JACK HODGENS
Special to The Leader
SUNY Fredonia has decreased the emission of greenhouse gases in an attempt to further benefit the environment. Many policies have been changed in order to continue this desired effect by not only the faculty of Fredonia, but also the students who wish to improve the standard of living for all.
The emission of carbon gases is mainly caused by the most standard usage of fossil fuels. Every day, these harmful gases are emitted from cars, planes or anything that uses motor fuel. The improper disposal of plastics is also a huge contributing factor leading to permanent damage to certain ecosystems, such as the ocean and forest.
In 2008, shortly after the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment was signed in the effort to maintain a sustainable environment, Fredonia decided to become “carbon neutral.” Since 2011, the carbon output of Fredonia’s gas emissions have drastically decreased by 29 percent, from 37,985 metric tons of CO2to 26,950 metric tons of CO2. This is a hopeful outcome; it proves that a difference can be made by making the right choices and necessary alterations.
Sarah Laurie is an environmental safety and sustainability specialist at Fredonia. She has devoted her time to the betterment of not only this generation’s environment, but the future’s as well.
“I wasn’t at all surprised to see a reduction in our emissions, but I was surprised at how large it was. I think this speaks to the efforts of everyone around campus,” Laurie said.
Though emissions have dropped, she explained that changes can still be made. “There will always be room for improvement. You cannot run a university without emitting greenhouse gases, but there is a constant stream of new methods and technologies becoming available to help reduce the resources used and waste produced,” said Laurie. The utilization of such technologies is imperative to the overall goal of sustainability.
The carbon footprint left behind by every human varies. Depending on how much water a person wastes, how little they recycle or even how often they drive to the gas station detrimentally affects the environment as a whole. If every person were to make simple changes to their everyday routines, it would take a matter of days for positive changes to appear in our environment. The term “going green” is known by all, but not everyone follows the practice of actually becoming less wasteful. The more people who jump on board to help their community, the easier it will be to create a healthier future.
There are many students in the science community that make it their primary goal to recycle more and carpool as much as possible. Daniel Papazissimos is an environmental science major who constantly studies the causes and harmful effects pollution has on not only animal life, but human life as well.“Fish are eating micro-plastics where they absorb the toxins through the plastics that humans ingest, thereby affecting our health. You can see where this is obviously not a good thing,” Papazissimos said. “The more toxins that get into our ocean due to the indifference of ordinary people the more dangerous it will be to everyone’s health. Don’t use polyethylene-based facial wash.”
When questioned about the specific gases that are hazardous to the atmosphere, Papazissimos said, “Methane is a simple hydrocarbon that, when released into the air by way of car, for example, it creates the greenhouse gas effect that everyone has heard about. The less methane in the air, the better, which can be difficult considering how dependent our society is on cars.”
Other students such as Nicholas Festa, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, know a few things about helping the environment due to classes at Fredonia.
“Personally, I myself try to take shorter showers, ride my bike everywhere and honestly recycle everything possible. I think it’s important because frankly I want the weather to stay consistent, global warming is not fun,” Festa said.
These drastic yet simple changes are sweeping across the Fredonia campus. As long as these efforts continue, it appears that things will only get better as the time goes by.