GW needs a green revolution

Sustainability is an issue that touches everyone. There is no denying that our planet is in an environmental crisis.

Last year, as freshmen at the GW, one thing that we all noticed was that the University’s attempts at sustainability and green living were poor. Crammed into the halls of Thurston, we questioned where the green movement was and who was leading it?

We realized that someone must take a stand.

Green living connected us, and our excitement prompted us to form an Living and Learning Cohort addressing these issues. Three months later, the Sierra Club has ranked GW second-to-last in the nation on sustainability. We were disappointed but not surprised. We knew the movement was lacking and this has motivated us to further our ambitions.

Our goal is to lead GW’s environmental movement, educating ourselves and our peers. Part of our initiative is to calculate the carbon footprint of our LLC and to measure the amount of money we’re saving by living more efficiently.

Our plan includes making significant changes to our housing during the first semester, introducing one environmentally friendly change every two weeks. One of our largest goals is to purchase solar panels for our residence hall, Building JJ.

Extensive funds aren’t readily available and solar panels are pricey right now. Therefore, Revolution Green has turned to the idea of a revolving energy fund, a fiscal device that encourages eco-friendly projects while completely eliminating their start-up costs. Currently existing only at Harvard University and Macalester College, these funds grow with every project by returning the energy savings, which allows for more “green” projects in the future. We will also be publishing our experiences this spring to help educate the GW community. The union of our long- and short-term goals exemplifies our passion for conservation.

Reduce, reuse, revolt!

Kelsey O’Boyle, Jordan Phillips and Sam Rioux

Members of Revolution Green LLC

Program Board should advertise Fall Fest, Spring Fling in advance

Program Board gave us a last-minute notification once again. Is the University community truly surprised? I thought that late-hour announcements were Program Board’s MO.

Students are always interested in what will happen at Fall Fest or Spring Fling, but the Program Board fails to give students advance notice of basic things like when the event will take place. As an employee of the Marvin Center and University Conferences, I know that they have booked and confirmed the date months ahead of time. Despite this, the earliest I’ve ever seen posters hung up to advertise the events is 10 days prior.

I understand not wanting to advertise without a confirmed headliner or line-up. Even so, is it so laborious to send out a blast e-mail reading “Save the Date: Fall Fest is Sept. 6!” to the student body a month in advance?

Last semester, I knew many people who were psyched to see Gym Class Heroes perform. Unfortunately, since none of them knew when Spring Fling would take place until the Saturday before, they were unable to cancel obligations like work or club tournaments to attend.

Not finalizing a headliner until a week before the concert is certainly not good, but sometimes things beyond one’s control happen. I can understand that. What is beyond my comprehension is why the Program Board Advertising Committee cannot fulfill its purpose until two weeks before a big event.

Jessica Maloney, Junior