Thanks for Being Green

To the Editor:

I’m really happy to see the initiation of the Green Corner in The Exonian. Over my 15 years at Exeter, I’ve witnessed a cultural shift on campus: growing alarm about climate change and environmental degradation have motivated more and more students to invest time and energy into finding solutions and preparing for careers in the environmental field. PEA has more environmental clubs and environmentally-themed electives than ever before, and we are about to host the second annual Climate Action Day (CAD) on Wednesday, April 27.

This year’s CAD offers a fantastic slate of workshops spanning a range of climate-related issues. We’ll have one of the seacoast’s best chefs, Evan Mallett, preparing locally-caught fish. We have Siddhartha Roy, one of the key members of the Virginia Tech water sampling team that helped break the news of the Flint water crisis, coming to speak about Flint and environmental justice. We have Green Energy Artist Tem Blessed. We have recent alumna, poet and touring cyclist Devi Lockwood, traveling the planet by bike and boat, on Skype from Australia. We have multiple field trips into the local environs to do environmental restoration work or tour green buildings and sites.

I’d especially like to give a shout-out to the Animal Rights Club, new this year. Club members have worked steadily all year to publicize the impacts of animal agriculture and to encourage reduced consumption of animal products. The club has worked with dining services to plan a “Veg Fest” dinner in Wetherell on Thursday, April 28, showcasing plant-based cuisine in all its deliciousness, and we hope many students will choose to attend. The club is also screening the documentary “Cowspiracy” during one of the workshop slots so that students can gain greater exposure to the issues surrounding animal agriculture. We can’t solve many environmental problems through individual action, but collective action is quite powerful and brings direct results; altering our consumption habits is the single biggest way that we can enact positive change. Just one meatless meal per week could result in significant environmental improvements if we all practiced it regularly. That’s something anyone can aspire to do!

This year, faculty, staff, and students have worked together to produce a great CAD program. Details will be out soon and we hope everyone will enjoy the events. In the meantime, it’s great to read the Green Corner each week and witness the range and diversity of environmental activism on this campus.

-Amy Schwartz, History Instructor

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