Letters to Dr. Green |
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EarthTeam’s own environmental “advice” columnist with a prescription for what ails her readers – and the Earth. |
 Dear Dr. Green,
Last summer, I stayed on UCLA’s campus to take summer classes and whenever I wanted to recycle, it was almost impossible to find a recycling bin. I was outraged. In my dorm, I posted flyers and spread the word that I was collecting recycling in my dorm room in a big plastic bag. Students staying in my dorm began to deliver recyclables to my room and I began to fill up huge garbage bags full of plastic bottles, aluminum, and glass. By the end of my trip, my roommate hated me, as my dorm room officially stunk.
When my parents finally picked me up at the end of summer to go back to high school, they had to help me lug bags and bags of recyclables down to the car. I INSISTED that we drive to the nearest recycling bin. This is no joke: we drove miles before we found one.
Although I felt a strong sense of victory when I got to recycle my collection, I felt horrible at the same time, realizing that at a school with so much prestige, there isn’t even something as necessary as easily accessible recycling.
I don’t want to go to a school that doesn’t have an emphasis on environmental care. I am already a senior, and I don’t have time to travel every state to find one. Dr. Green, please give me some suggestions on colleges who respect the environment before it is too late!
Searching,
Environmentally Rejected
Dear Environmentally Rejected,
Don’t worry, if you aren’t applying to a UC, you still have a good month before your deadline—but hurry and look around! There are so many other places besides UCLA. If you are going for east coast prestige, Yale, Harvard, Tufts, Brown, and Middlebury all offer green campuses.
Generally, liberal arts private schools are much more environmentally inclined—especially those in the Pacific Northwest. Some to check out include Reed College, Lewis and Clark, Linfield, Willamette, and Puget Sound.
If you want a bigger school, University of Vermont, University of Buffalo, and University of Colorado have much more stress on the environment than some schools in California.
There are some schools that dedicate themselves solely to the environment. Try SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in New York, Northland College in Wisconsin, and Huxley College of the Environment in Washington.
It would be impossible to review all of the environmental colleges offered in the United States so I suggest that you take a look on your own. To browse environmental colleges that fit your needs check out www.collegeboard.com or enviroeducation.com.
Happy Searching!
Dr. Green
References:
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/sustainenergy/colleges_n_uni/cu_sustain_campus_links.html
Dear Dr. Green,
I am obsessed with fish—and not in the marine biology sense. We are talking food. I love to eat all kinds of fish: halibut, trout, salmon, fried, sautéed, baked, peeled, dead, alive, big, small, green, pretty or ugly! The problem is I consider myself an environmentalist and I just heard about serious problems in the decline in the population of fish stocks. Apparently, we are “fishing out the sea.” Is this true? If so, what can I do? How do I solve this problem! I am facing a serious inner-conflict!
Troubled,
Fish Lover
Dear Fish Lover,
It is true, fish stocks, “the amount of fish that are alive in their groups by types of fish and where they live,” are in serious jeopardy. A study concludes that "nearly half of the stocks for which there are rebuilding plans are still subject to over fishing so that fishing pressure is still too high to allow recovery."
We know that overfishing is happening because some fish stocks that were once considered abundant have almost disappeared. This is a huge problem because the animals that leaned on the fish for food (i.e. marine birds and mammals) now have nothing to eat. Consequently, these populations are shrinking along with fish populations. Overfishing is not only detrimental for food supply, but it also makes the ocean more vulnerable to pollution.
Other than making fish a less prevalent part of your diet, there are more impacting actions that you can take. Become a member of the Ocean Conservatory or another fish-saving organization. The Ocean Conservatory is doing the following to help the problem:
- “Research on ocean ecosystems and sustainable fisheries management.
- Promoting legislation that requires sustainable fishing.
- Helping managers implement existing laws that govern fishing.
- Legal action to enforce laws that protect fish and ocean ecosystems.
- Advocating the creation of no-fishing areas such as Ocean Wilderness. “
Let’s restore fish populations!
Dr. Green
References:
http://www.uk-environment.co.uk/fish-stocks.html
http://www.alaskareport.com/fish10078.htm
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_overfishing
Editor’s note: Here’s a card to print out and carry with you when you order fish at restaurants:
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/1980_pocket_seafood_selector.pdf |
