Stonehill is going green!

September 24, 2008

The Environmental Stewardship Committee includes representatives from the entire Stonehill Community--from students to faculty to administration and staff. And our first order of business is to make a commitment to improve the effort to reduce our carbon footprint right here at Stonehill College. And we'd like all of you, as parts of the Stonehill Community, to join us in this effort. One pledge the members of the committee have made is to make regular announcement to bring attention to efforts being made, or actions that can be taken, to help our environment.

To kick things off, here's a list of four simple and easy things you can do starting today to make a difference right here on campus:

• Recycle Paper: There should be a paper recycle container near you in Res Halls and other buildings. Look at your trash basket now: if there is paper in it, then you've missed an opportunity to recycle. If you don't have a recycle container in your work or living space, just use a small box.
• Reusable containers, bottles, and cups. Buy a gallon of water instead of individual bottles and drink it from a reusable container. Grab a plastic cup in the Dining Commons, carry your reusable container in a backpack and fill it at a water bubbler. Or put that re-usable travel coffee mug in your car to use. Once you get used to carrying a container around, it will be there for you to use all the time!
• Shut the water off. While you are brushing your teeth, put a cup by the sink and rinse with that. You'll save 90% of the water you'd use if you kept the faucet running. 
• Shut the lights off. When you are leaving your office, classroom, or any room, just flip the switch!

That's it. No giant effort at building wind turbines, turning in the car for a hybrid, or composting in your bedroom; just four small things that if done every day by everyone at Stonehill will dramatically reduce the College's use of energy:

RECYCLE PAPER
RE-USE BEVERAGE CONTAINERS
SHUT THE WATER OFF
SHUT THE LIGHTS OFF

So, let's really commit to taking action today! As a reminder, write down the above tips where you'll see them-in the bathroom, on the door walking out of your room or office, in a daily scheduler or on the screen saver of your computer. If you are already doing all of these, great! Try to do them one or two more times a day than you currently are and you've done your share.