Commentary: As Leaves Turn Orange And Maroon, Virginia Tech Goes Green

By Kristen Walter  

October 21, 2008

As students poured into Blacksburg this fall and settled back into the familiarity that the town offers, a few changes were hard to miss. It may be less apparent to freshmen and sophomores who have had less time on the campus, but for upperclassmen there is no arguing the fact that Virginia Tech is going green.

Last spring during Earth Week, an experimental removal of lunch trays in the D2 and Shultz dining halls showed a decrease in food and water waste by 38 percent; that's nearly 1,600 pounds of food. While some argue the inconvenience of trayless dining, the elimination of these trays, paired with signs raising attention to portions of food, will undoubtedly yield results similar to those of the Earth Week trial.

Although President Charles Steger has yet to sign on to a national college climate initiative, he has announced the development of Virginia Tech's own sustainability plan that will hopefully be put in place by the end of this spring semester. While it will take time to convert to an entirely greener way of life, Tech has already taken a few steps in that direction.

Sensors now inhabit classrooms so lights turn off when no one is in the room; a round-about was installed a few years ago to reduce traffic and therefore fuel consumption; and recycling bins now dot the campus so it is impossible to walk from one building to another without encountering at least one.

Perhaps most interesting, however, is the current construction on the Henderson Lawn. Unlike any building on the campus, the new Experimental Theater will meet U.S. Green Building Council standards. Plans call for an organic roof, low-flush toilets and urinals and energy efficient HVAC; but also locally produced and eco-friendly materials as well as recycled demolition and construction debris will be used.

Even the curriculum offered at Virginia Tech is shifting green with increased popularity, now offering majors and minors in a Green Engineering Program. According to the program's website, one of the main missions of this program spanning all disciplines of engineering is "to expose all engineering students to the environmental impact of the design, manufacture, and use of engineered products and systems."

Giving students the opportunity to learn about environmental impact and exposing them to the potential of a greener world earlier on will send graduates out into society with the ability to implement societal change on a larger scale than seen here on campus.