awareness

Let the games begin!

Every fall, the East Campus dorms at Duke University partake in a month-long waste, water, and energy reduction competition. Students earn points for their residence hall and prizes for themselves by doing their part to reduce their ecological footprints and to become educated about the environment. Here are the highlights:

Recycling Rate- Residence halls with fewer amounts of recyclable materials in their trash bags (on an unannounced day during the competition) score higher.

Energy Reduction- The greater the dorms reduce electricity usage below their per capita (based on historical consumption data), the more points they receive.

Online Impact Survey- Residence halls are scored according to the percentage of residents that finish a survey, thereby helping the university assess the level of environmental literacy of the freshmen class.

Eco-Film Series- Students earn participation points for their dorms by attending showings of environmentally-themed films, such as Planet Earth.

Zero Energy Pledge- Residence halls gain points if residents promise to unplug appliances before leaving campus for Fall Break.

Eco-Trivia Night- Points are awarded by taking an environmental trivia quiz.

Recycle for the Children- Students earn points if they pick up bottles, cans and glasses around the football stadium following every home football game. (Proceeds from the sale of the materials go to the Duke Children's Hospital.)

Earth Jam- Attendees engage in an interactive environmental festival about environmental stewardship and receive credit for coming.

Eco-Footprint Calculator- Students collect points for their dorms by calculating the environmental impact of their lifestyle choices.

The residence hall with the most cumulated points at the end of the month gets cake from Mad Hatters and ice cream from Maple View Farms in a championship party with the University President. Individual prizes through raffle include an iPod Nano, iTunes Gift Card, a Trek mountain bike, and gift certificates to local restaurants and Duke Stores.

These are some of the events that take place in Duke's Eco-Olympics, and some great ideas to start your own Eco-Olympics at your school! Let the games begin on your campus, and help promote environmentally-friendly behavior and awareness across the entire student body. For more information, click here.

Photo courtesy of Duke Environmental Alliance.

In the past few years, a few events have brought more attention to animal rights. These incidents range from the abandonment of pets during Hurricane Katrina and widespread pet food contamination to Michael Vick’s dog-fighting and Oprah’s recent show about puppy mills.

According to USA Today, PETA’s membership has risen to 1.8 million and the Humane Society’s to 10.5 million.

This year, 28 state legislatures are expected to strengthen bans on dog/cock-fighting and 13 states are considering bills to regulate puppy mills.

The book and movie Fast Food Nation (Google Books) educated millions of Americans about the horrors of the industry. Since then, 330 colleges have stopped or reduced the use of eggs from hens housed in battery cages. Mass retailers are also following the trend- examples include Burger King and Hardee’s. Grocery stores display more meat and eggs labeled “free-range” or “grass-fed,” and sales of organic agricultural products have sky-rocketed.

Additionally, there is a campaign in Massachusetts to ban commercial greyhound racing by 2010.

Many other reforms have happened and are in the process of being passed. In fact, some people compare this burst of animal activism to the civil rights activism in the 1960s and the environmentalism in the 1970s.

However, it is important to realize that even with these successes, there are still many other concerns in the world today. Destruction of natural habitats, horrifying agriculture practices, and domestic animal abuse are some of the many problems that must be addressed. Sadly, most issues are not acted upon by the general public until a tragedy strikes.

Of course, awareness is the first step, and it is a great sign that people are reacting to the recent news.

For more information, visit
USA Today

The adorable picture is from www.kloudiia.com