The future for Wells College’s green movement is looking bright with the upcoming renovations of Zabriskie Hall (top right) and the proposal for Wells to become a Sustainability Institute. Wells College will be adding new majors and minors that focus on sustainability in the next few years that will be housed out of the new sustainability center in Zabriskie Hall. Becoming a Sustainability Institute will foster more green initiatives on campus, however, currently, the campus offers many green initiatives including environmentally conscious student groups, recycling across campus and compost in the dining hall.
Milene Z. Morfei (above) and Niamh O'Leary (left) began the initiative to make Wells a sustainable institute and add more environmentally friendly ideas to our already green and beautiful campus. Already the Wells College campus offers recycling in every building for paper, cardboard and plastics. Some dormitories also offer battery recycling and “share boxes” for items that are still in good shape and could be used by other students. Coming in spring 2014, there will be energy efficient washers and dryers in all the dormitories too!
Campus Greens and FORCES are two student run clubs that are actively support sustainability efforts. Every semester, Campus Greens hosts a campus clean-up and other environmentally supportive activities. Greens also show educational movies about sustainability to promote conversation among students and encourage sustainable behaviors. FORCES, or “Friends of Recreation, Conservation and Environmental Stewardship” is a club that does different types of volunteer work at local state parks. Their activities include invasive species removal and small maintenance projects vital to the watershed.
The dining hall offers a few environmentally friendly choices on campus. When discarding food, there are designated areas for food waste, so that it can be composted. The dining also uses napkins and to-go cups that are able to be composted to cut down on waste. When possible, the dining hall will serve local produce, such as apples from a near-by farm.