Climate change can be quite impactful in 2019. Many students at Cabrini have different ideas on what we can do as a school to personally help reduce our carbon footprint and head in the right direction with the world’s issues on climate change.
“I always try to reduce my use of plastic, red meat, and other non-environmentally friendly products,” Chardanay White, the president of Cabrini University’s Green Team, said. White also provided tips and tricks for the everyday student to reduce his or her carbon footprint.
“Things like meatless Mondays or even using reusable bags at the grocery store instead of plastic adds up in reducing an individual’s pollution,” White said.
When asked about the biggest problem for pollution, White said, “The big corporations are to blame for it.”
White went into further detail explaining that “Yeah we do feed the corporations extensive pollution when we buy stuff, but that’s why we need to reduce more.”
America is built on a ‘consumer economy’. What that means is the economy only grows if people buy things and what corporations do with the waste of our purchase is not good for the environment. In order to reduce the damage corporations are doing, “Do the usual reduce, reuse, and recycle. The catch is to not buy impulsively to balance things out,” said Bianca Huertas, a biology major.
By reducing waste for each individual person overall pollution can slowly decrease. Along with metal straws, not using plastic and styrofoam can greatly shrink the average 4.40 pounds of waste each person creates a day according to the Environmental Protection Agency. For many students reusing and reducing are big issues, so ask yourself how much you really throw out a day.
Image by: Wikimedia Commons
The changes in the environment aren’t instant but are noticeable. “Up north where I used to work, I did not feel or see any changes. When I moved back to Pennsylvania after a couple of years things felt hotter and not a lush as I remember. I agree that reducing my own waste is a good idea for the environment but it might take a while before I see any changes,” said local landscaper, Henry Dalgish.
Cabrini’s Green Team is the environmental club on campus dedicated to being environmentally friendly. They help out by doing their part in tackling climate change and other environmental issues. They meet in the Wolfington center on Mondays from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
