eco-unconscious

I wish my college were more eco-conscious.  We are a huge contributor to the problem with the environment and I feel like AUC is single handily murdering the environment. I have expressed this to many people and I may have written about it previously but I shall rant again!

When I go into the bathroom on my hall I turn the light off when I am done. To the girls on my hall: I am not sorry. AUC produces its own electricity which apparently in someone's mind means it is okay for us to waste electricity. The lights in bathrooms and shower rooms are always on. 24/7. When no one is in them! What is the point? So the mold can see itself spread? Lights in certain buildings are left on all the time. Buildings that do not get used at night. Whawt purpose does this serve?

I am not perfect. I am not claiming to be. There are plenty of things I need to change, and I'm working on it. One problem I have is that I forget to unplug my cell phone charger when it is not in use. Even though it is not charging my phone there is still power going to it and therefore it is wasting electricity.

Another thign we are great at wasting is heat. Once again, the college creates it's own heat int eh POWER PLANT we have on campus. Really do we need a power plant? We wouldn't need to generate so much if we didn't waste so much. Heat is constantly radating in our dorms without a way for us to adjust it. This is normal of many college campuses, but it is not necessary. Last year my freind's room got so hot that the Dean was worried it would start a fire. It was so hot in a room over the summer (because the heat was ON) that it tripped the fire alarm and the fire department had to come. Heat on in the summer? Does that make sense to anyone? Rooms in some of the academic buildings get so hot that the only way to have class is to open all of the windows, which is exactly what I have to do in my own room. Why are we allowing the school to waste this much energy? Because we produce it int he power plant on campus therefore we aren't losing money. I do not like that reasoning.

I don't think AUC wastes water. At least we have that going for us. The water coming out of the shower is so cold that people take 60 second showers. No time to waste water. :)

In my own room I have set up paper recycling. I have a huge box where all of my handouts, newspapers, junk mail, flyers etc. collect and then I take the box to be recycled. I want to set up ways for students on campus to recycle. If I can make it easier and convenvint maybe more students would be more liekly to actually do it. There is not any form of recycling established on campus. Everything goes in the trash. All of the soda and juice bottles, all of the cans, the styrofoam plates, cups, bowls...everything.

This past summer I spent time at a school that used compostable and biodegradable cups, plates, flatware etc. Shelby's school composts and recycles everything. As amazing as it would be I do not expect AUC to start recycling and composting but if I can get some sort of recycling program on campus to at least reduce the amount of waste we produce by the smallest percent I would be happy. If we could reduce our carbon footprint by any amount I will have succeeded.

Last Day

1/5/11 8:00 AM
Whoa! Today is my last day in Bamenda. We've been here for five days and it has gone by so fast. I'm not ready for it to end. Tomorrow around 9:00 AM we will meet to head to Douala. Our plane will take off from Douala at 11:40 PM and we will have to sat goodbye to Cameroon.

Spending time here and seeing how people live has made me want to reexamine some things in my life when we get home. We have seen different levels of society in our tine in Cameroon. In Nkikoh homes did not have electricity or running water. Here in Bamenda homes have electricity. The house I am currently staying in has Internet but no running water. We've been to Fru Ndi's compound which is amazing and to the royal palace in Bafut.

When I next come to Cameroon (and I hope there will be a next time) I will pack very differently. I will absolutely not pack anything white...the dust turns it red. I don't need long sleeve shirts, a sweatshirt does just fine. It us not as hot as they made it out to br so I can reduce the number of things I brought to wear. I will have business cards with all if my info on them because everyone wants our addresses, emails, and even Facebook. I will bring things like chewing gum for all the kids fascinated by my skin. Though it's a pain I will use a suitcase instead of my bag because it is hard to take clothes out of the bag. I will also bring an extra bag for the things I bring back.