Like the Earth? Join the Eco-hood!

Mallory Dignin

Does refraining from dropping your wrappers on the ground and putting your plastic bottles in recycling bins ever feel like not quite enough to help out the environment? It can be difficult to fulfill that desire to better the earth, especially with busy schedules and living in dorms. But, not to worry, the opportunity to live a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle is coming soon with the Valpo Eco-hood.

What’s an eco-hood? It’s a community of individuals who pledge to live with certain eco-friendly standards. One of the first places to be termed an eco-hood was two blocks in Prescott, Arizona where residents raise their own food organically, compost, recycle water for things that do not need potable water, creating out of recycled materials, and generally reducing their negative impacts on the earth as a community.

But how are we as college students, with homework and budgets, supposed to go about growing our own food? The Valpo eco-hood will not be an exact replica of the original model, but it will provide students and faculty a chance to learn about easy ways that we can cut back on our harmful behaviors towards the earth and a community with whom to strive towards that goal.

Next fall, VU students can sign up to be a part of the eco-hood, which means they will try to follow a set of specific standards, for example not recycling paper until both sides have been written on, only using real dishes at the cafeterias and only washing full loads of clothes, for the entirety of the 2007-2008 school year. As a community, the eco-hood will learn how easy and rewarding it can be to live eco-friendly, and help each other discover new ways to do so.

Students living either in apartments or dorms are welcome to participate, and we will be encouraging professors and departments to get involved too.

If you are excited about the idea of living in the eco-hood and want to get started right away there are several things you can do today. First of all, talk to your future roommate (or roommates) about the idea of living eco-friendly and when planning your room for next year, look for items that can be made of reused materials or purchased used.

Secondly, check out the easy tips on page 2 of the Shaker of things you can start doing right now to make a difference. Third, check out the website of the original eco-hood at http://ecohood.info to be inspired by their way of life. And finally, get excited about a greener (as in more environmentally sound, not less mud) VU.

Contact Mallory.Dignin@valpo.edu or Holly.Nelson@valpo.edu for more information.