Loving the environment isn’t just for longhaired hippies or tree-hugging liberals anymore. With global warming threatening to disrupt natural weather patterns, environmental problems will soon become a pressing concern for everyone. The time to reverse the damages inflicted on the world by human actions is now, and students can support this cause without putting forth a great deal of effort.
Excessive energy use is one of the major causes of environmental problems. According to Solar Energy International, Americans consume about 26 percent of the world’s energy supply, even though they account for only 5 percent of the world’s population.
World energy consumption is predicted to rise in the future, leading to more harmful carbon dioxide emissions. According to MSNBC, “The scientific community generally agrees that temperatures on Earth are rising because of the greenhouse effect — increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other materials into the atmosphere that trap heat.”
Cutting energy use, and thus slowing the pace of global warming, can be as simple as switching search engines. Blackle is a new search engine powered by Google Custom Search that uses a black screen instead of a more power-taxing white screen (like the traditional Google site). Choosing Blackle over Google could save up to 750 megawatt-hours a year according to Blackle’s website.
Granted, 750 megawatt-hours does not make a huge difference, but changing search engines is not exactly a terrible inconvenience. If it helps the environment even a little bit, that’s still better than nothing.
Of course, you can’t talk about cleaning up the environment without mentioning recycling. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans produced 245 million tons of garbage in 2005. Thankfully, people recycled about 32 percent of this sold waste; however, the other 160 million tons probably ended up in landfills, bodies of waters and streets.
The recycling bins strategically located all over campus make the world-saving process fairly easy. Instead of tossing an empty water bottle or beer can in the trash or on the ground, recycle it. Recycling saves valuable energy and conserves resources for the future, in addition to providing businesses with usable materials.
If walking a couple of minutes out of your way is too strenuous, then store recyclable items in a box and empty it whenever you feel inclined. No one can make the claim throwing reusable items in the trash has positive effects, so no valid excuse exists for not recycling.
Using paper more wisely could also help the environment. Is it really necessary to print out a hard copy of every 30-page reading assignment that your professor assigns you?
Before you print, take into consideration that Recycling Revolution estimates Americans throw away about 1 billion trees worth of paper every year. This number is ridiculous, especially since some scientists predict the Amazon rainforest could disappear in the next hundred years.
If you decide you cannot live without a physical copy of the aforementioned 30-page reading, perhaps you should offset your carbon emissions by donating a little money to carbonfund.org. Carbonfund allocates your money to various carbon-reducing projects, such as reforestation.
People begin complaining when they hear the word “money,” but I am certain most students can afford to donate a small amount of money to make up for their environmentally unfriendly habits.
There’s no point in denying the world is in an environmental crisis. Even President George W. Bush, who is usually hopelessly oblivious to issues such as climate change, now admits global warming is a serious problem.
It’s not difficult to reverse nature’s deterioration. The process will be slow, but looking toward the long-term goal of a healthy planet makes a little effort extremely worthwhile.
—Aimee Sobhani is a freshman in the College of Arts and Science.
