OK, save your money. There is no problem with that. Estrella Lopez seems to have missed the point. I think the very fact that there is no massive university campaign on a quest to save the environment but there is a massive university campaign on a quest to save money is telling enough of the unfortunate—and, quite frankly—detrimental priorities of this school, and this is the essence of the issue. Wesleyan needs to rise up and advocate for the environment as strongly as it advocates for money. I understand that Project $AVE’s stated goal is to save money, so Estrella’s explanation does nothing more than state the self-explanatory. The point is that any mission for efficiency and waste reduction should be advertised foremost as a way to improve the environment, not merely a financial situation. It’s like saying, “Stop Hitler so we can resume economic activity with Germany” instead of “Stop Hitler so we can end the mass genocide and save humanity.” Yes, resumed economic activity would be a positive byproduct (just like saving money through increased efficiencies will be), but which cause is more noble and deserving of your energy and rhetoric? Project $AVE and initiatives like it around the world mislead a generation of youth to the conclusion that saving money is more important than saving the environment, and when we find out how wrong we are, we will be remorseful. Of course, Estrella, just like you don’t have to think about rising tuition anymore, you likewise may not have to think about this, because at that point, our species may be extinct.
Your global and fiscally responsible citizen,
Ashley
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