“Moment of Truth: Is the push to save the planet a fad, or a turning point? Here’s hoping it’s the real deal,” reads the headline of the April 16 Newsweek article outlining the environmental epiphany Americans are having.
Green is sweeping the nation. Since the release of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” concern for the environment is no longer equitable with tree-hungers, nor is it synonymous with denial or despair.
Earth Day was this past Sunday, April 22, and as more and more Americans are becoming green savvy, there is a growing awareness that the responsibility to ‘save the earth’ lies not with the federal government, but with us, with individuals and groups.
College students have always wielded an enormous amount of power in political and social movements throughout the past century. Which begs the question: what are college students doing?
Or, more importantly, what are University of Denver students doing, on their own prerogative, to stop global warming? Where was the DU population on Earth Day?
There is a plethora of clubs on campus designed to deal with just this issue: DU Environmental Team, Sustainable DU, DU SES, and Net Impact are some examples.
President of DU Environmental Team Lyndsay Thompson outlined the Environmental team’s plans to participate in this action-based dialogue
“On Saturday, the team of about 30 active members planted 49 trees in the DU area,” she said.
In honor of Earth Day, “the club is sponsoring ‘Earth Week’ with other environmental clubs on campus to raise awareness on different issues each day,” said Thompson.
“We also have a plan for ‘car free DU,’ a day in which we encourage people to avoid using cars, to walk, take the bus, bike,” said new officer Claire Rustad.
Additionally, the club sponsored the “Do It in the Dark” campaign, a competition between residence halls to try and diminish energy usage. The winning dorm will have a chance to win five bikes, raffled off by the team.
All of these clubs are student run and organized, a reflection of the growing green sentiment running throughout universities in Colorado, a state known to be eco-friendly.
“Honestly, we do have a lot of catching up to do compared to other Colorado schools,” said Thompson. “Right now, we are trying to convince the Chancellor to sign the President’s Challenge.
“If he signs it, it would commit to making DU more sustainable in X number of years, and increasing energy conservation,” she said.
This is only part of the pressure DU’s administration has received from student groups demanding positive changes for energy sustainability.
Thompson acknowledged the strides DU has been making towards a sustainable future. “This year and next year you will see a huge difference in what the University is doing. We do have three buildings powered by wind energy, which is high compared to schools in Colorado.”
Nagel Hall, currently under construction, is completely green. “We are doing good things,” said Thompson.
In addition to the numerous student groups who have arrived to do their part, there are other, unconventional ways to spread the word.
Just as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is making environmentalism “cool,” demonstrating that not all environmentalists are “girly men,” other students at DU are trying to bring environmental concern to the masses.
On Saturday, May 12, 5 Degrees, a club in downtown Denver, will host “5 Degrees Warmer,” a global warming fundraiser, dinner and fashion show designed to provide information about local effects of global warming.
“We’re [spreading the news] in a fun and fashionable way,” said event organizer and DU junior Matt Landes. The club will be open from 5 p.m.-2 a.m. on May 12 for 21 and up.
The hope is that by combining entertainment with awareness, young people will be motivated to act and to engage in the movement.
If the amount of press that is being dedicated to college students’ responsibility, collectively and as individuals, to save the planet isn’t proof enough, then Sheryl Crow and Laurie David are showing college students that they matter.
They are currently touring in an 11-date “Stop Global Warming College Tour,” performing at universities throughout the south to inspire college students to participate in the movement, to wield their power to enact positive change.
Laurie David produced the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” and is author of the guide “Stop Global Warming!: The Solution is You,” and the tour is only part of the effort on David’s part to raise awareness of what you actually can do to help the environment.
David will be coming to Denver on May 3 to speak at the convention center about global warming. She will join Mayor John Hickenlooper and other local leaders to assert that action is the only thing that will stop global warming.
David preaches not death-and-doom of environmental rhetoric, but the power of the individual. Her book is full of tidbits demonstrating how simple actions, when perpetuated by everyone, have huge consequences on the environment.
Tickets are free and open to the public. Simply register online at:
www.greenprintdenver.org/rsvp.php.
You can also sign up for the Global Warming Virtual March, co-founded by David and Senator John McCain and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. online at:
www. stopglobalwarming.org.
