"Care for the environment is one of the seven major principles of Catholic social teachings," and is included under the tenant of "caring for God's creation," which has been added to Church teaching in the last few years.,”Marquette needs to increase its environmental efforts. As a Jesuit university preaching that everything we pursue is "for the greater glory of God and the common benefit of the human community," we should be at the forefront of promoting green change.

Care for the environment is one of the seven major principles of Catholic social teachings and is included under the tenant of "caring for God's creation," which has been added to Church teaching in the last few years.

Changes need to be made, and quickly. Marquette is lagging far behind other schools in this important area. We don't have to reinvent the wheel to catch up – we should look at other schools and imitate the steps that they have taken. For example, we should add our name to the Climate Commitment's Web site, joining 448 other schools that have done the same.

Once on the list, we would be required to establish a committee to come up with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and eventually reduce them. This is something that we really need: a plan. The committee could help bring attention to areas where environmental efforts could be improved.

For example, improving recycling bins in dorms. First of all, the cans in the basement designated for recycling often have trash thrown in them. Furthermore, it seems that most people are under the impression that their recycling bin is really just another trash can. It's not. Perhaps at check-in, students who plan to recycle should get a can for it, and students who don't should plan on taking their trash out more often.

We also need more recycling bins out and around campus. There should be recycling and trash cans side by side to make recycling easier for students. No matter how green students are, people don't want to tote around empty pop bottles until they get to their rooms because they have no place to recycle it.

We need to encourage people to ride bikes and provide bike racks on campus. Our campus has a surprisingly low number of racks for students.

Several colleges have held some kind of dorm competition to reduce energy consumption like Williams College in Massachusetts. By unplugging their phone chargers and other appliances when not in use, turning off lights when leaving their rooms and using fluorescent bulbs, they were able to significantly cut consumption, with the winning dorm being awarded a prize for every person. If not done out of an obligation to the world, this action would at least save some cash for the university.

There are many things we could do to turn Marquette into a more environmentally conscious school and we need to do them. As a Jesuit university, we should be on the forefront of promoting this change.

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