2008 Woodie Awards
Learn to live green
Erika Prins, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/14/06
Last Updated: 12/26/07
Sustainability is as much about daily efforts as activism. Conservation is a lot easier when it's built into our routine.
"I don't think anybody intends to be wasteful, it's just habits," Johnson said.
If we are conscious them, we can make those choices into habits that replace wasteful choices. Use less hot water and turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth. Do your laundry with cold water. Keep your room at a lower temperature. Turn off electronics like computers and lights when you are not using them. Print less, or print two pages to a sheet on each side.
"I think students can make a much bigger difference in managing their energy consumption: electronics, lighting and hot water," Johnson said.
Changing daily habits is an attainable goal for any student. Being more active isn't a full-time job, either. Your involvement may be as simple as helping the Good Deeds for Trees club with recycling.
Director of Alumni, Parent and Church Relations Tad Wisenor, Johnson and Director of Capital Projects Steve Thompson all suggested ways students could help take bigger steps toward sustainablitiy.
For example, a group of students can challenge their peers to cover the initial cost of some energy-efficient changes on campus. Wisenor pointed to Lewis and Clark College's sustainability efforts as an example for Whitworth.
"Their students voted to purchase energy credits in a wind farm to offset all their CO2 emissions," Wisenor said.
Whatever the proposal, students have much more leverage than staff or faculty members when it comes to demanding change.
"I can promise you that if students can coalesce around this issue, it will happen much faster," Wisenor said.
Johnson deals with the financial implications of conservation, and argues that students can make the most difference by putting their money on sustainability efforts.
"Many of these questions boil down to money," he said. For example, we do not currently recycle plastic bottles because doing so would cost the school. Students would have to volunteer to deliver bottles to a recycle site or be willing to take on the cost of pick-up in order for them to be recycled.
"I don't think anybody intends to be wasteful, it's just habits," Johnson said.
If we are conscious them, we can make those choices into habits that replace wasteful choices. Use less hot water and turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth. Do your laundry with cold water. Keep your room at a lower temperature. Turn off electronics like computers and lights when you are not using them. Print less, or print two pages to a sheet on each side.
"I think students can make a much bigger difference in managing their energy consumption: electronics, lighting and hot water," Johnson said.
Changing daily habits is an attainable goal for any student. Being more active isn't a full-time job, either. Your involvement may be as simple as helping the Good Deeds for Trees club with recycling.
Director of Alumni, Parent and Church Relations Tad Wisenor, Johnson and Director of Capital Projects Steve Thompson all suggested ways students could help take bigger steps toward sustainablitiy.
For example, a group of students can challenge their peers to cover the initial cost of some energy-efficient changes on campus. Wisenor pointed to Lewis and Clark College's sustainability efforts as an example for Whitworth.
"Their students voted to purchase energy credits in a wind farm to offset all their CO2 emissions," Wisenor said.
Whatever the proposal, students have much more leverage than staff or faculty members when it comes to demanding change.
"I can promise you that if students can coalesce around this issue, it will happen much faster," Wisenor said.
Johnson deals with the financial implications of conservation, and argues that students can make the most difference by putting their money on sustainability efforts.
"Many of these questions boil down to money," he said. For example, we do not currently recycle plastic bottles because doing so would cost the school. Students would have to volunteer to deliver bottles to a recycle site or be willing to take on the cost of pick-up in order for them to be recycled.
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