I was disappointed and confused when I read last week’s staff editorial
about making IU more sustainable (“Shades of green,” Jan. 30). The
column vaguely suggested that becoming more sustainable is important
but expressed concern that such changes might detract from students’
experiences at IU: “When such (environmental) measures are put into
place, will students feel like the quality of their experience at IU
has been lessened?” High-pressure showers were listed as something
students would not be willing to give up for the sake of conservation.
With
the recent release of IU’s Sustainability Taskforce campus report, the
university is at a critical and exciting point in its history in that
making significant changes in how we get our energy is very possible,
and all you guys have to say is that you hope we won’t have to take
low-pressure showers? Indiana is the 49th greenest state. IU received a
“C” on our sustainability report card this year. It will be a while
before we have to worry about striking a balance between sustainability
and student experience. The options open to us right now for reducing
our impact on climate change have little to do with making such huge
sacrifices as taking low-pressure showers (Heaven forbid). A few
relevant possibilities include looking into cogeneration – using excess
energy from our heating plant for electricity, figuring out how to
invest in boilers that are also capable of burning biomass for fuel or
making retrofits to windows, lighting and insulation in campus
buildings.
If students, faculty and administrators can work
together to begin implementing some of these changes, the enhanced
atmosphere on IU’s campus is more likely to attract students and
faculty than turn them away.
Carley Knapp
