Rams celebrate 'Earth Week'

 Winston-Salem State is celebrating Earth Week, also known as Green Week, April 12-16 by encouraging Rams to put green in their routine. 

N.C. colleges and universities have been becoming more conscious of their energy and water consumptions, including installing toilets that flush less water for liquid waste than for solid waste.  

Kabis said that UNC system schools hope to be carbon neutral by 2050.  

WSSU's new construction projects, like  the Center for Design and Innovation, Student Activities Center are being built  to reduce water consumption by half the amount of the 2004 building codes, use solar thermal heating  and maintain landscaping requiring less water.

Kabis said Green Week started because of student requests and University mandates.   

Housing and Residence Life posted signs in the residence halls asking students to separate their garbage and recyclables.  

Kennedy Dining Hall and the Red Room are attempting to go trayless. 

Kabis said that WSSU is the only HBCU in the UNC system that has not gone trayless.

Chelii Broussard, marketing and promotions coordinator, said several activities have been planned during Earth Week.

"We want students to use more human energy," Broussard said.

 "There will be activities in the breezeway from noon until 2 p.m. next week that encourage water and energy conservation and recycling."

The Environmental Defense Action Fund asked college students to create video clips calling on Congress to pass legislation for climate and clean energy.  

For the next seven weeks, students can submit their video clips.  A $3,000 grant will be awarded to the environmental group that collects the most videos.

"The University is very supportive of the Going Green movement," said Nancy Young, public relations interim director. 

"We try to get faculty, staff, and students to understand the importance of recycling, reducing waste, and reusing," Young said.

Young said that Green Week is the one opportunity the University gets to make everyone a part of the movement. 

"We are constantly looking for ways to improve sustainability and reduce our impact on environment," Young said.

Sonya Mickles, student development coordinator of the Honors Programs, said going green is a good thing for WSSU.

"It's been a focus of some of our colloquia courses over the past two years," Mickles said.

"As long as these efforts to go green don't impact or inflate my already growing tuition I'm all for it," said Eddie Bryant, a sophomore history major from Hartford, Conn. 

"The problem with going green is that people get lost in trying to save the planet and sacrifices the needs of the people fueling the initiative."