After a little bit of creative writing, some stress eating and a lot of self confliction, I have decided to focus on a topic that is clearly science related just to keep a central focus on the blog post at hand. Although I’m free to pick any topic that you can think of, I felt I needed to set a few standards for myself and narrow my thinking into a clear science topic with particular consideration to environmental studies and caring for the earth. I have always been interested in environmental studies so I guess I am not completely steering clear away from a possible science major.

I was inspired to blog post about environmental science due to the large amount of environmental sustainability found throughout campus. Everything from the recycling to the water fountains to the recyclable carryout boxes, “going green” is a key part of the Penn State experience. Since being here at Penn State I have been more conscientious of my recycling habits and I definitely have put more thought into sustaining the environment. The real question then is how much of these “green” practices are actually making a positive effort in our world and in the end are they actually worth all the effort?

“Going green” is said to help the environment, reduce energy consumption, and it is a healthier lifestyle. Many people are going green because of global warming, but there still remains a group of people who don’t believe in this issue, so should we not be “going green” then?

Maybe people just don’t want to get out of their old habits and/or make a little bit of effort to be considerate of our actions and their effect on the world. Here are some concepts that battle the idea of “going green.” Despite the select few who disagree with global warming, it seems as though the evidence that global warming is happening and that we in fact are polluting the earth with chemicals greatly outweighs any evidence against it. It is almost impossible to find any valid sources that support “not going green.” Here are some various sites that give evidence to the importance of helping the environment.

Look familiar?

We often throw away our trash in the designated, and infamous, recycling bins found throughout campus, but we also sometimes just dump it in the landfill bin out of laziness. We trust the bins to correctly recycle our items but where is all of the trash actually going? Is it actually being recycled? The reason I question this is because at my high school we had a select number of recycling bins throughout our classrooms but a couple of my teachers told me that nothing was ever recycled, they just made it appear as if we did by having recycling bins throughout school but never actually recycled. Hearing this made me even less concerned about recycling and helping the environment. The shady acts of my high school makes me question where all of our college waste actually goes….

But, Penn State’s initiatives towards helping the environment and efforts towards sustainability seem to be strong and legitimate. They seem to have strong support towards “going green” and helping the environment. Unlike my shady high school, Penn State also has loads more of funding ($$$$) that can be put towards such efforts in helping the environment. Didn’t notice how “green” Penn State was? Here is a link that shows their efforts towards sustainability, check it out!

It is important to realize how our actions affect the environment around us as well as how our environment affects our actions. Penn State’s initiatives towards sustainability have affected my viewpoints towards the planet and “going green.” It has encouraged me to be aware of my actions and their effect on the environment. So, next time you go to dispose your trash in the landfill, take a second to think about the various other bins next to it and the couple extra seconds it will take to make progress in recycling and helping the environment in order to make for a healthier and greener community.