Greening the Stonehill routine

By Rachael Bolden

Kermit the Frog was right: it's not easy being green.
Stonehill College learned that the hard way when they received a D+ from greenreportcard.org, a website which grades colleges on their sustainability efforts. The 2007 survey found the school lacking in categories like recycling, green building, and student involvement.
Sophomore Cassie White, vice president of the newly formed Students for Environmental Action (SEA), said the college is set on changing its ways
"The Stonehill community takes it seriously," White said. "A big part of the problem is that students just aren't aware of their impact on the earth."
Luckily, it seems the student body is up to the challenge. With campus-wide initiatives like SEA and an environmentally friendly housing option for next year, today's students are providing their peers with ample opportunities to go green.
White believes that education is an important element of the environmental movement.
"We want to increase environmental awareness among the Stonehill community," White said. "More importantly, we aim to inspire others to act in a way that is mindful of the environment."
SEA is making it easy for students to embrace a more ecological lifestyle. They had several events planned for Earth Week in April, including tree-planting, a campus cleanup, a light bulb swap, and a hiking trip. They also plan to break ground on a community vegetable garden in the coming months.
"The garden is located at the sheep pasture, run by student volunteers, and the produce will be brought back to Stonehill," White said. "We've also requested more vegetarian options in the cafeteria, along with having a local vegetable or fruit of the month."
SEA is not alone in their environmental efforts. The students work in conjunction with the Environmental Stewardship Council, an organization which is currently overseeing the "Stonehill Goes Green" initiative.
Professor Susan Mooney, chair of the council, said it was formed three years ago to assist the college in becoming more environmentally aware across the board.
"Most environmental issues cross our typical institutional divisions," Mooney said. "Coordinated efforts across the whole campus is the solution."
To that end, the council consists of representatives from each administrative department as well as student members. It serves in an advisory position to the college's various departments, recommending policies and practices to help each one become more environmentally friendly.
"We support and encourage groups like SEA ... to resolve environmental issues they see around them," Mooney said.
Mooney said the council has already been effective in changing the college's environmental standing.
The campus has made improvements to the curriculum by offering a new Environmental Studies major. It has also expanded its efforts in energy and resource conservation, incorporating "green" techniques in the design of the new science building and promoting campaigns around campus for recycling and reusable water bottles.
Even without official organizations, students are taking action to do their part for the environment. One court house next year will be filled with 24 students dedicated to living more environmentally sustainable lives.
Junior Janna Rayworth, who helped organize alternative housing option, said the house is the college's first example of students working towards sustainability on such a large scale.
"Many students at Stonehill make community service and environmental awareness a part of their lives," Rayworth said. "But I believe this is the first time that a group of students has come to live together for this specific purpose."
The house will take many measures in order to "green" their day-to-day routine. Students will turn off their computers when they're not in use, drink from reusable water containers instead of plastic water bottles, and stock reusable towels in the bathrooms instead of disposable paper towels.
Rayworth said the measures, while seemingly small, will go a long way in helping Stonehill reach its going-green goals.
"These changes are not major for the individual, but will make a huge difference," Rayworth said. "Once we establish our environmentally friendly plan in our house, we hope to spread it to other people individually and hopefully to other dorms as well."
White agrees that it's the little things that make a bi difference in the effort to become more environmentally aware. One of SEA's goals is to educate peers on the changes they can make to their daily lives.
"I think that challenging students to change their lifestyle has been our greatest difficulty," White said. "While we try to make sustainability fun and easy, we understand students are slow to change. But we are slow making progress."
Those little changes that SEA encourages include shutting off lights and televisions when not in use, walking, biking, or carpooling, bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, and printing double-sided papers. White hopes that eventually, those small steps will become something much bigger.
"I think we need an uproar from students so that our campus can become entirely eco-friendly," White said. "Individuals need to take he responsibility to change their lifestyle."