G-Dub Green Hub is a blog organized and curated by GW Sustainability to create an online space where the GW community can come together to discuss how to love each other and the Earth in the best ways possible.
There will be around 2 posts a month here, all of which will fall into one of 8 categories! Read about them below:
1. The ______ Crisis: Why Should I Care?
We often find it difficult to prioritize particular environmental issues, and everyone seems to have a cause or two that is of special importance to them. Whether it is ‘save the bees’ or the increasingly popular plight against plastic straws, individuals tend to attach a particular niche tagline or slogan to the umbrella concept of sustainability. When you think about it, it’s quite sad that ecosystem challenges must compete against one another for our attention, when they are of course all ultimately of great importance. While this is true, some issues do get largely swept under the rug, as they are not particularly exciting or maybe not directly prevalent in our day to day lives. This does not mean that we should not care about them! This series will act as a platform for talking about various environmental crises that do not get their chance in the spotlight very often.
2. Sustainable ______ in the Modern World
It is easy to fall into a daily routine, one which is comfortable and inherently personal. It would be great if we existed in the ideal world where the eco-friendly option was the easiest, cheapest or most popular choice, but this is almost never the case. In the age we are living in, the world is fast paced and ever changing. There is a magnitude of choice in every facet of our lives, making it nearly impossible to know what the most sustainable decisions that you can be making are, while also considering your clock, your wallet and your oh-so critical ‘hipness’. If sustainability even comes in to your decision making process at all. “Sustainable ______ in the Modern World” will allow self-identifying ‘experts’ in particular areas to tell us a little bit about how they include environmentalism in the daily lives, whether it be with fashion, cooking, travel or anything else. Ultimately, adding small, sustainable practices to our daily routines should not be hard. All we have to do is remember to think about it!
3. GWorld Diaries
Refinery29, a lifestyle blog and entertainment news website, has a series which they call Money Diaries, where folks anonymously log their spending habits for a week. With this, they identify certain features such as their location and occupation, giving the reader a glimpse into what it’s like to live a life different than their own. With GWorld diaries, the concept is the same. Students on the GWorld dining plan can log their purchases both on and off the plan for seven days, so that other students can see how to live, or not live, sustainably with the amount of money which we are given. The best way to identify problems with how we spend money is by writing it down and actually being able to look at it. That way, priorities can be made. Whether it be food, home products, textbooks or anything else, we vote with our dollars and get to make decisions about what types of goods and companies we are giving our money to. It is well known that students often find it challenging to make the funds last until the end of the semester, so this will be an interesting look into why this may be the case.
4. Green Org Spotlights
On the George Washington University Campus, sustainability has an extremely powerful voice. These voices are coming from a variety of different types of students, all with similar goals and aspirations. This manifests most obviously at GW within the many green student organizations on campus. This space will give these orgs a chance to talk about who they are, their purpose and the work that they have been doing. Plus, a little bit of promo never hurts!
5. Cool People Doing Cool Things
On campus and beyond, amazing work is being done within the field of sustainability. We want to make sure that people get the recognition that they deserve! Whether it be on the local, regional or global scale, it is the powerful impacts of folks with great ideas that will drive us towards a sustainable future. Students, GW faculty, scientists, activists and beyond have to opportunity to be highlighted, all you have to do is a Cool Thing! We hope to show the variety of ways in which one can be green, both in scale and style. Environmentalism comes in many forms, and we hope to display that as fact.
6. ______ is Coming Up, How do I Make Sure Mine is Green?
Throughout the year, especially as college students, we have a seemingly never ending slew of transitions, firsts, and special days. When you’re new to something, figuring out how it works can be a daunting task. This is especially true if you want to be sustainable. Whether it be move-in, commencement, or a holiday like Thanksgiving, it is important to give your environmental impact some thought. We are here to help! We want to make sure that sustainable practices are seen as the natural, most obvious choice, even on holidays. Check in here for the best tips, tricks and resources we can provide as an office throughout the year.
7. Picture This!
“A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words,” or so they say. It is great to talk about sustainable practices on and off of the GW campus, but it is also beneficial to celebrate these things in a much simpler way every once in a while. The goal of Picture This! is super simple and straightforward. Do you have a picture of something green or sustainable? Send it over! We’re happy to post it here. Tweet us, tag us on Instagram or shoot us an email, we will pick some photos to highlight every few months!
8. GRoW Content
The Grow Garden is the best place on campus to get involved with sustainable agriculture, promote food justice and feel like you are a member of a tangible green community in Foggy Bottom. This GRoW Content space is a place for the participants in the Garden to give us some updates on what is going on over there and hopefully inspire us to get involved! There are many amazing projects going on all of the time, so it is great to be looped in on an ongoing basis.
Feel free to browse the blog and continue the conversation by commenting wherever you feel. If you have any interest in writing for this blog post or being interviewed, visit our contact page!
