Climate and energy

On college campuses across the state, students are preparing for their futures. In economic hard times, that future may often seem uncertain – but many Kansas students plan on making sustainability a permanent part of their lives.

Ben Morgan – guest blogger and KU student (and CEP Outreach Assistant) – is one of them.

The Lawrence community is made up of a healthy handful of student and non-student activists, innovative engineers, and many other groups of specialists. All are working hard and thinking creatively about how to make the transition from fossil fuels, to wind and the many other forms of alternative energy that Kansas has to offer.

Especially on the KU campus, there are many groups which passionately work to promote and exemplify sustainable living. For example, a group of optimistic students studying mechanical engineering were recently featured in the university newspaper. Referring to themselves as the Ecohawks, they have taken on the outrageously adventurous quest in attempting to convert a 1974 Volkswagen Beetle into a 500-MPG super hybrid. A very optimistic step in the right direction!

Another student run group called E.A.R.T.H. (Environmental Action to Revitalize the Heartland) is one of many successful environmentally based groups around campus. E.A.R.T.H manages the KU campus community garden and this year harvested a broad array of organically grown herbs and vegetables, which they donated to local food shelters.

A KU student works on a community garden.

Other organizations such as the KU Center for Sustainability, help by preserving the values of environmental, economic and social responsibility around campus. The Environs, and Greeks Going Green are active on campus as well. The Environs promote awareness of environmental issues through distribution of information, policy influence and activism. While Greeks Going Green are working on getting the ball rolling to try and equip Greek chapter houses with CFL’s and lower overall emission rates nationally in chapters.

From the mechanical engineers attempting to push a car 500 miles on one gallon of gasoline, or the math professor who opens all his blinds to keep the lights off during his lectures for the fall semester – the University of Kansas is well on its way to becoming a truly sustainable campus.

In a time where our economy is so unbelievably depressing, it’s good to be in a stable town like Lawrence, learning about how to get us out of this mess.

… If only there was another earth we could take out a loan from. Then we wouldn’t have any of these climate concerns – whenever our carbon levels started peaking, we could just get approved for a loan of 700 billion trees from our reserve earth bank, behind the moon! Yet then again, we probably couldn’t afford the fuel and labor needed in transport, and we would likely need a loan for that too…

— Ben Morgan