Easy to be Green

Green is a color. Green is a lifestyle. It’s the answer to many questions. It’s trendy. It’s controversial. It’s marketable and cleansing. It’s hard to define but easy to do. Being green is the way of the future.

Kermit the Frog was wrong. It is easy to be green. Consumers are green. Government is (finally) green. And industry is getting greener. So what does that mean for you (Ithaca College students, faculty and staff; Cornell; and the city of Ithaca, and beyond)? Being such a progressive community, we’ve already made strides to become more green: LEED certified buildings at Ithaca College, Cornell’s Lake Source Cooling and distributing CFLs to residents in Caroline, and a bunch more. Yet after my experience at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, or AASHE, I found a disconnect between students and staff, residents and faculty. This blog will link those connections.

You can expect to find stories from around the Ithaca area and the nation relating to sustainability in higher education. This Saturday, I’ll be visiting the EcoVillage, which is hosting an open house from 3pm to 6pm, showcasing their new neighborhood, TREE. There will be a free public tour of the existing village from 3:00-4:30pm, followed by a presentation (with food), and Q&A about TREE.

There will be a blogroll of everything I read and subscribe to. Each week, I’ll post the Top Ten stories to check out, which will focus on the innovative ways to go green, or opportunities for faculty, students and city residents. I also plan on featuring some of the movers-and-shakers in Ithaca - the generals and lieutenants of the Green Army - who are fighting climate change.

The fight continues everyday, especially in this city. It’s important to stay informed of all the excellent work being done, and to learn how you can help. Don’t stress, because it’s easy to be green.