I have no doubt that GW makes a big effort to become a sustainable community. The GW Eco-Challenge, the President's Climate Commitment signed by President Knapp, the Green GW student organization or all the green courses available are examples of its dedication.
Want more? The many environment related conferences and speakers we are hosting this year.
Last semester, Al Gore defined the climate change problem as "the moral issue of the present generation."
This time, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman talked about the need to redefine green and the urge to take action. Green is not just a liberal issue, he said, but something every citizen needs to be worried about.
But... do all these campaigns and words have a true effect on campus?
As ShopGirl noticed here on Friday, the College Sustainability Report Card gave GW a C+ overall in 2009. However, as an anonymous comment later pointed out, progress has been done during the year, and the university was graded B on the 2010 report.
This improvement suggests that GW's efforts are not fruitless. But still, the results are disappointing considering all the activities and campaigns that have been done.
Anyone living in a dorm can notice how the students still leave the lights on for the whole day or how many others put all their garbage in the same trash chute and don't recycle.
When asked about their recycling habits, these are some of the answers GW students gave me:
Want more? The many environment related conferences and speakers we are hosting this year.
Last semester, Al Gore defined the climate change problem as "the moral issue of the present generation."
This time, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman talked about the need to redefine green and the urge to take action. Green is not just a liberal issue, he said, but something every citizen needs to be worried about.
But... do all these campaigns and words have a true effect on campus?
As ShopGirl noticed here on Friday, the College Sustainability Report Card gave GW a C+ overall in 2009. However, as an anonymous comment later pointed out, progress has been done during the year, and the university was graded B on the 2010 report.
This improvement suggests that GW's efforts are not fruitless. But still, the results are disappointing considering all the activities and campaigns that have been done.
Anyone living in a dorm can notice how the students still leave the lights on for the whole day or how many others put all their garbage in the same trash chute and don't recycle.
When asked about their recycling habits, these are some of the answers GW students gave me:
"I do recycle, but at the end, I put everything in the same trash chute because I never foud out where the special trash was..."It seems that some students still find it difficult to recycle. But, what is worse, some of them are not even concerned about the issue yet.
"I recycle at home, but not in college. Because im too busy!!"
"I do not always think of recycling simply because I have never really picked up on it."
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