Back in elementary and middle school, we would have an Earth Week celebration. We’d make crafts and learn about the Earth. Our childhoods have taught us that we can learn about our role in helping the Earth. And while Trinity does celebrate Earth Week, our school does not practice sustainability effectively, and students have raised concerns about this. As we grow older, we need to think about the responsibility we have to Earth everyday, not just one week.
As Trinity rises in rankings and continues to expand its influence, sustainability becomes increasingly important. Our university prides itself on striving “towards building a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.” Trinity needs to demonstrate this excellence and take leadership in new and innovative ways to be sustainable. Because right now, we don’t even have a sustainability coordinator — there’s not one person in charge of tracking, reporting and implementing environmental initiatives.
That’s not to say Trinity doesn’t make an effort. Trinity’s sustainability website outlines all the ways in which our campus practices sustainability. We have five LEED-certified buildings, which indicates that the buildings are environmentally friendly. We also use recycled water for irrigation and air conditioning condensate for the bathrooms in the Center for the Sciences and Innovation (CSI). Trinity’s website also highlights our recycling program and their “environmentally conscientious food services” with Aramark. Lastly, the website mentions ways to get involved with sustainability on campus such as EcoAllies, Bee Alliance, the Gardening Club, Earth Week events and the sustainability hall. However, there’s an issue with many of these initiatives: They’re outdated and some don’t even exist.
First and foremost, in case you didn’t know, Trinity doesn’t work with Aramark anymore, and hasn’t for two and a half years. We work with Chartwells. This underscores my concerns with Trinity’s care for sustainability. How could they overlook something so fundamental to their initiative? Trinity’s sustainability living hall has not existed at Trinity for at least two years, and the Aramark partnership ended over two years ago. While recycling efforts do exist at Trinity, some students don’t believe the system works, claiming they’ve seen bags of recycling thrown into garbage trucks. This feeling has discouraged the practice of recycling on campus entirely. If students believe all trash will end up in the same destination, why recycle?
In order to successfully be sustainable, Trinity needs to look into the future and set goals, rather than just pretending to. By having these so-called initiatives, they aim to build “sustainable habits,” but that doesn’t mean they’re effective or monitored. Trinity needs data, tangible results and a way to quantify the difference they’re making beyond lofty goals and bold statements. At this point, Trinity’s website seems like nothing more than a performative mess made to check a box.
Trinity does have the capability to do this. For example, both new buildings — CSI and Dicke — have long term successful sustainability. As mentioned above, CSI uses condensate for flushing toilets. They have 12,000 gallons of recycled water storage. They also use LED for lighting to save energy, and CSI has wooden furniture and architecture throughout the building. If you look, Dicke was clearly made with wood as well. The use of wood has a lighter carbon footprint than other materials used to make buildings, such as steel. Trinity is capable of being sustainable when they put their intentions towards it. Why don’t they do it?
As we rise in the rankings, we will be compared to other universities in more detail. This means it is essential that we excel in every aspect. We need to prioritize aligning actions with values. Having a webpage and stating initiatives is simply not enough. Trinity must lead by example and walk the walk, instead of talk the talk. As the Lorax said, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”
