Ten Ways to Make Every Day Earthday

Inthe spirit of Earthday, I've compiled a list of the top 10 things that you can do for the Earth right here at Dartmouth.

1. Bring your own Enviro-mugs, silverware and reusables to Collis and the Hop. Yesterday you may have noticed the more than 40 bags of trash piled up on the lawn. All this garbage -- over 300 lbs. of plastic-ware, paper cups and other disposables -- is generated each day at Collis. Not only is it expensive to purchase over 10,000 paper cups a week, but it is also enormously wasteful to send so much garbage to the Lebanon landfill. We all need to petition the administration to install dishwashing facilities, but until that happens, we can do our part by reusing on our own.

2. Shut off your computers. The computers at Dartmouth use over 4 million kilowatt hours a year -- enough energy to power 100,000

60-watt light bulbs for an entire month. Apple has confirmed that it does not hurt a computer to shut it off regularly, and it will save energy even if it is off for only a half hour. If the estimated 1,300 students who normally leave their computers on at night were to start shutting them off, they would save the College over $60,000 per year on energy costs and greatly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

1. Turn off your lights.

2. Drive less; walk or ride your bicycle more, especially around campus.

3. Print on Kiewit Draft. Between the cover sheets and the multiple draft copies which we print out every day, we generate an enormous amount of needless waste. Print less and use the draft paper when you can.

4. Recycle. Last year we sent over 350 tons of recyclable material to the landfill. Despite yearly savings of over $75,000 from our present recycling efforts, we are not even close to the College's 51 percent recycling goal. All it takes is a little extra effort to separate your trash and bring it to the recycling room.

5. Let the administration know you are concerned. Only when top administrators like President James Freedman and Provost Lee Bollinger decide that environmental initiatives are a high priority will the College begin to make serious institutional changes.

The recently released report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Environmental Policy for College Operations (CEPCO) is not nearly as strong as it could be. It amounts to little more than a series of unfunded suggestions and makes no solid recommendations on such critical areas as solid waste reduction in dining halls or energy use in new buildings. Students and faculty need to petition the administration to strengthen the report and take the necessary steps to implement the changes.

1. Write to President Clinton. Congress has passed legislation as part of the "Contract with America" that guts some of the most successful environmental regulations of the past 25 years. Some examples include the suspension of the Endangered Species Act and a recisions amendment known as "Logging Without Laws" which mandates tripling the amount of timber cut in National Forests. Students need to write President Clinton and demand that he veto any bill which contains the "Gorton-Taylor" logging amendment.

2. Stay informed and support campus environmental groups. The Environmental Studies Division of the Outing Club (ESD) is working in many of the areas listed above and needs your participation. ESD is sponsoring an Earthday concert on the Bema this Saturday and will continue its petition and letter writing and campaigns.

3. Get outside. Take a hike in the woods to remind yourself why forests and clean air are important. Then think about what changes you can make to reduce your own impact and live more sustainably.