Environmental groups work to 'green' the campus

The Princeton tiger treasures his home. But his home is changing, as the Earth's natural resources are drained by its human population.

To address this problem, Princeton's environmentalists say they hope to help save the world's resources, or at least to put the University on the right track.

"The entire world isn't functioning in a way that can continue sustainably," President of the Princeton Conservation Society Brooke Kelsey Jack '03 said.

Though global warming may be debatable, she said, the limits of natural resources — from trees to petroleum — are not.

Princeton Environmental Action President Bradley Kennedy '05 agreed.

Kennedy said she brought back the concept of tree-free paper — paper made from recycled materials — from a college environmental conference that she recently attended, titled "Greening of the Ivies."

"All the Ivies get together to decide on a few issues that they're all going to focus on," Kennedy said.

Kennedy and PEA have been working with administrators to convince departments to purchase more tree-free paper and paper made from sustainably harvested sources. Those sources ensure that trees cut down for paper are replaced with new trees planted in their place.

Each department purchases paper individually, though, making change no easy task.

Don Weston, director of the University's purchasing department, said that, though new products can be made available for departments, he cannot force them to buy these products.

But tree-free paper, a relatively new product, is already on the list.

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However, the high cost of entirely recycled paper — approximately $35 per ream, compared to $25 per ream for standard recycled paper — is not attractive to departments.

"I don't think there's too many departments on campus that are using the 100 percent product at this point," Weston said.

With the 3.5 percent increase in paper use in the past year on campus, "there is a movement to increase the use of recycled products by departments," he added. "There's much more awareness than years previously."

Kennedy emphasized the importance of turning awareness into action.

"If the faculty and students show that there's support for this, the administration will do the right thing," she said.

PEA isn't alone in looking for ways to "green" the campus. Two years ago, Jack and Liz Bernier '02 compiled an 81-page environmental audit of the University, the second such review of University procedures produced by the Princeton Environmental Institute, a University advisory council.

Among the many conclusions made in the report, the audit found that refrigeration in maintenance had the greatest increase in water consumption at the University since the 1995 audit. The change was attributed to the installation of air conditioners in new and renovated buildings.

But one-time recommendations can only go so far. The audit recommended that the University establish an environmental committee made up of administrators, faculty and students that would meet regularly.

"There's quite strong support, good support from Tilghman as well," Jack said.

The committee is now being formed, said Vice President for Facilities Michael McKay, who is set to become the committee's chair.

Though not all the committee's members have been chosen, McKay said he expects the committee will serve as a forum for the discussion of ideas and a source of recommendations for policy changes.

McKay said the nature of the committee will be decided at its first meeting, which may be held in the next few weeks.

Another audit is in the works, which will continue assessing aggregate changes in the University's procedures that affect the environment.

The Environmental Studies course ENV 201: Fundamentals of Environmental Studies: Population, Land Use, Water, and Energy has played a large role in the research so far, Jack said.

At the other end of the spectrum are the little things — like putting recycled paper in computer clusters and placing more trash cans around the campus greenery.

Rosa Poetes '05, who recently became involved in campus environmental groups, thinks that more attention to these "little" things could produce a larger effect.

"Every student uses so much paper, and to change something like that would really have quite an effect," she said.

Jack said that, although some professors will not accept papers printed double-sided, students should at least print drafts double-sided to save paper. She added that unused pages in test booklets could be used as scrap paper.

Poetes, who is from Germany, said that Americans' environmental habits don't match up to those abroad.

She said she finds that people in the United States are more likely to use paper cups than cups that can be washed, and that people are lax about sorting their trash and putting aside recyclables.

"Things like that seem so easy to do and are so rarely done," Poetes said.

The United States' environmental policies are also a far cry from those in her home country, she added.

Germany's government is currently a coalition of the Green Party and the Social Democratic Party, which, Poetes said, allows the government to pass legislation that could not succeed in the United States.

"In Germany, within the next 20 years, we won't have any atomic energy plants any more," she said. "Some of these things seem so right to me . . . It's a step in the right direction and it's a clear step."

Poetes attended a Sustain US environmental conference held at New York University last weekend, where she said she learned perspectives on environmental issues in other nations.

In Mexico, for instance, the land gained by deforestation is only fertile for a few years.

Efforts made by environmentalists around the world are recognized on Earth Day on April 22. Kicking off Earth Week, PEA will sponsor "Approaches to Environmentalism," a three-day conference beginning April 12.

The goal, Kennedy said, is to get the Princeton campus and community involved in the environment.

"PEA's mission has generally been to increase awareness of environmental issues on campus," she said.

"We really feel the environmentalist movement has a reputation among college kids or people — who aren't necessarily completely aware of what's going on — that it's a fringe movement," Jack said.

Businessmen, artists, writers and others have been invited, she said, "to show that it really is a very mainstream movement that's very diverse," and that there are many ways to approach environmental problems.

Jack's approach began at an early age. A Seattle native, Jack said that, as a child, she often went hiking and kayaking with her family in and around the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

She also has had the opportunity with her family to see Madagascar and Chile, where she was intrigued by the conflict between the nations' development and the preservation of the natural environment.

"What got me most was seeing first hand at a very young age this crisis," Jack said.

Jack, however, was not active in environmental movements until she arrived on campus.

At home, she said, because she and her family lived close to nature, she grew up around people who cared about the environment. There wasn't much of a need for activism, she said.

Shocked by the lack of awareness and action on campus, Jack said she felt compelled to do something.

"And at this point I'm fully aware that's what I'm going to do for the rest of my life," Jack said.

Last summer Jack visited tiger conservation areas in Nepal and India, through a grant from the Princeton Save the Tiger Campaign, an alumni organization.

Jack said PCS hopes to create similar summer opportunities in conjunction with PSTC.

She explained why environmental activism and "greening" the University campus is so important.

"We depend with everything we do on natural resources," she said.

Keeping in mind the needs of the Princeton tiger will not only allow us to continue to benefit from nature, but also will help accommodate the needs of future generations.