Ever wonder why the seasons feel a little different than they usual do? Why winter was so long this year? Why one day its snowing and the next day its 60 degrees? Well, the simple explanation is climate change and global warming. With the incessant use of fossil fuels, increased air and water pollution, population growth, and careless waste disposal, sadly, the earths’ future doesn’t look too bright.
With todays’ climate crisis, any initiative for “going green” and living more sustainably is a step in the right direction. Many individuals, NGO’s, governmental organizations and even students have begun to promote change by educating people on positive ways to treat the environment. And at UW Madison, Greek life is getting involved as well!
Jamie Pitiger, a sophomore at UW Madison and the Panhellenic Representative of sorority Alpha Epsilon Phi, has taken a particular interest in climate change after enrolling in an environmental studies class. This small interest quickly turned into a pitch for making a change on campus that betters the environment. She has created an initiative called Greek Goes Green.
Greek Goes Green has allowed representatives from every sorority on the Madison Campus to group together in the effort to change and create more sustainable recycling programs for their sorority houses. Currently, many houses do not have recycling bins and many girls are not educated on how the process works and how recycling benefits the environment. Jamie and the other sorority representatives have teamed up with Frank Kooistra, the Sustainability Operations Coordinator at UW Madison to combat this issue.
Currently, the team is evaluating the houses recycling and garbage disposal programs in order to create a cohesive one that all sororities will be able to follow while also staying loyal to the cities waste disposal plan. Hopefully, after sororities install successful recycling programs in their houses, implementing them in fraternity houses will be the next step!
“I came up with this idea because I wanted to find a realistic way the whole Greek community could make a difference. I hope that from this project we will educate a wide variety of people in why recycling is important for our community and how every little bit helps!” said Jamie.
By employing effective recycling agendas in sorority houses, the City of Madison will not only benefit in terms of their own recycling quotas, but it will positively affect the universities reputation and contribution to the fight against climate change!
If you want to know more about the City of Madison and UW Madison’s current initiatives for going green, check out http://www.cityofmadison.com/sustainability/ and http://sustainability.wisc.edu