How Colleges Can Go Green on Campus

Jody Morse
The concept of going green is becoming more widely spread. Many people throughout the country are increasing their efforts to go green. There are many colleges and universities across the country that are also doing all that can be done to go green. Here, we will take a much closer look at some of the many things some colleges and universities are doing to go greener.

Colleges Can Go Green by Recycling

Recycling goes far beyond paper, newspapers or plastic bottles at a college campus. There are actually many items that can be recycled on a college campus. This is especially true for technological products, such as computers, computer disks and printer cartridges. Light bulbs and batteries are just two of the many items which need to be changed fairly frequently that can also be recycled on a college campus. Anything that can be recycled on a college campus should be recycled. This is one of the easiest, and most important, things that can be done on a college campus to go green. Janitors should be given reminders about recycling and recycling bins should be placed in convenient locations all over campus.

Colleges Can Go Green in the Cafeteria

There are many ways for a college to go green in the cafeteria by making a few easy changes. One of the very easy things that any college can do is purchase their produce from a local farmer's market and serve organic, whenever possible. Recycling cups, plates and any other eating utensils in the cafeteria is also a very easy way to go green on a college campus. This can easily be done by purchasing corn-based compostable products, especially when serving coffee, as this is a very popular drink on college campuses. Using environmentally friendly detergents and chemicals whenever dishwashing is required is another very easy way for college campuses to go green in the cafeteria.

Colleges Can Go Green by Involving Students

Without the active support of their students, there is no way that a college will ever be able to truly go green. There are many ways that a college can involve its students in an effort to go green. Holding presentations on why going green is so important will remind students to increase their own efforts. Although some colleges assume that students know the importance of recycling, there are many who do not know why it is done. Explaining the importance is a good way to encourage support from students. Another great way to get students actively involved is by holding campus clean-up days that the students will participate in. Many students enjoy getting involved, especially when they feel that they are helping others - or in this case, the environment.

As you can see, there are so many ways that colleges can go green. Even though a college may feel that it is already doing enough to go green, the truth is that there is always something more that can be done. Neglecting the environment is not something that should be done anywhere, especially somewhere as large as a college campus.

Published by Jody Morse - Featured Contributor in Health & Wellness

Jody Morse has a B.A. in English from East Stroudsburg University. As a sufferer of endometriosis, she enjoys writing about women's health issues. She has worked as an assistant wedding DJ, and is dabbling i...  View profile

13 Comments

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  • jose "el loco" ruiz10/7/2009

    it was amazing :)

  • brenda10/7/2009

    it was awesooooommeeee!!!

  • johaida10/7/2009

    nice article very helpful...very informative :)

  • Bryan8/26/2008

    Nice post. I have an entire category on going green on campus on my blog: http://campussolutionsinc.com/weblog/category/go-green-on-campus/ with posts about energy, recycling and planting trees.

  • Dana11/2/2007

    My school just decided to go green, so I am really happy!

  • Amy Brantley11/1/2007

    These are wonderful tips. My campus has been going green since before I started attending.

  • Sussy11/1/2007

    Good info on the going green concept.

  • Carol Bengle Gilbert11/1/2007

    Excellent. Get 'em young.

  • Kassidy Emmerson11/1/2007

    Very good article! Going green is becoming more and more popular.

  • Zac Wassink11/1/2007

    i think penn state is a pretty green campus

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