The Greeks are Going Green

 

Human nature is often opposed to any alteration of routine. People are comfortable with their habits and don’t want to change. Implementing widespread sustainability initiatives are, therefore, quite the challenge. The new environmental organization, Greening  the Greeks, has made some impressive strides towards breaking the Greek community’s wasteful habits with education programs, waste audits, and a successful energy reduction competition this past fall- the Green Cup.

 

Co-founder of Greening the Greeks, Kelley Doyle, is optimistic about the Greek community’s potential to significantly reduce their environmental impact after the Green Cup energy savings competition (co-sponsored by Green Campus) yielded striking results.

 

A $2,000 prize for the winning house was used as incentive to encourage participation. This money was provided by an $8,740 grant received by Greening the Greeks and Green Campus from The Green Initiative Fund. The remaining grant money went towards publicity and educational campaigns (including free energy saving supplies).

 

 

Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) was the competition’s winner. Fiji cut their energy consumption by 40%. Doyle notes, “According to Green Campus, the residential halls usually see a 10% reduction in electricity consumption during their Black Out Battle competitions.” The 40% reduction is, quite obviously, a tremendous achievement.

 

Chris Ackman (Fiji’s sustainability chair) notes, “We saved $1,100 on electricity off a base line of the three previous years during the two months of the competition. This showed the brotherhood how much money we can save when we act conservatively.”

 

 

This substantial drop in the electrical bill was one of the competition’s key goals.

 

According to Doyle, in order to reach an audience that may not be very interested in the environment, “[Greening the Greeks] needs to be smart about how we educate people -find the right balance of funny but informative while being concise. Also, not everything has to be about ‘saving the planet’ or ‘reducing our carbon footprint’… some initiatives really do save the chapter money so we should be highlighting that instead!”

 

With this economic incentive, the simplicity of turning off a light switch or using CFL instead of incandescent light bulbs is made obvious and clear. Going green saves more than just the environment; it saves money too!

 

Mina Azarnoush, the retired sustainability chair of sorority Chi Omega, highlights another reason for the success of the Green Cup- an “immediate/tangible sustainability goal to work towards”.

 

Azarnoush adds, “Although ideally we should all partake in sustainable practices simply for the good of our planet and the environment, it is hard to convince or motivate a bunch of busy Berkeley students to care enough to remember to make sustainable practices a part of their daily life and routines. I think that giving the women a short term and tangible goal to work towards by implementing more environmentally friendly and sustainable practices was key in getting them to care about sustainability and incorporate these practices into their daily routines.”

 

 

The success of the Green Cup has inspired many brothers and sisters to continue with their sustainability efforts. Chi Omega, according to Azarnoush, has “continued to practice many of the changes that were made during the Green Cup…many women just replaced their light bulbs with fluorescents or just bought power strips that they turn off whenever they leave their rooms. The competition seems to have had a really lasting effect, and many of the women are more aware of how they can make sustainable decisions everyday.”

 

Looking towards the future, Doyle hopes to implement “more Greek-wide education…[and] achieve more publicity within the Greek community.” Also, if more fraternities (which are not well represented in Greening the Greeks) decide to join the effort, the organization will be in a better position to achieve their sustainability goals.

 

As an example of a grassroots campaign working towards educating a group of people often unaware of the virtues of sustainability, Greening the Greeks has great potential to make a huge impact not only within the Greek community, but also within the University at large. Doyle advises, “Like our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/greeningthegreeks), come to our meetings, and don’t just go Greek…go green, too!”