Sustainability seeks students to keep Linfield green

Duncan Reid, Office of Sustainability

Welcome back Wildcats! And a warm welcome to all of our students who are joining us for the first time.

As some of you know, Linfield has made a commitment to sustainability on campus. “What does this mean for me?” You might ask. Well, it means that Linfield is doing its best to drive an institutional sustainability effort while supporting the faculty, staff and students who are already committed to sustainability.

It means that we are getting more serious about things like Zero Waste, composting on campus and developing strategies to eliminate our carbon footprint.

While there are many things we can do in terms of infrastructure development and planning on an institutional level, Linfield cannot achieve our sustainability goals without the help of our students. Without your help.

For you see, we can install recycling bins with new signage to grab your attention, but if you don’t know what goes in which bin than it doesn’t much matter.

This is a call to action for all students to do their part in creating a sustainable community here at Linfield.

By now I am sure you have heard many “Top 10” lists about how to go green, so I will not go over those for you now. I will urge you to be an active steward of our community, of your community, by doing a few key things.

First, please know what can and cannot be recycled on campus. If everyone just made the right decision at the bin we would be diverting 77 percent of our material from the landfill. So know before you throw.

Second, make an effort to reduce the trash you bring into your life. There are many ways to do this: carry a reusable mug to Starbucks or a reusable water bottle to class. Don’t buy trash.

Third, utilize the composing system on campus. If you are in a residence hall, ask your RA or Green Chair where to compost. If you are in an on campus apartment, you can check out a bin from the Residence Life office in Mahaffey.

Fourth, please consider walking or biking to class instead of driving. In most cases, driving actually takes longer. Don’t believe me? Time yourself.

Fifth, you can support the Linfield Garden by volunteering at work parties on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. or participate in events.

If you haven’t seen the garden yet, go check it out on the south side of Renshaw Hall.

If all of us at Linfield were willing to do just three of these things, we could drastically reduce trash and emissions from our campus.

If you want to get further involved in Linfield Sustainability, please consider joining Greenfield, becoming a Green Chair or just stopping by the Observatory to get more information.

There are many opportunities to participate in, but the important thing is to get involved on some level. Like I said, we can’t do this without you. Thank you for your help in keeping Linfield green!