Ever taken the elevator from the first floor of Van Pelt down to Mark’s Café? Thrown your bottle of Coke into a trash can just because you did not know what bin the recycling goes in? Left the lights in your bedroom on, then attended a 90-minute lecture? Yes, we are talking to you, the work-hard, play-hard, no-time-to-sleep Penn student. You may think you do not have the time or energy to care about the environment, and that there are so many Penn environmentalists that your responsibility is absolved.
Yes, Penn is making a tremendous effort in terms of environmental practices and awareness. We have more than 14 environmentally related student groups on campus, involving many of Penn’s 12 schools (from the Wharton School to the School of Medicine). Penn President Amy Gutmann’s Climate Action Plan has set the scene for greening Penn. We recently received an “A-” on the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card. Yes, Penn is doing well.
However, as ubiquitous as the environmental community is here, there are still about 40,000 students, faculty and staff who affect our environmental impact. Even the greenest administration can only do so much without its people on board, so we need your support. Behavior change among students is our biggest challenge, and we want you to realize just how easy it is for you to contribute.
About to print out that 136-page study your professor just sent you? Let’s be honest, in the unlikely event that you do actually read it, do you really need a hard copy of it sitting on your desk, only to throw it out at the end of the semester? When you look back, you would rather have spent that $5 of PennCash on a much-needed can of Red Bull.
If you are going to print it, use recycled paper instead of regular paper. Production of recycled paper uses less trees, energy and water, and creates less greenhouse gases and less solid waste that needs to go into landfills, according to a Sierra Club chapter. It only costs a few more cents than regular paper, and if you start printing double sided, you will more than make up for the extra price.
Why not open the window instead of turning on the air conditioner? Or while at Fresh Grocer, let the lady at the checkout counter know that you don’t need that tiny tub of hummus double bagged. Reuse the plastic bags you do collect to bring your sneakers to Pottruck or to line your garbage bin. We’re not demanding that you buy those trendy totes with “Fresh Grocer” imprinted on them (although, that would be great if you could). We’re asking for baby steps. When you’re done with the plastic bags, recycle them in the bins located near the elevators in the lobby of Fresh Grocer. There’s no need to leave your iPod, blow dryer and laptop charger plugged in all night, either. So much of this is common sense, and all of it will diminish the wasteful use of resources.
You don’t need to turn over a new leaf, overhaul your belief system and declare yourself an environmentalist. It’s simply about incorporating easy habits into your daily routine.
The Penn Environmental Group and the larger environmental community at Penn want to make it as easy as possible for you to protect our planet, but we need your help. Let us know why you don’t do the simple things that can make a difference. Think there should be more recycle bins in certain places? Don’t understand how the composting in Houston works? We will always take your suggestions and will lobby the administration to make environmentalism as easy and effective as possible.
So the next time you’re trudging through work in a depressingly over-crowded Van Pelt and a coffee break is all you can think of, remember: using the elevator to go down one floor may look appealing, but please, take the stairs instead.
Ashima Sukhdev and Anna Caffry are College juniors and co-director and social and publicity chair for PEG, respectively. They can be reached at pennenvironmentalgroup@gmail.com.
