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Staff and students work towards a greener campus atmosphere

Since its creation in 1970 by a Wisconsin Senator, Earth Day has proven itself to be both effective and a model for how humanity should live every other day of the year.
Every April 22, individuals and organizations from all over the world show some much needed respect for the tender planet beneath our feet. In celebration of this holiday, tremendous initiatives are made by many to clean up the environment around them.
Wright State, a firm proponent of Earth Day, turned this holiday into a week long celebration. All last week, students participated in a plethora of ecological and earth-friendly projects.
Last Wednesday students had the opportunity to help the Army ROTC with their campaign against litter scattered around campus. On Tuesday and Thursday, students had the opportunity to meet up and join organized hikes through the Wright State Woods.
These are a couple of the exciting events featured in Wright State’s Earth Week. In addition to various other organized events, students were strongly encouraged by the sustainability proponents to practice more ecological habits, not only to be done during “Earth Week” but to be done as a natural, daily routine.
As the abundance of fossil fuels continues to diminish, more and more ecosystems are destroyed by careless littering or ravenous deforestation and the human race’s harmful imprint on the planet becomes increasingly irrevocable, environmentalism is becoming a hotter and hotter subject on tip of everyone’s tongue.
In response to humanity’s growing carbon footprint, the faculty and students of Wright State have established numerous organizations, methods of conservation and initiatives to cut back on waste.
Wright State’s Sustainability movement exemplifies these earth-friendly efforts.
This week, The Guardian was fortunate enough to sit down and talk to Dr. Linda Ramey, LEED Green Associate and Director of Sustainability, about the successes of Earth Week and Recyclemania as well as how students can “go green.”
When asked to define sustainability, Ramey gave a very straightforward response: “Sustainability is the practice of reducing, reusing, and recycling. It means to change our wasteful habits and think ahead into the future.”
In concordance with acting in a sustainable manner, Ramey also firmly advocated the phrase: “Act locally, think globally.”
“Taking action within the community, while considering the larger implications of what we’re consuming and how we’re consuming are things we should strive to do,” she said.
Small gestures may seem insignificant, but every act in the name of sustainability and conservation is key.
“Even telling a friend to throw an aluminium can in the recycling bin, rather than the trash can, can make a difference,” said Ramey.
On the subject of Recyclemania, Ramey reported that it was extremely successful. According to Wright State’s Sustainability web page, our school ranked 36 out of the 240 universities (of similar size to WSU) that competed in the competition.
“Every year we do a little bit better. Hopefully this trend continues,” said Ramey.
Wright State had a recycling rate of 46.53%. Ramey says, “If students see their friends recycling and acting in an ecological manner, then they may be more likely to follow suit. Not all peer pressure is a bad thing.”
Simply by influencing those around you and actively participating in community-clean up events are the two main ways in which environmentalists should combat the unfortunate presence of the ecological apathy the majority of the populus seems to have.
Perhaps there truly is something we all can learn from the efforts of Ramey’s “sustainable efforts.”
Whether or not you believe in climate change as a result of human over-consumption and pollution, preserving the land, which we must all share, for the generations that succeed ours is something of the utmost importance. If we all lend a helping hand to clean up our communities and revise our habits of disposing our “waste,” then surely we are taking the proper steps in decreasing our carbon footprint.
Although “going green” has become a bit cliche, it is still imperative that we value the planet beneath us and live for tomorrow, not just today.
Every human must learn to consider the myriad of implications that come with draining the ground of its natural (often limited) sources of energy.
If we are to witness a brighter and “greener” tomorrow, then maybe it’s time we view ourselves as guests in Mother Nature’s house.

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