Express your voice

So you may be really interested in cutting back on your own energy, water, and waste consumption, and may at times get discouraged and feel like you’re efforts are not making a different, especially if living in a dorm. Even though students may not have the authority to turn down the central heat in all the buildings during the winter or change all of the light bulbs to CFLs, you have the power to talk to those in power. As students in a democratic society, from a young age you learn that the people have a voice, so why should that be different in the university setting? You do have a voice and a right to express your opinions in a peaceful and organized fashion to those in charge, be it the university president or board of trustees, or even the student government on campus.

Think about things that could feasibly be changed around the university and then take the time to write a letter, set up a meeting, organize an event to raise awareness, join a group on campus, and bring these issues to the attention of those who can make changes on the university level. You’ll have to do your research, but there are some great success stories of how universities have been taking the initiative and going green. Some starting points include:

* turning down central heating in campus buildings to 68 degrees in the winter if it is not already at that level.
* starting a bicycling program of providing better public transportation, as the University of Miami has done.
* taking the environment into consideration when building new buildings and dorms, or even creating an environmentally focused dorm, as has been done at Northwestern University.
* buying water conserving toilets and toilets that don’t automatically flush, which wastes water.
* buying low-flow shower heads and faucets, which would eventually save the university money in the long run as well.
*promoting environmental themes within various curriculum.
* replacing old bulbs, when they burn out, with CFLs.

These are not changes you can make on your own, but most likely there’s some sort of an environmental organization on campus that would love to help make these desires known to the university and to raise awareness. It doesn’t have to require a ton of time, just some initiative.