Two weeks ago Governor Kaine announced that the drought in Virginia has caused eight Virginia counties to be recognized as federal disaster areas. For Virginia farmers, this means having yet another year of poor crop yields. In a September 12th interview with The Cavalier Daily, though, the Nelson County Farm Bureau President Hughes Swain, reassured us that the water supply is not at a "crisis level" yet, and that droughts have been worse before. Unfortunately, such reassurances breed ambivalence in most Virginians.
In the same interview, the University administration promised they were doing everything in their power to conserve water. According to University Environmental Compliance Manager Jeff Sitler, "We are not watering anything unless it absolutely needs to be watered to survive."
One would think this would include not watering the grass in Scott Stadium at midday, when most of the water will evaporate. Alas, one would be wrong to assume such things. A member of the Student Council Environmental Sustainability Committee, Sarah Buckley, actually observed the University caught in the act over the summer while driving by the stadium. .
The Administration may be culpable in this case, but students could make a few simple lifestyle changes that would greatly conserve community resources, as well. This means taking less than 15 minute showers. Students should also only do full loads of laundry -- fortunately for the Charlottesville water supply, doing laundry on Grounds is so expensive that students are forced to do the right thing and wash clothes only when they must.
Perhaps what prevents people from making a conscientious effort to conserve is the thought that their individual actions will not be significant enough to make a tangible difference. Why not take shorter showers if everyone else does, anyway? The categorical imperative is not that persuasive when nothing physically holds the consumer back from using as much water as he desires. Last semester, most students resented "No Tray Tuesdays." God forbid one must eat less than three entrees, or worse -- take more than one trip to the dishwasher.
There's no clearer sign of the American sense of entitlement than how selfishly and carelessly we use our natural resources, such as water and oil.Furthermore, when community leaders like Swain feel the need to insist that there's no crisis, this causes most individuals residents to not alter their lifestyles in any way. People usually need to feel a sense of urgency in order to change their habits.
If student environmental groups mounted public relations campaigns to excite everyone about working together to conserve our community resources, maybe students would feel part of a larger whole, a larger movement, to take care of the place we so love dearly. There's a t-shirt for everything else on Grounds -- why not create a snazzy green t-shirt with ways to conserve resources listed on the back?
The University administration should think creatively about ways to conserve as well. They could enforce a "No Tray Friday" policy university-wide. Friday is better than Tuesday because there is less overall traffic in the cafeterias, so there would be smaller lines for students to put their plates in the dishwasher before going back for more, if they are still hungry. And, to spell out the obvious, it makes much more sense to water fields early in the morning. That way, water soaks into the grass.
Buckley commented that the horrible drought in Virginia is "a reminder that we cannot live our lives completely divorced from concern about the environment." It's hard to be good stewards of the environment in a society predicated upon excess. Students take long showers simply because they feel like it. They drive their SUVs around Grounds when they could walk just as easily and probably no less quickly, due to traffic. Hopefully we all will be proactive and be more thoughtful about the resources we consume. Or, we can wait until we are forced to conserve.
Marta Cook is a Cavalier Daily Associate Editor. She can be reached at mcook@cavalierdaily.com.
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