GEO Members Promote Environmental Awareness

The signs in John Jay Dining Hall identifying locally produced food and discouraging waste didn't appear all by themselves.

Those placards, along with other recent changes by Housing and Dining, have only come about because students who cared about environmental issues and food sustainability asked for them. And now, the newly organized Group for Environmental Opportunities stands to let Columbians get even more directly involved.

According to organizer Coogan Brennan, CC '08, "GEO is a way of connecting students to administrators and getting environmental groups in one place so we can talk abut common issues."

The student group's creation at the start of the spring semester is just one of the more recent attempts by Columbians to make their campus just a little greener. The Columbia College Student Council recently passed a resolution approving a pilot program for motion-sensor lights and water-conserving toilet flushers in dorms to reduce energy costs.

Every week, delegates from several environmental groups, including Students for Environmental and Economic Justice, the Food Sustainability Project, EarthCo, and the Food Co-Op-as well as relevant administrators, such as the directors of Housing and Dining-gather to compare notes and brainstorm ideas.

"So far, all the administrators have been really helpful," said Stephen Cox, CC '09, who found out about GEO through SEEJ. "[Director of Dining Services] Larry Levitas has been really great. He helped to get the group started."

The idea for GEO was born of a dialogue between FSP and Housing and Dining. "We got a lot done just by talking. John Jay now serves local milk, apples, greens, and potatoes, when available," said Brennan, who is also a member of FSP. "That inspired us to keep up the discussion with GEO."

Campus environmental groups were partially responsible for last semester's anti-waste campaign, including a waste audit in the dining hall. After three hours of scraping trays, FSP counted 425 pounds of food waste. Another audit is scheduled for Feb. 15 to assess whether the campaign had a significant impact on waste production.

Now, GEO members plan to focus on promoting awareness about recycling and making sure that Housing and Dining reforms are actually carried out. Toward this end, the group has discussed the appointment of "eco-reps," students from each residential building who would volunteer to oversee recycling efforts in exchange for an undetermined number of Dining Dollars or meals each month. "It's kind of like an environmental RA," Brennan explained.

Brennan said he hopes GEO can also help get campus environmental groups working with each other to educate the public and to help facilitate communication between administrators and students.

"I found out through GEO that Housing and Dining had voluntarily switched to using recycled paper after the big SEEJ project last semester," Cox said. SEEJ now plans to turn its focus to Manhattanville, leaving campus environmental issues to the rest of the GEO coalition for a while.

Housing and Dining is not uniquely responsible for making Columbia a more environmentally-friendly community. "Students are part of it, too," Brennan said. "Everyone needs to pay attention to what they put in the trash, and especially with the dining hall, they need to think about whether they really need all the food they are taking. Moderation is key."