Students encouraged to “go green” for EcoMadness

“Eco-Madness” occurs throughout the month of October on the University of Connecticut campus. The series of events will all help UConn become an even greene and more sustainable campus.

As with past years, there will be many contests available for students to become involved in the “go green” movement.

One such contest involves each residence hall on campus. The building that saves the largest percentage of energy and water on a per person basis, factored in with the building’s participation points, will be named the winner. As with past years, the winning building will receive a free Dairy Bar ice cream party for all residents, as well as an Energy Offset Certificate.

Stefanie Zassman, a 3rd-semester pre-pharmacy major in the ACES program, is on the “Zero Waste” campaign for ConPirg, a student run advocacy group on campus. She firmly believes that Connecticut in its entirety needs to start being greener, and thinks that “Eco-Madness” is a good start for students.

“We need to go green because the state of Connecticut produces more trash per person than any other state,” said Zassman. She continued that Connecticut has a diversion rate of 30%, meaning that 30% of all trash avoids incinerators. She continued that other states, such as Massachusetts has a 60% diversion rate, and the island of Nantucket has a 90% diversions rate.

“Zero Waste is policy we are trying to get passed by the state,” said Zassman. “It is a plan with long term and short term goals of reducing the amount of trash in the state of Connecticut. We are trying to get this policy passed by the university to show that it is effective and very reasonable. We would like to be leaders for the rest of the state.”

Though the university is currently in the Sierra Magazine’s top 10 of “America’s Coolest Schools,” there are still many initiatives that could be taken to make it even greener. For this reason, many students share Zassman’s beliefs that the campus should continue its path to more sustainability.

“I think it’s important for UConn to be green because our environment is a huge concern,” said Samantha Sojka, 5th-semester communications major. “With students learning how to be green here at UConn, it could transfer over to their everyday lives and ultimately help their communities to be green.”

For more information regarding “Eco-Madness” events occurring throughout the month, check out ecohusky.uconn.edu/ecomadness.