Photo Credit from Quinnipiac University
Quinnipiac is making strides towards environmental sustainability, but are students taking notice?
“It’s always been something on the minds at Quinnipiac… If you put the cost into it initially you’ll see the impact in the long run,” says Karla Natale, assistant vice president of Public Affairs. She also serves on the Sustainability Committee.
Natale acknowledges that in the U.S., citizens tend to be very wasteful.
“We’re very much a throwaway society,” says Natale.
Quinnipiac has introduced the Single Stream recycling bins across the campus, and freshman Connor Gilroy says he likes the convenience they bring.
“I always recycle but when they get into too many categories with paper and plastic, you’re like, ‘Screw that,'” says Gilroy. “But, if you don’t have to separate things, then it’s less of a pain.”
However, some students do not see the effects of the recycling program.
“They’re doing terribly,” says senior Cassie Klatskin. “I live in townhouses and there’s no place different to put our stuff from single stream. I don’t even think they’re recycling anything from there.”
However, other Quinnipiac students say that the Single Stream Recycling is not nearly enough.
“I think that the fact that you can take a two hour shower at the same temperature, that’s a severe waste of energy,” says sophomore Jonathan Hammer. “No matter what resource we do use, we’re using a lot of it.”
That does not stop them from coming up with creative ways to turn the university into a more sustainable environment.
“Why don’t they turn the lights off and the TV’s off in the cafeteria at midnight? No one’s in there,” says Klatskin.
While it is still a work in progress, they are getting recognition for work done thus far. According to a quinnipiac.edu article, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the school was a Green Power Leader. The Green Power Partnership encourages organizations to purchase green energy to help reduce their carbon footprint.
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