UGBC launches Green Week

When Chris Denice, CSOM '09, was elected president of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) last spring, he said he would spend much of the 2008-2009 school year focusing on the promotion of sustainability at BC. This promise has manifested itself in a number of different ways throughout the year, such as in the placement of filtered water in the dining halls to eliminate bottled water and the flat screen televisions in Eagle's Nest and Corcoran Commons to eliminate paper fliers. Denice said these initiatives have worked to eliminate plastic and paper waste while also promoting awareness of sustainability issues on campus. While these achievements have had their impact on campus life, Denice hopes that the upcoming BCisGreen Week, which runs from Sunday, Feb. 15 to Friday, Feb. 20, takes great strides in creating further awareness among students, faculty, and administrators.

Denice said BCisGreen Week is a way to saturate the campus with sustainability awareness. "I want to blanket the campus with a consistent message so that it is hard to avoid it," he said. This is not to say things have not been done in the past. "I am impressed with the progress that the administration has made to address it. As a freshman, I don't remember anything relating to sustainability, but in the last two years there has been more focus on it," Denice said. BCisGreen Week grew out of an effort by the UGBC to continue to expand current efforts to promote sustainability by devoting a whole week to sustainability issues.

BCisGreen Week, in its entirety, is sponsored and coordinated by the UGBC, but certain events will be co-sponsored by many other campus organizations. The BC Bookstore, dining halls, libraries, residence halls, faculty, Office for the Dean of Student Development, and athletics are all involved in different events continuing throughout the week.

The week kicks off with the Duke basketball game on Sunday, where the first 7,500 fans in attendance will get BC Superfan shirts printed in green ink to promote sustainability. Denice said that the week of the Duke game was specifically chosen for BCisGreen Week because it afforded the opportunity to get noticed by a television audience as well as those attending the game, which is expected to sell out quickly. Other events include a panel on President Obama's energy and environmental policy, a lecture by Jerry Greenfield on Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream promoting sustainability and environmental values in business, a green career panel, and a green pub series. A full schedule of events can be found on the UGBC Web site.

Three student organizations oriented toward sustainability and conservation, Real Food BC, Sustain BC, and Ecopledge, will have information tables set up at many of the events throughout BCisGreen Week. These organizations will give people the opportunity to become directly involved with sustainability efforts at BC immediately after learning about these issues.

Aside from the events that will take place during the week, there will be initiatives to promote energy awareness and sustainability at the Bookstore and throughout the residence halls, libraries, and dining halls. The residence halls will host an energy conservation contest throughout the month of February to promote simple ways that students can help make BC greener in their daily life. Dining will participate by featuring locally grown food in a section of the dining halls and by offering a discount one day for those who choose to use china instead of "to go" containers. The Bookstore is selling reusable steins for use at the green pub series. Even the BC movie channel is getting involved with BCisGreen Week and will show movies related to global warming and sustainability. It will feature a new movie each day to promote awareness of environmental issues.

Dierdre Manning, director of sustainability, said, "BCisGreen Week will promote existing practices and look to improve them, as well as adding new ones." Several sustainable practices are already in effect around campus, noticeably in the dining halls. "Thirty five percent of food expenditures in the BC dining halls goes toward local, organic, or otherwise environmentally preferable food," Manning said.

While BCisGreen Week is a major promotion of sustainability, Denice said he hopes that students, administrators, and faculty won't push the issue to the back of their minds after the week is over. "Hopefully, the message resonates more and students modify their behavior a little bit and will possibly share it with someone else," he said. "Sustainability is more like a way of life than a one-time program."

"I think the fact that he has brought different educational forums to BC has given the students the opportunity to become educated and change their mindset for the positive," Manning said of Denice. She noted that the diversity of events, from athletic events to seminars on ethical practices in businesses to a green career fair, will serve to draw as many students toward BCisGreen Week events as possible. "I think that this is a wonderful opportunity for all different walks of life on campus to become involved in the green movement, learn about it, see what you are interested in, and change a few small practices. The impact of many can be huge," Manning said.