Berry Nice | Cure environmental apathy

For Penn students, the words “green living” seem to bring images to mind of baseball fields or Bob Marley rather than sustainability and recycling. Sure, the administration may talk a big game about how environmentally sound we are as a community, but among most students, the general attitude toward environmental issues is one of apathy.

Our University website boasts that we are a “leading voice in higher education addressing environmental sustainability.” And rightfully so­ — Penn has a Climate Action Plan and was the first of the Ivies to sign the Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

But a voice only means so much. As Environmental Science lecturer Irina Marinov said, “My impression [of Penn’s green agenda] is that this is a lot of nice political talk, but I am not sure there is much to show for it.”

In a lot of ways, Penn is sustainably hypocritical. We have notable resources in place to become a more green campus but not the student motivation to do so. “Far too often I see people just throw the DP in the garbage, even with the recycling bin nearby,” said Roman Shor, an Earth and Environmental Science first-year doctoral student.

And the trend doesn’t stop there. Take a gander into the trash/recycling/compost bins in Houston Hall and try not to laugh at their comparative popularities. Or step into a public bathroom on campus. Sure, a sticker reading “These come from trees” is on the paper towel dispenser, but there probably isn’t a recycling bin beneath it and a self-conscious freshman probably left the faucet running before entering a stall.

It’s time we get over ourselves and make the effort. Even if acting hippie-dippie isn’t our jam, it is our responsibility.

Compared to other colleges, Penn students have a ways to go before we can consider ourselves green. According to RecycleMania, a sustainability contest between universities, Penn weighed in with a cumulative recycling rate of 23.5 percent in 2010, ranking behind more than 60 competing schools.

Penn’s Green Campus Partnership website used this same statistic to claim fifth place among the Ivies. News flash: the Ivy League is old school.

As far as waste minimization is concerned, Penn reported 66.5 cumulative waste pounds per person. More than 50 schools managed less than this number, according to RecycleMania.

In reality, offering more classes related to sustainability (we already have about 150) or bolstering grants for a few profitable green projects (check out the Green Fund) won’t solve the real communication problem here.

“I think that students just need to be better informed about what exactly is being done,” College senior Nani Jansen, an environmental science major, recently wrote in an e-mail.

I talked to Engineering sophomore Joel Goldman and College sophomore Rebecca Pritzker, who spearhead the Penn Environmental Group’s waste management efforts, and came up with a list of what every student should know about recycling at Penn:

1. Penn now has single-stream recycling, meaning paper, plastic and glass can all go into one bin.

2. Compost is more than half-eaten pizza — food, used paper napkins, most utensils and the take-out cartons like the ones Bon Appetit uses also qualify. Throw ‘em in.

3. Penn takes plastics 1-7. “Basically everything but plastic bags,” Pritzker said.

4. As for those plastic CVS and Fresh Grocer bags, take them back to the store and they’ll be reused.

5. Batteries, ink cartridges and computers should be recycled correctly. There are bins for this so called “techno-trash” in Huntsman Hall and college houses.

The University does have commendable initiatives underway, such as its commitment to green energy and its Eco-Reps program. But it is a shame for the community to not be united for the cause. A green agenda should be the rule, not the exception.

Kensey Berry is a College sophomore from Little Rock, Ark. Her e-mail address is berry@theDP.com. Berry Nice appears on Tuesdays.

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