2008 Woodie Awards
Grounds clean-up via peer pressure
Amanda Pressley
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: Forum
On the warmest day in weeks, with just a few clouds spotting the blue sky and the sun's rays shining down, I decided to take a walk to the Meadows. Leaves crunched under my feet, a Busch Light can glistened in the stream, a colorful cardinal hopped along a broken tree limb, and two shiny Purple Haze raspberry wheat beer bottles sparkled beside a clump of grass.
So began my tally of the trash accumulated in the Meadows.
In less than an hour, I found 22 beer bottles, 21 beer cans, four cups and 22 large pieces of assorted trash, including three flower pots and a lawn chair, as well as three wine bottles. Our Meadows are a mess.
But then again, not just the wooded fringes of our campus are covered in litter. Cigarette butts make cancerous trails to our classrooms, rusted bottle caps are scattered in parking lots and torn, swollen trash bags lean against dumpsters.
We have all heard the stereotype that Guilford is a "hippie haven." It's said that all Guilford students wander barefoot (or in the event of cold weather, in Birkenstocks) across campus, their dreadlocks bouncing as they sing folksy melodies about peace, love and environmentalism.
Obviously this is not the case. Students wear hip footwear, style their hair in innumerable ways, and more times than not, our campus' trashiness overshadows environmental-consciousness.
Several factors are at play with this lack of love for Mother Nature, including many eco-apathetic students and also pseudo-environmentalists who often don't practice the green politics they preach.
"A lot of it is hypocrisy or just focusing on one thing, like solar power or recycling, while forgetting everything else," said sophomore Anne Marie Drolet. However, Guilford is trying to be a conservationist campus within the classroom and on the grounds.
"There are far-reaching efforts extending from classes like Environmental Studies 101, all the way to the facilities department," said Kim Yarbray, former director of sustainability and current interdisciplinary leadership for social change coordinator.
So began my tally of the trash accumulated in the Meadows.
In less than an hour, I found 22 beer bottles, 21 beer cans, four cups and 22 large pieces of assorted trash, including three flower pots and a lawn chair, as well as three wine bottles. Our Meadows are a mess.
But then again, not just the wooded fringes of our campus are covered in litter. Cigarette butts make cancerous trails to our classrooms, rusted bottle caps are scattered in parking lots and torn, swollen trash bags lean against dumpsters.
We have all heard the stereotype that Guilford is a "hippie haven." It's said that all Guilford students wander barefoot (or in the event of cold weather, in Birkenstocks) across campus, their dreadlocks bouncing as they sing folksy melodies about peace, love and environmentalism.
Obviously this is not the case. Students wear hip footwear, style their hair in innumerable ways, and more times than not, our campus' trashiness overshadows environmental-consciousness.
Several factors are at play with this lack of love for Mother Nature, including many eco-apathetic students and also pseudo-environmentalists who often don't practice the green politics they preach.
"A lot of it is hypocrisy or just focusing on one thing, like solar power or recycling, while forgetting everything else," said sophomore Anne Marie Drolet. However, Guilford is trying to be a conservationist campus within the classroom and on the grounds.
"There are far-reaching efforts extending from classes like Environmental Studies 101, all the way to the facilities department," said Kim Yarbray, former director of sustainability and current interdisciplinary leadership for social change coordinator.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Lars Adams
posted 2/05/08 @ 6:57 AM EST
amen to this article! If were fortune enough to have as much "green" space as we do on our campus, we should have some common courtesy to keep it that way! And I'm a firm believer in the saying "It's not peer pressure. (Continued…)
mo grumbly
posted 2/08/08 @ 10:28 PM EST
good call. just an FYI outdoors club along with cooking club will be having a meadows/lake area clean up MARCH 19th during community time! check the buzz for more details. (Continued…)
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