Beneath the beauty of a beach is a story that students do not see: shattered bottles, tar balls and food wrappers trapped in debris with micro-plastics glued to sand grains like scars.
Even on Baylor’s campus, student events and daily activities impair waterways and air quality.
This October, Baylor is conducting Campus Sustainability Month for the second year, encouraging students to recognize environmental issues within the Waco and Baylor community.
Environmental Science Professor Dr. Sascha Usenko said campus events can have unintended environmental consequences that most students do not know or think about.
“Oil slicks in the parking lot, fertilizers and pesticides — that’s a total source of runoff and all of these affect campus waterways,” Usenko said. “Even small things, like cleaning streets or capturing runoff before it moves downstream, help improve the quality of our campus and reduce local water pollution.”
Usenko said Waco’s proximity to I-35’s construction contributes to campus air quality.
“This is a major traffic thoroughfare,” Usenko said. “Vehicles using combustion engines release particulate and gas-phase pollution into the atmosphere that we’re then potentially exposed to.”
Baylor Senior Director of Sustainability Gary Cocke said sustainability should be valued more by the university as a Christian institution.
“Sustainability is and should be a way for us to show our values and demonstrate them in the world,” Cocke said. “Caring for the environment is another way to care for your neighbor.”
Cocke said to generate student involvement Baylor has launched several initiatives to reduce waste and spread awareness. Cocke’s sustainability department expanded composting programs, reducing food waste on campus by 400,000 pounds.
In addition, the department saw creative opportunities to donate new students’ furniture, clothes and hygienic products through the Baylor Used Moveout campaign.
Julie King, environmental law professor at Baylor, said given Baylor’s mission statement, Baylor has a unique opportunity to model environmental leadership, even if universities are given lenient emission restrictions.
“Universities aren’t typically viewed as industries, so they don’t fall under most environmental regulations,” King said. “But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t lead by example. At a Christian university like Baylor, there’s an ethical responsibility related to stewardship, caring for creation in line with our values, even if there’s no legal requirement to do so.”
The answer to creating positive momentum around sustainability is education, King said.
“Policy gives structure, but education is what inspires action,” King said. “The more students understand the benefits of trees, green spaces and natural areas, the more likely they are to protect and take pride in their campus.”
Cocke said he hopes sustainability will become second nature to every Baylor student.
“Five years from now, I hope sustainability is part of the Baylor experience, something students can engage with through service, leadership, classroom learning or research,” Cocke said.
For King, her journey to wanting to learn about sustainability started at a beach, a place she felt safe, serene and full of lessons she was willing to learn.
“For me, it all started at the beach,” King said. “Seeing trash in a place I loved made me realize the earth is a created gift, and someone has to represent it.”
For more information on Baylor’s sustainability efforts, readers can visit Baylor’s new sustainability plan for 2024-2030. There are also opportunities to volunteer on current campus projects.
