OCCC promotes environment awareness in time to celebrate Earth Day, Arbor Day
By Derek Jones, Staff Writer
OCCC will host “Green Week,” the week of April 20, to recognize Earth Day and Arbor Day.
Earth Day is celebrated April 22, and Arbor Day is April 24.
“Going Green,” a brown bag lunch presented by the Regional Food bank, will be held by Student Life from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, in CU1.
A blood drive will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 23, in the college union.
In efforts to promote a clean environment, “Adopt-A-Street Service Day” will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday, April 24.
Students interested in participating in the Service Day need to register at www.occc.edu/StudentLife, or in the Student Life office.
Brandon Isaak, Communications Lab assistant, has made recycling available at OCCC.
Isaak said Waste Management has provided recycling bins, which are available in the Communications Lab, Recreation Center, and the Math and Biology Labs.
There also are recycling bins located in the Student Life office and Health and Technology Center, he said.
Isaak serves on the Green Initiative Committee at OCCC.
“Being wasteful is detrimental,” he said. “We are recycling, but we should be reusing.”
According to Earth Day Network, unhealthy levels of air pollution are in many U.S. cities.
Automobiles count for almost a third of the U.S. carbon dioxide emissions with power plants accounting for most.
Malaria and the West Nile virus will impact the U.S. tremendously due to warmer temperature.
People who live in urban areas because of affordability endure the worst of pollution since lead and paint exposure is so high, according to the Earth Day Network.
According to the American Lung Association, asthma will affect one out of 14 Americans and one out of five families by 2020.
There are many other things people can do to help protect the environment.
Carpooling with friends and colleagues can help reduce carbon emissions from automobiles.
Replacing one standard light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFB) could save approximately $100 on a student’s electric bill per year.
If everyone in the U.S. would replace one light bulb with a CFL light bulb, according to the EDN, it would be equal to taking one million cars off the street.
The EDN urges everyone who is interested in helping protect the environment to contact local officials and see where they stand on these important issues.
For more information on how to help the environment, visit the Earth Day Network’s website at www.earthday.com.
