As this spring semester draws to a close, some campus groups and activities are just gaining momentum. Tech’s Green Committee is working on multiple projects. Last month, the Beehive Design Collective came to the STEM Center and discussed the true cost of coal, and this week I got to sit down with TTU Green Committee leader Josh Donegan (who also chairs for the Green Fee Committee) to talk about the committee’s goals and ongoing projects.
Recently, the TTU Green Committee made a deal was with Caney Fork to repair found and donated bicycles to start up our own bike share.
Though the bike share has been in the works for a while, this deal will hopefully result in communal bikes on campus as early as the coming fall semester. If you walk around campus most of the time (like I do) that is really good news.
“We will do some work on it (the bike share) over the summer when everyone isn’t so busy,” Donegan said.
Though Tech already has a departmental recycling program, a campus-wide recycling program was just approved by SGA. This program, also scheduled to launch this fall, will focus on recycling plastic and aluminum as well as paper.
Our previous recycling efforts were mostly for paper, which is great, but the new program will be a high step up. By recycling non-biodegradable (or slower degrading) materials, we will keep a lot more of our campus waste out of landfills.
Another exciting event is coming up is the Earth Day celebration on South Patio on Thursday, April 21, since April 22 (Earth Day) falls on Good Friday, and we will be out of classes for the holiday. There will be live music and activities from 11-3 p.m.
One reason the Green Committee is holding the event is to raise funds to send some of the committee’s most active members to Washington D.C., for Power Shift, a rally held every year where young activists work on a campaign for green energy and other environmentally friendly pursuits.
I encourage you to attend a Green Committee meeting, donate if you can when they hold events or do so tell them your idea for a greener campus. For more information on Power Shift visit www.powershift2011.org.
