As college students, burdened by our parents’ failed environmental leadership, we must change our personal and societal values to incorporate greater environmental awareness.
It’s clear that consumer-driven capitalism and environmentalism will struggle to coexist. While environmentalists attempt to decrease their ecological footprint, companies want us to buy more products more often. Corporations advocate increased consumption of natural resources to support their bottom lines.
Be it global warming, biodiversity loss or general pollution, over-consumption is the root cause of environmental problems.
After watching MTV or ESPN for 10 minutes, it is clear that we have a long way to go. Companies have redefined being a musician, athlete or almost anything else as purchasing the right clothing, equipment and lifestyle products. They have made our lives all about consumption, starting at younger ages than ever before. We have become brainwashed hyperconsumers, and we must change.
Protecting the environment will be our generation’s greatest challenge. We cannot leave changing consumer habits and protecting nature to ultra-progressive nouveau-hippies; it must become part of the mainstream consciousness. Facing pervasive anti-green pressures, how will we rise to the challenge?
As college graduates and future cultural, political and academic leaders, we must be better equipped to join the battle to save the planet. This may sound too Captain Planet-esque, but the situation is critical.
Northwestern must educate students to be leaders in the environmental movement in order to fulfill its responsibility to prepare us for the modern world. Environmental studies is not an isolated discipline that can be limited to one department. Protecting nature requires political, scientific, economic and other approaches. All departments should integrate environmental issues into their curricula. Placing a greater emphasis on environmentalism is an opportunity for NU to rise to the top of academia in the sustainability movement.
A limited feel-good green campaign is not enough. Buying a negligible percentage of our energy from renewable sources, asking students to turn off their dorm room lights and setting up recycling bins does not make us a green school. Our environmental science major and environmental policy minor are starts, but only a small percentage of NU students will be exposed to environmentally focused curricula.
The Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center’s silver level green status is commendable, but it is by no means groundbreaking sustainable design. NU should not just aim to get new buildings LEED certified, it should invest in buildings that are models of green techonolgy, such as Oberlin College’s Lewis Center.
By exposing students to environmental academics and even green design, NU will graduate a generation ready to fight our most critical battle.
