Environmental guide released to help students

IU is looking to add a new school color to the original cream and crimson – green.
The effort to go green on campus is being made more simple with Indiana Sustainable Student, a newly released guide to help students become more environmentally aware and do their part while living on campus.
“As people that are using the campus and using resources, it is important to preserve the campus and not create waste that is unnecessary,” said Steve Akers, associate director of environmental operations for Residential Programs and Services.
During the summer, 18 undergraduate and graduate interns took part in projects and seminars to help better the environment through the 2008 Summer Program in Sustainability. IU senior and Indiana Daily Student employee Kevin Pozzi, one of the 18 summer interns, took initiative by developing the Indiana Sustainable Student.
Michael Hamburger, co-chair of the Task Force on Campus Sustainability, said the guide is only a starting point.
“It is meant to get students started thinking about their everyday lives and reducing the negative effects on the world,” Hamburger said.
Pozzi said the information in the guide ranges from simple efforts to broader ones.   
Some tips include how to conserve energy and water, recycle on campus, make local and organic food choices and get involved in sustainable organizations.
No one effort is more important than another, Pozzi said. Every action students take toward developing a greener IU is beneficial.
“I came from a country (Japan) where we are environmentally conscious,” said junior Yasu Amano. “I do small things. It is kind of a habit. I crush bottles and canned drinks to make the trash smaller.”  
Although some students are already environmentally aware, the idea behind the guide was to get everyone involved. But in order for this to happen, students have to pick it up and read it. So Pozzi tried to attract students through the guide’s layout and design.
Pozzi is a resident assistant for Forest Residence Center, so when he edited the Indiana Sustainable Student, Akers said Pozzi thought about his own floor and what would interest them.
“It is not an easy topic to understand. It needs to be explained in a way that is appealing both visually and information-wise,” Pozzi said.
The guide includes bold texts, an organized layout, pictures of the IU campus and a natural color palette to get its point across.
“It is a good setup, showing how it applies in different ways on campus,” said freshman Jill Thatcher.
The guide offers suggestions for more environmentally friendly ways to get around campus such as taking the bus, carpooling or riding a bike.
“I liked how it had helpful quotes and the ‘Did you know?’ kind of stuff on the bottom of each page,” said freshman Cameron Floyd. “There is good info.”
Most of the quoted information in the guide is from the interns who took part in the 2008 Summer Program in Sustainability.
“The highlighted quotes are important to read because they make a statement about what the interns did,” Akers said.
Students are not expected to follow every single suggestion in the sustainable living guide, Pozzi said. The idea is to ease into a healthier lifestyle, which will benefit each individual student as well as the IU campus as a whole.
“It is not a bible for sustainability,” Pozzi said. “It is more of a resource.”
The Indiana Sustainable Student is already accessible in the residence halls and everywhere campus publications are offered. Resident assistants, graduate staff and resident staff were given a copy of the guide and information to verbally pass on to their students or to use to make themed bulletin boards for each residence hall.
“The idea is to make the resource as widely available as possible,” Hamburger said.