Progressivism on campus
// news / progressive - february, 2006
http://progressive.stanford.edu/2006.02_sustainablestanford.html
written by Josh Weiner
As I tap lightly on the open door, Emma Yuen is madly pecking away on her laptop, sunk into a beanbag at her pad in Columbae. A junior from Hawaii, Yuen is the current president of Students for a Sustainable Stanford. Her eyes show fatigue, but she is full of spirit and raring to fill me in on the latest ventures of her active group.
Students for a Sustainabile Stanford is a rapidly growing campus organization focused on practical, hands-on work to promote a less wasteful Stanford community. The group is currently working on the following four initiatives:
1. Recycled Paper Conversion
Students for a Sustainable Stanford has dedicated itself to converting Stanford's academic departments to the use of recycled paper from the use of traditional version paper. Yuen explained recycled paper is cheaper and the quality is the same. The reality is that some people just do not know. So far, the initiative has succeeded in converting 20 departments, and the remaining departments are sure to conform soon.
2. Energy Bowl and Water Derby
The January-February conservation campus-wide competition entitled, "Energy Bowl and Water Derby," will reward the dorm that reduces its consumption the highest percentage from last year's figures. Yuen emphasized that the goal is to "compete to conserve" for a short period in order to foster habits that will endure. Conservation can be as easy as remembering to turn off the light before leaving the room and taking briefer showers.
3. Stanford to Sign Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a commitment to return to 1990 levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Yuen argues that even if the United States is not willing to show this commitment at a national level, communities within the United States must take it upon themselves to fulfill this international obligation. If Stanford were to sign onto the Kyoto Protocol, it would serve as an affirmation that climate change is something that we are really concerned about here at Stanford, and we have the capacity to do something about it. This initiative depends on the interest of President Hennessy and other faculty members.
4. E-Reps
Students for a Sustainable Stanford is working with New Student Orientation (NSO) to create an official dorm position to encourage resource conservation and environmental awareness. These officers would be called "E-Reps," or Environmental Representatives. E-Reps would be in charge of delivering a weekly conservation tip to dorm residents, facilitating programming focused on environmental issues, and ensuring that dorm recycling programs are run effectively.
In addition to these four initiatives, the group encourages sustainability on campus in other ways. Some members of the group are working directly with the university's Capital Improvement Planning, advocating energy efficiency in future growth. Others are planning an Earth Day celebration to take place the week of April 17. Students for a Sustainable Stanford has played a key role in getting recycling bins in everyone's room on campus and encouraging dining halls to use more organic food. Another initiative in the works would facilitate the transition of all Marguerites to biodiesel fuel, powered by used cooking oil from dining halls.
The mission of the group reads as follows:
"We are a coalition of students striving to ensure the sustainability of Stanford University. Our work comprises a diverse array of projects which broker a harmonious relationship between the University and its ecosystem. The group also serves as an umbrella organization for students interested in green building; organic and local foods; paper, energy, and water use reduction; environmental education; political activism; green business; animal rights; and environmental law. We help channel these interests toward an observable reality on campus through a practical and professional approach."
Students for a Sustainable Stanford meets every Monday at 9pm in the Donald Kennedy room in the Haas Center. While one or two dozen students attend the meetings every week, there is a long list of important advocacy jobs and Yuen wants more activists. For more information, please email Emma Yuen at nutrient@stanford.edu or visit Sustainability online at: http://sustainability.stanford.edu.
Yuen summarizes her commitment to sustainability: "In our lives, sustainability means minimizing the amount of resources that we waste. We are going to consume resources inevitably. But, we have to minimize our consumption so that we can preserve our resources for future generations. I hate wasting things. We need to be more efficient."