Be Crimson, Go Green

Open up a newspaper and look at articles making national headlines. You’ll probably see lots of Palin, some news on hurricanes threatening along the Texas coast, a few things on McCain, and even a piece on Obama here or there. What you won’t see these days is an issue which is on everyone’s mind, just not at the forefront due to its lack of entertainment factor or instantaneous consequence. I am speaking of Global Warming. As WSU continues to push toward sustainability and recycling, it would be inspiring to see the student role models and WSU representatives lead by example. It would be appropriate to see the Greeks take the lead in going green through accountability and competition.

Global Warming is an issue which cannot be ignored. We are disrupting our planet’s environmental equilibrium in a manner never before witnessed in the billions of years Earth has been in existence. Although much damage has been done, it’s important to take a “better late than never” approach when it comes to Global Warming. And the biggest change that can be taken to lessen future damage to our biosphere is not what the government or corporations can do, but what each and every one of us can do on an individual basis. Which is why it’s disappointing to see a demographic often referred to as campus leaders fail to make the change to going green.

As Ms. Wellington pointed out in a Letter to the Editor on the 29^th, it does not appear as if certain members of WSU’s Greek community are taking the initiative to go green seriously. If our dining halls, campus facilities, and housing have special disposal areas labeling the sustainable items, our proud Greeks should go with the trend and make an effort to recycle more. It might even help if the houses were inspected on a consistent basis to determine the level of recycling occurring at each house.

This takes us to the incentive which often brings out the best in us, competition. Having a collection and evaluation of the aforementioned inspections would result in a quantitative and comprehensive rating scale where we could determine the house most effective at going green. An award, media recognition, and other forms of compensation would be suitable awards for the achievement of such a task.

A quick glance through the webpage of WSU’s Pan-Hellenic Council and Interfraternity Council show more than outdated content, but also a lack of any initiative toward sustainability and recycling. In a period where WSU’s attempts to go green are reflected in a LEED certified CUB and a massive campaign emphasizing recycling and decomposable materials attached with the slogan of “be crimson, go green”, let’s have the student leaders and Greeks take charge. So lead the way Greeks, because the rest of the student body has already embarked on the road toward sustainability.