What price do we put on the environment? Do we give the environment a limit of money that we are willing to spend? A limit on the time and effort that we are willing to invest into the environment?
I thought that some of the so called "green" initiatives that DePaul is trying to put forth were very admirable. The fact that the McGowan building received a "Gold" rating is great.... but what does that really mean? I have seen huge signs congratulating DePaul on receiving this gold rating for the new building all over the school. (Are these signs “green”? We may never know.) What is the point of these signs? To advertise DePaul as an environmentally friendly school? The signs are definitely not there to help save the trees. It seems to me that DePaul is contradicting itself in their actions and goals.
When Bob Janis came in to talk to this class I felt as though he was doing all within his capabilities to help make DePaul environmentally friendly. He is doing all within his capabilities but that does not mean that DePaul is doing all that it can be doing as such a large institution.
If we did have someone in charge of sustainability at DePaul I believe that things could be a lot different. It would help orient all of the collective efforts in this movement and create a more efficient system in implementing policies and solutions. It was kind of a cop out for Bob to say that he thought it was a waste of money to pay someone 180k to be in charge. Who is to say that we are not wasting that much money in non-cohesive efforts to change DePaul right now because there is not a head person evaluating all efforts and looking into projects for the future? Having someone is charge of sustainability at DePaul would make DePaul accountable for their actions and I believe in the long run would really help synthesize “green” efforts.
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I completely agree with what you wrote here, "When Bob Janis came in to talk to this class I felt as though he was doing all within his capabilities to help make DePaul environmentally friendly. He is doing all within his capabilities but that does not mean that DePaul is doing all that it can be doing as such a large institution."
ReplyDeleteI feel that although the start of McGowan South being a Gold Leed building is an accomplishment for DePaul (and thus obviously necessary for all the signs), it is truly only a start. I am glad that the faculty and students had such an impact on influencing the administration's mind about making McGowan South a green building, but I wish that together as an institution, both student/faculty and administration could really push for DePaul to become a completely green and sustainable environment!