Everyone has the choice of how much, how often and what they do to preserve these resources. While we may all have small, individual impacts, gathering at a large base, such as a campus, all our impacts become one large footprint.

In terms of Elon’s current footprint, the sustainability master plan draft, which is in the works to help make Elon more environmentally friendly, laid out part of the importance a plan would offer.

“It was also clear that Elon is behind the national curve in terms of implementing such a plan,” according to the document. “Forty percent of all American colleges and universities had such a plan in 1993.”

But the recent move to create a sustainability plan that would curb our impact just falls in line with the social urge to change that surrounds us: green cars, green homes, green products. Anyone at Elon can participate in Campus Climate Challenge or RecycleMania, attend a community viewing of Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” or hop on the BioBuses for a quick spin on used fryer oil to make it to class on time. In fact, it is no longer just spring that is bringing out the green; it’s everything.

According to Elon’s Environmental Awareness Web site, the campus used 0.009 gallons of water per square foot per capita and 290 British thermal units per square foot of energy in May 2006.

To cut these rates, many individual sections of the campus community are playing a key role in making a difference.

Ed Eng, director of the physical plant, said even though it was never structured in a formal way, the Physical Plant was environmentally conscious for many years by using items such as water-saving devices, showerheads and low-flush toilets to curb water consumption.

“The environment and our impact is something we all need to be conscious of,” Eng said. “Everything we do affects everybody else. With water consumption, how much does it hurt for everyone to cut their shower by a minute—or even 30 seconds? If you multiply that by all the people on campus, we’d be saving thousands of gallons of water a day.”

Dining Services is also stepping it up to make sure the products they are using and producing are the best quality for both the recipients and the environment.

Resident District Manager of Dining Services Jeff Gazda said his branch also does a lot that isn’t directly asked of them because they believe they are the right steps to take, but that they also support the mission of the university.

“We’re not reactive, we’re results-driven,” Gazda said. “Sustainability is part of our culture and we’re trying to head that way. We can do silly things, like no-tray day, but it’s more than that; we’re looking for long-term solutions, not just what is good today.”

Gazda said his team is also working to implement more organic and locally grown products, work to help SGA, help advertise the benefits of reducing waste and sponsoring tray-less days among many other internal changes.

“You should be assured that as an organization we are going to be doing everything we can to stay ahead of the curve without compromising safety for you folks,” Gazda said.

But aside from administrative-run initiatives, student groups, such as the Sierra Club and Campus Climate Challenge, are making a splash on the conservation scene as well.

Campus Climate Challenge is a university organization across the nation that works to help reduce emissions on campus to create a clean energy revolution.

Another environmental-impacting group, Lighten Up Elon!, is a class that focuses on making the Elon community aware of how much garbage and food they waste daily.

Lighten Up Elon! Overall Coordinator senior Josh Donde said he sometimes thinks students are not fully knowledgeable of everything that they are throwing away that could be recycled or didn’t need to exist to begin with.

Donning biohazard suits, Professor of Philosophy Anthony Weston’s ethical practices class collected, dumped and sorted trash on the Moseley lawn in an attempt to showcase some of the waste the community goes through on a daily basis.

“We hope that through our project students will garner some awareness about this issue and be more careful about their waste,” Donde said. “Small items are simple ways to reduce you footprint if only a little bit, [but] something is better than nothing.”

However, he also said that the sustainability plan was presented and marketed by administrators demonstrates their interest in pushing an environmentally conscious campus.

“I think it will only have positive effects; our administration has put into motion an excellent plan,” Donde said. “This plan has the potential to be a catalyst for a much bigger sense of environmental awareness and I am very excited to see the results […] in the years to come.”

A separate group of students also gathered around Boney Fountain last week to showcase their support for the draft changes as well.

While the mock-up calls for a $2,506,250 one-time cost and a pricier assumption rate, many community members reflect the positive outlook of the movement.

“I’m glad we’re doing this sustainability; each one of us can make a big difference, not just the physical plant,” Eng said. “[It’s] everyone altering their lifestyle and habits to make it effective.”

To find out how many earths we would need for everyone to live like you, visit www.myfootprint.org/.

For more information about Elon’s new efforts, visit http://org.elon.edu/physicalplant/env-aware/index.htm or http://org.elon.edu/lightenup/.