COLUMN: A green campus is a happy campus
It’s eight in the evening at my new house on the Island. Not “in” the Island Neighborhood, but “on” the Island. Our house is sitting on top of the ground, not in a cave. I’m roaming around our huge backyard trying to get Internet reception from our kind neighbors who don’t know about network keys. It’s frustrating, and – even though I have three bars – nothing will respond. I click “end task” over and over.
When I pause to lean my head back in frustration, I notice a group of crows circling in the distance cawing at something I can’t see. My eyes move to the iridescent sunset and then to the pink mountains. Crickets or grasshoppers chirp, mosquitoes peck at my bare legs, and I’m thrilled to be in Logan. I think about the writing of Rick Bass, an environmental activist and USU alumni from the College of Natural Resources, who works as an oil geologist and writes great books.
In his book “Oil Notes” Bass says, “Happiness is supposed to be sought after, complex, to be found only with the greatest amount of cunning. Water roars off the roof, and I am dry. Later tonight I will fix coffee.”
I spent a lot of this summer thinking about what it takes to be happy. Bass sums it up well. We need rooves over our heads. We need clean water and roads and even cars and trucks. But, when it comes down to it, we are tiny creatures with vast influence over the environment around us, and when we mess that up it’s harder to keep our heads dry. I dislike being wet at night unless the water is warm.
In February 2011, the student body voted on the new Blue Goes Green fee. Thanks to all who voted for and against it, and especially to the three individuals who spent an evening with us expressing their views on why they disagreed. The fee has opened up a great resource which will provide opportunities for students to help create a sustainable campus and community through service and student employment, including internships and funding for student-generated projects. A sustainability coordinator was hired during the summer to encourage and oversee funds and projects, and cement into our system a student-led office. The new Student Sustainability Office will open mid-September.
USU students have jumped onto the long list of student bodies that “care” and are committed to responsible, healthy living. We now have more than just discourse and service projects to work with. We have organization and funding. Explaining what sustainability is and why we feel it is vital to our individual and collective future will be a major focus in our office. Put simply, sustainability is often expressed as three P’s: people, planet and profit. It is about healthy, happy people, and to be healthy and happy we need a healthy planet. We are inescapably linked to clean air, clean water and yummy food. We need enough money to buy good spices and Telemark skis.
USU President Stan Albrecht was the first Utah college president to sign the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment in January 2007, and the Student Sustainability Office is an amazing new step in USU’s continuing commitment to sustainability.
Samuel Abbott is a senior majoring in history and the director of Students for Sustainability. Comments can be sent to him at sustain@aggiemail.usu.edu.