Dani Gagnon
Features Editor
This upcoming week, campus is going to be getting a lot greener — and not only because spring has finally arrived. This week Greenhouse, an on-campus student environmental group, is hosting their annual Earth Week. Throughout the week there will be a series of small events and initiatives that will conclude on Friday, April 25 at the final event, Earthfest.
This year, as a part of Earth Week, the College will participate in No Impact Week, during which each day of the week will be geared towards a different sustainability initiative to encourage people to make conscious decisions in terms of the environment. For instance, Sunday is focusing on consumption and, in effort to lower spending, there will be a clothing swap in the Lowry circle that afternoon, explained Alissa Weinman ’15, the vice-president of Greenhouse.
Other activities, including Eco-Spa, will target how to maintain habits and regular routines while still being environmentally conscious. At Eco-Spa there will be catering from Spoon Market and Local Roots and performances by student bands, along with information on how to make your own body-scrubs and lotions out of all natural ingredients.
“Through lectures, festivals and meetings Greenhouse hopes to increase the campuses awareness about environmental issues and implement some changes that can make us a bit ‘greener’ of a school” said Weinman. Greenhouse is an organization that brings together students and faculty who are committed to improving sustainability on-campus. Currently, there are three subcommittees that make up Greenhouse: food, waste and publicity. Each subgroup focuses their efforts on initiatives that will affect campus life and improve sustainability on campus.
The food committee is researching and composing a Lowry recipe book, which provides meat-free and local ingredient recipes for dishes that students can create in Lowry. The waste committee is spearheading a pilot program that will introduce hand dryers and will dramatically reduce paper towel waste. And on an ongoing basis, the publicity committee communicates these and many other initiatives to promote students to partake in these efforts.
Greenhouse promotes a number of lifestyle initiatives that students can participate in on an everyday basis to make significant improvements in reducing the College’s environmental footprint. Weinman elaborated, saying, “Greenhouse is great because it shows students that it is possible to make a difference on the Wooster campus in terms of sustainability. Whether it be the ‘Lug Your Mug’ program that Rita Frost ’14 promoted last year or the Reusable Take Out Boxes that Caroline Kamen ’16 instigated, projects like these prove positive changes that students want to make happen can become a reality.”
Greenhouse meets weekly on Wednesday nights in Lowry 119 and is always looking to reach and engage more students. Even if meetings aren’t conducive with your schedule Weinman said, “composting your to-go boxes, thinking twice about the food waste you generate in our dining halls and using a reusable water bottle instead of a plastic one can go a long way!”