A few years ago, green was just a color. Now, it’s a lifestyle and a movement that has the world buzzing about being eco-friendly, organic and sustainable.
. Next week, the University of Mississippi and the city of Oxford are hosting Green Week. The week will be dedicated to raising environmental awareness on the Ole Miss campus and in the greater Oxford community—yes, that’s you!
Green Week is about educating ourselves on the needs of the environment and learning what we can do to be better stewards of the Earth. It will be a week of learning, testing the water and committing to begin the long journey of making ourselves, our campus and our community more environmentally sustainable. Who knows, maybe you will find life greener on the other side.
Throughout the next week-and-a-half, I will be blogging about Green Week, the UM- Oxford Green Initiative and pretty much all things green.
If you are going to follow my blog, I feel like I need to be honest-- I don’t make a habit out of hugging trees or wearing patchouli , but yes, I care about the environment. I’m not the “greenest” girl you’ll meet, but I am passionate about the Earth and hope to open up conversation about what we as students, faculty, staff and Oxford residents can do to preserve the environment. So let me know what you think, what we should talk about and where we need to go next. I hope we can learn from each other.
I think that educating the Ole Miss and Oxford community about the conservation and protection of our precious resources is great! However, in an April 20th front-page article in the Daily Mississippian, the question was asked, "Who's really recycling?" It was also pointed out that many recycling bins that are located in residence halls are not being used. Well, I'm a resident of The Village Apartments on campus and would like to inquire as to why there aren't any receptacles of any kind available for recycling? I'm an avid recycler and have been so for many years. I'm very committed to the effort, but it makes it very hard to keep on top of it when there aren't any bins or boxes available. Unfortunately, I have resorted to "hording" recyclables in my small apartment to keep from throwing the stuff in the garbage. I then end up sending the stuff I've "collected" back home, which is more than five hours away, so that the recyclables can be put out at the curb at my house. Doesn't make much sense, right? But that's my only "convenient" way to do my part in this effort, as I won't be carrying bags of plastic bottles, aluminum, newspapers, plastic grocery bags, etc. to another location on campus. Since The Village isn't really near very much, it would be very convenient to place a few receptacles in the area. Just a thought. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteKim,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. The purpose of Green Week is to educate our campus and to build a community that understands and appreciates the importance of campus sustainability. Without that community I'm afraid it would be that much more difficult to build and implement initiatives such as a comprehensive recycling program. To that end, the University has established a task force that is in the process of developing a plan that would greatly improve the infrastructure and collection process supporting UM's recycling efforts. In the meantime, please email green@olemiss.edu if you would like to request a recycling container for your area or if you have any general questions that we can help with.