Suffolk has come a really long way in the past few years. Some of us still remember the orange and red patterned Styrofoam cups from the days before the University remodeled its sustainability goals as well as its cafeterias.
But there’s still more work to be done. While there have been massive improvements, the campus is far from what could be called “green” and we all need to do our part, no matter how small it seems.
To all those kids who stand out in front of Sawyer, Ridgeway and Donahue, use the trash cans when you put out cigarettes. For the kids in the dorms: recycle your bottles of Mountain Dew instead of trashing them. And for everyone else: turn off lights, computers and printers when you’re done for the day.
The universities in the Northeast are leaders in environmentalism and sustainability and there’s no reason that Suffolk can’t be one of those schools leading the charge to reduce carbon footprints. As a commuter school, it can be difficult for Suffolk students to take the T or carpool instead of driving into the city in what is probably a more comfortable environment, but those who drive in should really think twice about it. SGA needs to pass the bike rental legislation that was stalled in committee. And think of how much paper could be saved if all clubs went paperless.
LEED certified construction of new buildings, sustainable toilet flushers, and motion-detecting lights are all some of the great things this institution is doing, but it’s up to us, the students, to make changes in our own daily lives, or else all the great carbon-cancelling measures that the school spends money on will be moot.
Right now, the world is in such a place that our circumstance demands that everyone who is able to change their lifestyles do so. It was close to 65 degrees just a couple weeks ago. In Boston. In January. Global climate change is no longer just a crazy hippy theory – we’re living it. And little by little, even by tiny, seemingly insignificant, individual acts here at Suffolk, positive changes can be made.
