According to the University Sustainability Council at DU, Chancellor Coombe signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment in June, 2007. This pledges to: (1) integrate sustainability into the curriculum; (2) to complete an inventory of DU related emissions and (3) to create an action plan to be “Green.” Honestly, I do think that Americans need to be a lot more environmentally conscious. Especially on a college campus, where students are living in a community in which many are actively involved, sharing “Green” thoughts could make a positive impact. But, when I’m at DU, and I walk through my dorm to see the new recycling bins used as purse storage containers, I begin to think this movement is much more surface than we have come to believe.
It is very humorous to see people walking around in “GO GREEN” T-shirts. They most likely bought these shirts at Urban Outfitters after they drove their Hummer to Cherry Creek mall. According to CODE PINK, “The EPA gave a 2 out of 10 rating for the H2. In fact, the Hummer’s gas mileage is less than half the mileage of the Model T Ford, the first car ever mass-produced.” Definitely the epitome of the Green movement, I’d say. While purchasing the T-shirt, they probably drank soda out of a Styrofoam cup, and carried their shirt out of the store in a plastic bag they will soon throw away in the garbage only so it can sit in a garbage dump for a range of 15-1000 years. Yes. That is “going green.” Keep telling yourself that...
I constantly hear students complaining tremendously on “Tray-less Tuesday” because they have to walk from their table back into the dining hall one extra time during their meal. By not washing hundreds of trays once a week, we are saving a lot of money and water during that extra trip from the table to the food lines. According to Planet Green, if households in the U.S. invested in water-saving appliances, 3 trillion gallons of water, along with 18 billion dollars would be saved each year. Attitudes about “Tray-less Tuesday” exemplify ignorance and laziness. Personally, I take the time to read the posters in the bathrooms and lobbies of the residence halls that encourage people to be more environmentally conscious, but it saddens me that I immediately think of all the people who completely ignore these pleas and use more energy than I could even fathom.
The evidence of global warming is already present in our society today. According to the official site for An Inconvenient Truth, over the last 30 years, the number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes has doubled, malaria is moving to higher altitudes, and at least 279 species have relocated due to climate change...to name a few. The consequences of our energy consumption are only going to get worse if people think “GO GREEN” T-shirts will suffice as “taking action.” Changes in behaviors, however, can make a difference. For example, Planet Green discovered that the amount of energy saved by recycling one aluminum can versus creating the can from virgin aluminum is 95 percent. That means you can make 20 cans out of recycled material with the same amount of energy it takes to make one can out of new material.
It is a good thing that an effort is being made, but it needs to be more of a solid effort with support from the entire campus. Saying you are environmentally conscious is very different than actually being environmentally conscious. The environmental plan does have a few positive attributes along with good intentions, but more should be done to get the entire campus to support the movement. More than just a booth on the Driscoll Bridge for students to glance at as they rush to go to class, DU needs to work on spreading the word of being “green” throughout the student body. Campus wide advertisements with tips for conservation would be an easy start. Since it is such a small campus, members of the University Sustainability Council could visit classrooms, residence halls, or group meetings to spread awareness. Motion censored lights in classrooms and bathrooms would also lower the energy use and would make students aware of the efforts DU is putting in to conserve energy. Providing more public instructions on recycling, holding forums, or hosting public events to promote being “Green” are some other ideas that could be effective.
Small steps that would be easy to take could start the necessary process of digging deeper into the now surface “green” movement. I only hope that the “recycling-bin-purse-containers” will soon be put to their original intended purpose.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tackling the Trendiness of Recycling
America seems to be having a love affair with recycling. Today, almost wherever you go there is accessible recycling bins any 10-cent refunds for plastic water bottles. Across America people are beginning to sort through their garbage in search of newspapers, plastic and steel cans on trash day. Colleges are consciously making efforts to adjust lifestyles of America’s youth, instigating new policies limiting water usage, placing a recycling bin in every dorm room and even offering prizes for those who recycle the most.
What I have noticed as a teenage growing up in the new “go-green” era is the popularity this movement has gained in such a short period of time. After my peers and I have watched environmentally aware celebrities or athletes sporting shirts with recycling logos with lines such as, “recycling is for lovers” naturally the fad caught on quickly. Most of the time this movement appears to be one big fashion statement. Often I view girls walking down the street with their proactively aware high-end clothing advertising as issue such as global warming while juggling their starbucks macchiatos with their new blackberry storms. All in all, what this new faction of society seems to be accomplishing (besides looking fabulous) is nothing.
What we need to be asking is, what are the intentions of these people? I can’t believe the origin of “going green” is entirely based on circulating crazed fads. There must have been a genuine spark that initiated a new environmental awareness. Despite what stylish followers are wearing or what BMW bumper stickers may be preaching, the intentions are at the very least harmless. People are making an avid attempt to help the planet and I don’t see it as an issue.
The real issue is looking past the trendy reputation of going green. The true question is regarding the substance behind the fashion front of this subject. People are overlooking the importance of recycling and thus not considering it as a serious matter.
Once we surpass the façade of shallow followers, we can gather information and develop an educated opinion. Without the proper output of public data regarding the recycling process we will never be able to understand recycling for what it really is. To make a decision we must gather as much knowledge about the subject as possible.
To better inform readers in the process of recycling, “A Recycling Revolution” has posted many different ways to recycle as well at the benefits of doing such (http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-benefits.html). Learning more about what is involved within the movement will allow citizens to make a much more informed decision on how they truly feel about the issue.
If one decides that recycling is very beneficial and an act that everyone should participate in this website will better help people in their endeavor of saving energy and waste: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/celebrate-zero-waste-day.php
In contrary to the pro-green attitude, one can also choose to continue living their lives as before, recycling free. Here is a video clip produced by the famous magician duo Penn and Teller: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1444391672891013193. This clip enforces the idea that recycling is all for not, that it is a waste of time and shouldn’t be an issue of severe importance.
There have been people that find the new recycling agenda invading, almost offensive, violating their right as an American to use as much paper as they would like and throw it away where they please. At the University of Denver our cafeterias are implementing a new “Trayless Tuesday” rule in attempt to reduce the water usage on campus. I have only noticed the negative responses from students and there seem to be a lot. Upset that one has to walk an extra 200 feet to make a second trip back to the soda line because they couldn’t carry all their plates at ones seems to be a lot to handle for some Denver students. While some students kick and scream about being forced to find other means of getting all their food from the cafeteria to the table there are far worse issues that deserve their resentment and frustration. For example, smoking bans on campus or even prevalent drug usage of youth today or the current war going on in the Middle East. All in all, there are concerns better designated for resentment and bitterness.
Small steps to a better environment cannot hurt. Although what may be needed are more drastic means of change in our daily life, the fact that we are making an effort is something to be admired. So view this endeavor as useless of even moot but in the end trying is the least we can do.
Whichever side people choose to support, remember there is a substantial basis we must reach that lies behind the popularity of recycling.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Going Green Isn't Actually So Green
Everyday I stare at the “TP Times” Be Green issue and the blue recycling bins that litter every dorm and classroom on campus. Not only is recycling everywhere, I am asked to take an entirely separate trip to recycle plastics #1-7, paper, junk mail, aluminum cans, glass bottles and cardboard. I remember a time when people just threw all that stuff into a single garbage bin that was magically whisked away by Waste Management each Friday. It involved fewer trips and a lot fewer bins.
Have you ever actually thought about recycling: what really happens to all that “stuff” after you drop it off and how it turns from a fifth of McCormick’s you hid in your bottom drawer to the “Naked Juice” you had for breakfast? Or is it actually even reused to make the plastic we use everyday? According to the Ecology Center online, “none of the recovered plastic containers are being made into containers again but into new secondary products such as textiles, parking lot bumpers, or plastic lumber – all unrecyclable products.” Not only are the products we are encouraged to recycle converted into environmentally unfriendly goods, an immense amount of energy is required to do this. Recycling plastic uses as much or more energy to alter its original state than it does to produce. It takes more energy to produce recycled products than it does to dispose of them in traditional landfill methods thereby increasing the production of greenhouse gases. Moreover, everything else we are asked to recycle is seemingly pointless. Glass is made from sand. The Earth is not running out of sand. Newspapers, when buried, stay intact for decades and, when burned, become mere ashes. So, why recycle?
In addition to having to stare at my RA’s new “Go Green” board every time I walk to my room, I am now being forced to go tray less every Tuesday with “Trayless Tuesdays.” It’s an epidemic sweeping college campuses nationwide. The DU Clarion claims it is being implemented “to reduce food waste, water waste and help students avoid the freshman 15.” Personally, I think this is a bunch of nonsense. “What are they going to think of next? Forkless Fridays? Spoonless Saturdays? Maybe you can implement Starving Sundays and simply not serve food once a week,” an anonymous anti-green author joked. That will really help kids avoid the dreaded first year weight gain.
However, the issue of going “trayless” to help decrease food waste once a week seems miniscule compared to the food waste epidemic in Mexico. According to John Tierney’s article, Recycling Is Garbage, “The typical household in Mexico City buys fewer packaged goods than an American household, but it produces one-third more garbage, chiefly because Mexicans buy fresh foods in bulk and throw away large unused, spoiled, and stale portions.” Those fruits, vegetables and other perishable packaged foods are protected by plastic wrap and foam are less likely to biodegrade. The lightweight plastic packaging requires much less energy to manufacture and transport than traditional alternatives like cardboard or paper. Food companies have switched to plastic packaging because they make money by using resources efficiently. So why are we so worried about our 1520 pounds of waste and companies use of plastic when it’s plastic itself that’s helping prevent the excessive waste of food? Shouldn’t we be trying to do something about the 5100 tons of waste that Mexico City produces daily? I think we are focused on the wrong thing here. Instead of being mindless trend followers, we should inform ourselves of what the true issues at hand are. If everyone is so preoccupied with “making a difference” and “change” maybe we should direct our focus elsewhere.
I’ve got a suggestion for those of you who are really truly concerned and think that Trayless Tuesdays is our small step to making big difference in the long run: next year when you are applying for study abroad and you are totally amped to going skiing in the Swiss Alps or surfing with your bros down under, reconsider. Maybe what you should be doing is going down to Mexico and helping sort out all the garbage. If you are really as concerned with food waste as you make it seem every Tuesday when you hang out by the empty tray racks, Mexico probably is the place for you to go. So read up and pack some plastic gloves because things are going to get dirty down there.
There has also been a huge fuss over our excessive use of plastic bags. Huge posters hang in the JMac lobby informing us of just how many plastic bags we use on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. However, there is one small thing that is being overlooked, instead of using plastic bags, people have started switching to paper bags. All the “greenies” are too concerned with lack of plastic bag decay in landfills but according to American Chemistry Online “plastic grocery bags require 70 percent less energy to manufacture, produce 50 percent less greenhouse gas emissions and create five times less waste than bulky paper bags.” Paper, cardboard and other organic materials are technically biodegradable but tend to remain intact in the airless confines of a landfill and actually use much more space than plastic packaging. Twelve plastic grocery bags fit the space occupied by one paper bag. So I am confused here, why is everyone making such a big deal about plastic harming the environment when not using plastic would prove to be more harmful?
For all of you out there who are rolling your eyes and thinking, “If it takes a long time for paper to decompose, why don’t we just recycle it or better yet not use it at all, after all we are ‘killing trees,’” then boy do I have some fun facts for you! STOP WORRYING ABOUT THE DAMN TREES! Magazines, publishing companies and newspapers aren’t marching into the forest and chopping down trees to make paper, they use tree farms. Tree farms are farms that grow trees for the sole purpose of producing paper. The trees are grown with the intention of being cut down at some point to make the books, magazines and newspapers that we all love to read. So here’s some advice, stop feeling so bad every time you walk into Borders and thinking of all the trees that were killed in order to make the books inside, instead start helping fuel the economy and buy a few. Not only will you feel better about your contribution to the market but it may come in handy; after all if you buy a big enough book you may just be able to use it as a substitute to a tray on Tuesdays.
So what is the answer…well maybe there is not just one. We all have to practice our own form of recycling. Maybe it is using an old piece of funky used furniture we picked up from Goodwill or turning that vintage dress into a cool, hip ensemble. We all should continue to recycle whatever way we choose rather than following the dictatorial attitudes of a flier, a university, or the media.
Have you ever actually thought about recycling: what really happens to all that “stuff” after you drop it off and how it turns from a fifth of McCormick’s you hid in your bottom drawer to the “Naked Juice” you had for breakfast? Or is it actually even reused to make the plastic we use everyday? According to the Ecology Center online, “none of the recovered plastic containers are being made into containers again but into new secondary products such as textiles, parking lot bumpers, or plastic lumber – all unrecyclable products.” Not only are the products we are encouraged to recycle converted into environmentally unfriendly goods, an immense amount of energy is required to do this. Recycling plastic uses as much or more energy to alter its original state than it does to produce. It takes more energy to produce recycled products than it does to dispose of them in traditional landfill methods thereby increasing the production of greenhouse gases. Moreover, everything else we are asked to recycle is seemingly pointless. Glass is made from sand. The Earth is not running out of sand. Newspapers, when buried, stay intact for decades and, when burned, become mere ashes. So, why recycle?
In addition to having to stare at my RA’s new “Go Green” board every time I walk to my room, I am now being forced to go tray less every Tuesday with “Trayless Tuesdays.” It’s an epidemic sweeping college campuses nationwide. The DU Clarion claims it is being implemented “to reduce food waste, water waste and help students avoid the freshman 15.” Personally, I think this is a bunch of nonsense. “What are they going to think of next? Forkless Fridays? Spoonless Saturdays? Maybe you can implement Starving Sundays and simply not serve food once a week,” an anonymous anti-green author joked. That will really help kids avoid the dreaded first year weight gain.
However, the issue of going “trayless” to help decrease food waste once a week seems miniscule compared to the food waste epidemic in Mexico. According to John Tierney’s article, Recycling Is Garbage, “The typical household in Mexico City buys fewer packaged goods than an American household, but it produces one-third more garbage, chiefly because Mexicans buy fresh foods in bulk and throw away large unused, spoiled, and stale portions.” Those fruits, vegetables and other perishable packaged foods are protected by plastic wrap and foam are less likely to biodegrade. The lightweight plastic packaging requires much less energy to manufacture and transport than traditional alternatives like cardboard or paper. Food companies have switched to plastic packaging because they make money by using resources efficiently. So why are we so worried about our 1520 pounds of waste and companies use of plastic when it’s plastic itself that’s helping prevent the excessive waste of food? Shouldn’t we be trying to do something about the 5100 tons of waste that Mexico City produces daily? I think we are focused on the wrong thing here. Instead of being mindless trend followers, we should inform ourselves of what the true issues at hand are. If everyone is so preoccupied with “making a difference” and “change” maybe we should direct our focus elsewhere.
I’ve got a suggestion for those of you who are really truly concerned and think that Trayless Tuesdays is our small step to making big difference in the long run: next year when you are applying for study abroad and you are totally amped to going skiing in the Swiss Alps or surfing with your bros down under, reconsider. Maybe what you should be doing is going down to Mexico and helping sort out all the garbage. If you are really as concerned with food waste as you make it seem every Tuesday when you hang out by the empty tray racks, Mexico probably is the place for you to go. So read up and pack some plastic gloves because things are going to get dirty down there.
There has also been a huge fuss over our excessive use of plastic bags. Huge posters hang in the JMac lobby informing us of just how many plastic bags we use on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. However, there is one small thing that is being overlooked, instead of using plastic bags, people have started switching to paper bags. All the “greenies” are too concerned with lack of plastic bag decay in landfills but according to American Chemistry Online “plastic grocery bags require 70 percent less energy to manufacture, produce 50 percent less greenhouse gas emissions and create five times less waste than bulky paper bags.” Paper, cardboard and other organic materials are technically biodegradable but tend to remain intact in the airless confines of a landfill and actually use much more space than plastic packaging. Twelve plastic grocery bags fit the space occupied by one paper bag. So I am confused here, why is everyone making such a big deal about plastic harming the environment when not using plastic would prove to be more harmful?
For all of you out there who are rolling your eyes and thinking, “If it takes a long time for paper to decompose, why don’t we just recycle it or better yet not use it at all, after all we are ‘killing trees,’” then boy do I have some fun facts for you! STOP WORRYING ABOUT THE DAMN TREES! Magazines, publishing companies and newspapers aren’t marching into the forest and chopping down trees to make paper, they use tree farms. Tree farms are farms that grow trees for the sole purpose of producing paper. The trees are grown with the intention of being cut down at some point to make the books, magazines and newspapers that we all love to read. So here’s some advice, stop feeling so bad every time you walk into Borders and thinking of all the trees that were killed in order to make the books inside, instead start helping fuel the economy and buy a few. Not only will you feel better about your contribution to the market but it may come in handy; after all if you buy a big enough book you may just be able to use it as a substitute to a tray on Tuesdays.
So what is the answer…well maybe there is not just one. We all have to practice our own form of recycling. Maybe it is using an old piece of funky used furniture we picked up from Goodwill or turning that vintage dress into a cool, hip ensemble. We all should continue to recycle whatever way we choose rather than following the dictatorial attitudes of a flier, a university, or the media.
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