Arizona State Goes Green

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Industrialization has done a lot of damage to the earth over the past few hundred years. "In the decade of the 1960's world energy demand grew from the equivalent of 62 million barrels per day of crude oil to 99 million barrels per day" (El 191). With populations rising rapidly and technology advancing it causes a lot more waste to be left on earth, and a lot of our natural resources to diminish. A major contribution to the pollution on this earth is our cars. Transportation is the single largest source of our air pollution. It causes a lot of carbon monoxide release and nitrogen oxide release as well. Because of the number of drivers increasing, our air will become a lot more dirty as well. Deforestation also affects the atmosphere and also our land and water. Trees and greenery are important because they can convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. Littering is a very common way that human beings soil our earth, especially when people litter plastics. Plastic does not break down and it just gets thrown into our landfills. If we keep littering and not recycling our plastics then eventually our planet could be covered in trash. Using too much electricity is bad for our environment as well. Electricity is powered through coal. And coal is considered dirty and high in pollutants. People have found better and more efficient alternatives for electricity, and an example would be solar panel roofing. "Energy development and utilization have a significant effect on our society" (Ducsik 180). As we find all of these different ways that we have harmed and can keep harming our environment, we are also finding ways to reverse these harmful acts and also keep acts from happening.  A few years ago we have seen the world start to 'go green.' 'Going green' is changing your lifestyle in order to do your part in making the world a better place. People are buying hybrid cars, switching to solar power, and planting trees and greenery in their yards. People are filling their reusable water bottles rather than buying cases of bottled water, recycling their plastics, and unplugging the appliances that aren't in use at the given moment. Conserving our energy can help save the resources that are considered necessary for living. "The IEA expect a global energy demand to rise by 66 percent by 2030 with 90 percent of the increment supplied by fossil fuels, mainly oil" (McPherson 3). Polluting the earth is now extremely frowned upon. Colleges are now offering majors in sustainability. To be sustainable is to be able to renew and maintain our natural resources. Today, many large companies are looking for sustainability majors to keep their companies 'going green.' Universities also have started to have the 'going green' mentality as well as large industries. Arizona State University are undergoing many different ways of being a 'green' university. The fact that Arizona State is 'going green' is great because it shows how compassionate the university is about the environment, and it creates a better and healthier place for students and faculty to be at all the time. Another reason why it is a good idea for Arizona State to continue to 'go green' is because that could be something that would attract a potential new student. A freshmen student would first notice that they are a 'green' campus because their application for admissions is all done online rather than through mail and wasting paper. Freshmen as Arizona State would secondly notice that the Hassayampa Academic Village residence halls are 'green' in many aspects. Some examples of their 'green' residence halls would be that they have reflective roofs to keep the building cooler, low-flow faucets and toilets to conserve water, large windows to bring in natural light, and many more. Scattered all over campus are trash bins and recycle bins to reduce littering and waste. Arizona State maintains plants and uses special plants that don't need as much water.