Countries across the world have mobilized their efforts on the front for sustainability with global events such as Earth Hour and the invention of eco-friendly technology and according to students, our University should be doing the same.

Robert Bruck , a professor of plant pathology and forestry, believes the University is making huge strides.

“The campus is making an effort about 1,000 times better than it did in the past,” Bruck said. “We have a good way to go, but being a science and technology campus, I think it’s our responsibility to not only be as ‘green’ as possible but to use it as an educational tool, to show people through demonstrations of real projects, that there are more efficient ways of doing things.”

According to Bruck , students are making up a great majority of the sustainability efforts on campus.

“We have student organizations such as WESA , the WolfPack Environmental Student Association, that are working hard. Some of our students in environmental technology are actually working on solarizing the campus, finding out what buildings that would be most suitable to have photoelectrical electricity on it,” Bruck said.

However, some students are not aware of any sustainability efforts.

Nada Elhertani , a sophomore in psychology, said, “I do not know about ‘going green.’ Unfortunately, I’m just not aware of any of that stuff. [But] I feel like I’m not the only person who doesn’t know. I feel like people should be [made] more aware of it.”

Offices for energy and sustainability that are located on campus are just some of the endeavors made to provide information and teach students, Bruck said.

“The building that I’m in, Jordan Hall, I was just informed this morning, will undergo an energy audit next week,” Bruck said. “I’ve been here for 33 years and [have] never seen quite as much action as [seen] right now. So I’m encouraged with what’s going on.”

Melissa Keeney , a sophomore in environmental technology, detailed how sustainability efforts are a major part of her life.

Keeney said, “I have always been recycling and picking up trash found on the street since I could walk, but through studying environmental technology here at N.C . State, I have learned about many other ways to be green and help the campus to be sustainable.”

Some of the efforts made to implement sustainability include clearly labeling recycling bins, installing water fountains, which are specifically made to fill up water bottles and setting up motion-censored lighting, Keeney said.

Whether these efforts are cost-beneficial is a major deciding factor for the University to continue use.

“I think it’s more than cost-efficient. The fact is I am convinced we spend millions of dollars on this campus on electricity, just using one example, that’s just completely wasted…I literally go around turning off thousands of light bulbs [at night] that are just simply lit up for absolutely no reason whatsoever,” Bruck said.

Keeney provided a few pointers for other students to contribute to the movement.

“Some easy sustainable tips I have are turn off your lights when you are not using them, buy energy efficient light bulbs next time you are making a light bulb purchase, unplug items when you are not using them, recycle, use reusable water bottles and use a backpack to store food bought from areas on campus instead of the plastic bags they provide,” Keeney said.

“I am convinced that even if we set a goal of reducing it by as much as 20 percent, that it’s attainable,” Bruck added. “Part of the way of doing that would is…solar PV [ photovoltaics ] on our buildings to supplement the energy use and get free electricity from the sun. The price is so low and coming down all the time that it almost seems silly not to have photovoltaics within our campus.”

With the polar ice caps melting and our Ozone depleting, it’s not hard to want the campus to further its sustainability efforts. Bruck said that it is important for us to value our energy and learn about how to be more energy efficient.

Bruck said, “We have to start realizing that energy is not free, that our energy here mostly comes from coal-fired power plants that pollute the atmosphere…We should be doing the upmost to be able to minimize those effects, not only to be a good steward [to the earth] but also to simply show our students that’s what needs to be done.”