Going green has had quite a presence as of late, with many initiatives taking place to protect the environment, and the Go Green Committee’s recent prominence is an excellent opportunity for students and community members alike to contribute individual ways to go green.
It seems going green has been a term thrown around quite loosely, but what does it truly mean? What is its purpose?
Its roots grow from environmentalism. It’s the idea that the world all of us inhabit is withering away, and that one has to carry the responsibility to prevent such a happening.
Global warming, the Greenhouse effect, pollution; these are all one of many terms that have casted our way, and with good reason, as it is important to preserve and improve the world around us.
Others, namely organizations or individuals on campus, have already induced steps to facilitate that change.
The Go Green Committee seeks to promote recycling across campus in order to establish a type of beneficial change on campus.
With its recycling initiative, the Go Green Committee intends to place recycling bins all across the campus, accompanying the trash cans that are already present.
Recycling bottled drinks can reduce the amount of container waste that would be spewed across our global shelter. Simply doing this, as opposed to, say, throwing the bottle on the floor or in a trash can, can do wonders.
Better yet, ditch the bottled water in favor of a reusable bottle from home in order to avoid the mess all together.
Helping out goes beyond simply recycling bottled or plastic goods, as even some of the simplest form of lifestyle habits can have a negative impact on the environment.
Installing fluorescent light bulbs, unplugging appliances when they are not in use and, washing clothes with cold water can save energy.
According to worldwatch.org, “As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water.”
Hanging your clothes, instead of drying them in a machine, can save the energy required to warm up the clothes (not to mention the money you’ll save and you don’t get your clothes faded as fast with cold water).
These energy saving habits that can be applied at home, are also things that can be applied to the buildings on campus in the future, as the environmentalist intentions are not limited to just the Go Green Committee.
The new Liberal Arts and DSPS Building that is currently under construction will also utilize energy saving resources in order to restrict overuse of power.
The world around us is going green, whether it be on a grandeur scale that is nation-wide or on a micro-level at schools, such as Cerritos College.
Simple things, like biking to school or walking, can sometimes pose dramatic change.
The ideal toward the preservation of the environment is a step that requires little change in one’s habits and day-to-day activities, and ultimately a big bold change for the entire planet.
