Dorm renovation is often an unvoiced concern on the
When four students recently met in a focus group to talk about the Green Initiative Fund on campus, all agreed that the dorms needed some kind of facelift, if not to become greener, at least to attract potential freshman. They also agreed that while this would be quite expensive, the students would greatly benefit from it.
“You’ll feel like you’re in a clean environment, you’ll get your enrollment up, and that will definitely cover the cost,” said junior finance major Jason Thomas.
One idea that was discussed by the group was putting Energy Star appliances in the dorms. The community laundry rooms would benefit by being quieter, saving water, and saving energy on campus. Just putting towel racks in the dorm rooms could decrease the number of times students wash and dry towels each week.
In the kitchens, the university could install gas stoves and energy efficient refrigerators. Even putting in water purifying systems on the sinks could cut down on students purchasing plastic water bottles and encourage them to refill reusable containers that won’t litter our campus and fill our landfills.
It appeared that even small renovations and fixes to the dorms could go a long way. Doug Hollowell, senior philosophy major, lived in Stockard his freshman year and said that in the winter, he always felt a cold draft coming in from the window. If the university just fixed all of the windows, they could save money on heat costs and help the environment also by not using as much energy to heat the buildings.
Not only could they save money there, but they could save money by replacing leaky faucets and encouraging students to turn off the sink while they brush their teeth and also to take shorter showers.
The focus group, which included a member of Students for a Greener Campus and an intern from the Green Initiative Fund, agreed that getting the university to mandate such conservation methods would be the hardest part. Fixing problems would be easy, but getting students to conserve in their dorms would be difficult.
“Dorms would be the last thing you would look at,” said Elliot Warren, TGIF intern. “Many students when I lived there didn’t treat it with a lot of respect. The dorms are just abused. They aren’t going to put a lot of money into something that gets treated like that.”
When asked if going green should be placed high on the university’s list of priorities, Hollowell said, “At least get recycling bins in high traffic areas where people are walking around with cups and a lot of recyclable material.”
As the university begins to take steps towards being a greener campus, the question is whether or not they will focus on renovating the dorms. Though some students certainly believe the dorms need a closer look, it will be up to the university to examine where the TGIF fund will actually be spent.
-Samantha Rivera
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