More than ever, citizens—especially young ones—are becoming passionate about sustainability. That passion has caught hold at Baruch, which instituted the Task Force on Sustainability in 2008 (part of the larger City University of New York Sustainability Project). According to a 2011 Baruch task force survey, 97% of current students indicated they recycle and 99.4% agreed that recycling was important for the environment.
Baruch’s new “Take It With You” campaign is designed to build on students’ enthusiasm and strengthen the College’s recycling efforts. Strategically placed recycling and trash receptacles, posters, digital screen messaging, and banners are part of the new campaign. The focus: Cleaner classrooms with more recyclables properly disposed of.
“We depend on students to recycle,” said Mindy Engle-Friedman, chair of Baruch’s sustainability task force. “We as a community have an obligation to ourselves and the environment to keep the space that we live in and learn in clean,” she added.
The task force also promotes research, initiates relationships with civic and corporate entities, and supports the integration of subject matter related to sustainability into the curriculum.