Red pride, green campus

submitted by Brian Thomas

April 21, 2008 —

On Earth Day 20 years ago, I was doing some landscaping at a local park with my Boy Scout troop. A local television reporter was there covering the event and interviewed my friend, who was 12 years old at the time. The reporter asked him what he learned on Earth Day. My friend, realizing that our Earth Day that year was more about manual labor than education, sputtered out "Uh, we, um, learned to plant plants and recycle stuff." We teased him thoroughly.

Tuesday, April 22 is the 38th Earth Day. As someone who has gone door to door advocating for environmental protection, lived in remote parts of Montana building trails, and traveled to China to examine their environment, I struggle to discern a meaningful and poignant message about the environment to spread to the SVSU community. It would be easy for me to explain how most environmental problems have gone unfixed and, in many cases, gotten worse. Such a discussion would certainly be worth while; however, I think it would be counterproductive to the work that students, staff, and faculty who are part of the Green Cardinal Initiative have been doing for the past year.

Importantly, we are reaching a point in time where these solutions can make a difference. People are thinking about the environment - a lot. Local and organic food consumption is on the rise. Whole Foods is going to stop using plastic bags in all of its stores. Presidential candidates are being rated by Newsweek according to their "greenness." Wind farms are springing up around Michigan. You can even buy SUVs with hybrid engines. While I may have mixed feelings about the real environmental impact of some of these trends, it would be a mistake to not recognize the rise of this new environmental consciousness. Yes, green is cool.

SVSU is in a position to take advantage of this rising green tide. We have faculty from a variety of disciplines ranging from sociology and economics to chemistry and engineering, who are trained in and passionate about environmental issues. We have staff members who are already working hard to increase the sustainability of the University through recycling and other efforts. Most of all, we have students who are dedicated to making a difference. If we join together we can help SVSU become more sustainable, teach students the skills necessary for a green economy and make SVSU a leader in this new and growing segment of society. The Green Cardinal Initiative can be the locus for coordinating our efforts.

What is the Green Cardinal Initiative? We are a group of students, staff, and faculty who are working together for a healthier, more sustainable campus and community. We have taken nearly a ton of food waste from the RFOC and turned it into organic fertilizer. We have developed greenhouse and hydroponics systems that grow affordable, nutritious food. We are implementing renewable energy systems. We want to do more, but we need your help.

We need you to do two things. First, we want to talk with you. Visit the SVSU Greenhouses on April 22 from 2 to 6. Go to our Web site for directions. See what we are doing and tell us how you want to help. Second, we need you to become a Green Cardinal. Go to www.greencardinal.org, and join our group by entering your e-mail address there. It's important that as many people as possible come to our Earth Day event. Let's show that having red pride means having a green campus.

Besides, as my 12 year-old friend eloquently pointed out, you can learn how to plant plants and recycle stuff.

Brian Thomas
Instructor of Sociology