Many groups on campus and organizations around Starkville have come together to make Mississippi State University a green campus.
The College of Architecture, Art and Design, the MSU Recycling Club, the Student Association and Green Starkville have created Green Day to promote recycling on and off campus.
Whitney Holliday, outgoing SA secretary, said Green Day will promote awareness about recycling and going green.
“We are encouraging students to wear green on Wednesday,” Holliday said. “We will also have recycling bins set up on the Drill Field for students to bring their recyclable goods from home.”
Students will distribute information on campus about various recycling procedures in Starkville and different ways to become environmentally friendly, she said.
“We are also hoping for a sculpture contest where all sculptures are made out of recyclable materials,” Holliday said “They will be on display around campus.”
Holliday said the event will feature lectures on green initiatives Wednesday, including a presentation by architecture professor Michael Berk.
“We will be having three speakers in McCool [Room] 100 at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday to finish out Green Day,” she said. “They will be speaking about their green efforts and how they are green in the workplace.”
Berk said it is important for students to become more aware of their reasoning when addressing environmental concerns.
“I will be speaking about the philosophical and educational implications of why students should be more environmentally responsible,” he said.
Elizabeth Allen, senior architecture major, has contributed to the Green Day event since its planning stage.
“Green Day is important because the faculty can only go so far,” she said. “Students are the ones who can really push the issues on campus.”
Allen said she thinks the event is step toward initiating green movement to better MSU’s campus.
“We need to make sure everyone tries to recycle and go green to help Mississippi State to be better in the future,” she said.
Allen said she thinks Green Day will help raise environmental awareness on campus.
“We are trying to help people understand that recycling is a lot easier than many people think,” Allen said.
Junior biological engineering major Seth Dotherow said he thinks Green Day is an opportunity for MSU students to realize the importance of recycling and taking care of the Earth.
“The more we ignore going green, the worse the outcome will be in the future,” Dotherow said.
Senior marketing major Emory Allen said he plans on participating in Green Day by bringing his recyclables to the Drill Field.
“I recycle because it’s a good habit I’ve gotten into over the years, and I’m just trying to save the world one can at a time,” he said.
Junior communication major Trey Thompson said he believes recycling is important to both the environment and MSU as an institution.
“We live in a world with a limited number of resources, and we need to make sure we conserve the resources we have available,” Thompson said. “If everyone can step up and recycle, then we will make the environment a better place.”