Cleaner and greener at UB

On a sunny, brisk day that gave hope to students that winter might finally be over, the UB community showed its appreciation for Mother Nature on Thursday by celebrating Earth Day at the Student Union with rock climbing, nature walks, petitions and environmental demonstrations.

Earth Day on North Campus - sponsored by UB Green Office, Outdoor Adventure Club, UB Environmental Network and UB Environmental Task Force Support - was intended to motivate students to become more environmentally aware both on and off campus, according to UB Green officials.

"Each year, UB consumes over 120,000 reams of copier and printer paper," said Jim Simon, vice president of UB Environmental Network and student assistant to UB Green. "That translates to fourteen trailer truckloads full of paper."

According to Dave Knox, president of the Outdoor Adventure Club, day hikes, backpacking on the weekends, biking and rock climbing are just a few of the environmental activities that many could do in their free time to raise awareness.

"I took part in Earth Day because I feel it is very important to increase environmental awareness," said Knox, a senior geology major. "There are a lot of ways for people to get involved with the environment and a lot of the ways one can get involved are fun. OAC goes backpacking together quite often on the weekends, and we work as a team to get things accomplished, like this event, for example. It's crucial that people know about recycling and energy systems."

Although Earth Day was planned to draw attention to environmental awareness for students in a positive way, there were a few things the clubs did that lifted an eyebrow or two throughout the day, Simon said.

"We put petition signs all around the Student Union regarding the waste of energy, recycling paper, utilizing transportation alternatives, and appreciating and protecting the outdoors both on campus and around the community," said Simon, a senior environmental studies and psychology major. "I know for some students, they don't think twice about throwing a gum wrapper on the ground, but what happens if every student threw their gum wrappers on the ground? We would have a lot of gum wrappers to pick up. Students tend to forget that by helping with environmental issues they are ensuring a better life for themselves and their future children."

Earth Day organizers did not stop with petition signs. UB's Environmental Task Force sent out a post card to President John Simpson, requesting he purchase more wind power for the university.

"Right now UB buys only six percent of wind power to run the campuses' electrical power," Simon said. "We are hoping that the post card we sent President Simpson will encourage him to buy up to at least 10 percent of wind power. Wind power is a healthier and more natural way to produce power for the UB campuses. I live by the motto: 'We must save the environment to save ourselves.'"

Among the Earth Day activities were also several demonstrations. Bale and Bale Construction Company built a straw-bale roundhouse, with students' help, to show a more environmentally friendly way of construction.

A straw-bale building is a construction technique using bales of straw as the primary building blocks, said David Lanfear, the owner of Bale and Bale Construction.

"Straw, a renewable resource, is non toxic, highly insulating and is very user friendly to build with," Lanfear said. "We build with straw because it produces beautiful, healthy buildings and most importantly is a major step towards sustainable development. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Lanfear said even though life on earth weaves such a complex web, there is a very simple way to understand the human impact factor.

"We are the only organisms that produce waste," Lanfear said. "That is, we are the only beings who produce materials that cannot be used somewhere else in nature. The goal of sustainable development is to close the loop and have human activity match that of the rest of nature. Zero waste. Everything has to go somewhere."