Dr. Richard Ciocci, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, introduced the idea of sustainability to about twenty Honors students in September. Do you realize any recycling bin on campus? Dr. Ciocci reminded us that Penn State has been doing a good job recycling. Most importantly, he encouraged students to put recyclables into their respective categories. Our custodians are advised to throw away a whole bag of recyclable paper if a plastic bottle is found in it. He also asked students to guess what some recycled objects were made from. All of us had a hard time guessing a black block which turned out be made out of Styrofoam. Besides recycling, Dr. Ciocci wished to find out how many cell phones students went through since they owned their first ones. While most of us are using our second or third cell phones, a few of us are enjoying their fifth ones! He then brought up the sustainability triad, where society, environment, and economy were closely related. As he shared some news articles with us, he interpreted that Human Impact (I) on the environment is the product of Population (P), Affluence (A), and Technology (T), i.e. I = PAT. With the projected increase in global population and affluence in the foreseeable future, the only way to minimize human impact on the vulnerable environment would be decreasing the use of technology or making good use of our technology. Though it is not an easy goal to achieve, and changing our current lifestyles is easier said than done, can you come up with some ways to be more environmental friendly?
By Rosemary Yee
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