Opinion

Celebrate Earth Day every day

Ways to improve your relationship with Mother Nature

By Sarah Bigney

Posted on April 21, 2005, at 12:00 a.m.

I guarantee that if the student body was polled, we would overwhelmingly confirm that the environment is important to us. We’re young; we like trees and we go hiking every now and then. Our generation is supposed to be more environmentally conscious then the ones before us.

However, evidence of this eco-awareness is lacking. I have observed my fellow students in my two years here at the University of Maine and I have come up with a list of ways the average Black Bear can help the planet. Obviously, we have a long way to go, and the importance of the environment is tantamount. Even reports from the Pentagon find that global warming is a threat greater than terrorism. Corporate pollution, rainforest destruction and fossil fuel use destroy ecosystems and habitats on a scale that calls out for major change. Here are a few ways to start incorporating environmentally sound practices into your life:

*Travel mugs: I, like many of you, spend lots of time in the library. By the library, I mean the Oakes Room. Here at UMaine we like our warm beverages. If everyone used a travel mug instead of a throw-away cup when getting the morning cup of coffee or tea, the waste produced would be cut drastically. Last year, residents on campus received a travel mug when they came to school, and new students will be receiving mugs again next fall.

*Carpooling: Think about it: The parking crisis could be solved with this one simple feat. Many neighborhoods off-campus are full of college students. Find a day when you and a neighbor have a similar schedule and ride together. I don’t know what Student Government will talk about after everyone starts carpooling, but hopefully they will come up with something. If you’re feeling really motivated, I even suggest walking or biking to campus. It may not work for you French Island inhabitants, but the rest of us can plan ahead an extra half hour and have time for a lovely morning trek. Better yet, you can ride the BAT for free if you flash your MaineCard.

* Lights: In the middle of the day, open the blinds and turn off the lights. Natural light is more attractive, and you can save energy by only turning on the lights when you need them at night. Also, it’s an old wives’ tale that it takes more energy to turn lights on and off than leaving them on when you leave the room. Shut off your lights when you aren’t in the room. Once you get in the habit of shutting them off every time you leave the room, it will become second nature.

*Recycling: This one goes out to my favorite former co-workers, you know who you are. When there is a returnables bin in the room and you choose to throw your Diet Coke can in the trash, you are not only being wasteful, you are being a jackass. This is the easiest one on the list, and picking through the trash cans on campus is ultimately detrimental to my health, so help me out. And no, just because they don’t recycle where you grew up in suburban Massachusetts is not an excuse. Recycle your returnables.

*AIM: Here’s the part you knew was coming. Leaving your AIM on all day and night is one of the most frivolous wastes of electricity committed by college students. If it’s 4 a.m., I am going to go ahead and assume that you are “sleeping,” and if I need to “leave one for the morning,” I’ll be sure to call tomorrow. At class all day? Don’t announce it by leaving your computer on all day, just shut it down and somehow, we’ll figure it out.

* Heat: While dorm dwellers have little control over the heat in their rooms, off-campus students usually do. Your landlord will be psyched if you turn your heat down to 65 degrees when you leave for the day and turn it back up to 70 only when you get home. If you are going to be gone for even a few hours, the money you are saving in heating oil alone is worth it, and maybe your rent won’t go up so much next year. Turning your heat down at night is good too, and it’s actually healthier to sleep in cooler conditions rather than hot. We live in Maine, you can handle it.

Obviously, these steps are no Kyoto Protocol or reforestation, but they are ways we can become more independently and collectively sustainable in our everyday lives. By continuously incorporating ecologically aware actions in to our habits, together we can help to bring a new way of thinking to our society. Have a happy Earth Day.

Sarah Bigney is a sophomore international affairs major.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2005, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.