A new initiative by the Interfraternity Council (IFC) called Greeks Go Green aims to improve fraternities and sororities' environmental impact this year, according to IFC Public Relations Chair Christopher Blackett, a junior.
The campaign seeks to encourage the use of reusable water bottles by members of the Greek community and promote recycling in fraternity and sorority houses.
The IFC ordered about 500 water bottles from company Klean Kanteen to distribute to members of the Greek community to discourage the use of plastic water bottles, according to IFC President and Delta Upsilon president Tommy Castle.
The Klean Kanteen water bottles are free of Bisphenol A, a chemical that has been linked to adverse health affects, Castle, a junior, said.
The IFC also plans to place recycling bins at each Greek house within the next two weeks, Blackett said.
Once fraternities receive the recycling bins, they are free to decide how to spend the money saved by recycling, though Blackett hopes most will choose to donate the money to their national charities or to on−campus service organizations.
Sophomore Victoria Powell, a member of Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) noted that fraternities currently generate large amounts of unnecessary waste.
"We've been thinking of ways for the frats to be more environmentally friendly, because a lot of cans and cups are wasted," Powell said. "We think it's unfortunate that so much is wasted and not getting recycled."
The IFC, which has not funded many major projects recently, has excess money to devote to the project, Powell noted.
"None of us realized until recently that we did have this budget to use, and we wanted to put it towards something productive that would have a positive effect on the school," she said.
Blackett noted that Greek houses generally currently do very little to promote sustainability, though Theta Delta Chi (123) has in recent semesters taken steps toward decreasing its environmental impact, he said. The fraternity established a Green Chair position within their fraternity last semester, according to Vice President senior Aaron Tartakovsky.
Tartakovsky hopes the campaign will lead the rest of the Greek community will take up the cause of environmental awareness.
"We want to get the word out, and we think that it should be something that spreads to the wider Greek community," he said.
The Greeks Go Green initiative primarily works toward promoting environmental friendliness among fraternity houses, but Blackett and Powell hope to expand the program to the entire Greek system eventually.
"Right now it's in the initial stages and we are focusing on the fraternities as IFC, but we'd really like to get the entire Greek system involved," Powell said.
Blackett hopes that the initiative will help change the negative image of fraternities that some members of the community hold.
"We're trying to change the role of fraternities to have a more positive impact and to break the stereotypes that most fraternities are placed into," Blackett said.
He added that the recent appointment of a permanent Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Su McGlone will help create an environment in which new Greek initiatives can thrive.
"We've gone through Greek directors so quickly there hasn't been the chance to have a stable environment," Blackett said.
Since she assumed her new position over the summer, McGlone has outlined positive goals for the future of the Greek community.
"I think she really has a good vision for where she wants the Greek community to go," Blackett said.
"Su is really motivated; she's really excited about getting projects started and getting things done, so she's been a really positive influence on getting things in motion," Powell said.
