildwood, Mo. They put guilt in the students when it comes to throwing trash away. They do this by building awareness that they are in a green building. Students have even put stickers that read “Land Fill” so that students become aware that whatever they throw out will end up in a land fill.

This can be a good idea that my group can incorporate into building awareness among our assigned students.

         Kovac, J. (Sep. 2011). Campuses can take the LEED in going green. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 28 (15), 22.  Retrieved October 18, 2011, from  Research Library. (doi: 2452230761).

To read the full article please click on the link below.

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=2452230761&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1318950499&clientId=20177

Investing in Recycling

Recycling is an industry that has been on the rise for attracting investors. This is because companies are catching on that investing in energy-efficient materials is less expensive for their company.

The article "Turn it around: recycling is a massive industry with lots of investment potential" talks about how important and efficient it is to invest in recycling companies.

According to the article, “when we use less energy to make products, we create fewer emission” ( Fried, 2008, p.19). This is a very important point because that is one of the whole points of recycling.

For my group's campaign, this point should be one that we focus on and bring up to students. Those who are unaware sometimes forget of the carbon footprint they leave behind.

Fried (2008) mentions that the recycling industry has become the backbone for their company. He also mentions that the industry has brought in $236 billion in revenue last year and has employed more than a million people.

“The industry accounted for about 2% of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2007,” Fied (2008) writes. With the current depletion of virgin materials/resources around the world, Fried argues that the demand for paper and steel from virgin materials cannot be satisfied anymore. For example, China’s constant growing population and economy contributes to not having virgin matrials (Fried, 2008, p.19).

With the reoccurring trend of recycling, now products are  recycled paper, metals, car parts and carpet. “Businesses have come to rely on recycling to lower energy costs, conserve raw materials, minimize waste streams and reduce pollution” (Fried, 2008, p.19). 

I completely agree with this article in the information that it gave. My group will definitely be able to use this information to help with our campaign. It will give us something to bring to the table during our focus group with the students of Phase III.

 It will allow us to give examples to the students at how they can look at the $0.50 per credit hour that they will be voting for as a small investment to a greater cause.

Fried, R. (2008, September). Turn it around: recycling is a massive industry with lots of investment potential. E: the Environment Magazine, 19 (5), 46-47. Retrieved September 22, 2011, from ProQuest Science Journals. (doi: 1559558901)

To read the full article, please visit the link below:

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=1559558901&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1316703598&clientId=20177