Bottled water is on the verge of becoming the new social pariah, says an activist leading the charge to ban the packaged beverage.

“One day drinking private plastic bottled water is going to be as uncool as smoking in public or drinking and driving. That is my belief,” says Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians and the UN’s senior adviser on water.

Bottled water has become the latest environmental battleground as consumers increasingly say goodbye to plastic bags, gas-guzzling vehicles and electricity-gobbling lightbulbs.

Plastics advocates are lashing out against the vote, claiming that such a policy change “wouldn’t lead to any meaningful environmental change.” It sounds more like fear, however — what better place to teach good eco-friendly life habits than in schools? The changes may be few at first, but the lessons taught will, if the the vote passes, likely last a lifetime.

Though we’re in the middle of two wars, an economic crisis, and an historic election, the current ideology of going green is still important. While some consider it a waste of time, resources and energy, it is clear that they have yet to acknowledge the facts.

But how? It’s an important question, especially with the impending elections hinging so much on our economic problems, to ask how they might intertwine with our environmental issues.

Contributing to the green movement isn’t even the most difficult task. The first step to helping the environment is to recycle. Recycling is neither time consuming nor expensive (it’s actually free). Curb-side recycling is becoming more pervasive throughout the United States, and it’s fairly clear why. Studies find that in the majority of cases recycling is the most efficient way to dispose of residential waste. Beyond the costs, one has to consider air pollution avoided from processes like incineration, reduced hazardous waste, and the need for less space with landfills.

An excellent point, but there must be more. Not enough people care about invisible costs, they care about how things affect The Common Man. How about jobs?

Green technology industry could also create a monumental opportunity for the United States and other countries. Each year the number of startups spun off from universities grows drastically. New techniques to augment the efficiency of solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal energy collection, etc. are creating a whole new field for economic growth. The easiest comparison is to the computer industry boom starting in the 1980s and continuing today in new internet startups.

Absolutely! This hits the nail on the head. New energy means new industry. New industry means new jobs. And new jobs are always, always good for the common man. I recommend reading the whole article, it isn’t too long and makes several good points. Just another win for sustainable and renewable energy and another case made and closed for going green. Keep up the good work, college papers!

• It still isn’t over yet in Seattle. (Seattle Times)
• On the other hand, a bag tax beckons in San Francisco. (ABC7 SF)
• Packing reusable bags is strenuous? Also: BAG RAAAAAAGE!!! (The Standard)
• Hawaii’s big island is ready to follow Maui into bag restrictions. (Pacific Business News)
• Meanwhile, Honolulu is dragging its feet. (Honolulu Star Bulletin)
• More recycling-friendly back-to-school ideas. (The Salem News)
• Residents of Mumbai aren’t too keen on plastic bags, either. (The Times of India)
• More colleges getting on the green train. (UConn Daily Campus)
• Oh yeah, the American Chemistry Council is mad at Hawaii. (Web Wire)
• Is it now Minnesota’s time to shine? (Hutchinson Leader)
• A little reusable bag dirt never hurt anyone… right? (blender)
• Just a friendly reminder to use your bags. (Your Greeness)
• And while you’re at it, win some free ones! (Ecorazzi)

Image via Flickr!

• Oh snaps, son! The plastic bag war gets snarky. [Oregon Live]
• It’s easier being as green as you can be. [Tracey French]
• “Critters” is such a strange and amazing word. Save them! [News & Observer]
• Palm Springs decides to take things to a vote. [My Desert]
• More on making back-to-school a green experience. [Peekaboo]
• Speaking of back-to-school, more colleges getting green. [Oak Grove Today]
• Coca-Cola takes a stab at sustainability as well. [Ecorazzi]
• Breaking news: recycling is not enough! [Idaho Statesman]
• Just a friendly reminder to call your legislators. [Heal the Bay]
• Quite simply: just say no. [Five Flower Mom]

Image via Deadlines and Consequences!

It’s almost back-to-school time, and this year it seems like quite a few colleges across the country are making some major changes as the next fresh batch of students arrives.

Students arriving on campus this month are seeing green — and not just from the money they’re spending on tuition.

For example, students coming to George Washington University in Washington, D.C., will start their school year with the university’s first “Green Move-In.” Rose Dunnegan, the university’s property manager, says the program follows the success of last semester’s “Green Move-Out.” Student and staff volunteers recycled thousands of pounds of clothing, household items, food and “e-cycling” materials, including cellphones, batteries and computer parts, Dunnegan says.

Checkpoints for the Green Move-In include organic reusable shopping bags at the school bookstore, designated recycling areas for packing boxes, and a paperless check-in system. George Washington University is by no means the only school going green, either. Among other schools following suit is our very own UC San Diego (rah-rah-rah, go Tritons!), taking it to the next level by going beyond actions and changing their very structure. Or, structures anyway.

Freshmen at the University of California-San Diego’s Sixth College will move into renovated dorms that are equipped with solar thermal heating, and new carpet and furniture made from recycled material, says Mark Cunningham, the school’s executive director of housing, dining and hospitality. The student residences also will have low-flow shower heads and energy-efficient lighting.

The university will give each on-campus apartment a bucket of eco-friendly cleaning supplies. If that project is successful, Cunningham says, the university will consider giving a year’s supply of the products to all apartments.

I would just like to mention that when I did my time in the dorms, it looked like they hadn’t seen renovation since roughly the Vietnam War. Not that I’m jealous or anything. Cunningham states, importantly, that the lessons taught by providing students with a sustainable atmosphere are not meant to end upon graduation — rather, the hope is to develop and foster habits that will lead to a lifetime of eco-consciousness and sustainability. Let’s hope!

Photo via Flickr! By the way, almost every single picture that came up in a search for keywords “college life” and wasn’t a shot of a random building showed college kids gone wild in (or preparing for) a drunken stupor or its aftermath. Take a break, kids! Be productive! Go green!

When did lunch boxes become so rare? Maybe it stems from my Navy brat youth in Japan, where bento boxes reign supreme, but my mother was packing my school snacks in a tupperware-filled lunch box decades before I’d ever even heard the phrase “reusable bag.” The lunch box seems to have lost its clout here in the US, though — disposable paper lunch sacks just make everything so much less work — leading some schools to make bold moves to pick up the slack.

Students at Marshall Elementary School on the former Fort Ord reduced their lunch waste by half last year in the Waste Free Schools pilot program, organized by the MRWMD and modeled on a successful program in Santa Cruz.

“It’s been estimated that a student can generate 67 pounds of lunch-related waste per year,” notes Kimberle Herring, public education coordinator for the Monterey Regional Waste Management District. And that adds up.

“We provided education for students and staff, and in six weeks reduced the lunch waste by 50 percent,” said Herring. “We also were successful in promoting a Zero Waste Lunch Challenge — causing families to become more aware in general about waste generation, and specifically in encouraging waste free or lighter lunches.”

Oh hey, Marshall Elementary! I was there for a semester of fifth grade, when it really was still Fort Ord. Anyway, tangents aside, the school aims to make life a little better overall with the zero waste initiative, not just for its students and families, but for itself.

Not only was this good for the Earth, but for the school’s bottom line. Less garbage means reduced disposal costs, saving the school more than $4,600 annually.

“A typical size school in our area can generate 21,440 to 97,485 pounds of waste per year,” says Herring.

Intense! Schools are pretty wasteful, it seems. Much of the rest of the article is devoted to giving mothers and fathers good ideas on how to pack a lunch with waste reduction on their minds, here in the day and age of disposable heaven. What about you, though? As a child, did you bring your lunches to school in a paper bag or a lunch box? How have things changed for you now, and why do you think that is? Is it just the advent of easiness? At least people are starting to realize, apparently, that easy is not always better.

Photo via Flickr!