Earth Day dominates Dustbowl

It was a typical spring day in the Dustbowl on Tuesday, with students scattered on the lawn soaking up the sun; but the festivities in celebration of Earth Day made it a day not just of environmental appreciation, but awareness.

Student groups like Ecopledge, BC Cleansweep, realfoodBC, and Organic Garden set up information booths lining the path through the Dustbowl. There was a large pile of trash bags dubbed "Mt. Trashmore" on one end of the path, representing the trash collected in one night on Upper Campus. A clothing swap gathered clothes for the St. Francis House.

The day culminated with a Town Hall Forum discussion, "Embracing Sustainability at BC: What's happening? What can we do?" sponsored by the biology department, the Carroll School of Management, the Center for Corporate Citizenship, Ecopledge, the environmental studies program, the geology and geophysics department, the Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry, the sociology department, the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC), and the Urban Ecology Institute.

The discussion featured panelists Katherine Walsh, Ecopledge co-president and A&S '08; Chris Denice, president-elect of the UGBC and CSOM '09; Executive Vice President Patrick J. Keating; Zygmunt Plater, professor at BC Law School; Deirdre Manning, director of sustainability and energy; Helen Wechsler, director of Dining Services; Mike Cermak, member of realfoodBC and GA&S '13; and Juliet Schor, chair of the sociology department.

Eric Strauss, professor in the biology department and member of SustainBC, moderated the discussion. The panelists each had five minutes to give their perspective on environmental efforts at BC.

Walsh was the first panelist to speak. She highlighted the progress Ecopledge has made in the past four years. Ecopledge has grown from a five-person membership to a listserv that boasts 300 people. 130 of these are now environmental studies minors, making it the largest minor on campus. Ecopledge has collected 2,000 signatures in support of environmental initiatives at BC. "We go to a school where the motto is supposed to be 'men and women for others.' Environmental issues and awareness are part of social justice," Walsh said.

Denice connected BC's Catholic and Jesuit identity to BC's obligation to be an environmentally friendly institution. The Vatican has declared pollution to be sin, and turned words into action by installing solar panels on buildings around the Holy See. "When people look at BC as a university that would champion the Vatican's values, we should also do so when it comes to the environment," Denice said. He encouraged students to check BC's new sustainability Web site, www.bc.edu/sustainability, to find ways to get involved.

"Much of what has been achieved over the past four years is due to work by students like Katherine and Chris," Keating said. Keating said that the University's energy budget is now the fastest growing budget line, surpassing health care. "We don't want and we can't afford to continue on that road," Keating said. "The single biggest opportunity we have at this University is with the Master Plan. It provides us the opportunity to do something significant in the design of these buildings," Keating said. "At the end, this is very much an individual effort. So, as you leave your office or dorm room, turn out the lights."

"Environmentalism is essential to the governance of our society because it is not tree-hugging anymore, but it has become a way of thinking," Plater said.

Manning offered some examples of environmental waste most college students can relate to. "The United States uses 1.5 million barrels of oil to provide plastic water bottles for Americans," Manning said. Manning also said that no matter the area of interest, there are plenty of ways to get involved in the environmental movement.

Wechsler said that 25 percent of Dining Services' purchases come from local vendors. The chicken served in BC dining halls is grown naturally without hormones and is from a local processing plant. For the past nine years, Dining Services has served hormone-free milk from New England farms.

Cermak highlighted realfoodBC's push for a Green Cafe, with food from local farmers and from BC's new Organic Garden, as, "a real chance for BC to be a model for our peers."

Schor looked at the environmental issues from a global perspective. "In order to solve the problem and get a sustainable world, we have to change institutional practices," Schor said.

The final question taken from the audience was from a graduating senior who said that while he was pleased with BC's recent and more highly publicized efforts to be more environmentally friendly, he would not consider giving back to BC until this University made a real commitment to sustainability.

"Within one or two years, you will be donating," Manning said.