At Dartmouth many of us like to think we are a highly eco-friendly college that lives up to our nickname the Big Green. But last week, at the end of my biology class, I found myself holding an empty Honest Tea bottle without a single plastics recycling bin in sight. There was no bin in the classroom, no bin in the hallway and no bin on the building's lower level. Running late for my next class, I gave up and guiltily tossed the bottle into the closest trash can.
I'm no zealous environmentalist, but I do believe that everyone has something to contribute to the cause even if it's just doing small things like recycling and conserving energy. Yet despite all of the environmental organizations and initiatives that exist on campus, it seems that we have fallen short in successfully performing even these simplest of eco-friendly steps. Beneath the "green" image that the College projects, lurk continued unsustainability that no doubt tarnish our reputation as an eco-friendly school.
The lack of recycling bins that I came across last week was all too symbolic of our not-so-pretty recycling statistics. Recently, Sustainable Dartmouth sent out an e-mail excitedly proclaiming that we placed 167 out of 267 colleges in this year's Recyclemania contest. That's really not much to get excited about. Within the Ivy League, Dartmouth had the second lowest recycling rate among the six participating schools. We may be Green, but it was our Crimson friends down in Cambridge who ranked first amongst the Ivies, having a per capita recycling rate that was over 50 percent higher than ours. It's hard to believe that Harvard students are inherently more prone to recycle than we are. And I doubt environmental causes are more prominent over there. So why is it that we as a college that cares just as much, if not more, about the environment are not able to do better? Something is not right.
I know this isn't the first time that a rant about campus sustainability has found its way on the opinion page, but come on, placing 167 out of 267 in recycling? That's pretty sad for any college, let alone one that touts itself as being environmentally friendly. One prominent environmental group on campus, The Big Green Bus, will be traveling the country again this Summer, telling everyday Americans to do their part in helping the environment. It would be quite embarrassing if people found out that these eco-enthusiasts hail from a school that isn't even in the 50th percentile when it comes to its recycling rate. Before preaching to the masses, shouldn't we try to get our act together at home first?
Making Dartmouth a more eco-friendly place may not be as easy as it sounds for the layperson. Many of us genuinely care about the environment, but at the end of the day, we will recycle only if the bins are readily available. If all we see are trash cans, into the trash it goes. Although no one is proud of it, it's an unfortunate fact about human nature that we tend to do what's convenient even if it is not what's necessarily "right." Therein lies the underlying reason for the sharp disconnect between what people are saying and what they are actually doing.
Changing campus habits will not happen overnight, but one way to bring about results is to get the College administration to adopt more sustainable initiatives. If people are unwilling to go out of their way to recycle, then bring recycling to them by putting more recycle bins around campus say in classrooms. And there are always more ways for the College to save energy, like finally turning off lights and computers in the library at night or putting an end to those energy-wasting TVs that provide a constant display of material that we really don't care about.
One quote that I often find on Honest Tea bottles is Mahatma Gandhi's: "Be the change you want see in the world." Easier said than done, Gandhi. Helping the environment is just one of countless causes for which we should be acting on our beliefs. As such, it may be up to the people in power in this case the College administration to help us bring about the change we all want.
