Last year in one of the energy-efficient Fountain Prototypes, which have their thermostats set at lower temperatures to reduce their carbon footprint, physical plant noticed abnormal spikes in energy usage during the winter. When they went to the house to investigate, they discovered that students were opening and leaving the ovens on to heat the house because there was no way for them to increase the temperature of the house themselves.
Sure, this story is funny, but it raises an important issue: a serious lack of cooperation between students and administrators with regards to sustainability. There is no reason why discussion about the environment cannot be more prevalent on the Wesleyan campus.
There are plenty of sustainability programs at Wesleyan: the Fountain Prototypes, the Cogeneration Plant, President Roth’s long-term climate commitment plan, and many more that most students aren’t even aware of.
But that’s just the problem. Why are Wesleyan students generally unaware of climate initiatives on campus? Why isn’t there more communication about climate issues between students and the administration? It’s not enough to just have sustainability programs: if Wesleyan’s students were more aware of climate policies and the administration discussed potential programs with the student body more often, we would become more dedicated to solving environmental problems where we live.
At many colleges and universities, such cooperation leads to students playing a more active role in sustainability programs and administrations encouraging students to be passionate about the environment. At Middlebury, about 100 students volunteer to travel to Powershift, an environmental conference in Washington DC. Only about 20 Wesleyan students participate in the conference.
Tufts, Connecticut College, and Oberlin all have green fees, which are usually small, optional payments that students make to contribute directly to sustainability programs. For example, Tufts’ green fees help pay for wind power on campus. Not only has Wesleyan not yet instituted a green fee, but most students are unaware that such a fee exists at other schools. How can any student-supported initiatives, such as a green fee, exist at Wesleyan if students are largely unaware of the ways in which they can support campus sustainability?
We believe strongly that if the administration played an active role in increasing student awareness of sustainability initiatives, and if students took more of an active interest in environmental issues, the Wesleyan community has the potential not just to support more environmentally-conscious programs, but also play a large role in the country’s movement towards increasing sustainability.
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