When you think of The University of Alabama, there are several landmarks that come to mind. Denny Chimes, the President’s Mansion, the Gorgas House, and, of course, Bryant-Denny Stadium, the home of our national championship winning football team. We pride ourselves on being the best, working diligently, and focusing on achieving our goals. And while our athletic goals seem to be being met, other goals on campus sometimes seem to be overshadowed. Our lack of focus on environmental affairs is something that, as we expand as a university, needs to be dealt with.

Let’s take the stadium, for example. How many nights have you walked around campus and seen the glow of Bryant-Denny in the distance? While this makes for a pretty picture, leaving the stadium lights on 24/7 seems incredibly excessive. The lights were even on during the Western Carolina game this past weekend – do we really need help seeing in the middle of broad daylight? Leaving the lights on in the stadium is not only a waste of our tuition money, but it also is a huge waste of energy. Even just keeping the lights on during Gameday weekends would help decrease our energy consumption while still allowing the excitement seeing the stadium brings.

Something else that needs to be given increased attention is recycling on campus. While we do have various recycling receptacles around campus, there is always room for improvement. Recycling bins should be placed next to the dorm trash chutes so students are actively reminded of their choice to recycle. Making recycling more convenient for students will increase our recycled products here on campus.

Then, there are the dining halls. When you go over to Burke, Fresh Foods or Lakeside Dining, you’re not going to find a typical cafeteria. Instead, you’ll find an all-you-can-eat buffet stocked with every type of food you can imagine. And while this sounds like a college student’s dream, in reality it leads to much more food wasted than necessary. I know every time I go to one of the dining halls, I can never finish eating all the food I put on my plate, and it’s rare that anyone else does either. Not only that, but with freshmen now required to buy an unlimited meal plan, there’s no reason not to get an excess of food, and to do so often. When you think about how much food must be wasted every day though, it should make us reconsider our policy of more always being better.

If we want to continue our growth in national respect, we need to be aware of issues that are important to students. Our generation is increasingly concerned with the environment and living “green,” and the University needs to follow suit.

We must remember, however, that this doesn’t all fall on the University. As students, we must do our part as well. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Make a separate pile of recyclable items when you’re taking out the trash. After your finals are over, recycle your old notebooks and papers instead of throwing them in the garbage. At the dining halls, only get what you need to eat and then go back for seconds instead of piling your plate up the first time (this will reduce waste and keep off those pesky extra pounds). If students and the University partner together to make the environment a priority, we can decrease our consumption across the board and lead the way to a cleaner, greener campus.

Oh, and when you’re finished reading today’s CW? Go ahead and throw it in the recycling bin too.

Mary Sellers Shaw is a junior majoring in communications and civic engagement. Her column runs biweekly on Tuesdays.