Is there a phenomenon where being abroad makes you more patriotic? Rational or not, attending another school helped me to cultivate my home university school spirit. Spring felt like the perfect time to experience University College Cork, from observing (but unfortunately unable to vote in) Student Union officer elections, to the hectic RAG Week’s entertaining charity events, and (freak snowstorm aside) a mild winter where flowers were blooming even when I arrived in January. Nonetheless, in turn I missed Springfest, some sort of Tinder competition involving Cardi B that I am not clear on the detail of, and reliably sorted compost in the dining halls at Northeastern. For all that the island of Ireland is famous for its green scenery (watered by many, many rainstorms), University College Cork is specifically notable for its green efforts. As I reflect on what excited to return to Northeastern University and which lessons could be taken back home, campus sustainability is an obvious area for consideration.
Certainly, there is a lot of to be proud of on Huntington Avenue. For anyone who somehow has not heard, Northeastern University very proudly promotes its recognition as the “greenest university in North America” according to the University of Indonesia’s six-category rankings. This led President Aoun to proclaim the importance of red, black, and green for Husky pride. Stellar LEED rankings for recent constructions like ISEC are one aspect of institutional efforts to commit to a green campus. Student-led initiatives have led to significant change as well. Whether it was the implementation of trayless dining the beloved, biannual Trash2Treasure event, or the educational and activist work of student groups such as HEAT, Slow Food NU, and others.
With the importance of student partnership in mind, I am excited to highlight a UCC campus sustainability effort that deeply impressed me throughout my semester in Cork. While I previously wrote about how Boole Library embodied my nightmares during midterms, there is a lot to love about it. Weirdly one of those things is its distinct lack of trash cans. This is one element of an integrated plan to reduce waste and electricity usage. Other components include increasing the number of water bottle filling stations, and a “Ditch the Disposable” policy. The latter, which forbade disposable coffee cups in the library, reduces one of the primary sources of waste, as well as recycling contamination due to unfinished coffee. More information about the UCC Library Green Energy campaign can be found here on their website.
It would bring my heart joy to see a similar commitment on Northeastern’s campus. The UCC Library notes that they were able to introduce policy at this level by offering free and discounted reusable coffee cups. Who among us has not already received a similar Northeastern-branded mug? With Boston’s recycling rates historically lagging behind the national average, this is a great time to build on recent progress to move towards a Zero Waste city, and a more cost-effective and resilient economy. Moreover, this is a natural next step after the Student Government Association’s successful referendum to ban plastic bags on campus. University College Cork’s Library provides an excellent example of possible next steps.
Snell Library and Curry Student Center come to mind as testing grounds, but many of these policies could easily be rolled out to the entire campus. Most immediately, I think the following changes have the power to be most impactful:
- Binless Offices – UCC notes that each of the tiny trash cans in the library needed to emptied daily, despite rarely being full. I suspect Snell Library, and many other buildings on campus have similar problems.
- Banning disposable coffee cups – Dunkin (and other chains) already offer discounts when you BYOC, so this measure is a cost-saving one as well.
- Better Promotion of BYOB – Northeastern definitely comes out ahead of UCC when it comes to water refill stations, but I see plenty of plastic Dasani bottles around campus still. More could be done to let people know of the location of filling stations and subtle (or not so subtle) reminders to take advantage.
All of these initiatives are commitments, which require appropriate educational campaigns and student participation alongside their institutional implementation. Though we must keep this in mind, I find this an inspiration, rather than an obstacle. Whether that means signage reminding people of the policies, discounts from campus retailers for students using reusable drink containers, and tabling on campus. This is a partnership opportunity for local businesses, the Office of Sustainability and other administrative offices, student organizations, and Huskies as individuals to make a difference!
That element of participation is all too critical. University College Cork’s Environmental Society deserves credit for its activities, from maintaining a community garden, organizing regular litter clean-ups, and supporting the energy-saving measures of the campus at large. I would also like to give justly-deserved kudos for inspiring me to consider my role in promoting the same back in Boston!
