Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Eco-College-Ey

Bucknell University students have shown that when it comes to changing the world for the greener, it may be up to the young'ens to lead the charge:
"It's really important to make the commitment to change, even if it's small things," said [Ali] Blumenstock, [20], one of the drivers behind the Sustainable Cooperative at Taylor House, a green residence project formed by the environmental club at [Bucknell]. "It's more than energy efficiency. It's a whole lifestyle."
Some argue that this "lifestyle" is atypical of college students. While intuition may nudge us in that direction, "Not so fast," say some:
"More and more students are saying, 'We want to know how green the campus is before we come there,' " said Paul Rowland, executive director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
What would happen if all current high school seniors organized themselves and demanded specific sustainability requirements be implemented at colleges and universities, or else the students would not attend? These institutions are largely dependent on a consistent flow of student tuition in order to function. What happens if that money stops flowing?

The debate may continue as to whether or not sustainable behavior on the part of the students is atypical, but one thing remains clear: the students are in the driver's seat. Hummer of hybrid? That's up to them to decide.

Read the whole story here.

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