Spring Editorial Board 2016
Unfortunately, calling for green initiatives has become a cliché.
Seldom passes a day where a college student is not directly exposed to a person or organization striving to preserve our Earth.
The inspiration these organizations attempt to instill is sometimes lost in the great green bog of environmental awareness.
Having so much exposure that its impact is reduced is a peculiar problem, and it’s one that we must all acknowledge in order to get past it. If acknowledged, we as a student body can work toward incorporating habits of environmental sustainability not only through sheer inspiration, which can be waning, but with an attitude of calculation.
Developing a sense of duty toward sustaining the Earth that isn’t contingent upon emotion is paramount in the collective human effort to preserve it.
That isn’t to say emotion doesn’t aid the effort. Emotion certainly can and does push some people to put forth greater effort, but emotion should not be the deciding factor as to whether or not someone puts forth effort.
We must make a conscious decision as human beings to commit to this cause without the comfort of passion to act.
Passion can be fleeting; it’s human nature to let ourselves be enraptured by the present moment. Behavior derived from dispassionate analysis is much harder to kill.
A way to impress upon folks the importance of their individual actions in relation to the environment is to paint a picture spanning the length of their lives.
Yes, in the big picture, a single bottle being recycled does not mark a significant step toward preserving the environment. But when examined on a larger scale, all of the bottles an individual can save ends up being much more significant.
In addition to recycling products, reducing and reusing must be emphasized as well. Reusing bottles and plastic bags may seem like minor steps, but in conjunction with all of Auburn’s student body, change will be met. To reduce waste, we call on Auburn students to change our consumer culture. Too often we buy food or drinks that we end up throwing away. To mitigate this, we must give more thought to how much we will consume. It sounds like common sense, but a little attention paid to minor habits can transform a person’s behavior and environmental footprint.
Auburn has made great steps in environmental preservation.There are water-filling stations that encourage reusing bottles, the lights in buildings automatically shut off after-hours, and there is a new bike system that encourages people to bike instead of driving around campus.
Coupled with efforts such as these, revising the way we approach issues such as environmental preservation will guarantee a stronger, more permanent resolve in combating them. 
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