Green is the New Black

PLNU is known for being an environmentally conscious campus. We've been a top school in the RecycleMania program for several years, even winning in some categories against hundreds of other colleges around the country. A couple of years ago, solar panels were installed on the top of many of the buildings around campus. We even have waterless urinals in the guys' bathrooms!

For the girls reading this who never get to see them,
this is what a waterless urinal looks like!

All of these programs were started by school administration. That shouldn't be surprising - that's how it is at most schools around the U.S. But this year the students have decided to get involved. Part of Loma's ASB includes Student Congress, where students have made changes to open dorm hours and even raised funds for a new volleyball court on campus. But this year, Student Congress proposed the Green Fund. Along with our ASB elections this year, students also voted to pass a fund that would add $5 to each student's bill per semester to go toward our sustainability program.

This is a pretty rare things, and it didn't go unnoticed. There was even an article written about the initiative in the San Diego Daily Transcript. And just this past week, Student Congress put into effect a process that will eventually remove all of the plastic trays from our cafeteria. Sound unimportant? It's going to save Loma 375 gallons of water per day! Plus, it has been proven to cut down on the amount of food wasted.

I was a member of Student Congress last semester, and I have to say it's pretty cool that we have students at our school who care about these issues, not just faculty and staff. If these programs sound interesting to you, find out more here at the school's sustainability webpage.