With income tax day over with, students are already planning to use their tax returns on beer for another major holiday in the near future: Cinco de Mayo. Unfortunately, many people overlook Earth Day, which falls on April 22 every year. Earth Day serves as a reminder that everyone is responsible for the environment and that there are so many little things that we can change to live a greener life.
The inaugural Earth Day was launched in 1970, nearly forty years ago.. On environlink.org, creator Senator Gaylord Nelson stated that Earth Day arose from “some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream” and that the driving force was “grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment.”
Today, even with the idea of a greener lifestyle exposed to and generally accepted by the public, there are dozens of everyday changes that everyone can make to bring that vision to reality. What better place to start than here at the University? Facilities Management is doing their part by hosting events related to Earth Day, but everyone is responsible for preserving the planet.
On March 28, millions world-wide “voted Earth” and turned off all non-essential lights and electric appliances. The University also officially participated in Earth Hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., saving more than 1000 kilowatt hours and cutting 1,200 pounds of carbon emission. Earth Hour emphasized turning off computers when they are not in use, something that can easily be done by all students and faculty. The movement for a greener, cleaner Earth continues with a notable Earth Day Extravaganza on Wednesday. The event, which will be held between Minor and Garrett Halls, will include a Dumpster Dive, the Cabell Campaign, and a Tap Water Challenge. Sustainability Outreach Coordinator Lindsey Daniels said the purpose of the Extravaganza is “raising awareness and giving people resources to live sustainably.”
Daniels offers some simple lifestyle changes that can have a big impact on the environment. Along with turning off a computer not in use, she advocates recycling, saving water, and changing from traditional light bulbs to compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) lightbulbs. Along with these useful tips, the Extravaganza will further demonstrate green ideals visually and tastefully.
The Dumpster Dive will involve brave participants literally going through a dumpster in order to find recyclables that were thrown out. The purpose will be to educate people on what can be recycled and to show how much of that potential goes unrealized. With all the recycling bins around grounds and recycling baskets available for on-Grounds housing, the difference between having a bottle end up in a landfill and being able to reuse it is the difference between the trash can and the recycling bin less than a foot away. Hopefully, the Dumpster Dive will make us realize that much of what we throw can be salvaged.
Another event on the agenda is the Cabell Campaign, which is a project that collects trash left in Cabell Hall over the course of a week. Not only is leaving trash out inconsiderate and disrespectful, but it is also environmentally costly. Judging from the pictures from the 2007 Cabell Campaign on the Facilities Management Web site, most of the litter was composed of newspapers. Efforts such as a daily online version of The Cavalier Daily along with the Cabell Campaign should decrease such litter this year, but that does not mean that we are relieved of our civic duty of recycling.
Perhaps the most convincing event at the Extravaganza is the Tap Water Challenge. The challenge sets out to test your taste buds in order to determine if you can detect the difference between tap and bottled water. Brita, a company that specializes in water filter products, has challenged the image of bottled water with their “Forever in a landfill” advertisements referring to the fact that the bottles serve a very temporary service but ultimately end up sitting around for millions of years before finally decomposing. The Tap Water Challenge will further challenge the bottled water industry by showing people that there is no difference in taste.
Earth Day Extravaganza is meant to raise awareness, but we are the agents that are responsible for carrying out this green message. Earth Day might not be until next Wednesday, but we should still respect the environment everyday of the week. There is no better time to start changing bad habits than the present. If you are reading this article in the newspaper, be sure to recycle after you have finished. If you are reading this online, shut down your computer — or at least put it on sleep or standby — after you have finished. The road to a greener tomorrow starts with simple changes today.
Hung Vu’s column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at h.vu@cavalierdaily.com.
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