A Treehugger says "Cool"

This topic submitted by Leo Sack on 10/16/03.

Natural Systems 1 Syllabus---Miami University

As an Environmental Science major (aka hardcore treehugger), I couldn't help reading your proposal. It sounds fascinating! It also has great potential for social commentary and relevance to world-wide environmental issues. An all-around cool idea. However, I would like to raise a few questions, or things to think about:

1) Clawson is the International dorm. Might the backgrounds of the students there influence their habits? Americans have a reputation for being wasteful slobs, among other things. Wouldn't foreign students think differently about trash than a your typical Main Campus, American students?

2) Not everyone in Western is environmentally-conscious. The actual environmental majors are a distinct minority. What about the Archie/ID majors, and those of the Interdisciplinaries that are here for reasons other than the treehugging community spirit? My neighbor (an Archie) refuses to recycle, and puts trash in my recycling bin when he visits, just to make me mad. So I guess just remember that some people on Western don't fit into your generalization.

3) Something to ask Logan Minning: Does trash from Alex Dining Hall get mixed in with the Clawson stuff?

4) What about Frat houses? Do they recycle all those beer bottles and cans? If you wanted to make your lives extra complicated, you could add them to your study. It would be cool, since fraternities seem to be the antithesis of Western, but more work.

5) Will you also measure the amount of trash put out by each dorm? What if one of the dorms puts out more recycleables per student just because it consumes and puts out more of everything per student? Would it be helpful to look at what percent of each dorm's waste output is recycled?

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