All over the country, people have become aware that we all need to work harder to help preserve the environment. This week, that sentiment reached Colgate as the Student Government Association (SGA) released their Report on Environmental Initiatives. Compiled by SGA Policy Coordinator for Environmental Initiatives senior Nicole Svajlenka, the report takes a close look at the environmental status of Colgate and offers suggestions for how the students, SGA and the University as a whole can improve behavior in terms of the envionment.
"Many environmental organizations are coming together and making a strong effort to create change on campus," Svajlenka said. "Hopefully, the transparency and availability of this report will contribute to the effort as well." The report is broken down into short-term and long-term goals, observing the current situation and then making recommendations for both SGA and campus-wide adjustments.
The short-term initiatives focus on issues such as the over-consumption of bottled water on campus and the massive waste of paper in the school's computer labs. According to the report, new research has shown that bottled water has "a significant carbon footprint associated with its production and distribution." The report requests the release of the latest campus water quality report and encourages a campaign led by SGA to inform the community which would look into the purchase and selling of "Colgate-branded Nalgene water bottles." To solve the problem of excessive paper waste in the libraries and computer labs, the report encourages the faculty to accept more work via email or Blackboard.
The long-term goals focus on replacing current appliances on campus, such as washing machines and refrigerators, with high-efficiency versions. The report saves a separate section for compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), the high-efficiency, twisted-looking bulbs that hit the market only a few years ago. The report proposed putting CFLs in both academic and residential buildings, and making the efficient bulbs available at both the C-Store on campus and the Colgate Bookstore downtown.
The Report on Environmental Initiatives has been distributed to all top members of the administration, and is available on the SGA website at www.ColgateSGA.com. Svajlenka hopes that after reading this report students will take on some of the proposed initiatives along with the Green Summit or the SGA.
"I think that the report will be successful with the high levels of student enthusiasm toward greening Colgate's campus this year," Svajlenka said. "I hope that this motivation will also hold the report accountable, as lack of action has previously plagued environmental initiatives at Colgate."
