Collegiate Times

Graduate geography student Tammy Parece is taking action to make the Virginia Tech campus more eco-friendly by measuring the effects of natural resource conservation in local residence halls and living quarters in the Oak Lane community.

Designed to encourage students to become more conscious consumers, the study asks all students in the 10 selected residence halls to follow a list of strategies that will aid in conserving vital natural resources while equipping students with habits that will help them be better citizens of the world.

The broader scope of the study is to help decrease the amount of natural resources the United States consumes.

"We definitely overuse," Parece said. "I think it's very important for everyone to be aware of their individual impact."

The study acknowledges that the United States represents only 5 percent of the world population, yet consumes over 23 percent of the world's natural resources. Because of this alarming reality, Parece felt the need to take action.

All students in the participating residence halls were made aware through e-mail and promotional posters throughout their building indicating that they were chosen for the inclusion in a study about conserving water and electricity. They were given basic guidelines to follow such as turning off lights in unoccupied rooms, washing clothes in cold water and reporting any water leaks or running toilets immediately to maintenance.

These conservation strategies were devised in the hope that students at Tech might learn environmentally sound habits to carry with them later in life.

"Students are developing habits now (in college) that need to be unlearned. Our goal with this is to change the social norm of students not being environmentally conscious with everyday routines," Parece said. "We're hoping we influence students who move off campus in the future to continue this resource-conserving behavior."

Each month of the study, students participating will be provided with feedback on the results of their conservation efforts, measured comparatively to usage data from previous years. Students will also be informed of how their hall is doing in comparison to the other halls involved.

Sustainability Planning intern and Virginia Tech's GREEN Team coordinator Angie DeSoto supports the idea of Parece's study and feels it will help get the Tech community on the right track to being named a "green" campus.

"Virginia Tech is definitely not a green campus yet, but I think this study is helping to accomplish the first step of taking action, and that's educating students about sustainability," DeSoto said.

Educating students about resource conservation is not only the focus of Parece's study, but many students believe it is exactly what Tech needs in order to improve how many resources are being unnecessarily consumed.

As a passionate environmental activist, Parece has high, yet realistic expectations for the study and the impact it will have on the students here.

"It's difficult to constantly be thinking of how our actions will effect the environment now and in the future with our focus completely on school," Parece said. "There is always going to be an excuse, but our main concern is that we want the world to be here for our children and for them to have a good quality of life while they are on this earth."