Spring Break
Going green the smart way
Michael Lupacchino
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Opinion
Emerson College claims to be independent and immune to norms and pop fads. Perhaps this is true, at least compared to more conventional schools.
But in truth, the college does its fair share of trend-following. Our current involvement in the "green" craze is evidence of this. Going green is all the rage right now.
Home Depot and Wal-Mart offer energy saving appliances, light bulbs and other household materials that help reduce environmental waste. Clorox, among many other leading brands, has released eco-friendly products.
It makes sense that Emerson has joined the fun with complete and utter flair.
Since the current Emerson administration does not much stress environmentalism at the school, the students have decided to make a few changes themselves. However, instead of embracing small, incremental changes, they have attempted widespread changes, only to receive lukewarm results.
Not too long ago, Earth Emerson teamed up with the school's Business Services. They tried to withold, for a time, plastic trays from the dining hall.
Earth Emerson claimed that students waste too much food because they overstuff our trays, and that tray washing uses too much water, electricity and chemicals. An article in The Beacon stated that Emerson was following in the path of other universities, including University of Connecticut.
Here's the main difference between Emerson and UConn: the latter has eight dining halls. Plus, the school's Web site claims that their own version of the experiment was conducted in one of the smallest dining halls.
Emerson, on the other hand, has one tiny DH. At Emerson, in an already-overcrowded dining area, all the experiment managed to do was annoy students. Instead of making one big trip to the kitchen area, students had to elbow one another during three or four trips to get their meals.
Even after the experiment, the campus green movement continued to push. Recently, Emerson Peace and Social Justice asked SGA-recognized organizations to sign a petition to abstain from buying bottled water with their funds because it has been proven to be bad for the environment. The petition didn't pass.
But in truth, the college does its fair share of trend-following. Our current involvement in the "green" craze is evidence of this. Going green is all the rage right now.
Home Depot and Wal-Mart offer energy saving appliances, light bulbs and other household materials that help reduce environmental waste. Clorox, among many other leading brands, has released eco-friendly products.
It makes sense that Emerson has joined the fun with complete and utter flair.
Since the current Emerson administration does not much stress environmentalism at the school, the students have decided to make a few changes themselves. However, instead of embracing small, incremental changes, they have attempted widespread changes, only to receive lukewarm results.
Not too long ago, Earth Emerson teamed up with the school's Business Services. They tried to withold, for a time, plastic trays from the dining hall.
Earth Emerson claimed that students waste too much food because they overstuff our trays, and that tray washing uses too much water, electricity and chemicals. An article in The Beacon stated that Emerson was following in the path of other universities, including University of Connecticut.
Here's the main difference between Emerson and UConn: the latter has eight dining halls. Plus, the school's Web site claims that their own version of the experiment was conducted in one of the smallest dining halls.
Emerson, on the other hand, has one tiny DH. At Emerson, in an already-overcrowded dining area, all the experiment managed to do was annoy students. Instead of making one big trip to the kitchen area, students had to elbow one another during three or four trips to get their meals.
Even after the experiment, the campus green movement continued to push. Recently, Emerson Peace and Social Justice asked SGA-recognized organizations to sign a petition to abstain from buying bottled water with their funds because it has been proven to be bad for the environment. The petition didn't pass.
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