Frats & Sororities Going Green Across the Nation

It turns out that St. Patrick’s Day isn’t the closest fraternities and sororities across America come to being ‘green’ after all.  These days, eco-consciousness is seeping into all aspects of student life, and the Greeks aren’t excluded.  Greening up frats and sororities is becoming increasingly popular as students seek out new ways to be earth-friendly on campus.  A few schools that have gotten involved include UCLA, The University of Michigan and Dartmouth.

At UCLA, ‘Green the Greeks’ is a fairly new student organization that has been getting together to increase awareness of environmental responsibility among this large part of the student population.  On Earth Day, group members got together to gather recyclables and show students how easy it can be to make the right choice.  Green the Greeks co-founder John Frost told The Daily Bruin, “We facilitate a forum for members of the Greek community to come together and discuss issues of sustainability and to find solutions. We want to do this as efficiently and cheaply as possible. If these changes aren’t financially practical, they won’t last.”

The University of Michigan ‘Green Greeks’ organization was started in fall 2005, aiming to encourage environmentally responsible behavior in the Greek community.  The organization has saved over 60,000 cans and bottles from ending up in the landfill.  A statement on the Green Greeks website says, “We believe that the Greek Community and the fraternity and sorority that represent it can and should be a role model to the rest of the University for eco-friendly living. Green Greeks can act as a helping hand and a resource to chapters who would like to implement anything from basic recycling programs to educational hands-on environmental projects for their entire house, as well as campus-wide fundraisers.  For example, in 2006 we joined forces with Greek Week to run a recycling competition.”

At Dartmouth, efforts to introduce sustainability into sororities and fraternities have been around for nearly a decade, but the ‘Green Greeks Program’ was officially started in 2006. The college employs a ‘Greek Sustainability Intern’, Billy McCarthy, who helps coordinate Greek sustainability efforts with those of the rest of the school.  There are also Sustainability Coordinators in each Greek house, who take on tasks like organizing recycling and composting, reducing energy consumption and increasing general awareness among peers.

It’s encouraging to know that all of the cans, bottles and pizza boxes found in Greek houses nationwide aren’t going straight into the trash! College campuses are certainly getting more and more creative with their green efforts and it’s a hugely encouraging sign that we’re headed toward an all-around greener future.

Grist.org currently has a great roundup of creative green college efforts – go check it out!

Link [UCLA] + [U of Michigan] + [Dartmouth] via [Grist.org]

Related Posts:

College Spotlight: Green Mountain College’s Sustainable Orientation
Green College Spotlight: Sarah Lawrence College
Green College Spotlight: Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin
Green College Spotlight: University of California at Santa Cruz
Green College Spotlight: Brown University