One goal: To entangle promoting our environmental accomplishments with cultivating more environmentally sustainable behaviors within our constituents. Environmental sustainability is what we are about at Furman University, by any measure.
We deserve prosperity versus the extraordinary waste in our lives
Reflecting upon the era in which I grew up, it's clear that progress and prosperity were the expectation for my generation. I have not been disappointed. My life has been blessed and my acquisitions are notable. My generation is doing better than any previous generation. At some point though, enough is enough. There are now more motor vehicles registered in the USA than there are licensed drivers. I live in a home that has 3 showers and only two occupants, whereas in China, 2/5’s of women there will never experience a hot shower. I am living in an era when little effort is made to teach where waste goes, where few are aware of the true costs of food and from where it comes, and why that fast-food hamburger costs only $1.00. The idea that reusing something is tacky like wearing the same shirt again during a school term has become well-developed. The use of a needle and thread to repair something has disappeared and can you tell me where I might get my hiking boots resoled? The diseases of affluence are maiming us at startling rates (accidents and obesity, for example), and today’s 18 year old will likely have a lower life-expectancy than their parents. More distressing is the head in the sand attitude we have about our relationship to global climate change. It must be the fault of the Chinese that that the planet is warming. They are so wasteful using energy making all the stuff we buy.
Furman University
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Space
When you compare life at Furman with life at most other college campuses, one clear difference is apparent - space . During class change at Furman our sidewalks and pathways are rarely crowded. The half-mile trek from Johns Hall to the PAC causes some students to be late and is a common complaint of the tardy. And what about the 15-minute walk from the distant North Village apartments to the PAC; makes you want to get a bicycle. Our 750-acre campus, designed primarily for motor vehicles, puts lots of space between buildings. Students at Furman have nearly 1/3 of an acre allocated to them which can take a good bit of time to negotiate. At Arizona State University with about 50,000 students on 700 acres, your 1/100th of an acre is approximately four parking spaces. During class change at ASU you sometimes wonder if you are in Times Square in New York City.
flush
If it is yellow let it mellow, if it is brown, flush it down. Can you imagine seeing these words above the toilet you are about to use? I'm unsure of the translation in the countries of the Middle East, but you can be sure that potable water is rarely used to transport human waste in many places in the world. So, why would I want to not flush a bit of yellow urine down the drain with 1-3 gallons of potable water? Is it unsanitary? Will someone follow me at the toilet and drink from it? Or, do the molecules that enter the air from my urine, when inhaled by another, bring on illness? Is that what is called yellow fever? A little color in an otherwise white porcelain throne looks kind of nice to me.
The New Blog
OK, so we are celebrating the "year of the environment" at Furman University. I’m trying to help coordinate the event and create a promotional scheme to raise awareness about environmental issues. A friend of mine told me about a small sign next to a marina that sums up what "the year of the environment" at Furman is all about. The sign said, "Mind your wake." If you’re a boater, you know that your wake affects those other boats on the water, those on docks, and the shoreline itself.