Going Green: 5 Changes Your Campus Can Make Starting Today

Climate change is among the many things you can learn about and take a stance on. Gone are the days when people considered climate change an abstract concept with minimal impact on humanity. Recent devastating forest fires, polluted air, rapid diseases, reduced biodiversity, disappearing coral reefs, and increasingly hot weather conditions have made the effects of climate change real, present, and costly.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program recently released a National Climatic Assessment that showed a massive reduction in agricultural output, increased premature death cases, and the development of new diseases. With all these in mind, there are many things that we, as educators, can do to mitigate climate change and encourage our students to go green.

1. Start Repurposing Old Stuff 

Being an educator allows you to choose your favorite clothing, household, gadgets, and shoes. While keeping up with the latest trends is fine, you should be extremely careful how you dispose of your worn-out personal items. If you have a habit of throwing old clothes and gadgets away, it's time to change that!

Repurposing items that you have fallen out of favor with helps others who might need them and helps in the quest to go green. For instance, you can donate your old clothes to the less fortunate. Or, you can trade or sell them to willing buyers. These are much "greener" options than throwing them into Mother Nature's territory. 

As you explore this greener fashion option, you can encourage your students to do the same.

2. Save Up Electricity 

The beauty of saving up on electricity is any student can do it. Simple acts such as turning off the lights and unplugging electronic devices when not in use can help minimize power usage. Ask your school administration to consider power-saving light bulbs to ensure the sustainability of the going green initiative. Or open the curtains and let natural light into your room instead of using the lights at all!

3. Use Less Water 

Reducing water usage is one of the main ways through which students can help their campus go green. Whether you are washing your hands or getting a drink of water from the drinking fountain turning off the water when you are sudsing up your hands can make all the difference in water usage. 

These habits can then translate to home water usage as well. Taking shorter showers and turning off the tap when brushing your teeth can help to reduce water usage. 

4. Do Away with Plastic

Plastic remains to be one of the most highly wasted products globally. Students are amongst the highest users of products packaged in plastics. Depending on your student's choices, this puts them in a position to impact climate change. Whether a student or a staff member, you must take a stand and say no to plastic.

You can start by reducing plastic in the cafeteria. Opt for using regular dishes or utensils that can be recycled. Other actions that you can take to mitigate plastic use are getting rid of serving trays and using reusable water bottles.

5. Create Awareness 

Even though the effects of climate change can be felt by everyone, not every student or staff member is aware of the causes. By stopping the assumption that everyone on your campus is bright enough to know the right thing to do to go green and creating awareness, we provide an opportunity for everybody to actively participate.

Consider placing friendly reminders around your campus. Remind them of the benefits of going green and why they started the initiative in the first place. Other changes you can make in your school to contribute to the going green initiative include reducing paper and plastic, adopting green energy sources, encouraging tilling of campus farms to produce organic foods, and advocating for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings.

The Key Takeaway 

Climate change affects us more than we know. The rise of unexplainable diseases, harsh weather conditions, and reduced biodiversity are some effects of this menace. If we are not careful, it will only get worse. Fortunately, as students and educators, there is a lot that we can do to contribute to the going green initiative positively.

Simple acts such as turning off the water taps when not in use, reducing plastic waste, creating awareness, saving on electricity, and repurposing old, worn-out items can all make huge impacts.

Written by Mary Joseph
Education World Contributor
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