As Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall goes trayless for the month of April, EcoAction is celebrating Earth Week next week by hosting a variety of earth-minded activities, from a tree-planting to a dramatic reading of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.
“Earth Week’s about getting people to associate conservation with something enjoyable, and show [that] conservationists aren’t just some hippies from back in the sixties,” Jonathan Cohn (COL ‘10), EcoAction’s publicity director, said. “Once conservation becomes more mainstream, something people enjoy, we hope we can make some institutional changes here.”
On Monday, EcoAction will sponsor an inter-faith panel to discuss religion and the environment. Later in the week, the group will sell t-shirts reading “Renewable Energy Turns Me On” in Red Square. President Tripti Bhattacharya (SFS ’10) said EcoAction’s sale of reusable “Green” Grab ‘n Go bags over the past few weeks have been successful: last week they sold 165 bags in Leo’s.
EcoAction collaborated with Dining Services to produce “Trayless April,” which drastically cut down on the amount of water, energy and chemicals needed to clean Leo’s trays, according to Aramark spokesperson Kendra Boyer.
“I’m not going to say that we spearheaded it, but we helped brainstorm ideas for Leo’s, and that was one of the ideas we came up with,” Cohn said.
EcoAction also oversaw the University’s second year of participation in RecycleMania, a nationwide recycling contest between colleges and universities. In RecycleMania 2008, Georgetown had the 41st highest overall recycling rate, and the 122nd—up from last year’s 155th—highest per-capita recycling rate. But according to Cohn, the rates are a result of our “bloated population”—students and faculty at the Law Center are counted in our recycling population despite working with different recycling contractors.
“Overall, our recycling rate has improved a lot since RecycleMania last year, which is so exciting,” Cohn said.
Both EcoAction and the University credit the increased availability of recycling containers in buildings throughout campus for the improvement. Georgetown currently pays a plant to sort its recyclables, but according to University Spokesperson Julie Green Bataille, better recycling on campus would allow the University to transition away from this expensive practice.
Georgetown’s other green-conscious efforts include efforts to purchase renewable energy and construct its new buildings to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards, according to Green Bataille.
Beyond Earth Week, EcoAction and Campus Facilities have worked together on Georgetown’s new Sustainability Committee to promote renewable energy purchasing and better recycling practices on campus, according to Bhattacharya.
“It’s better when students know that the faculty is invested in recycling issues,” she said. “We see more progress.”
