A Green Push

Seniors Sarah Bolthrunis and Meghan Tighe recall that only two years ago they were among just eight members of Eco-Action, a Holy Cross student organization dedicated to the promotion of environmental awareness through education and local action.

As a result of increased environmental awareness, this year the co-chairs are working with 50 members on a number of ambitious projects to make Holy Cross — and the world — a greener place.

The projects that the group plans to tackle this year include collecting 500 Power Vote pledges from students; supporting a campus-wide initiative to create a community garden on campus; establishing accessible recycling; encouraging environmentally sustainable behavior by promoting the use of reusable mugs, canvas bags, and CFL light bulbs; working with Dining Services to promote healthier and more sustainable dining on campus; and partnering with Pax Christi to promote the interconnection of the environment and issues of peace and human suffering, which includes bringing a speaker to campus who will talk about mountaintop removal.

‘Power Vote’ Tighe, an economics major with an environmental studies concentration from Wilmette, Ill., is currently leading a group of Eco-Action members to collect 500 Power Vote pledges from students committed to supporting clean and just energy.

The national pledge effort, run by the Energy Action Coalition, a consortium of 48 nonprofit organizations that support responsible climate policies, seeks to spread environmental awareness leading up to the presidential election.

Community garden Perhaps the most anticipated project of the year is the establishment of a community garden that is set to sprout in March or April. The exact size of the allocated lot by the Hart football practice fields has yet to be determined, but those involved expect an area large enough to grow an array of vegetables and fruits.

The idea for the project, which developed independently from Eco-Action activities on campus, sprang from a tutorial on philosophical issues related to food taught by Andrea Borghini, assistant professor of philosophy, last spring. After sharing the proposal of the garden with a number of colleagues and students, including Eco-Action, he received overwhelming support which was key in finalizing the proposal and getting it approved.

“Students spend as much time eating in a day as they do in a sport or club,” he says. “We want to prompt people to think about the food they eat, and where it comes from. In considering how to change food habits on campus, we realized that a garden yields the most intimate relationship with food, which the community can also learn from immensely.”

Robert Bertin, professor and chair of the biology department, will serve as the technical advisor and help maintain the garden and help discern how much food will go to the College and to outreach.

Dorm life Encouraging students to recycle and conserve water and energy is another focal point for the group this year. “We hope to increase the use of the in-room bin program,” Tighe says.

Signage will be posted throughout dorms that will include tips on saving energy, making laundry “greener,” buying less toxic personal care and cleaning products, and other ways to reduce one’s environmental footprint.

Finally, the committee will coordinate a “Dump and Run” program in the spring where unused, unwanted furniture, clothing, and anything else left over during move-out will be collected and donated to local organizations.

Sustainable dining Like last year, Eco-Action will work with Dining Services to promote healthier and more sustainable dining on campus, such as holding the second Annual Locally-Grown and All-Organic Thanksgiving Meal.

The group supports the initiative proposed by Dining and Auxiliary Services for Kimball Dining Hall to “go trayless,” which has seen positive results at other institutions. Eco-Action is taking steps to educate students about the benefits and facts of trayless dining.

“The idea is to reduce food waste and water use, and save money,” says Bolthrunis, an economics and environmental studies double major from Nahant, Mass.

Pax Christi Eco-Action is partnering with Pax Christi, a group which strives to promote a more just, peaceful world, to bring to light the fact that environmental issues are inseparable from issues of peace and justice.

For example, the genocide in Darfur, says Bolthrunis, was caused in part by global warming, which destroyed crop land and caused fighting over remaining land. In the United States, lower income communities suffer from poorer air quality and resulting health risks.

As part of the coalition project with Pax Christi, Eco-Action is bringing a mountaintop removal activist, Dave Cooper, to speak on campus Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Rehm Library. The “Mountaintop Removal Road Show” advocates an end to mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. Leveling mountains to obtain coal inside causes overflow of debris in valleys, which subsequently poisons local water supplies and increases the risk of flooding in low-income communities.

The event holds particular relevance to students at Holy Cross, Tighe says. Each year, dozens of students at the College spend their spring break participating in the Appalachia Service Project, where they serve in communities most affected by this destructive practice.

By Claire Luke ’10