As an Environmental Major, I was pleasantly surprised how our campus had undertaken the green initiative by reducing waste and increasing recycling abilities. Â Â Â Â
Recently, every student on campus received a Nalgene bottle in their mailbox in an effort to reduce plastic water bottle usage on campus.  There are also water bottle filling stations near every fountain to help students refill their bottles anytime and anywhere on campus instead of using new bottles.  This is a great step for us, because according to the cleanair.org, it takes thousands of years for the bottles to decompose since they are usually kept hidden from sunlight.  Also 90% of the price is for everything but filling it with water.  Thus, we not only are we saving ourselves money, we’re also reducing the amount of plastic bottles people throw out every day.
According to the EPA, the average American in 2011 generated 250 million tons of trash and only recycled 30% of this total number. Â Now on our campus, we have introduced Dyson hand dryers and single stream recycling bins. The Dyson hand-dryer, unlike other hand-dryers, has a unique design that allows for a faster drying time which saves energy, lowers paper waste and also helps reduce our carbon footprint. Â Â Not only does the Dyson Air Blade hand-dryer work in under 12 seconds, it is also is the most hygienic of its kind. Â Normal hand-dryers take up to 50 seconds to dry and according to a paper presented by the 17th European Congress of Clinical Microbes, the Dyson has less bacterial transfer when compared to other hand dryers. Â
   We have also introduced single stream recycling and solar compact trash bins on campus.  The single stream recycling allows students to not worry about throwing away the wrong thing in the wrong bin.  Now we can recycle anytime and anywhere without having to worry that you’re mixing paper and plastic, since everything goes into the same place.  Next to LSP and the Wholsen Center, where the sustainability committee usually meets, there is a solar compact trash can which uses solar powered cells to compact the trash. Compacting helps us reduce the capacity used in the trash can, allowing us to empty it less often, reducing the waste and allowing for reduced greenhouse gas emissions
   Our campus still has a long way to go before it’s fully green and environmentally friendly, but these few changes have already made an impact on our greener and brighter future.