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Written by Rachel Patten   
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Tuesday, 19 May 2009

College Campus Environmental Movements

Purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs), installing solar panels, holding environmental rallies, and demanding organic and local food are just a few things that campus environmental groups around the nation have been up to. From small community colleges to big universities, students at campuses across the United States are joining together and demanding progressive environmental action. Campus environmental groups are nothing new, but as global environmental problems continue to worsen, these groups have won the attention of their administrators, fellow students, politicians and community members.

A unique and bipartisan issue, the environment unites individuals and groups across political, social and cultural lines. Perhaps this is one reason why campus environmental groups have become so widespread and so effective. A simple Google search for “college environmental group” produced more than 6 million results. All over the country students are starting environmental initiatives on their campuses and many of these groups have already seen astonishing results. Focusing on areas from clean power generation to recycling, college environmental groups and student activists are pushing colleges and universities to lead the way in the search for environmental solutions.

Initiatives:

The amount of waste produced in the United States is staggering. New uses for waste products have steadily been developed over the past few years and colleges and universities are at the forefront of designing and utilizing these technologies. Bio-diesel fuel can be made from waste vegetable oil and is one creative way to recycle and reuse. At Appalachian State University (ASU) students successfully lobbied school administration officials to explore and utilize cleaner and renewable bio-diesel fuels for the university’s motorpool fleet. Getting the university on-board with the plan, ASU students are now working to design and create a “closed-loop” system so that the University will be able to produce its own bio-diesel fuel and recycle its own waste products. Once an easy and efficient method of converting wastes into fuel is established, use of bio-diesel could become much more widespread. To read more about what students at ASU are doing go to: http://www.biodiesel.appstate.edu/index.php.

Another way of reusing or reducing waste is by recycling and composting, two areas that college environmental groups are well acquainted with. In the late 1980s, a group of students at Duke University pushed for a better and more comprehensive recycling system on campus. Initiating and running the program, these students managed to work with the administration to create such an effective model that it has continued and expanded for almost thirty years. Now Duke diverts more than 1250 tons of waste from landfills every year, and students are still actively involved in the process. For more information on Duke’s Recycling program, see: http://www.fmd.duke.edu/recycles/default.htm.

Across the country in Colorado, students have also made themselves a large force pushing campus recycling at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In addition to being one of the oldest campus recycling programs, UC Boulder also has a unique student-administration partnership which involves students at every level of the recycling process, including outreach and collection. For more information, see: http://recycling.colorado.edu/.

In addition to pushing for campus recycling, students at Stanford University are championing composting. Tired of the plastic containers that food was served in at the student union and the dining halls, a few years ago Stanford students began pushing for bio-degradable service-ware. Today, all of the service ware at Stanford’s café’s or dining areas are bio-degradable and Stanford students are working with administration officials to educate other students and publicize this big initiative. To read more, see: http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/4/27/pilotCompostProgramToRunAtTresidder.

Renewable energy is another area that has been greatly affected by college environmental groups and university action. For example, Babson College outside of Boston recently unveiled a small, demonstration wind turbine to power a campus building. The first college in the Boston area to begin to harness wind power, Babson College is setting an example for community members, other colleges, and even local governments to follow. Across the country in Oregon, students at Central Oregon Community College (COCC) voted to institute a fee that will fund small environmental initiatives on campus, but also purchase enough renewable energy certificates (RECs) to cover more than two thirds of the campus’ energy needs. COCC is also preparing to install solar panels on a campus building to lessen their reliance on fossil fuels even more. COCC was the first community college to purchase RECs and organize such an initiative. Other colleges and universities across the U.S. have also made significant REC purchases. The EPA’s Top Ten Green Power Partners can be seen here: http://www.epa.gov/grnpower/toplists/top10ed.htm.

These are just a few examples of what campuses are doing, but there are countless more. Colleges and universities, often working closely with student run environmental clubs, are leading the way in sustainable innovation and green operations. If your campus does not yet have an environmental club, there is no better time to get one going. Start by talking to other like-minded students about forming a club and take care of any formal campus requirements for making your club official. Try focusing on issues that directly affect your campus or your community and try to bring on faculty members who can give your club inspiration or new ideas. Lastly, if there is a specific campus issue like recycling or campus energy use, try setting up a meeting with the administration to discuss ways that the campus could institute more sustainable systems. It is always a good idea to go in with ideas and a willingness to gather student support around an issue.

Whether it’s pushing for campus hybrids or helping create a campus compost pile, little by little, campus environmental groups are making a positive difference.

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