FAQ
What, exactly, is environmental sustainability?
Why is it important?
So I should just recycle, right?
What resources are available to me, as a UM student, so that I can learn more?
Environmental sustainability, or living in a way that ensures the health of the earth for future generations to enjoy, is a response to the increasing resource overuse and environmental damage that has escalated over the last century. Sustainability (which also includes community and economic aspects) is a major goal of the University of Michigan’s housing department, and all residents (and employees) are encouraged to make a conscious effort to reduce their environmental impact in order to become good stewards of the planet.
You’ve probably heard this story before, but if we (the global community) don’t start to take action to reduce our environmental “footprint,” we will soon reach the point where we will be taking resources from the earth at a rate that is not sustainable. In addition to depleted resources, we’ll feel the consequences of global warming, contaminated waterways, and deforestation.
While recycling is an important and visible part of sustainability in UM’s residence halls, it’s certainly not the only aspect of sustainability. It would be great if we could continue to recycle while adding other sustainable practices (many of which also save $$), like reducing our consumption of goods, buying items with less packaging, and reusing items whenever possible and buying used items instead of new ones. Other important focuses of our sustainability efforts are the conservation of energy, paper, and water.
A good place to start is www.housing.umich.edu/sustainability. In addition to providing a good overview of what we’re doing now for housing sustainability, there are links to other campus and community sites with more information such as the recycling page at www.recycle.umich.edu.
