Orange & Blue

Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News

Eliminating trays in the cafeteria is one of the ways is going green.

Environmentalists are constantly preaching, "A little bit goes a long way." Faculty and students are taking that advice to heart and doing things that some might not notice or pay attention to, but that are making a difference on the C-N campus.

Biology professor Susan Karr is very passionate about taking steps to improve the environment not only for C-N, but also for the community.

"It's not just about making the environment pretty but keeping people healthy," Karr said, "The practical side is if the environment isn't healthy then people are going to sick. It includes people and doesn't ignore them."

One effort that is making C-N more environmentally friendly and cutting back on cost is as simple as turning off the computers at night. All of the computers on campus are updated every night and in turn, they cannot be turned off because the updates will not work.

"I kept coming to the idea of leaving our computers on 24/7 and if the updates couldn't come through then the IT department would go crazy. But if it's a technology problem then there is a technological fix. It took time and expertise to work on it", said Karr.

Tyler Jennings, an IT technician, figured out a way for the computers to automatically turn on at the same time, for the updates to occur. Now, the faculty can turn their computers off when they leave for the day, and the computers will be on with the updates when they get to their offices the next morning.

Just by turning off campus computers nightly, Karr says it could save the school more than $25,000 yearly.

The campus also has an ongoing effort to change all the light fixtures with more energy conserving light bulbs, which should save the school thousands of dollars. The new buildings on campus have top of the line energy saving features.

In the dorms, maintenance changed to water saving showerheads. In addition, the housekeeping staff is using green cleaners - environmentally safe and less toxic cleaners.

All the landscaping on campus is native landscaping.

"Using native plants requires less care and less water," Karr said, "We still put out annual flowers but permanent plantings are all native and they survive better."

Aramark has also lent a hand in helping reduce trash and pollution on campus. Students eating in the cafeteria may find it annoying to carry a plate, bowl, cup and silver ware without a tray, but going tray less reduces the amount of trash. Karr said the new practice in the first week alone resulted in a 50 percent decrease in trash.

Also, recycling dumpsters have been set out for anyone that wants to recycle their trash. They are located behind the development lab beside the intramural fields. "At least participating, whether the students pay for it themselves, the faculty pays for it or whether donors support it, it sends a signal that it's important," Karr said.

Karr encourages the campus community to look on Eagle Net under environmental stewardship to post their ideas and suggestions.

"Every little thing can help. It is the accumulation of little things, so you chip away at it and if enough people chip away, then it really does make a difference," Karr said.

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