The Voice: Sustainablity grade leaves room for improvement

The Setonian would like to take the opportunity to applaud Seton Hall for its significant improvement in its sustainability rating by greenreportcard.org.

We recognize Chair of the University Sustainability Committee Michael Taylor's remark that last year's D- was a "D- by default," as reported in our cover story, because Seton Hall did not return greenreportcard.org's 2010 survey.

As an academic institution, Seton Hall should understand that completing homework is a large portion of a student's grade. As a result, last year's "D- by default" could be seen as generous since most students who do not turn in homework receive F's instead of D-‘s. It is reassuring to see that Seton Hall has stepped up and done its sustainability homework this year.

Last year, Seton Hall made improvements on campus in order to make the University more sustainable. Some have been popular, such as the dorm recycling program, and others, such as printing restrictions, have been less so.

We hope that Seton Hall continues to move forward with a variety of "green" initiatives and will eventually have the funds to make buildings on campus more environmentally friendly. We know that such renovations are costly, but the higher upfront costs can lead to future savings.

The Setonian supports efforts encouraging students to recycle more, use recycling bins for recycling rather than for garbage and turning out lights to conserve energy, but more can always be done. Seton Hall needs to do more than implement programs; the University needs to work to educate students and strive to make them more conscious of how their actions impact the environment as well as Seton Hall's efforts to be "green." If the University takes the lead and makes improvements its infrastructure and implements initiatives to consciousness of the student body on environmental issues, our sustainability grade can only improve.