Looking to the Future -- Student Lead Sustainability at Oxy

As many classmates have noted, the establishment of the Sustainability House this semester marks an important turning point for green culture at Oxy. My hope is, however, that in months (and years) to come the house can become a student-lead hub for not only for sustainable practices, but for the progressive culture of Occidental College as a whole. Taking cues from places like the LA Eco Village and Wanna Start a Commune, the Sustainability House could become a hub for a variety of progressive topics pertaining to Occidental and Los Angeles.

While living on campus at Oxy has a very insular feel, the members of the Sustainability House have been thrust (albeit only a block or two) into the neighborhood and are therefore in a unique position to act as liaisons between the progressive community of Los Angeles and Occidental. Much like the LA Eco Village, the Sustainability House is already working to serve as a model for green living to the Oxy community, but it could also serve as the headquarters or at least the meeting place for other activities -- promoting awareness about local politics, demonstrating/touring the green aspects of the house to the Occidental community, training new student leaders, hosting arts and other cultural events and overall becoming an epicenter of student driven activism for the neighborhood rather than just the campus.

One way in which this process can start would be for the progress made/activities held at the Sustainability House to be documented and kept in a blog. This way, community members and students could track the various initiatives undertaken at the house and learn with the house members as they transform their residence into a space which fosters community and responsible environmental practices.

For further reference or ideas on how some of these ideas might be executed, please check out:

LA Eco Village Blog

Wanna Start a Commune - (their website is currently down, but will connect you to their facebook, which is a great resource/community of great ideas!)

Sustainability House

I am often frustrated by the inability of the theoretical world of academia to apply classroom concepts to real world practices. However, I feel that the UEP program excels in overcoming this educational barrier. For this reason I am excited by the prospect of getting involved with the new sustainability house. Establishing a themed house offers students the ability to practice environmental principles in their daily life by given them a means to take a hands on approach in “greening” their living space and building environmentally friendly living habits. This is not a new concept, as sustainability houses or related campus housing programs are common throughout the country. A quick google search yields results from a multitude of schools that have supported similar housing projects.

Universities and institutions of higher learning need to be leaders in the environmental movement, and I feel these kinds of houses are one of the most interesting ways in which this is being accomplished. The strongest asset involved with these projects is the level of student participation. Instead of an institutional green initiative or any kind of related environmental measure on campus, a project like this is driven by the students and yields visible results for those involved. I’m excited to be a part of the almost endless possibilities that have been opened up through the establishment of the sustainability house.